Major Stupas at Langudi

[Stupas at Langudi, Orissa (Lat 200 45’ N, Long 860 11’ E)]

The Buddhist vestiges at the site can be dated from the second-first century BCE to the ninth-tenth century CE (Donaldson 2001:48). The site was first reported and brought to light by Professor. K.S. Behera^[1] and H.C. Prusty in 1992 (Fig.5). The stupa at Langudi (Plate-VIII) (Fig. 6) is located on the extreme end of the mound towards the north-west side of the rock-cut stupa complex. But it was only in 1996-97 that excavations were undertaken here by the Government of Orissa under the aegis of the Orissan Institute of Maritime and Southeast Asian studies (Patnaik 2000:83) under the supervision of Devraj Pradhan. The baseof the stupa is rectangular in shape. On the southern side of the stupa, flight of steps is to approach the stupa (Plate-IX).

The stupa’s base measures 75 ft (22.67 m) north-south x 60 ft (18.26 m) east-west x 9ft (2.74 m) high. Theouter wall of the vedhi was constructed of laterite blocks kept one above the other. The laterite blocks used in it are of different sizes, the longest block measure 1.69-1.94 m long, their thickness varies between 0.18 m to 0.30 m thick and width 0.56 to 0.61 m. Eight courses of veneeredlaterite wall of the platform are extant, of these the lower five courses are of better quality laterite and the upper three courses are thicker and of poorer quality. Inside of the stupa platform is a combination of layers of burnt bricks laid flat at interval of about 0.30 m and in between is a compact layer of morrum, brickbats, potsherds and earth.

To approach the stupa there are two sets of staircase. On the southern side are the first nine steps leading to the corridor in the middle of the platform measuring 6.50 m long and 2 m broad and probably it was paved with dressed sandstone slabs. The corridor is in between the projections in the front and the main wall of the Vedi(Fig.6, Plate-IX). Of these, eight steps are of laterite blocks/slabs and the first one is of sand stone blocks. The laterite slabs used are not of uniform size. The longest slab measures 2.62 m long, 0.73 m wide and 0.20 to 0.21 m thick. The staircase was originally flanked by railing pillars connected by suchis (cross bars), which is evident from the remains of square postholes measuring 0.26 by 0.26 m on either side of the eight laterite steps. The side walls of the steps were made of laterite blocks and the inside was filled with earth. The back wall of the corridor mentioned above is extant up to five courses. Towards the right of the corridor is the second set of steps, four in number, followed by a small platform measuring 2 m by 1.60 m, the floor of which is brick paved. This platform leads to the pradakshinapatha and medhi. On either side, in the front there are projections measuring 0.48 m X 4.72 m each.

The pradakshinapatha was 2 m broad and the steps are like the earlier ones, made of various pieces. The blocks measure 2.62 m wide, 0.71 m broad and 0.21 m thick. The laterite steps here are veneered with finely dressed sandstone slabs 6 cm thick, but of different sizes. The laterite risers have a slight recess to conceal and hold the ends of the sandstone slabs. Similar recess is also observed in the first group of steps; it appears that all the steps, the corridor and probably the pradakshinapatha were veneered with finely dressed Khondalite blocks.

The medhi is square on plan; rest of the part is lost, leaving us in dark about how the architecture or the superstructure was. The medhi was made of burnt brick and its inner part is divided in to compartments and is filled with soil and murrum. The pradakshinapatha was paved with burnt bricks measuring 37 x 25 x 9, 36 x 26 x 6, 34 x 23 x 7 and 34 x 23 x 8 cm. In the excavations no relics were found from within the stupa but in the excavations from atop the stupa, remains of harmika and chatravali were discovered. The extant height of the stupa is 9 f (2.74 m).

At present the rectangular base of the stupa, the remains of steps with stone veneering and remains of a railing of which suchis, twenty-six pillar remains(Plate-X) with lenticular sockets and a chatra were found from around the stupa. The excavator opines that as only two out of the 26 pillars (Plate-XI) are decorated rest 24 are plain ‘the plain pillars belong to second century BCE where as the decorated ones with lotus medallions belonged to a later period’. The plain suchis according to him are of Asoka’s time and those decorated of Sunga period.

On top of the stupa, remains of one terracotta image bearing the foot of Buddha over double petalled lotus was also discovered. The railing pillars are of earlier type, as are reported from Sanchi. The stupa was constructed of laterite blocks kept one over the other (must have been used as veneering blocks for the stupa or the earlier mud/brick(?) stupa was enlarged using laterite blocks, which has to be ascertained) and the inner is earth and brick filling. The bricks here measure 36 x 26 x 6 cm. On four corners were four monolithic circular pillars made of laterite, of which three are still in-situ, but broken, the one on the southeast corner is missing. This is a unique feature not reported from any other sites till date and its function is unknown.

If the stupa wouldn’t have been found in dilapidated condition it could have been a very important and unique edifice. The site has yielded NBP ware, a number of seals and sealings and fragmentary inscriptions were found, on the basis of these the excavator believes that the stupa can be dated to the second century BCE (Pradhan 2001:15-16). But if the date assigned is for the present stupa, then judged on the basis of development of stupa architecture, it does not fit in the said time bracket but can be dated to the second-third century CE if not later.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Dr. K. S. Behera was then Professor, History Department, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Orissa and Research Guide of H.C. Prusty.