Kanparthi museum in Andhra Pradesh to get a facelift at ₹2 crore

A detailed project report on building an aesthetically-designed museum will be submitted to the Central government, says State Archeology and Museums Deputy Director O. Ramasubba Reddy

The dilapidated museum at Kanaparthi village in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh with numerous artefacts will be given a facelift, State Archeology and Museums Deputy Director O. Ramasubba Reddy has said.

Leading a delegation of archeologists to the museum named after statesman Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu, on December 9 (Friday), he said that the village had been notified as an area of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

“A detailed project report (DPR) is being prepared to build an aesthetically-designed museum at a cost of over ₹2 crore. It DPR on creating the required infrastructure jointly by the Union and State Governments will be submitted to the Centre,” Mr. Ramasubba Reddy told The Hindu, which brought to limelight the archeologically valuable site in these columns. The team was deputed by Department of Archaeology and Museums Commissioner G. Vani.

A number of bronze and Panchaloha idols of the Lord Buddha have been unearthed as also numerous centuries-old Sivalingams in the coastal village, known as ‘Kanakapuripatnam in the past, explained department Assistant Director N. Gangadhar from Nellore.

Prakasam District Tourism and Cultural Officer K. Benhar said required tourism infrastructure would be developed in the village, where Gundalakamma, which has been a cradle of civilization for centuries, empties into the Bay of Bengal.

Social activist K. Trinadha Reddy pleaded with the officials to develop the historic Yeleswara temple in the village as it was from here a large number of idols were chiselled by expert sculptors and exported to Southeast Asian countries thousands of years ago. ‘Dhara Sivalinga’ with 32 dimensions is a rare piece of sculpture in the village.