A conservation project at a 9th-century Nolamba dynasty temple in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district has led to the discovery of hidden astronomical markers on the temple floor. While cleaning the granite pavement of the Sabha Mandapa, restorers found a series of precisely etched circular patterns and lines that correspond to the positions of specific star clusters during the equinoxes. This finding confirms that the Nolamba architects, who ruled parts of modern-day Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, incorporated advanced celestial tracking into their sacred geometry.
The restoration effort, led by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), also successfully stabilized the temple's unique 'hanging' granite pillars, which are characteristic of the later Vijayanagara influence but were pioneered in simpler forms by the Nolambas. The project aims to restore the structure using traditional lime mortar and stone-grafting techniques. The discovery of these celestial markers has attracted interest from archaeo-astronomers, who believe the temple served as both a place of worship and a calendar for local agricultural cycles.