Historical Geography of Ancient India c7.11

c7.11

Amarāvatī (Pali : Amaravati).—This is the name of a town which contains the Amareśvara temple (E.I., Vol. VII, p. 17). Its old name is Dhānyaghaṭa or Dhānyaghaṭaka, which is identical with Dhānyakaṭa or Dhānyakaṭaka (corn-town), (Hultzsch, S.I.I., Vol. I, p. 25). It is noted for its stūpa (E.I., VI, 146–157; cf. C.I., VI, 17ff.). It was the capital of Amdhāpatiya (N. L. Dey, Geog. Dic., p. 7). Buddha in one of his previous births was born in this city as a Brahmin youth named Sumedha (Dhamma-pada-Aṭṭhakathā, I, p. 83). This city may be identified with the modern city of Amaraoti close to the Dharaṇikoṭṭa river, a mile west of ancient Amarāvatī on the Kṛṣṇā, famous for its ruined stūpa. The Amarāvatī stūpa is found about 18 miles to the west of Bezwada and south of Dharaṇikoṭa on the right bank of the river Kṛṣṇā, about 60 miles from its mouth in the Kṛṣṇā district of the Madras Presidency. The Amarāvatī tope was built by the Andhrabhṛtya kings who were Buddhists (J.R.A.S., III, 132). The Amarāvatī caitya is the Pūrvaśaila monastery of Hiuen Tsang. For excavations at Amarāvatī, vide A.S.I.R., 1905-6, 116ff.; A.S.I., Annual Report, 1908-9, 88ff.