Summary:
: Two of the largest megalithic burial sites dating back to 2500 BCE to 500BCE, discovered and excavated in Rudramkota and Rayanapeta villages of West and East Godavari districts, are likely to be submerged in the Polavaram irrigation project.The sites, which were discovered recently (excavation work was completed in 2018) lie in the Polavaram canal submergence area. Unfortunately in the case of Polavaram such a comprehensive survey wa not done and now we stand to lose these sites, which shed crucial light on our ancient past, will be lost for ever.” That is how, the entire Buddhist site, which was to be submerged was salvaged when Nagarjuna Sagar was built. According to sources in the archaeology department, hundreds of these burial mounds are likely to be submerged.N Mallikarjuna Rao, deputy director, archaeology and chief archaeologist involved in the project said that a sum of 4.5 crore was allocated for the excavation and relocation work being carried out by the state irrigation department. The Rudramakota site alone would qualify as the single largest burial site.”Rani Sharma of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach), Vizag Chapter, who recently presented a paper at the AP History Congress in Srikakulam on salvage excavations, said, “ Earlier when mega irrigation projects such as Nagarjuna Sagar were taken up, salvage excavations were undertaken after a comprehensive survey was conducted to identify heritage sites..