PNS|Vijayawada
An eighth century rock-cut cave collapsed due to growth of vegetation at Mustabada village in Gannavaram mandal, Krishna district, says Dr E Sivanagi Reddy, Archaeologist and CEO, Pleach India Foundation. Based on the information given by Medasani Subhakar of Amaravathi Buddha Vihara, Dr Reddy visited the spot and noticed the Rock-cut cave originally belonged to the rainy retreat of the Buddhist monks of the Satavahana times due to the excessive growth of a banyan tree and Pleaching of its roots into the roof of it’s portico.
According to Dr Reddy the rock-cut caves were appropriated by other faith in eighth century AD during which period a rare sculpture depicting Vishnu Trivikrama and his dwarapalakas viz., Jaya and Vijaya are carved in typical Vengi Chalukyan style.
Dr Reddy laments not only the collapse of the historical rock-cut cave but also on defacing the cave structure by the local community by widening the path way which caused a serious threat to the 8th century vaishnavite sculptures and also to the very existence of the cave.
Later, Sivanagi Reddy sensitised the villagers namely Medasani Srinivas, Veerapaneni Prabhakar and Kancharla Sambasiva Rao on the archaeological significance of the cave and the need to preserve its posterity. The villagers assured him that they would take care of the matter.
