Mystery shrouds small round gold beads and a few ornaments found by the local fisherfolk on the 500-meter stretch of the Uppada coast in East Godavari district. The pieces of golden ornaments in multiple shapes, including a necklace, were found on the beach sand during cyclone Nivar and the phenomenon is attributed to sea erosion eating into the shoreline.
On November 27, a few locals went to the place expecting to find gold pieces, as gold was found in the Mangala Dibba area on the Uppada coast on several occasions during cyclones in the past. The search continued for three days and a few lucky ones could lay their hands on gold pieces.
Surada Nageswara Rao, a fisherfolk elder, told The Hindu: “We heard that a temple existed here several years ago and whenever there is a cyclone, the locals rush to the place in the hope of finding gold and some of them have been finding it also.”
Whenever high tide rummages the top layer of the sand at the beach here, the fisherfolk throng in large numbers in the rush to find gold.
A piece of gold found in the sea sand at Uppada village in East Godavari district after cyclone Nivar. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“The gold ornaments are found here but nobody has a clue about the source of the gold. The area where the gold is found is now protected by the geo-tube from the sea erosion,” said Mr. Nageswara Rao.
In the last two decades, nearly 3-4 kilometres of the sea coast is eroded on the Uppada coast. A temple, locally known as Matsya Lingeswara Swamp temple, also got washed away.
“We believe that the gold ornaments found in the beach sand might have belonged to the devotees who probably lost them while taking a holy dip in the sea in the past when the Matsya Linga temple existed,” said Ummidi Govind, another fisherman.
Sources said thousands of devotees from across the Uppada coastal belt used to take a holy dip at the Matsya Linga temple till it ceased to exist due to sea erosion. There is however, no scientific theory available to establish the real cause of the gold pieces being traced here for last many years.