Velpuru

Velpuru

Village in the former Sattenapalle taluk of Guntur district. Its hilltop Ramalingasvamin temple holds a marble pillar with the only known stone inscription of the Vishnukundin dynasty. The hill is covered with old bricks of the kind found on Buddhist stupa mounds, and a second early Brahmi inscription has been found in the village.

A grey marble pillar carved with a large round lotus medallion above a band with small animal figures. · Adityamadhav83 (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

Velpuru lies in what was the Sattenapalle taluk of Guntur district. It is known for the Velpuru pillar inscription, which names the Vishnukundin king Madhavavarman.¹ K. R. Subramanian placed the village about twelve miles west of Amaravati.²

The temple hill

The epigraphy report for 1925–26 describes “a very old temple” of Ramalingasvamin on a small hillock north-east of the village.¹ The temple contains several inscriptions on white marble stones of the kind used in the Amaravati stupa (relic mound).¹ Two white marble pillars hold up the roof behind the main entrance, and one of them carries the Vishnukundin inscription.¹

The report adds that the hillock is “full of ruins of old and broad bricks which are always found on stūpa mounds”.¹ One or two demolished buildings had apsidal (rounded-end) foundations, which suggested Buddhist or post-Buddhist ruins.¹ A slab about six feet high, called the Kotinaga stone, is carved on both faces with rows of serpents.¹

Later finds

In 1936–37 there was an attempt to take the inscribed pillar out of the temple, so that the whole text could be read.³ It was given up because the trustees and villagers opposed it.³

P. Seshadri Sastri of Guntur reported another Brahmi inscription from Velpuru in 1940–41.⁴ It was on a pillar then serving in a roadside shrine of the village goddess.⁴ It names a Haritiputra king of the Aira clan.⁴ The report for 1939–43 thought this pillar might have come from a stupa on the mound beneath the Ramalingeshvara temple.⁴

Annual Report on South-Indian Epigraphy for 1925–26 (1927), Part I, para. 7, p. 8 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷
K. R. Subramanian, Buddhist Remains in Andhra and the History of Andhra between 225 and 610 A.D. (1932), p. 113, note (f) (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩
Annual Report on South Indian Epigraphy for 1936–37 (1940), Part I, p. 1 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²
Annual Reports on South Indian Epigraphy for 1939–40 to 1942–43 (1952), Part II, para. 4, p. 229 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

The temple hill

Later finds

Photos

References

The temple hill

Later finds

Footnotes

Photos

Related

Inscriptions

Velpuru pillar inscription of Madhavavarman

References