# Rare Rashtrakuta Gajalakshmi sculpture found neglected in Medak 2026-10-11T21:46:20+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets A rare ninth-century Rashtrakuta period Gajalakshmi sculpture has been found lying neglected at Yanagandla village in Kulcharam mandal, Medak district, Telangana. Heritage activists and historians from the Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam (KTCB) examined the black granite carving on Saturday, 10 October 2026. The sculpture depicts Goddess Lakshmi seated in Padmasana, anointed by elephants, with a depiction of Samudra Manthan (the churning of the ocean) above her. Historians said this feature has not been reported in Telangana or Andhra Pradesh. The reverse side bears a carving of a 12-armed Shiva-Nataraja performing Ananda Tandava, flanked by Brahma and Vishnu. The team comprising E. Sivanagireddy, Sriramoju Haragopal, Gottipati Srinivasa Rao and A. Raghu appealed to villagers to install the sculpture on a pedestal for preservation. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both The Hindu and The Times of India carried nearly identical straight news reports on the discovery, with no editorial slant or political framing. The Hindu led with the Gajalakshmi figure and its Samudra Manthan detail, while The Times of India led with the Sagara Mathana scene and explicitly named the source of the tip-off, Burra Santosh. Neither outlet attributed neglect to any government agency or demanded action from the archaeology department, both simply quoted the experts' appeal to villagers. The uniform coverage reflects a heritage story reported as a straight find, with the shared next step being the villagers' decision on erecting the sculpture. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - thehindu.com (neutral report) Straight news report, no editorial slant - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Straight news report, no editorial slant This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Gajalakshmi, Medak, Rashtrakuta period Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/rare-rashtrakuta-gajalakshmi-sculpture-found-neglected-in-medak/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/rare-rashtrakuta-gajalakshmi-sculpture-found-neglected-in-medak/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/