Lower Kṛṣṇā Valley (8): Nāgārjunakoṇḍa

[Location: Nāgārjunakoṇḍa (Lat 16031’N, Long 790 14’E, Palnad Taluk of Gunṭur District)]

Nāgārjunakoṇḍa or the hill of Nāgārjuna, ancient Vijayapurī lies on the right bank of river Kṛṣṇā. It is about 22 km to the west of Macherla. It was a secluded valley enclosed by a group of hills which were offshoots of the Nallamalai range^[1]. It is in this region that the Ikṣvāku king established his capital Vijayapurī in the 1^st quarter of 3^rd century C.E. Epigraphical records prove that Vijayapuri was the capital of the Ikṣvākus^[2]. The ladies of the family were chief patrons of the Buddhist establishment. However, mention of the valley Nāgārjunakoṇḍa appears in the inscriptions of later Sātavāhanas. Coins of Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi, Vāśiṣṭhīputra Pulumāvi and Yajna Sātakarṇi prove beyond doubt that Buddhism penetrated into the valley during the time of the later Sātavāhanas.

Regarding the discovery of Nāgārjunakoṇḍa it is known that on 21^st February 1920 an Andhra school teacher named Suraparaju Venkataramaih found an inscribed pillar in the remote jungle ridden valley of Nāgārjunakoṇḍa^[3]. However, it was only in 1926 that the valley attracted the attention of the scholarly world for its rich archaeological remains. This exploration took place under the supervision of A.R Saraswati, Telegu Assistant to the Archeological Superintendent for Epigraphy, Archaeological Survey of India^[4]. Shortly after this G. Jouveau Dubreuil excavated this site and removed some sculptures. Few months later M.H Kuraishi (Deputy) and A.H Longhurst, Superintendent, Archaeological Survey of India, Southern circle conducted full scale excavation^[5]. Longhurst conducted excavations from 1927-1931^[6] and furnished a lot of information. Again in 1938 the site was re-excavated by T.N Ramachandran^[7]. In 1950s severe drought conditions in Andhra Pradesh prompted the government to undertake massive irrigation project. Thus when the government made a plan to transform the valley into a reservoir by the name Nāgārjunasagar Dam, the Archaeological Survey of India made an effort to safeguard the ruins from submergence. In 1954-60 a special project was undertaken by Archaeological Survey of India for extensive excavations in the valley. This project was undertaken under the guidance of Dr. R. Subrahmanyam. These excavations revealed innumerable antiquities from the time of early Stone Age to the late medieval times.

With the knowledge of coming submergence of the valley, small models of the architectural remains were made. Several structures of the valley including the Mahachaitya were transplanted to the nearby hillsides. With the initiative of Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, the sculptures and other antiquities were kept in a museum atop the fortified medieval hill of Nāgārjunakoṇḍa.

The archaeologists have unearthed a wide range of Buddhists and other edifices at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa. The most important monument at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa was the Mahācaitya (PL 7d). It was once a large Buddhist stūpa but now it is reduced to a base with āyaka platforms and āyaka pillars at four cardinal directions^[8]. In its glorious days it rested on a drum 5 feet high and 106 feet in diameter. The stūpa had 40 chambers for the accommodation of Buddhist monks coming from different countries. Another feature of the Mahācaitya was the absence of a railing which was elaborately constructed in the Amarāvatī Mahācaitya. However, like Amarāvatī, the Nāgārjunakoṇḍa Mahācaitya enshrined the corporeal relics of the Master. From an inscription it is known that the stūpa was dedicated to Aparamahavinaseliya sect, a branch of the later Mahāsaṅghikās. Camtisri, the sister of Camtamūla, the Ikṣvāku ruler, was the major donor of the Mahācaitya.

Apart from the Mahācaitya, the other Buddhist monuments of the valley are vihāras like Dharanī vihāra, Kumāranandi vihāra, Bahuśrutīya vihāra and Mahiśāśaka vihāra, hill monastery, apsidal shrines and a caitya hall containing a small stūpa. In addition to the Buddhist establishment some Hindu establishments like Ashtabhujasvami temple, Kārttikeya temple, Saravadeva temple and Pushpabhadra svami temple are mention worthy. Among some secular structures discovered in the valley mention may be made of the arena (stadium) (PL 8a), bathing ghat, residential establishment and defence structures. Some ritualistic buildings like Aśvamedha complex and burning ghāt is also found at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa.

The sculptures of Nāgārjunakoṇḍa appear to be a continuation of the Amarāvatī tradition. The sculptural art of Nāgārjunakoṇḍa are thematically paralleled to the sculptures of Amarāvatī. The best specimens of Nāgārjunakoṇḍa reliefs belong to the common denomination of form, idiom and technical skill to the Amarāvatī reliefs (PL 8b). Both at Amarāvatī and Nāgārjunakoṇḍa the technique of perspective is achieved by overlapping the figures. However, certain differences can be viewed. The sense of expressiveness at Amarāvatī becomes dull in some fragments from Nāgārjunakoṇḍa. However, in some examples one can see urban sophistication and elegance of Amarāvatī (PL 8c). The facial modelling at Amarāvatī is oval whereas at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa it is round^[9]. Though the linear quality is retained at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa but the deep undercutting in Amarāvatī relief is absent here.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ramachandran A, Op.cit p 101.

[2]:

Prasad B. Rajendra, 1980, Art of South India, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, p 19.

[3]:

Vogel J.Ph, (Reprint) 1983, ‘Prakrit Inscriptions from a Buddhist Site at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa’, Hirananda Sastri (ed), Epigraphia Indica, Vol XX, Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi, pp 1-37.

[4]:

Stone E.R, Op. cit, p 1

[5]:

Sarkar H and Mishra B.N, 2006, Nāgārjunakoṇḍa, New Delhi, p 4.

[6]:

Ibid, p 4.

[7]:

Longhurst A.H, 1938, Reprint 1991, ‘The Buddhist Antiquities of Nāgārjunakoṇḍa, Madras presidency’, Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, No 54, Delhi, Longhurst A.H, 1990 (Reprint) ‘Excavations at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa’, Hargreaves H (ed), Annual Report of Archaeological Survey of India, 1927-28, pp 113-121, Hargreaves H (ed), Annual Report of Archaeological Survey of India, 1928-29, pp 100-104 Sahni Rai Bahadur Daya Ram (ed), Annual report of Archaeological Survey of India, 1929-30 pp 144-151 Fabri C.L (ed), Annual report of Archaeological Survey of India, Part 1, 193034, pp 107-111.

[8]:

Ramachandran T.N, 1938, Reprint 1999, Nāgārjunakoṇḍa, Memoirs of Archaeological Survey of India, No 71, Delhi.

[9]:

Sarkar H, 1966, Studies in early Buddhist Architecture of India, New Delhi, p 84.