Ballari: In an act of vandalism, miscreants disfigured the prime Shivalinga among the ‘Koti Linga’ erected on a rock in Chakratheertha, a sacred place of the Shaiva sect during the Vijayanagar empire period, located near river Tungabhadra in the world heritage site, Hampi on Wednesday.
Attempts were also made to disfigure another Shivalinga within the premises.
Hampi is a popular tourist destination and home guards have been deployed here to protect the ancient monuments. However, it is gathered that these security personnel were deployed to some other places during the just concluded Ramzan festival and miscreants would have possibly disfigured the monuments during this period.
This is not the first instance of vandalism being reported in the area. Earlier, instances of few idols of goddesses being disfigured as well as razing down of the Gaali Gopura, a tower near the Malyavanta temple on the eastern side of Hampi by treasure hunters have been reported from here.
Expressing anguish over the incident, Hampi-based Vijayanagar Smaraka Samskruti Samrakshana Sene, has submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Hampi Sub-division, the Deputy Director of the State Archaeology Department and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) asking them to take measures to protect the monument and punish those involved in the act.
