A group of 10 Sati stones dating to the 10th-11th Century AD have been discovered in an open field in Mudhole of Nirmal district by amateur historians of Telangana.
“We identified these as Sati stones since there are sculptures that show a woman wearing bangles with a raised hand. This was the tradition at the time. We dated this to Kalyani Chalukya rule in the region,” said Sriramoju Haragopal, who worked with B. Ramamohan for the find.
The findings also included hero stones, locally known as viragallu. “After speaking to the local residents, we realised that there were more sculpted stones in the area but those were thrown into a pond due to superstitious belief,” informed Mr. Haragopal.
Earlier, sati stones had been found in Basar and other areas of the region, bearing inscriptions.
Mudhole was a known site for Jainism which thrived in the region during the Satavahana period. This finding of Sati stones shows a continuum of civilisation in the region.
