Kondapur excavation to shed new light on Satavahana era religious practices

DR G Maheswari, the regional director of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), who led the archaeologists carrying out excavations at Kondapur village near Sangareddy town between 2009 and 2011, is set to release two eagerly awaited volumes documenting the groundbreaking findings of religious practices during the Satavahana era.

- VIVEK BHOOMI

These discoveries, which challenge previous assumptions, are expected to significantly contribute to the existing literature on the subject.

Traditionally, Satavahana sites were associated with Buddhism, but Dr Maheswari's research has uncovered compelling evidence of a distinct cult that thrived during the reign of the Satavahanas from the 4th century BC to the 1st century AD. Kondapur, which was part of the 'Assaka Mahajanapada' (Manjeera Valley), one of the 16 Mahajanapadas (a geopolitical area before kingdoms were formed), serves as the focal point of her investigations.