Relics of Kakatiya rule in state of utter ruin
Mandadam was venue of Rudramadevi's birthday fete.
Vijayawada: Rudramadevi’s birthday was celebrated on the banks of Krishna river in the present Amaravati capital region. Manda-dam was the venue of Rudramadevi’s birthday celebrations in 1261 AD. Mandadam is a Kakatiya village wherein a dilapidated temple dedicated to Visveswara and a huge inscription were found dating back to 1261 AD issued jointly by the Kakatiya emperor Ganapatideva and his crown princess and designated empress of the Andhra county.
Amaravati is the buzz word in India and abroad as the new capital region of Andhra Pradesh. A peep into the history of the region reveals new facts hitherto unknown.
Sharing information on this subject, Dr E. Sivanagi Reddy, renowned archaeologist, historian and CEO, The Cultural Centre of Vijayawada and Amaravati (CCVA) said that many of the villages of the capital region bear historical significance attested by Buddhist and Jain remains, temples, sculptures and inscriptions.
Mandadam is a Kakatiya village wherein a dilapidated temple dedicated to Visveswaraand a huge inscription dated 1261 AD issued jointly by the Kakatiya emperor Ganapatideva and his crown princess and designated empress of the Andhra County are present.
On a granite slab of 14 feet and 2 feet 10 inches square, the inscription is carved on three sides containing 182 lines in Sanskrit and 18 lines in Telugu, both in Telugu script.
It furnishes a detailed account of the Kakatiya family and pontifical succession of the Golakimatha of the Saiva sect and states that emperor Ganapathideva gifted the village of Mandaram in the Velanadu Kandravati to his Guru Visveswara Sivacharya.
Ganapathideva’s daug-hter Rudramadevi made a formal gift of that village along with the village of Velagapundi (Velagapudi), that Visweswara Siva, established a new village called Rudradevipura and peopled it with persons of different castes and evident people in different disciplines brought from various parts of the country.