Ancient hero stone of ‘Keelgunte’ found in Mahabubnagar

Six hero stones (Veeragallu) were found in the vicinity of Golaki temple behind Gollattagudi in Alwanpalli, a suburb of Gangapur, Jadcherla mandal in Mahabubnagar district

Hyderabad: Historians from Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam have said that they have found an ancient hero stone of ‘Keelgunte’ (self-sacrificing warrior after death of his king) in Mahabubnagar district.

Six hero stones (Veeragallu) were found in the vicinity of Golaki temple behind Gollattagudi in Alwanpalli, a suburb of Gangapur, Jadcherla mandal in Mahabubnagar district. The research was carried out by Sriramoju Haragopal, Vemuganti Muralikrishna and Mucharla Dinkar of the Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam.

---

Each hero stone is unique and one of them was ‘Keelgunte’. For the first time it has been found in Telangana and generally seen in Karnataka, Haragopal said.

“All inscriptions except one or two do not appear to be readable. Each hero stone is unique. One of them is Veeragallu Keelgunte. It is a Kannada name meaning a self-sacrificing warrior. This self-sacrifice is not for himself but for the king. If the king dies, one of bodyguard (Lenka) is buried alive in a nest at the bottom of the mausoleum where the king’s body is placed,” the researchers said.

A ‘Keelgunte’ sculpture found in Ipur, Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh was in Madras Museum. It was the second sculpture related to the death of Kakatiya Rudramadevi. Another one was in Tripurantaka, they added.