Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c15.27

c15.27

The Stūpa of Bhaṭṭiprolu situated on the route to the Tamila Land was a huge structure measuring 132' in height and 148' in diameter at the base, built of large-sized bricks in about the 3rd-2nd cent. B. C. In shape it was a low hemispherical mound similar to that at Sanchi. An inscribed relic-casket and some sculptures were found from this Stūpa which offers close parallels with the architecture of the Great Stūpa at Amaravati. With the relic-casket were found pearls, precious stones, gold flowers, beads, triśūlas and twenty-four small coins with the triśūlas and the sacred pāda encircled by a Nāga engraved on them. Strangely enough no Vihāra attached to the Stūpas of Bhaṭṭiprolu has been traced but the available inscriptions indicate that the local Buddhist Saṅgha was organised in to different committees for efficient functioning.