Nagadevata Temple – Maneru river
Rajannasircilla district is always surprising with many historical temples of them most of them are near Maneru river banks. In Rajanna Sirisilla district, the flow of Maneru river stretches and interweaves many rivulets and bends and embraces the Godavari river near Manthani. Thousands of years of history are intertwined around the catchment area. One of the mystery of the 4th century rare Nagadevata temple traces that have been lost together in the heart of time is the story of interest around Sircilla town.
Some villages named ‘Katkur’ along the Maneru bank stream and the villages of Kondapur are showing traces of Buddhism
Kashbe Katkur is a beautiful village on the banks of Maneru in Tangallapally mandal. As per the information that there are ruins of an ancient Shiva temple of the Kakatiya period in Polala on the outskirts of the village and at a little distance to the right a two and a half foot naga sculpture was seen completely submerged in the fields.
A little further few snakes piled up in one place, and in the middle, a statue of Nagadevata, about eight feet high vertically and three feet horizontally, which was completely lost was seen. If the clay on the sculpture is completely removed, it resembles the style of the Rashtrakutas with excellent sculptural skill. While examining it, some more snake sculptures were found stuck in the soil here and there. Special mention should be made about the temple area. Nearby is the confluence of Nakka Vagu Maneru.
Nagadevata temples are rarely found in the combined Karimnagar district. An ancient Nagadevata temple came to light at Nagulapet near Korutla. Till now, the village is popularly known as Nagulapet with the name of the temple. Perhaps the traces of the Nagadevata temple which has now come to light in the fields on the outskirts of Kasbe Katkur village can be considered as the second temple.
In Indian tradition many temples have Naga sculptures. Especially Nagadevata temples are rarely seen here and there in India, the traces of such an ancient Nagadevata temple taluk to see the light in the fields here remain an elusive mystery. Historians have to focus on the mysterious temple and bring the complete history to light.
An eighth-century idol of Bhairava was found completely buried in the mud in the village. Here some ancient black stone idols were found along with Ganesha. Some of the ruins of the Shiva temple in the Kakatiya sculpture style were seen in the suburbs. The villagers put the sculptures stuck in the mud together with the pillars for the construction of the temple. The Shiva Lingam is similar to the Shiva Lingam in Vemulawada Bhimeswara Temple. The temple may have been built by any of the kings who ruled with Vemulawada as their centre. There is a lot of history around the town of Katkur which has introduced many historical things like this. —Allae Ramesh
