Four rare palm leaf manuscripts, that could give more insight into the 13th century Telugu Chodas and their Yadhava chieftains in Nellore region, were found in Addanki in Prakasam district on Sunday.
Jyothi Chandra Mouli, a retired Telugu pundit and local historian from Addanki, obtained these manuscripts from a family of Suddula Gollalu who have been preserving them for five generations.
Suddula Gollalu are dependents of Yadavas and engage in Katha Ganam (singing ballads, mostly of Yadhavas and their heroics).
Even today, the families follow the same with passion and dedication. They could be found performing at folk festivals like Ganga Tirunala or celebrations of Yadhavas.
The 200-year-old manuscripts obtained by Chandra Mouli contain four of the 22 stories written in verse form and they are sung by the Suddula Gollas of Kanigiri region, once ruled by Yadhava chieftains under the Telugu Choda kings in the 13th century.
“They are part of the famous Katamaraju Kathalu, which tell the historic tale of the feud between Nellore king Manmuasiddhi and Yerragaddapadu Yadhava chieftain Katamaraju in Kanigiri area. The famous story of Kahadga Tikkanna, the army general of Manumasiddi, is also part of that tale,’’ explained Chandra Mouli. Chandra Mouli along with the Hyderabad Central University professor Jayadheer Tirumala Rao had visited the house of Kadiyam Brahmaiah in Adanki about a month ago, on coming to know that Brahamaiah, a Suddula Golla has some manuscripts of the stories of Katamaraju Kathalu.
‘’After a lot of persuasion, I could finally convince Brahamaiah to part with the manuscripts, which were in his family’s possession for several generations and considered a family treasure. Those palm leaf manuscripts were in a bad shape with pests infecting them,’’ Chandra Mouli said adding that the process of preserving those manuscripts will be taken up shortly.
The four manuscripts are of four stories - ‘Dannala Kondallo Bongaralata’ (A part of the history that happened in Donnakonda of present Prakasam district, in the 13th century), ‘Kari Avulu Rajula Katha’, ‘Phoola Raju Katha’ and ‘Nallamala Advulalu Avula Mandha’.
Chandra Mouli is also an amateur archeologist who has not only written articles on inscriptions found at different temples in the region, but also played a key role in finding of the Chalukyan Era inscriptions of 7th century AD in the ruins of some temples in Nagalapadu village of Addanki mandal and other nearby villages.
Recently, archeology experts from Chennai came all the way to Aadanki mandal to make copies of the inscriptions to study further.
‘’Protecting the past, be it in form of manuscripts or inscriptions should be the duty of all, since they not only give valuable information of our history, culture and traditions, but also help in setting the course right for the future,’’ said the local historian, who has donated six palm leaf manuscripts of Palanati Katha, that were with his family for generations to the AP Oriental Manuscripts Library.
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