Amaravati Art in the Context of Andhra Archaeology
by Sreyashi Ray chowdhuri | 2018 | 90,477 words
This page relates ‘Lower Krishna Valley (11): Guntupalli’ 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 (11): Gunṭupalli
[Location: Gunṭupalli (Lat 170 0’N Long 810 8’E, West Godāvarī District)]
This village [Gunṭupalli] is about 45 km from Ellore railway station in the West Godāvarī district and was an important centre of Buddhism. The Buddhist establishment at Gunṭupalli consists of a circular caityagriha with an oblong projection towards the west with a narrow porch. The rock-cut caityas of Gunṭupalli are similar in plan to the circular caityas at Mahakali and Junnar[1]. Brick chaityas are also found at Gunṭupalli[2] (PL 9b). Bricks and mud mortar was used in the walls which were plastered internally and externally. The porch leads to a porch passage which gave way to the sanctum. The sanctum is 36 feet in diameter. In the middle of the sanctum is the stūpa. Here some Buddha images were found in the samapada position displaying abhaya mudrā. The caityagriha on the west is approached by the flight of steps. It probably belonged to the 2nd century C.E. In front of the step are more than 30 stūpas. To the west of it lies a pillared monolithic pillar. Immediately west of it is an apsidal sanctuary made of bricks. Another interesting aspect of the site is the presence of rock-cut caves in two groups at two different heights[3].
Footnotes and references:
[2]: