Amaravati Art in the Context of Andhra Archaeology
by Sreyashi Ray chowdhuri | 2018 | 90,477 words
This page relates ‘rule of the early Pallavas’ 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.
The rule of the early Pallavas
The early Pallavas under Simhavarman I (315-CE-345-CE) rose in prominence in the Guṇṭur region and his successors held sway over the southern portion of the Kṛṣṇā-river (Nellore, Prakasan, Guṇṭur District) till the conquest of the region by Chalukyas of Badami. Under the Pallavas (4th Century CE) Brāhmaṇism was favoured[1]. Yet Buddhism continued its religious influence in the lower Kṛṣṇā valley and Amarāvatī-Dhānyakaṭaka retained its significant position[2].
In the record of early Pallava king Śivaskandavarman, Dhānyakaṭaka is referred as the vice regal city[3]. Śivaskandavarman issued a copper plate grant (Mayidavolu) to his father’s governor at Dhānyakaṭaka requesting him to give a village named Viripara as grant to the Brāhmaṇas. Mayidavolu copper plate found in Mayidavolu village in the Kṛṣṇā district contains eight copper plates and fifteen sides of inscriptions.
A part of it may be cited in this regard.
Text:-
First Plate: First Side
Diṭha(ṃ) [II*]
[First Plate: Second Side]
1. (Kām)chipurāto yuva maharajo
2. Bharadaya sa gotta Palavānaṃ
[2nd plate: First Side]
3. Sivakha(m) davammo Dhaṃnakaḍe
4. Vāpataṃ ānapayati [i][4]
Translation:-
From Kanchipura the Yuvamahārāja Śivaskandavarman (of the family) of the Pallavas who belongs to the gotra of the Bharadvajas, orders (his) official (vyaprita) at Dhānnakaḍa conferring on ourselves victory (in war) and for increasing (our) merit, length of life and power, we have now given with libations of water, the village of Viripara in Andhrāpatha to the (two) Brahmanas Puvakotuja of Agnivesa gotra and Gonandija of Agnivesa.
Another Pallava inscription from Dhānyakaṭaka of a much later date, that is, 1100 C.E mentions Amarāvatī as an important Buddhist centre during the time of Siṃhavarman II[5]. It is engraved on three sides of an octagonal broken pillar and consists of eleven verses and a prose passage. Part of the inscription is lost due to damage.
From this inscription several informations are gathered. It starts with the invocation to Lord Buddha and furnishes a mythical geneology of the Pallava dynasty. It is mentioned that the Pallava king Siṃhavarman II on his return from an expedition to the north, stayed at Dhānyakaṭaka, the sacred place of Buddha. The king listened to the discourse on law and made donations to Lord Buddha at Dhānyakaṭaka and erected the statue of Buddha[6]. This definitely indicates the religious importance of Dhānyakaṭaka to the Pallavas and the survival of the pious monument in its glory.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
[3]:
Ramachandran A, Op.cit, p 40.
[4]:
Hultzch E, 1981 (Reprint), ‘Mayidavolu Plates of Sivaskandavarman’, Hultzch E (ed), Epigraphia Indica, Vol VI, 1900-1901, pp 84-89.
[5]: