If you come across the hills near the Belum Caves and Banaganapalle in the Nandyala District of the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, you can witness numerous black stone quarries and stone processing units. Along the road, you can see stacks of stone slabs, both raw and processed, we came to know that it’s Bethamcherla natural stone and Kadapa stone.

During my visit to Owk (a small mandal in Nandyala Dist), on an expedition to explore prehistoric cave paintings, we crossed Tadapatri. The road there has been made by hacking through the hill, exposing layers of stone. A close look at the layers of Bethamcherla stone shows that the thickness varies from 4 to 6 inches. Exposure to sunlight and rainwater must be the reason for the dark colour. Once quarried, sized, and polished, this stone becomes light ash or bluish.

This stone, called Bethamcherla stone, is quite popular and competes with marble. When cleaned and dressed, the stone is light ash coloured. Ash-coloured bits can be seen here.

Kadapa stone is a natural black hard rock of the limestone family, also known as black limestone. The word Kadapa (or Cudapah) comes from its ample availability in the Kadapa region of Andhra Pradesh. This stone is very cheap compared to other stones and requires very little maintenance. It has a high tolerance to wear and tear, heat, and moisture. It was commonly used for flooring in the olden days, and now several parts are still used as a cheap stone for flooring purposes.

Other than this, it can be used for cladding, paving, and many other purposes. In Tadapatri and its near vicinity of the Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh, there are approximately 1,310 stone polishing industries, and many people are benefiting directly and indirectly from this industry.

The black limestone reserves extend from Tadapatri to Kamalapuram in Kadapa District and from Yerraguntla to Bethamcherla in Kurnool District. We can also see an ample amount of stone waste near the quarries, which needs to be utilized in the future for alternative construction materials. Some of it is pulverized and used for road construction.

Nature is truly amazing. Not everything is as random as it seems; some things are quite systematic. Like these layers of Bethamcherla stone, Kadapa stone, Shahabad stone of Karnataka, and even the stones of the Kullu region in Himachal Pradesh. These stones have been a gift to us. With a little effort, we could harness materials that would make strong homes.

Shiva is an avid field explorer of history and the environment and is Project Field Researcher at FAIR.