Villagers In AP Unearth 200-Year-Old Temple Buried In Penna Sand

ATMAKUR:An ancient temple of Sri Nageswara Swamy, constructed approximately 200 years ago and remained buried under the sand of Penna river for almost 80 years now, has been unearthed. The temple saw the light of the day during sand excavations carried out by villagers of Perumallapadu of Chejarala Mandal of Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh.

According to reports, the villagers became curious after some locals stumbled on a few small structures of the temple when they took up digging recently in sand reaches. As they kept digging deep, they could unearth an entire temple of ancient times. Amused by their discovery, the local residents made enquiries in the surrounding villages about the historical significance of this temple. During their research, some village elders confirmed the existence of the temple on the river bed several decades back. But it got gradually covered under a sheet of sand which used to get deposited everytime Penna river received floods during the rainy season. And that explained how the existence of the ancient temple was completely erased.

"Along with the Sri Nageswara Swamy temple, two other temples -- Kotiteertham temple and Sangam Sivalayam -- in the district were constructed at the same time. All the temple rituals including daily pooja to the deity used to be performed at Sri Nageswara Swamy temple 200 years ago. But it gradually got covered under sand and completely vanished. Now, some youngsters dug up the sand only to accidentally rediscover the temple. We have plans to refurbish the temple to renew daily pooja rituals. We have already contacted priests and based on their advice, we will take a decision," villagers of  Perumallapadu in Chejarla Mandal said.

As the news of the Nageswara Swamy temple being unearthed in Perumallapadu village spread like wildfire, people from many neighbouring villages flocked to the area to catch a glimpse of it and began offering prayers.