A part of Buddhist Mantapa Pillar which was carved into Sivalingam was unearthed by locals from the village pond on Saturday at Mukkollu village of Guduru mandal in Krishna district.

The locals found it a few weeks ago after the pond had dried up in the summer.

However, no one dared to excavate it from the pond as it was earlier worshipped as Lord Siva in their village temple. Accepting the proposal by a group of history researchers to excavate it to ascertain the history of the village and its connection with the Buddhism, villagers on Saturday helped them in excavating the relic.

“The part of Buddhist Mantapa Pillar is belongs to the period of between 2nd century A.D and 6 century A.D. The Buddhist relic was worshipped as Lord Siva during the period of falling of Buddhism in Andhra Pradesh,” said amateur historian Mohammed Silar. Mr. Silar, Endowments Department Executive Officer S. Anjaneya Swami and Hyderabad-based researcher K. Subrahmanyam on Saturday documented existing status of a Buddhist mound here. They also collected remains of pottery on the mound.

The part of Buddhist Mantapa Pillar is belongs to the period of between 2nd century A.D and 6 century A.D. The Buddhist relic was worshipped as Lord Siva during the period of falling of Buddhism in Andhra Pradesh

Mohammed Silar

Amateur Historian