Rashtrakuta-era Gajalaxmi sculpture lies neglected in Medak | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: A Gajalaxmi sculpture with a scene of ‘Sagara Mathana’ (the churning of the ocean by gods and demons) above the goddess and a 12-armed Shiva-Nataraja on its reverse lies neglected at Yanagandla village in Medak district. Heritage experts who visited the site have dated the black granite carving to the ninth-century Rashtrakuta period and appealed to villagers to preserve it.The sculpture was examined following information provided by Burra Santosh, a member of Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam (KTCB). Archaeoglosit E Sivanagireddy and Sriramoju Haragopal, convener of KTCB, visited the village in Kulcharam mandal, accompanied by heritage activists Gottipati Srinivasa Rao and Prof A Raghu.The carving depicts goddess Laxmi seated in Padmasana, holding lotus flowers in both hands, with elephants anointing her. Above the Gajalaxmi figure is a depiction of Sagara Mathana, or the churning of the ocean, by gods and demons.Sivanagireddy and Haragopal described the ocean-churning scene above Gajalaxmi as a rare feature. They said no such depiction had been reported from Telangana or Andhra Pradesh to date.Their assessment drew attention to the arrangement of the figures and the presence of another carving on the reverse of the same stone.Nataraja on the reverseThe other side depicts a 12-armed Shiva-Nataraja performing Ananda Tandava. Brahma and Vishnu flank him, both shown seated with folded hands. The experts identified this as another distinctive feature and described the sculpture as a masterpiece of the Rashtrakuta period.Sivanagireddy and Haragopal appealed to villagers to erect the sculpture on a pedestal and preserve it for posterity. Their appeal followed the team’s examination of the carvings on both sides of the stone.