Stone age paintings found in caves
Dyavanapalli Satyanarayana, a Hyderabad based historian discovered few ancient times paintings in two caves, situated in the forests of Buggagattu, Hajipur, which is 11km from Mancherial.
Reportedly, the paintings found in the Chittarayya Gundu caves date back to 8500 BC. “The prehistoric paintings at the Kottha Chittarayya Gundu caves were drawn at five places on the sand rock walls of 50 yards long. The first space has a one-foot-long Petroglyph of an ox engraved. The second and third spaces are the main drawing (Chittaruvulu), on which several tens of red ocher paintings were drawn,” Satyanarayana said.
He opined that most of the paintings were of horned bulls in rows, deer, antelopes, porcupine and monitor lizard.
A few other paintings witnessed some men controlling the oxen with weapons. Most of the paintings were found on the walls of Patha Chittarayay Gundu, the other cave. It is located around 2 km from Kottha Chittarayya Gundu. But as the locals illicitly distilled liquor in the caves, the paintings are losing its beauty.
“Only a half-foot long ox figure in red ochre and a foot-long ox in white are clearly visible on the 30-foot-long wall in the second cave. The paintings can be retrieved by scientific or expert chemical cleaning of the wall. These might date back to 8,500-3,000 BC. But, it has to be established through scientific methods,” he said.
According to the historian, the caves were inhabited by people, in the later periods. “The government may develop the sites as historical and adventurous tourist spots to protect the rare and rich heritage of Telangana,” Satyanarayana said.
