Amaravati Art in the Context of Andhra Archaeology
by Sreyashi Ray chowdhuri | 2018 | 90,477 words
This page relates ‘Lower Krishna Valley (4): Ghantashala’ of the study on Amaravati Art in the Context of Andhra Archaeology, including museum exhibitions of the major archeological antiquities. These pages show how the Buddhist establishment of Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) survived from 4th century BCE to 14th century CE. It includes references and translations of episodes of Buddha’s life drawn from the Avadanas and Jatakas which are illustrated in Amaravati art.
Lower Kṛṣṇā Valley (4): Ghaṇṭaśālā
[Location: Ghaṇṭaśālā (Lat 1608’N Long 80056’ E, Divi Taluk, Kṛshṇā district)]
Ghaṇṭaśālā is situated 21 km west of Machilipaṭam. It was also a prosperous and renowned Buddhist centre dating back from the end of 1st century C.E or the beginning of 2nd century C.E. Its prosperity was due to the strategic importance of the place. It was a port and a market town. Its prosperity was mainly due to the seabourne trade between Andhra and South-East Asia. Ptolemy (middle of 2nd century C.E) mentioned about the mart of Kantakossyla situated within the region Maisolia[1]. Periplus mentioned it as Masalia[2]. Kantakossyla is transliterated into Sanskrit as Kanṭakaśaila and Kanṭakasthala which is identified as Ghaṇṭaśālā by all scholars.
Though once a reputed Buddhist centre, it was later subjected to pillage like many Andhra sites. Thus the surviving remnants are only a small part of a large Buddhist establishment. Ghaṇṭaśālā stūpa (PL 6c) was first reported by Boswell[3] (1870-71) and then partly excavated by A. Rea (1892). Later Chhabra made detailed excavation in 1945.
From excavations it appears that the Great stupa was about 122 feet 2 inches in diameter and at the base 111 feet 3 inches thick. The internal construction of the dome is in the form of a wheel with two concentric circular walls connected with each other by 16 radial walls. The radiating basement of the stūpa was 5 feet 7 inches. It had a solid brick core in the centre which was enclosed by an outer square was packed with mud. This is usually seen in South Indian stūpas. The circumambulatory path around the drum was paved with bricks[4]. The drum had four āyakas each measuring 17 feet 6 inches by 5 feet.
Apart from the Mahācaitya three more stūpas were excavated. Ghaṇṭaśālā inscription, Roman coins and ornate pillars are also important findings of the site. Some sculptures are discovered which indicate the style of the Amarāvatī idiom (PL 6d). The Ghaṇṭaśālā Archaeological Museum houses some Buddhists antiquities discovered from Ghaṇṭaśālā.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Scoff H. Wilfred (tr), 1912, The Periplus of the Erythraen Sea, Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by merchant of 1st century A.D, London, p 252.