1st century cave collapses at Mustabad

Vijayawada(NTR District): First-century rock-cut cave located at Mustabad village of Gannavaram mandal in Krishna district was collapsed due to growth of vegetation, said 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 on Wednesday and noticed the rock-cut cave originally belonged to the rainy retreat of Buddhist Monks of Satavahana times. He said the cave was collapsed as the roots of a big banyan tree penetrated into the roof of its portico.

According to Dr Sivanagi Reddy, the cave was appropriated by other faith in 8th century AD during which period, a rare sculpture depicting Vishnu Trivikrama and his dwarapalas viz., Jaya and Vijaya were carved in typical Vengi Chalukyan style.

Dr Reddy lamented not only for the collapse of the historical cave but also on defacing the cave structure by the local community by widening the pathway, which caused a serious threat to the 8th century Vaishnavaite 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 it posterity.