Visakhapatnam: The premises of the Vijayastupam (victory pillar) erected at Potnuru in Padmanabham mandal, some 50 kilometres away from Visakhapatnam by Emperor Sri Krishnadevaraya more than 500 years ago, has been lying in shambles. The mighty emperor, who conquered Kalinga (now Odisha) in the year 1515, had chosen Potnuru to ercted the pillar to recount his conquests. The Potnuru victory pillar had even a mention in Allasani Peddana’s (the poet laureate of the Vijay-anagara empire) monumental work Manu Charitra. The pillar remained in a sorry state for several decades till the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority gave a facelift to it in 2010 by placing it on a granite pedestal on the occasion of the 500th year of the coronation of Krishna-devaraya. They also developed a park around the pillar by earmarking some place for a garden. But due to lack of maintenance over the years, the garden had now turned into a place of overgrown shrubs and it had become a haven for drunkards during the nights.
As the garden is lacking any lock or security guard, some people are using the premises as a grazing land for their cattle. Some drunkards are not even sparing the granite pedestal in the garden on which the pillar was reinstalled to sit and gulp down alcohol. According to the historians, Sri Krishnadeva-raya planted the pillar after conquering Jami, Kottam, Vaddadi and Pottunuru (Potnuru). There is another account that Gajapati had fled from his capital at Cuttack sensing that Krishnadevaraya may next attack Cuttack in a series of his victorious expeditions.
After erecting the pillar, Krishnadevaraya visited Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Simhachalam to worship the God and made several offerings. An inscription of this visit is still there at Simhachalam temple. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Ravi Kota, a local of Potnuru village, said that many of them don’t know the significance of the pillar. “The officials should set up a board after etching the history on it. It’s better to deploy a guard or at least lock the garden by giving it regular maintenance. The height of the boundary should also be increased to prevent the disorderly persons during the nights,” he added.
When contacted, assistant director of Archaeology and Museums, K. Chittibabu, said that the pillar doesn’t fall into the purview of the Archae-ology department. “Some years back, the Vuda reinstalled the pillar and developed the park. If the local gram panchayat would come forward to maintain the pillar and the premises, it would become a great move in safeguarding the historic evidence,” he added.
