News Excerpt:

Two Telugu inscriptions of 16th century found in Nallamala forest in Andhra Pradesh.

About the inscriptions:

• The inscriptions engraved on a slab have been found near the Poleramma (local village deity) temple.
• The temple is inside the Nallamala forest at Palutla, Yerragondapalem mandal, Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh.
• They are written in Telugu and contain characters of the 16th century C.E., dated in the cyclic year Akshaya, Sravana.
• They also found the idol of a Goddess, which also belonged to the same period.
• One of the inscriptions records the construction of cradle pillars (uyyala-kambalu) to Goddess Poleramma by Jangam, son of Linggabattu, of Gurazala.
• The other inscription (letters are not clear on it), seems to refer to a hero fighting with a tiger.

Poleramma Goddess:

• Poleramma is a pre-Vedic deity, who is predominantly worshipped in Andhra Pradesh, and a local form of Sakti.
• She is worshipped as Grama devata (goddess who protects the village).

Nallamalla Forest and Hills:

• Located south of the Krishna River, in the section of the Eastern Ghats which form the eastern boundary of the Rayalaseema region of state of Andhra Pradesh and Nagarkurnool district, districts of the state of Telangana.
• The Nallamalla hills run in a nearly north-south alignment, parallel to the Coromandel Coast between the rivers, Krishna and Pennar.
• Its northern boundaries are marked by the flat Palnadu basin while in the south it merges with the Tirupati hills.
• The Nallamalas forest has a warm to hot climate throughout the year.
• It gets most of its rainfall during the South West Monsoon.
• The fissured rocks prevent water from percolating underground and creating mountain streams to become the Gundlakamma River.
• These hills are almost completely covered with open jungle.
  • Lack of water prevents the growth of large trees.
• The forest is best known for tigers, with large part of the forest being part of the Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve.