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Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c15.s2.t1: History and Inscriptions

Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c15.s2.t1

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History and Inscriptions

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No less than seventeen inscribed āyaka-pillars were found which acquiant us with the history of local Ikshvāku dynasty and the monuments. The kings were of Brāhmanical faith but the queens were Buddhist and endowed these foundations. One of the rulers was King Chāmtimūla, whose uterine sister was Chāmtisiri. Her name occurs in nine pillar-inscriptions and she was the main benefactress who built the Mahāchetiya in the year 6 of King Vīrapurisadata, son of Chāmtimūla. Another inscription of this king dated in the year 20 was found at Jaggayyapeta. To the east of the Mahāchetiya Chāmtisiri also dedicated in the year 18 of the king a vihāra and a chaityagṛiha, referred to in the inscription firstly by this name, and secondly as a stone maṇḍapa surrounded by a cloister (chātusāla-parigahitam sela-maṇṭavam). The building was dedicated to the āchāryas of Aparamahāvinaseliya sect. Besides Chāmtisiri, paternal aunt (pituchhā) of the reigning king Vīrapurisadata, other ladies named in the inscriptions were also associated with these pious foundations. Another chaityagṛiha was built by Upāsikā Bodhisiri. It is interesting that the long inscription of Bodhisiri states that the shrine was dedicated to the Buddhist community of Tāmraparṇi (Ceylon), who took part in the conversion to Buddhism of the people of Kashmīra Maṇḍala, Gandhāra, Chīna, Tosali (Orissa), Aparānta (Konkan), Vaṅga, Vanavāsa (Karṇāṭa), Yavana (probably Alasanda or Alexandria) and Damila (Tamila land). She also constructed a śilā-maṇḍapa on the eastern gate of the Ghaṇṭasāla (Kaṇṭakaśaila) Stūpa. The hill on which her Stūpa stood is named as Chulla Dhammagiri (modern, Nāharāllaḍḍu, at a distance of 2 furlongs to the east of the great Stūpa on Śrīparvata.

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The inscriptions give names of two monasteries, one Kulaha Vihāra and the other Sīhala Vihāra, the latter for the Ceylonese monks. Other sects include Aparamahāvinaseliya (same as Pali, Aparaseliya, as distinguished from the Pūrvaseliyas of Amaravati), Mahīsāsaka (a subdivision of the Theravādins and appears to have flourished in the Andhra country), and Bahusuliya (Bahuśrutiya, a subdivision of the Gokulika sect belonging to the Mahāsaṅghikas). The Saṅgha besides its local organisation had also a branch named Chatudisa Saṅgha (i. e. the International Buddhist Church for the reception of foreign monks (later on referred to under this name in the Nālanda C. P. of Devapāla) which functioned with great vitality under its Āchāryas, Dhammakathikas, Desakas and Vāchakas.

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The epigraphs also refer to a number of architectural terms, e. g. mahā-chetiya, mahāthūpa (Great Stūpa), mahāvihāra, vihāra, chetiyaghara, chātusāla maṇḍapa (nave with cells), padhānasāla (hall of meditation), bodhi-rukkha-pāsāda (=bodhigharaprāsāda, temple of the bodhi tree), selamamtava, ovaraka (cell), alimdā (=alinda, entrance hall), taḍāka (pond), khaniya (cistern), khambha, selakhambha, selathambha, paṭa (slab), sapatasamthara (floor covered with slabs), unisa (coping-stone, but here also the frieze running along the top of the sculptured facing of a Stūpa), and dvāra (gateway). The superintendent of works, Navakammika, appointed by the royal ladies, took charge of the execution of these monuments of piety (Navakamma) and under his direction were employed stone-sculptors (selavaḍhaki) and architects (āvesani, Skt. āveśanin).¹

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¹ The style of the epigraphs shows several noteworthy points which link them with early Gupta inscriptions of a century later, e. g. such epithets as Agihot-agithoma-vājapeya-asamedhayājisa aneka-hiraṇa-koṭi-go-satasahasa-hala-satasahasapadāyisa savathesu apatihata-saṃkapasa, etc. Long epithets for Buddha as found in the Divyāvadāna and Lalitavistara breathe life in these inscriptions such as jita-kāma-krodha-bhaya-harisa-tarisa-moha-dosa-sadāpita-Māra-bala-dapa-māna-pasamana-karasa-dasa-bala-mahābalasa athamgamaga-dhama-chaka-pavatakas chaka-lakhaṇo-sukumāra-sujāta-charaṇasa taruṇa-divasa-kara-pabhasa sarada-sasi-soma-darisanasa sava-loka-chita-mahitasa Budhasa.

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The numerous ruined monuments indicate that during the second-third centuries A. D. Vijayapurī was one of the largest and most important Buddhistic settlements in Southern India and a great place of pilgrimage and a seat of learning.

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A big stone-built wharf or landing place for ships (250' × 50' × about 6' high along the water front) on the Krishna has also been exposed at Nagarjunikonda. All other monuments were built of large-sized bricks (20" × 10" × 3", similar to those at Bulandibag and Amaravati), which were joined with mud-mortar, The walls were plastered and whitewashed (sudhākamma) for the purpose of painting and gilding. The āyaka-pillars, floors and the important sculptures, both carved on the ūrdhvapatta slabs and free-standing, were made of white or grey limestone resembling marble and easy to work, known in ancient times as medavaṇṇa pāsāṇa, marrow-coloured stone, which was a local variety of marble.

Cites (4)