1,000-year-old copper plates unearthed in Telangana's Suryapet district reveal land grant to Siva temple
The inscription records the donation of the village Chunugiyapundi for the maintenance and worship at the Sakalesvara Siva temple in Kakarti village, situated within the Vengi-mandala of Kondapalli vishaya. The grant was made during the administration of Vetti, grandson of Vigraha Vetti. The royal order was issued by Kadeyaraja, the Superintendent of the Royal Camp, while the inscription was engraved by Kondapacharya.
The plates, written in Sanskrit using Telugu script of the 9th-10th century CE, bear the royal seal of the Eastern Chalukyas—a varaha (boar) symbolising the dynasty with the inscription Svasti Sri Tribhuvanamkusa. The text also details the royal lineage from Kubja Vishnuvardhana to Chalukya Bhima I.
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Director (Epigraphy) Munirathnam Reddy said that the inscription offers crucial insights into the religious practices, administrative systems, and cultural life of the Eastern Chalukyas, underlining the historical significance of the Vengi region in early medieval South India.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
33 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Karnataka employee with ‘North Indian colleagues' alleges discrimination at new workplace
A professional from Karnataka has shared an emotional account alleging workplace exclusion after switching companies. The post has sparked a heated conversation on language, bias, and inclusivity in Indian offices. A man claimed that he thinks his 'North Indian colleagues' are avoiding him because he's from Karnataka. (Representational image). (Unsplash/Towfiqu barbhuiya) "Workplace discrimination,' the Reddit user wrote, adding, ''I'm a Kannadiga who's recently switched companies. It's been two weeks in this new company, and I haven't been able to make a single friend yet. The people who sit next to me don't bother to say hi unless I initiate the conversation.' The employee then claimed, 'I'm from Karnataka, and most of my colleagues here are from North Indian states, which makes me wonder if that's why I'm being excluded.' However, the individual adds that they also had colleagues from that region in India in their previous company. Take a look at the post: What did social media say? An individual posted, 'I'm not from Karnataka, and I faced the same issues from my Kannadiga colleagues when I moved to Bengaluru. You need to make peace with it and make connections outside your workplace, too.' Another suggested, 'Be on good behaviour, your usual self and things will gradually improve. You had a good bond with the previous team, and that void can't be filled overnight. Give it time and things will be alright.' A third commented, 'When people hear that they are from the same place or they have the same mother tongue, they will become close to each other very soon. I am Kannadiga, and I work in Bengaluru. But most of my teammates are from Andhra and have chosen Bengaluru for work, and they do exactly the same as your North Indian colleagues. They speak in Telugu every time they are at the office. Every time (yes, every time), I initiate the talk, ask them to go out for a break etc. Sometimes, I go outside the building, stating I am feeling cold from ACs, and literally tell them to inform me when they are going to take a break to join them. But to date, they haven't done that. They go together & come together without me. So, I completely understand your thoughts on this being Kannadiga in IT. Sometimes I feel the same, but can't help.' OP responded, 'Thank you for sharing this brother. I hope you're able to make some connections soon. While some believe the office is solely for work, I believe brief social interactions can boost morale and productivity. It's indeed frustrating when you lack someone to share a laugh or light moment with during work hours.' A fourth wrote, 'You are there to work. Earn money and make friends somewhere else. Most work friendships are pretentious, and it ends the moment you leave the company.'
The Wire
6 hours ago
- The Wire
Kindness Amid Hardship
Society Usha Ajithkumar 3 minutes ago Sometimes, the people who help us the most are those we've never met before and may never meet again – but their goodness stays with us forever. I was a bold, independent and professionally successful woman in my 30s, born and raised in Mumbai, thriving in its fast-paced, liberating environment. Little did I know that my first international flight – to Dammam, Saudi Arabia – would be the most life-altering journey of my life. I was newly married and armed with a working visa for an international school, hoping to finally live with my husband, who held a separate work visa. However, what awaited me was a cultural and emotional shock. The restrictive lifestyle imposed on women was suffocating. The mandatory black cloak (abaya), the limited recreational avenues, the requirement of a male guardian to step outside, and the starkly curtailed social life left me feeling like a bird trapped in a cage. Worse still, I encountered deeply rooted gender, religious and racial discrimination that further complicated my stay. Things took a turn for the worse when my husband's sponsor suffered business losses and, in an act of coercion, demanded a ransom to release his passport. Unable to pay, my husband was arrested under false charges of fund misappropriation filed by his employer. Ironically, though slavery was officially abolished in 1962 by King Faisal, the exploitation of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia remain appallingly similar to bonded labour. Nine months pregnant and desperate, I wrote a heartfelt letter to the Indian embassy seeking help. To my amazement, three Indian social workers – a Hindu, a Christian and a Muslim – responded promptly. Only Mr Mohammed, the Muslim social worker, was allowed to enter the police station due to his religion and command over Arabic. Soon after, I was asked to vacate the sponsor-provided accommodation. The local Malayali community was sympathetic, but housing me required permission from their respective sponsors – a bureaucratic impossibility. Without hesitation, Mr Mohammed offered me shelter in his own home, where he lived with his wife and six children. With no other option, I trusted this complete stranger and followed him, clutching a small bag of clothes and hope. What followed felt almost surreal. His wife and children welcomed me warmly, offering a private room, food, emotional support and even accompanying me to the gynaecologist when I experienced pain. Mr Mohammed stayed in touch with my anxious family in Mumbai and comforted them regularly. This stranger, in a strange land, became my saviour. With his support, I gathered evidence of my husband's innocence and filed a legal petition. As my delivery date neared, I handed him the power of attorney and flew back to India, vowing never to return. With relentless efforts from Mr Mohammed and the embassy team, a lawyer was hired, and justice was finally served – my husband was exonerated and even received compensation for unlawful detention. This traumatic experience ignited a spark in me. Words like "human rights", "advocacy," and "NGO" were no longer just terms – I resolved to dive deeper. Today, I hold a master's degree in human rights, a PhD in child rights and a law degree. And yet, theory rarely matches practice. Empowerment through education is vital, but so is the support of a compassionate stranger when navigating an alien world. Mr Mohammed's kindness left an indelible mark on my soul. Even today, I remember and pray for his family with immense gratitude. Sometimes, the people who help us the most are those we've never met before and may never meet again – but their goodness stays with us forever. I returned home broken, but I came back wiser – with a deeper understanding of pain, resilience and the power of kindness. In the darkest chapters of our lives, even a single act of compassion can illuminate the path ahead. And because of that one man's courage and empathy, I found the strength to face all future hardships and rebuild my life. In the end, it's not caste, religion, race or gender that define us – but our humanity. The very land that brought us injustice also gifted us a messiah in Mr Mohammed. Dr Usha Ajithkumar is currently working as a professor and head of the Department of Education at a university. We've grown up hearing that 'it's the small things' that matter. That's true, of course, but it's also not – there are Big Things that we know matter, and that we shouldn't take our eyes, minds or hearts off of. As journalists, we spend most of our time looking at those Big Things, trying to understand them, break them down, and bring them to you. And now we're looking to you to also think about the small things – the joy that comes from a strangers' kindness, incidents that leave you feeling warm, an unexpected conversation that made you happy, finding spaces of solidarity. Write to us about your small things at thewiresmallthings@ in 800 words or less, and we will publish selected submissions. We look forward to reading about your experiences, because even small things can bring big joys. Read the series here. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Time of India
Muslims are world's fastest growing religious group: Pew
NEW DELHI: Muslims emerged as the fastest growing religious group in the world over 2010-2020, while the share of Christians - the world's largest religious group - in the global population fell by 1.8 percentage points to 28.8%, a Pew Research Centre analysis stated. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Hindus grew at about the same rate as the world's overall population, reaching 1.2 billion in 2020, of whom 95% are in India. As of 2020, Hindus made up 79% of the population in India, compared to 80% in 2010. The share of Muslims rose from 14.3% in 2010 to 15.2% in 2020, revealed the analysis titled 'How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020'. Globally, people with no religious affiliation - sometimes called "nones" - were the only category aside from Muslims that grew as a percentage of the world's population, rising by 270 million and reaching 1.9 billion. The share of "nones" climbed by nearly a full percentage point to 24.2%. The research shows that the number of Muslims increased by 347 million - more than for all other religions combined. The share of the world's population that is Muslim rose by 1.8 percentage points to 25.6%. As a proportion of the global population, Hindus held steady at 14.9% in 2020. The figure was 15% in 2010. The number of Hindus worldwide grew 12% from 2010 to 2020, rising from a little less than 1.1 billion to nearly 1.2 billion. Buddhists were the only major religious group that had fewer people in 2020 than a decade earlier. In 2010, Christians accounted for 30.6% of the global population, followed by Muslims (23.9%), Hindus (15%), Buddhists (4.9%), unaffiliated (23.3%), other religions (2.2%) and Jews (less than 1%). The analysis draws attention to the various factors driving change in religious demographics. A key factor for Christians shrinking as a share of the global population is the widespread switching out of religion. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now This "religious disaffiliation" among Christians overrides their demographic advantage (high fertility). Muslim population growth is largely driven by their relatively young age profile and a high fertility rate. Hindus remain a stable share of the world's population because their fertility resembles the global average, and surveys indicate that Hindus rarely switch out of their religion. The analysis shows that Muslims had the highest proportion of children in 2010 (35% of the world's Muslims were under the age of 15), followed by Hindus (31%). The research observes that Muslims and Hindus are the least likely to gain or lose adherents from religious switching. About one in every 100 adults raised Muslim or Hindu has left their native religion, and a similar number from a different religious group have switched to Islam or Hinduism.
