A seventh century stone idol of Parswanatha, the 23rd Jain Tirthankara, has been found in the fields close to the Bhimeswara temple at Dharmavaram village, near Addanki in Prakasam district.
E. Siva Nagi Reddy, CEO, The Cultural Centre of Vijayawada & Amaravati (CCVA), who inspected it on Saturday, said the upper portion of the antique idol surfaced when the farmers were busy with farm operations.
Following information, Mr. Reddy along with Jyothi Chandramouli, Addanki-based archaeologist and historian, Mr. Pasmal Jain, Santi Arts, Guntur and Mr. K. Srinadhareddy, trainee co-ordinator, CCVA-Heritage Club, rushed to the village on Saturday as part of the CCVA’s awareness campaign ‘Preserve Heritage for Posterity’.
The lower portion of the broken idol of Parswanatha, belonging to the Digambara sect, was already there on the premises of the temple.
Mr. Siva Nagi Reddy, after joining the two broken pieces of the idol together, said it was that of nude Parswanatha standing in ‘kayotsarga’ posture and canopied by a seven-hooded serpent.
Chalukyan-era sculpture
The sculpture dated back to the 7th century AD when the region was ruled by the founder of the Eastern (Vengi) Chalukya dynasty Kubja Vishnu Vardhana (619-641 AD).
The latter’s wife was Ayyomadevi, a staunch Jain follower and had provided liberal grants to Jain monasteries like those of the Nedumbi Basadi in Jammidaddi area of Vijayawada. Dharmavaram might have also sprung up as an important Jaina centre. Mr. Reddy surmised that the Bhimeswara temple at Dharmavaram might have been a place of worship dedicated to Parswanatha Jain.
The local community hold that the original name of the village was Jinatharmavaram, later shortened as Dharmavaram. It is also important to note that the village also known for its early Telugu inscription.
