Amravati – Andhra Pradesh
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The city of Amravati is situated in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It lies on the right bank of River Krishna, at a distance of approximately 65 km from Vijayawada. The erstwhile capital of Satavahana dynasty, it came under the influence of Buddhism through the Kushanas of Mathura. One of the major attractions of Amravati consists of the remains of a 2000-year-old Buddhist settlement, along with the great Buddhist stupa. There is also a temple dedicated to Lord Amaresvara in the city.
It is a famous city of learning, art and culture, held sacred by both Hindus and Buddhists. The temple of Lord Amareswara is on the banks of river Krishna. The Lingam is 15 feet high, carved out of marble. The temple is known for both Dravidian and Buddhist architectures.
Legend saya that when Lord Subramanya killed Tharakasura, the Lingam in his throat fell over five places, making them all holy Siva Kshetras. Amaravati is the main pilgrim center among them. Since Indra and Devas worshipped the Lord here, the city was named Amaravati after Indra,s capital. Goddess Shakti is worshipped as Bala Chamundika Devi.
The Great Stupa of Amravati was constructed approximately 2000 years ago and stands taller than the stupa at Sanchi. Founded by an emissary of the great Emperor Ashoka, it is also known as the Mahastupa and Deepaladinne (the Mound of Lamps). The stupa is made of brick with a circular vedika and depicts Lord Buddha in a human form, subduing an elephant. It is adorned with 95 ft high platforms, protruding in four cardinal directions. Presently, Amravati stupa has been kept at the Government Museum of Chennai.
Of all the Buddhist shrines in ancient Andhara, the Maha Chaitya at Amaravati, 32 km. From Guntur, on the bank of the river Krishna, was the most sacred as well as the most magnificent.
The Satavahanas who ruled Andhra, after Asoka, for a long period of over 450 years though not Buddhisits, were sympathetic towards the Buddhist cause. During the reign of the later Satavahana Kings, who made the nearby Dhanyakataka their royal seat, the Amaravati stupa was enlarged in AD. second century and also surrounded by a new highly ornamental railing, carved with beautiful reliefs and elegant designs.
Of the three inscriptions of the later Satavahana period, the erliest one refers to the gift of the Wheel of Law (Dharma-Chakra) at the western gate of the Maha-Chaitya during the reign of Vaishthiputra Palumavi (AD. 130-AD.159). The second one refers to the replacement or renovation of a part of the railing during the reign of Siri Sivamaka Sada, generally identified with Siva-Sri (AD. 159-AD. 166). The third inscription belongs to the period of Gautamiputra Yajna Satakarni (AD. 166-AD.196), the last important King of the Satavahana dynasty. Yajna Satakarni was the patron and friend of Acharya Nagarjuna, the famous Buddhist saint and scholar. Taranatha, the Tibetan historian , says that the erection of the sculptured rail at Amaravati was organized by Nagarjuna. According to an inscription, renovation of the railing was supervised by a monk, named Buddharakshita. Apparently, this was at the instance of Acharya Nagarjuna. The donors included, a nun, who was Buddharakshita’s disciple, Lakkhita, a monk from Pataliputra; three Tamil pilgrims; the people of Dhanyakataka; and a family from Ghantasala in Andhra.
Hiuen-Tsang who vivisted Dhanyakataka(Amaravati) in AD. 639 says, "The convents (sangharamas) are numerous, but are mostly deserted and ruined; of those preserved there are about 20with 1000 or so priests. They all study the law of the Great Vehicle."
The Amaravati Maha-Chaitya appears to have continued to be a living shrine for a long time. An eleventh century inscription records that a Pallava, Simhavarman worshipped the stupa. Inscriptions in the nearby Amresvara temple of the Kota chief, who ruled in 12th century-13th century from Dharnikota (Dhanyakataka) also refer to some donations to the Maha-Chaitya. One of these inscriptions dated to AD. 1182 describes the Maha-Chaitya as a very lofty stupa, finely decorated with sculptures. Lastly, Dharmakirti, a pilgrim from Sri Lanka, visited Amaravati and carried out some repairs to the shrine in AD. 1344. An inscription to this effect has been found at Gadaladeniya, near Kandy in Sri Lanka. Thus the mighty stupa survived almost intact, with its towering dome, till about the fourteenth century. After this, however, Amaravati Shrine was completely neglected and lost sight of.
The existence of the Amaravati Stupa came to light in 1797 when Collin Mackenzie visited Amaravati and found some men quarrying the remains of the stupa for materials for a new township being built by the Raja of Chintapalli, Raja Vasu Reddi Nayudu, who had shifted his residence a year earlier from Chintapalli to Amaravati. What Mackenzie saw was a "great low mound crowned by a smaller one, some ninety feet in diameter and twenty feet high, and cased with bricks and slabs of stone." Mackenzie thought that the monument was a "mysterious structure" but he had no clear idea of its importance. Hence he did not interfere. Consequently, many priceless sculptures were used in the Amaresvara temple, the Sivaganga tank and other buildings then being constructed while some were burnt for lime. Such vandalism continued for over 20 years till Mackenzie revisited the site in 1818 with a band of assistants and prepared drawings of the site and the stupa. He also recovered a few sculptured pieces.
After Mackenzie, manu attempts were made to excavate the site. These were by Sir Walter Smith (1845), by Robert Sewell (1877), by James Burgess (1881) and thrice by Alexander Rea (1888-1889, 1905-1906, and 1908-1909). Inspite of considerable spoilt for over hundred years, the potentiality of the Amaravati ruins was not exhausted. No wonder, the excavations undertaken during the year 1958-1959, by K. subramanyam and K.Krishna Murthy of the Archaeological Survery of zindia, yielded a large number of inscribed architectural pieces, sculptures pieces, and other significant antiquities.
The ornamental railing was about 4 m high and measured about 54 m in diameter, pierced on all the four sides by gateways. According to Dr. Barnet: "the railing consisted of about 244 m of coping resting on 136 pillars and 348 Crossbars." Between the drum of the stupa and the railing was the paved circumambulatory path (pradakshina-patha) having a width of about 4 m.
Nothing remains now of the grandest Amaravati stupa except a small mound which consists of just the drum of the brick-built stupa, the paved circumambulatory path (pradakshina-patha) and the circular alignment of the railing represented by a few upright and pillars. At present, the stupa drum has a height of about 1.55 m and a diameter of 49.30 m.
A model of the Maha-Chaitya, in its most evolved stage, the conjectural restoration of a part of the reiling and a few sculptured panels, all in cement, may be seen in the courtyard of the nearby Museum.
The wonderful sculptures from the Ama avati Stupa are distributed over several museums; majority of them being in the Government Museum, Madras, the British Museum, London, and the site Museum at Amaravati. The exhibits in the Amaravati Museum include those left at the site by Burges and Rea and those recovered during the excavations during the year 1958-1959. In addition, there are a few antiquities form Gummadidurra and Allur in District Krishna, and Lingarajapalli in District Visakhapatnam. Chronologically, the site museum collection, mostly in stone, covers a period of 1500 years-from the third century B.C. to A.D. twelfth century. Some of the important relics in the Amaravati Museum are descrided below, largly in the words of H. Sarkar and S.P. Nainar, authors of pamphlet ‘Amaravati’ published by the Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi 1980.
"The western wing of the gallery is formed by two drum-slabs, each of them showing the bas-relif of a stupa. The stupa is shown encircled by a four-barred rail-cross-bars and fluted uprights showing lotus-medallions. On either side of the gateway is a seated lion atop an octagonal pillar. The ornate entrance to the pradakshina-patha is marked by a moon-stone carved with a lotus-design having purna-kumbha on either side. The stupa proper shows three out of the four ayaka-platforms, the fron one surmounted by five pillars symbolizing five main events of Buddha’s life. However, the principal object of worship is a chakra on a throne, flanked by chauri (flyshisk)-bearers and devotees."
On the dome of the sme stupa-relif are sculptured at least three Jataka stories. These are the Sibi-Jataka, the Mandhata-Jataka and the Vessantara-jataka.
The other drum-slab depicts a simple stupa, with three barred rail and ayaka-pillars. Buddha is here symbolized variously as a flamining pillar (agniskandha), and wheel surmounting a pillar, each one placed on a throne. There are also two representations of Buddha-pada with umbrella on top.
The next drum-slab depicts a stupa encircled by a four-barred railing. Of the carvings, the most prominent is the scene of the worship of the Bodhi-tree, symbolizing Buddha.
The reliefs on the southern face contain six scenes pertaining to the last three months of the life of Buddha-from his stay at Vaisali to the parinirvana at Kusinagara. On the left cornor occurs the representation of the Bahuputa-chaitya, a favourite resort of Gautama Buddha. In these scenes Chaitya has been represented as a tree-within-railing. The most prominent of the three trees is worshipped by two devotees, one of them with folded hands and the other holding a child in the out-stretched left hand. It has an inscribed label giving the name Bahuputa-chaitya. To the right of the first scene is a kneeling figure with folded hands before a Buddhapada. The label calls it Chapala-Chaitya, another favourite resort of Buddha at Vaisali. Over the second scene is a vaulted structure with three pinnacles, and outside a Buddhapada under an umbrella. The inscription on the vault says ‘The Lord dwells in the Kutagara-cottage in Mahavana at Vaisli. It is said that Buddha went from Chapala-Chaitya to Mahavana-Kutagara and from there, while bidding farewell to Vaisali, gazed at the city ‘with an elephant’s look’: the actual inscription also stated nagapalogana. The next scene is represented by a river with a handled bowl: beside it is an oblong seat below a tree. As the story goes, Buddha fell sick drink water from the adjoining streamlet. As the water was muddy, Ananda, his disciple, was hesitant but on Buddha’s insistence he went to fetch water. To his surprise Ananda saw that the steramlet had begun to flow clear. The river shown in the relief stands for his streamlet where miracle of clear water took place. A fragment of the last scene, the parinirvana at Kusinagara, is only preserved but the lebel says, ‘The extinction of the Lord in the sala-grove.’
The second face gives a few scenes from Sravasti including the familiar scene of the purchas of Jetavana park by Anathapindika from prince Jeta, all with appropriate lebels. Another scene delineated here related to Dhanyakakata on the bank of the river Krishna. It is interesting to note that the Krishna has been depicted here as if taking a turn, which is true even today. The part of the ancient city with buildings and chaitya-windows is also shown.
A drum-friezw containing a donative inscription depicts the scenes from Buddha’s life. The first scene shows waterindicated by wavy lines symbolizing Anotatta lake associatedwith Maya’s conception. Other three represent Bodhi-tree symbolizing Buddha’s Enlightement, worship of Dharma Chakra (First Sermon), and Stupa with worshippers (Parinirvana).
There is also an inscription on the octagonal pillar which speaks of the installation of a Dharma-Chakra at the eastern side of the Maha-Chaitya at Dhanyakakata for the Purvasailiya monks. A Telugu inscription of the Twelfth century is engraved on the other side of the Brahmi inscription.
It is a famous city of learning, art and culture, held sacred by both Hindus and Buddhists. The temple of Lord Amareswara is on the banks of river Krishna. The Lingam is 15 feet high, carved out of marble. The temple is known for both Dravidian and Buddhist architectures.
Legend saya that when Lord Subramanya killed Tharakasura, the Lingam in his throat fell over five places, making them all holy Siva Kshetras. Amaravati is the main pilgrim center among them. Since Indra and Devas worshipped the Lord here, the city was named Amaravati after Indra,s capital. Goddess Shakti is worshipped as Bala Chamundika Devi.
The Great Stupa of Amravati was constructed approximately 2000 years ago and stands taller than the stupa at Sanchi. Founded by an emissary of the great Emperor Ashoka, it is also known as the Mahastupa and Deepaladinne (the Mound of Lamps). The stupa is made of brick with a circular vedika and depicts Lord Buddha in a human form, subduing an elephant. It is adorned with 95 ft high platforms, protruding in four cardinal directions. Presently, Amravati stupa has been kept at the Government Museum of Chennai.
Of all the Buddhist shrines in ancient Andhara, the Maha Chaitya at Amaravati, 32 km. From Guntur, on the bank of the river Krishna, was the most sacred as well as the most magnificent.
History
The Amaravati Stupa was first built in the third century BC. by a missionary monk, Mahadeva, sent by Asoka to preach Buddhism in this part of the country. Initially it was a modest stupa enclosed by a granite reiling. A fragment of a polished pillar bearing an Asoken edict discovered here confirms its erection during the reign of Asoka. In the following two or three centuries, the granite rail was replaced by the limestone one and the gateways were also renovated. A large number of inscribed sculptured fragments of this period include a limestone stele of second century B.C. depicting scenes of Vaisali, Sravasti and Kusinagara with appropriate labels.The Satavahanas who ruled Andhra, after Asoka, for a long period of over 450 years though not Buddhisits, were sympathetic towards the Buddhist cause. During the reign of the later Satavahana Kings, who made the nearby Dhanyakataka their royal seat, the Amaravati stupa was enlarged in AD. second century and also surrounded by a new highly ornamental railing, carved with beautiful reliefs and elegant designs.
Of the three inscriptions of the later Satavahana period, the erliest one refers to the gift of the Wheel of Law (Dharma-Chakra) at the western gate of the Maha-Chaitya during the reign of Vaishthiputra Palumavi (AD. 130-AD.159). The second one refers to the replacement or renovation of a part of the railing during the reign of Siri Sivamaka Sada, generally identified with Siva-Sri (AD. 159-AD. 166). The third inscription belongs to the period of Gautamiputra Yajna Satakarni (AD. 166-AD.196), the last important King of the Satavahana dynasty. Yajna Satakarni was the patron and friend of Acharya Nagarjuna, the famous Buddhist saint and scholar. Taranatha, the Tibetan historian , says that the erection of the sculptured rail at Amaravati was organized by Nagarjuna. According to an inscription, renovation of the railing was supervised by a monk, named Buddharakshita. Apparently, this was at the instance of Acharya Nagarjuna. The donors included, a nun, who was Buddharakshita’s disciple, Lakkhita, a monk from Pataliputra; three Tamil pilgrims; the people of Dhanyakataka; and a family from Ghantasala in Andhra.
Hiuen-Tsang who vivisted Dhanyakataka(Amaravati) in AD. 639 says, "The convents (sangharamas) are numerous, but are mostly deserted and ruined; of those preserved there are about 20with 1000 or so priests. They all study the law of the Great Vehicle."
The Amaravati Maha-Chaitya appears to have continued to be a living shrine for a long time. An eleventh century inscription records that a Pallava, Simhavarman worshipped the stupa. Inscriptions in the nearby Amresvara temple of the Kota chief, who ruled in 12th century-13th century from Dharnikota (Dhanyakataka) also refer to some donations to the Maha-Chaitya. One of these inscriptions dated to AD. 1182 describes the Maha-Chaitya as a very lofty stupa, finely decorated with sculptures. Lastly, Dharmakirti, a pilgrim from Sri Lanka, visited Amaravati and carried out some repairs to the shrine in AD. 1344. An inscription to this effect has been found at Gadaladeniya, near Kandy in Sri Lanka. Thus the mighty stupa survived almost intact, with its towering dome, till about the fourteenth century. After this, however, Amaravati Shrine was completely neglected and lost sight of.
The existence of the Amaravati Stupa came to light in 1797 when Collin Mackenzie visited Amaravati and found some men quarrying the remains of the stupa for materials for a new township being built by the Raja of Chintapalli, Raja Vasu Reddi Nayudu, who had shifted his residence a year earlier from Chintapalli to Amaravati. What Mackenzie saw was a "great low mound crowned by a smaller one, some ninety feet in diameter and twenty feet high, and cased with bricks and slabs of stone." Mackenzie thought that the monument was a "mysterious structure" but he had no clear idea of its importance. Hence he did not interfere. Consequently, many priceless sculptures were used in the Amaresvara temple, the Sivaganga tank and other buildings then being constructed while some were burnt for lime. Such vandalism continued for over 20 years till Mackenzie revisited the site in 1818 with a band of assistants and prepared drawings of the site and the stupa. He also recovered a few sculptured pieces.
After Mackenzie, manu attempts were made to excavate the site. These were by Sir Walter Smith (1845), by Robert Sewell (1877), by James Burgess (1881) and thrice by Alexander Rea (1888-1889, 1905-1906, and 1908-1909). Inspite of considerable spoilt for over hundred years, the potentiality of the Amaravati ruins was not exhausted. No wonder, the excavations undertaken during the year 1958-1959, by K. subramanyam and K.Krishna Murthy of the Archaeological Survery of zindia, yielded a large number of inscribed architectural pieces, sculptures pieces, and other significant antiquities.
Objects Of Interest
The Stupa
The Amaravati mahachautya in its final shape had "the vestiges of characteristic ayaka-platforms projecting out of the frum at cardinal direction. These platforms carried originally five ayaka-pillars, representin symbolically the five important events of Buddha’s life: ‘Birth, renunciation, Enlightenment, First Sermon and Maha-parinirvana.’ Both drum and ayaka-platforms, the latter measuring 7.20x2.10 m, were covered with sculptured slabs. The dome, estimated to have a diameter of 42 m rested over the rim of the drum leaving all round a better of about 7.1 m; its height being about half its diameter. Tall dome-slabs measuring about 2.32 m and carved with tri-ratna and purna-Kumbha, covered the lower part of the dome, above which probably came the decorations in stucco."The ornamental railing was about 4 m high and measured about 54 m in diameter, pierced on all the four sides by gateways. According to Dr. Barnet: "the railing consisted of about 244 m of coping resting on 136 pillars and 348 Crossbars." Between the drum of the stupa and the railing was the paved circumambulatory path (pradakshina-patha) having a width of about 4 m.
Nothing remains now of the grandest Amaravati stupa except a small mound which consists of just the drum of the brick-built stupa, the paved circumambulatory path (pradakshina-patha) and the circular alignment of the railing represented by a few upright and pillars. At present, the stupa drum has a height of about 1.55 m and a diameter of 49.30 m.
A model of the Maha-Chaitya, in its most evolved stage, the conjectural restoration of a part of the reiling and a few sculptured panels, all in cement, may be seen in the courtyard of the nearby Museum.
The Museum
The relief medallions of Amaravati are considered unsurpassed examples of sculptured compositions and could well vie in artistic beauty and grandeur with those of Sanchi and Bharhut.The wonderful sculptures from the Ama avati Stupa are distributed over several museums; majority of them being in the Government Museum, Madras, the British Museum, London, and the site Museum at Amaravati. The exhibits in the Amaravati Museum include those left at the site by Burges and Rea and those recovered during the excavations during the year 1958-1959. In addition, there are a few antiquities form Gummadidurra and Allur in District Krishna, and Lingarajapalli in District Visakhapatnam. Chronologically, the site museum collection, mostly in stone, covers a period of 1500 years-from the third century B.C. to A.D. twelfth century. Some of the important relics in the Amaravati Museum are descrided below, largly in the words of H. Sarkar and S.P. Nainar, authors of pamphlet ‘Amaravati’ published by the Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi 1980.
I. Key-Gallery
The exhibit that first meets the eye in the Key-Gallary is "the lotus-medallion, carved on a cross-bar of a railing belonging to A.d. 2nd century. It is flanked on either side by a dome-slab depicting the Pura-Kumbha or ‘ambrosial case with overflowing foliage and flowers.’ Purna-kumbha is an auspicious symbol expressing an idea of fullness and abuindance.""The western wing of the gallery is formed by two drum-slabs, each of them showing the bas-relif of a stupa. The stupa is shown encircled by a four-barred rail-cross-bars and fluted uprights showing lotus-medallions. On either side of the gateway is a seated lion atop an octagonal pillar. The ornate entrance to the pradakshina-patha is marked by a moon-stone carved with a lotus-design having purna-kumbha on either side. The stupa proper shows three out of the four ayaka-platforms, the fron one surmounted by five pillars symbolizing five main events of Buddha’s life. However, the principal object of worship is a chakra on a throne, flanked by chauri (flyshisk)-bearers and devotees."
On the dome of the sme stupa-relif are sculptured at least three Jataka stories. These are the Sibi-Jataka, the Mandhata-Jataka and the Vessantara-jataka.
The other drum-slab depicts a simple stupa, with three barred rail and ayaka-pillars. Buddha is here symbolized variously as a flamining pillar (agniskandha), and wheel surmounting a pillar, each one placed on a throne. There are also two representations of Buddha-pada with umbrella on top.
II. Gallery
The image of Buddha
A life-size standing image of Buddha greets the visitor as soon as he steps into the gallery. With left shoulder and forearm deaped in sanghati, his right hand, now missing, was probably in the abhaya, whereas his left hand holds the hem of the robe near his chest. A circular mark on the forehead, a mark of mahapursha-lakshana (sign of great man) is quite conspicuous. The top-knot and ring-like curls of the short hair, turned to the right (dakshinavartakessa), are suggestive of superhuman wisdom. The image stands gracefully to a height of about 2 m (excluding the pedestal).Drum-slabs
The Drum-slab near the southern wing depicts, in the foreground, the scene of the worship of wheel. On the dome of the stupa-relif are miniature compostions delineating scenes from the life of Gautama Buddha. These reliefs include the scenes of the descent of Bodhisattva in the form of an elephant (Svetaketu), Queen Mayadevi’s dream of the elephant entering her womb, the interpretation of the dream by soothsayers, the birth of Siddhartha and the presentation of the baby before nagara-devatas. In a running frieze below, occurs the story of the Mandhatajataka in four panels.The next drum-slab depicts a stupa encircled by a four-barred railing. Of the carvings, the most prominent is the scene of the worship of the Bodhi-tree, symbolizing Buddha.
Rail-fragments
Of this group, the most impressive piece is an ornate crossbar. Both its faces are carved: on the obverse is carved the lotus-medallion while the reverse shows the scene of the presentation of Buddha’s son Rahula by Yasodhara. In the scene carved within an outline of lotus-petals, Buddha has been represented symbolically by a throne, hos padukas below the throne and a flaming pillar surmounted by the triratna. A crowd of monks, is seen to the left of the throne, while on the right is a group of womem from the royal household. A princely figure is seen presenting Rahula to Buddha. Behind him, in half-turned attitude, stands gracefullt Yasodhara pointing her hand at her son urging him to ask for his inheritance.III. Gallery-2
Dome-Slabs
One big dome-slab with curved profile stands to height of 2.32 m and has three main compartments. It has a donative Prakrit inscription at the base. The first scene depicts the worship of Bodhi-tree by two pairs of couples and two flying devas on top. Separated by a row of miniature stupas, the second one portays the scene of worship of chakra by four male figures, two of which are seated with folded hands and the other two holidng the fly-whisk. Two flying devas are also to be seen on either side at the top. The third, separted from the second by a row of lions, shows a stupa with two worshippers and two flying devas.Carved and inscribed pillars
Occupying the pride of place in the collection of early sculptures from Amaravati is a limestone stel with labeled bas-reliefs, of the second century B.C.The reliefs on the southern face contain six scenes pertaining to the last three months of the life of Buddha-from his stay at Vaisali to the parinirvana at Kusinagara. On the left cornor occurs the representation of the Bahuputa-chaitya, a favourite resort of Gautama Buddha. In these scenes Chaitya has been represented as a tree-within-railing. The most prominent of the three trees is worshipped by two devotees, one of them with folded hands and the other holding a child in the out-stretched left hand. It has an inscribed label giving the name Bahuputa-chaitya. To the right of the first scene is a kneeling figure with folded hands before a Buddhapada. The label calls it Chapala-Chaitya, another favourite resort of Buddha at Vaisali. Over the second scene is a vaulted structure with three pinnacles, and outside a Buddhapada under an umbrella. The inscription on the vault says ‘The Lord dwells in the Kutagara-cottage in Mahavana at Vaisli. It is said that Buddha went from Chapala-Chaitya to Mahavana-Kutagara and from there, while bidding farewell to Vaisali, gazed at the city ‘with an elephant’s look’: the actual inscription also stated nagapalogana. The next scene is represented by a river with a handled bowl: beside it is an oblong seat below a tree. As the story goes, Buddha fell sick drink water from the adjoining streamlet. As the water was muddy, Ananda, his disciple, was hesitant but on Buddha’s insistence he went to fetch water. To his surprise Ananda saw that the steramlet had begun to flow clear. The river shown in the relief stands for his streamlet where miracle of clear water took place. A fragment of the last scene, the parinirvana at Kusinagara, is only preserved but the lebel says, ‘The extinction of the Lord in the sala-grove.’
The second face gives a few scenes from Sravasti including the familiar scene of the purchas of Jetavana park by Anathapindika from prince Jeta, all with appropriate lebels. Another scene delineated here related to Dhanyakakata on the bank of the river Krishna. It is interesting to note that the Krishna has been depicted here as if taking a turn, which is true even today. The part of the ancient city with buildings and chaitya-windows is also shown.
A drum-friezw containing a donative inscription depicts the scenes from Buddha’s life. The first scene shows waterindicated by wavy lines symbolizing Anotatta lake associatedwith Maya’s conception. Other three represent Bodhi-tree symbolizing Buddha’s Enlightement, worship of Dharma Chakra (First Sermon), and Stupa with worshippers (Parinirvana).
There is also an inscription on the octagonal pillar which speaks of the installation of a Dharma-Chakra at the eastern side of the Maha-Chaitya at Dhanyakakata for the Purvasailiya monks. A Telugu inscription of the Twelfth century is engraved on the other side of the Brahmi inscription.
