Kakatiya-era Nandi sculpture lies neglected by roadside in Narayanpet village

An approximately 800-year-old Nandi sculpture believed to belong to the Kakatiya period has been found neglected in Jakkileru village, Narayanpet district. Archaeologist E Sivanagireddy inspected the site and appealed to villagers to restore and preserve the broken sculpture.

Mahabubnagar: A beautiful black basalt sculpture of Nandi datable to the Kakatiya time is found in utter neglect in the roadside in Jakkileru village, Makthal mandal in Narayanapet.

Based on the information provided by heritage activists including K Bhaskar Goud and Dr G Mahendar Reddy, archeologist E Sivanagireddy visited the site on Monday.

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After the inspection, he revealed that the Nandi sculpture once located inside the Rangamandapa of a 13th century Triple shrine(trikutalaya) was thrown out as it was broken into two pieces by miscreants some time ago is now left uncared in the bushes.

The bull sculpture measuring 5.0 ft in length, 3.0 ft in width and 3.5 ft in hight represents the skill and talent of the Kakatiya sculptors in delineating fine anatomy and decorated with ornamental patterns, he said.

Dr.Sivanagireddy made an appeal to the villagers to preserve it for posterity by shifting the two pieces of the sculpture inside the temple and erect it on a pedestal and arranges plaque with historical details for the benefit of the visitors.

He stated that there was a positive response from the villagers, who assured that the 800 year old sculpture would be preserved and handled carefully.