Preface

The present dissertation is the result of our association with the excavations carried out at Sripura during 2005-2009 and survey of all varieties of archaeological materials, viz., art and architecture, coins, copper plate and stone epigraphic records and seals etc. relating to the period cir. A.D. 650-800 has been made to highlight the history and cultural heritage of Sripura, which had been the capital of South Kosala under the reign of two royal dynasties–the Sarabhapuriyas (cir. A.D. 650-700) and the Panduvamsis (Somavamsis) during cir. A.D. 700-800, is presently a small village on the right bank of the Mahanadi river in Mahasamund District of Chhattisgarh State. As revealed by the vast archaeological and inscriptional sources found in the place, it played a very significant role in the history and cultural developments of not only Kosala but also those of Central-Eastern India.

Of course, the present survey is the first of its kind in the first decade of the present century, after all those reports of exploration of such British archaeologists like J.D. Beglar and A. Cunningham of the last quarter of 19^th century A.D. and the excavation reports of M.G. Dixit in 1950s, in so far as all the strands of archaeology, vast corpus of which have come to light during the large scale excavations of 1999-2009 have been surveyed, and all those which are typical of the earlier finds, which are new discoveries have been given intensive treatment to make them yield as much of history as possible. The various reports/publications of the current excavations carried on under the supervision of Sri A.K. Sharma from 1999 till date on different aspects of archaeology, time and again, till the final writing of the present thesis during June to December 2010 have been perused for the purpose. We may mention the names of Special Report No. 1 2007 Excavations of Sirpur Chhattisgarh, Puratattva, Puramanthan, Bronzes of Sirpur etc. in this regard. The earlier works, like M.C. Srivastav’s Sripura (in Hindi), Puratan No. IX, Art of Chhattisgarh, 1994, relevant issues of Pracya Pratibha and Utkirna Lekh etc. and other stray articles–researchoriented and popular–as published from time to time in the running decade have also been consulted. We have also tried to know Ph.D. works on Sripura and found one “History and Heritage of Sripura–An Exploration” which has been awarded Ph.D. Degree in 2009 under Sambalpur University.

As regards sources, we have utilized all those, which have come to light till December 2009 -art and architectural serendipities, inscriptions and coins, stone and metal icons etc. The conspicuous of which are the recently discovered about a dozen of copper plate and five stone inscriptions, 87 Nos. of Bronze icons, a large number of stone sculptures, 4 Nos. of Buddhist monasteries, one number of Jaina Vihara, about 20 Siva temples, a huge temple-complex of Surang Tila, a Royal palace complex and traces of city planning.

The investigation has been designed in the parameter of Six Chapters, viz.

(1) Sripura,
(2) Architectural Panorama,
(3) Sculptural Programme,
(4) The Corpus of Inscriptions,
(5) The Inventory of Coins,
(6) The Rewards of the Survey.

Chapter 1 contains an introduction of Sripura–it is location and extent, the various phases of exploration and excavations, the salient nature of their archaeological finds etc. in a succinct form.

Chapter 2 has been the repository of descriptions various types of structures in traces, dilapidated or extant state. The different religious structures–important of which are the Vaisnava, Laksmana and Rama temples, the Saiva of which Surang Tila and other Siva temples and, importantly, the seven Buddhist monasteries have received due in-depth discussion. Of course, we have taken one, two or a few–not all the prototypes–of a category, for fear of the size of the present monograph growing unwieldy.

Chapter 3 contains all types of icons and sculptures–religious and secular–of stone, bronze and other materials. Again, for fear of increase of the volume of the present report, we have selected a good corpus of the, while cataloging or briefly describing about the rest of course, the spectacular, the typical of the stones and all the recently discovered bronze Buddhist deities have been discussed in some length.

Chapter 4 contains a discussion of epigraphy of both the kinds–stone and copper plate as well as some of those on coins. Their salient traits, bearing on history and culture, language and characters and their evolution have been dedicated in the Chapter.

Chapter 5 has taken notes of the coins of different times, types and metals. Although their numbers are comparatively less, as found from Sirpur, the large number of gold and the few in silver copper and lead not only apprise us of the affluent economic condition, trade and commerce of Sirpur but also the strides made in the art of metallurgy of various metals.

Chapter 6 contains a review of the results of the survey. In fact, this Chapter alone may make a full-fledged thesis, but we have refrained and given only the salient features or facts of history and culture which have ramifications on a wide scale. The purpose is that future researchers may take note of our deductions and proceed for further research with the help of serendipities whose prospects of coming to limelight are very bright with the continuance of excavations in times to come.

Two Appendices–one on the Asokan Stupa and the other–the texts of some recently discovered copper plate and stone inscriptions in Deva Nagari characters have been provided.

Last but not the least, the work is profusely illustrated with maps, figures, diagrams and photographs of different items of archaeology of Sripura.

Thus the investigation proved to be a rewarding one. Many hitherto unknown facts have been brought to light though an intensive treatment of the archaeological finds of Sripura. The desideratum of presenting Sripura’s archaeological wealth discovered till date in a monograph has been fulfilled to a reasonable extent through the present survey.

(Bikash Chandra Pradhan)

Sri Pancami
The 8^th day of February 2010
Sambalpur (Odisha)