Andhra Pradesh displays vestiges of Buddhist culture

Lionel Wijesiri

Amarvati Stupa ANDHRA CULTURE: The influence of Buddhism is subtle but deep-rooted in Andhra Pradesh in India. Dating to the pre-Christian era, Andhra Pradesh has some of the most fascinating archaeological monuments that tell the story of Buddhism in the region and the legacy it left behind.

Andhra Pradesh is known to the present generation as the land of the ancient sites of Buddhist learning. I have read about the ruins of Nagarjunakonda or Amaravati, but when I visited them, the question that came naturally into my mind was - when did Buddhism come to Andhra? History in India, I found out, is not so kind as to just handover a date. Instead, it told us many stories spread across centuries in time.

Some historians quote Sutta Nipata of Tripitaka and say that Buddhism came to Assaka country (modern Nizamabad district of Andhra) during the lifetime of the Tathagata Himself. According to them, an ascetic named Bavari set up an ashram on the banks of river Godavari and pursued a religious life.

Having come to know that a Buddha had arisen in the North, he sent his disciples to meet him and engaged him in a spiritual dialogue. The dialogue of the disciples of Bavari with the Buddha at Vaishali is recorded in sutta nipata, which also says that the Bavari's disciples having heard the Dhamma from Tathagata Himself converted to Buddhism, and took Dhamma to the Telugu country, Andhradesa.  

Sankaram 2000 year old Buddhist heritage site in Andhra Buddhism in Andhra flourished for over 2000 years as one of the important religions, right from 5th century B.C. to 14th century A.D. as confirmed by literary and archaeological accounts.

History reveals that for the third Buddhist Council which was held during the reign of Asoka, delegates of as many as six sects from Andhradesa i.e. chaityaka, purvasaila, aparasila, uttarsila, rajagirika, siddarthika all described as Andhakas participated. From that event onwards, Andhra played a pivotal role in the history of Buddhism in India. We also come across Budddhagosha, a revered name in Theravada tradition, who was born in 4th century A.D. in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh.

He wrote a treatise on Tripitaka called 'Vissudhimagga', which is his masterpiece on Theravada tradition. Andhra Pradesh in olden days was situated at a very central place in terms of the routes the caravans took.

At a place called Vengi, many such routes converged. Its importance was recognized very early in history and later Andhra kings even set up their capital at Vengi. In fact, Andhra Pradesh itself was often known as Vengi and the Andhra kings as Vengi kings.

The road to Kalinga, led to the north-eastern part of India. The road to Dravida or the South was different from the road to the South-West, which led to Karnataka. Similarly, there were two other roads, one leading to the city of Kosala and the other to the modern day state of Maharashtra. It was along these roads that Buddhist monks travelled and brought with them ideas and influences just as they took back bits of Andhra culture.

Buddha statue in Nagarjunakonda 2nd century BC Interestingly, the famous Buddhist sites of Andhra Pradesh are all found along these routes.

Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati lie on the South-Western road to Karnataka while Ghantasala lies along the road to the South. However, the piece de resistance of the entire land is the 18-metre high and 350-tonne monolith of the Gautama Buddha in the middle of the Hussainsagar Lake standing on what is known as the Rock of Gibraltar in the heart of present day Hyderabad.

Amravati is 32 kms from Guntur town on the right bank of the Krishna River. Also known as Dhanyakatakam, it was considered as one of the best sacred Buddhist pilgrimage centres in India. Amravati is most famous for the largest Stupa in the country, the Mahachaitya Stupa, built during the 2nd century BC. Indeed, the history of the Amaravati stupa parallels the flourishing of Buddhism in India, from the reign of the Buddhist Mauryan emperors of the 3rd Century BC to the 14th century.

The extensive mounds of Dharankota located on the west of Amravati, together with Nagarjunakonda and Amravati form the Golden Triangle of Buddhism in Andhra Pradesh. About 15 kms from Vishakhapatnam town is the hill acquiring the name Bavikonda. It is also considered to be one of the oldest and sacred Buddhist centres in Asia. With a series of hills cleverly carved into stupas, this site is very similar to Borobudur, Indonesia.

Excavations on the hill-top brought to light an extensive Buddhist establishment consisting of a Mahachaitya, stupas, chaityagrihas, a congregation hall, platforms, viharas, kitchen-cum-store complex, pottery, relic caskets, tiles, stuccos, iron objects, moulded bricks, coins etc.

Of the 140 Buddhist sites so far identified in the state, only a few have been fully excavated. When fully excavated these sites may still hold treasures of information for us.