Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c15.13

c15.13

Another early Buddhist Stūpa was found at Golī in Palnad Taluk of Guntur District situated on the river Kollaru, a tributary of the Kṛṣṇā about 18 miles below Nagarjunikonda. Some remarkable sculptures in white marble-like stone have been found at this site, of superior workmanship matched to the best art of Amaravati and Nagarjunikonda. Their carving is extremely well-done and they show the highest excellence achieved in the art of the Kṛṣṇā Valley. There is a Stūpapaṭṭa amongst them (5' 1½" × 3' 1") on which a Stūpa raised on three receding terraces and covered with a lower frieze of rectangular slabs surmounted by five āyaka-khambhas on each face, is depicted with a drum and a high dome and having a harmikā on the top which is flanked by five tiered parasols (chhatrāvalī) on either side. [Fig. 203]. This appears to be a copy of the marble Stūpa at this site which was probably put up in the 2nd cent. A. D. with all the paraphernalia associated with such Andhra Stūpas. Amongst other subjects on the reliefs and friezes are a conspicuous Nāgarāja whose bold divine appearance is self-evident, Buddha and Bodhisattva images and several Jātakas, e. g. Vessantara Jātaka, Chhaddanta Jātaka, Sasa Jātaka, Mātiposaka Jātaka and several life-scenes of the Buddha as the temptation scene, Sujātā feeding the Buddha, First Sermon, Buddha’s visit to Yaśodharā, subjugation of Nāḷagiri. The detailed representation of the Vessantara Jātaka on two friezes in several panels recalls the reference to it in the description of a Mahā-chetiya in the Mahāvaṃsa. The date assigned to these sculptures on grounds of their style is 2nd-3rd. cent. A. D.