Buddhist Monuments in Mysore Author(s): M. Seshadri Source: Artibus Asiae, Vol. 34, No. 2/3 (1972), pp. 169-182 Published by: Artibus Asiae Publishers Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3249646 . Accessed: 17/10/2011 13:22 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Artibus Asiae Publishers is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Artibus Asiae. http://www.jstor.org
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Buddhist Monuments in MysoreAuthor(s): M. SeshadriSource: Artibus Asiae, Vol. 34, No. 2/3 (1972), pp. 169-182Published by: Artibus Asiae PublishersStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3249646 .Accessed: 17/10/2011 13:22
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Artibus Asiae Publishers is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Artibus Asiae.
Director of Archeolog and Museums of the State of Mysore
BUDDHIST MONUMENTS IN MYSORE
Buddhist remains in the Mysore region, unlike Andhra Pradesh, have been so scarce, that
there is a general belief among some scholars that Jainism solely held its sway all through. However, Banavasi in the Shimoga District, Kadri on the outskirts of the City of Mangalore, and Brahmagiri in the Chitaldrug District with its famous rock-edicts of Adoka, have un- mistakable associations with Buddhism. It is the same with Maski, another provincial town of the Adokan period. But the actual monumental remains in all these places are not considerable. Perhaps excavations may uncover remains of Buddhist monuments particularly at Banavasi, a town of Maurya-Satavdhana times; and also at Kadri where the dying embers of Buddhism were fused into the Natha-panthi cult. Brahmagiri yielded a sadly ruined chaitya.
Fortunately the recent discovery of the magnificent Buddhist reliefs at Sannathi, 25 miles from Chittapur in the Gulbarga District, has thrown much new light on the history of Buddhism in Mysore.
Buddhist remains in Andhra Pradesh are so numerous (map) and remarkable that they constitute a class by themselves in the whole of South India (Pl. i). Amaravati, Nagdrjunakonda, Jagayyapeta, Bhattiprolu, and Ghantaill are names which excite our admiration. To these illustrious names, we now have to add Sannathi on the Bhimd, tributary of the upper Krishnd.
The Chandralamba temple at this place attracts a large number of pilgrims. Originally dedicated to Durgd, it may go back to the eighth or ninth centuries A.D. Within the precincts of this temple are found a number of relief slabs which covered the dome of the Buddhist stfipas that flourished during the period of rule of the Satavdhanas. One of them, depicts the birth of the Buddha (Plate 2). Another at the foot of the neem tree just outside the temple is a large slab with the throne, the footprints, and the Bodhi tree (Pl. 3). Also a number of reliefs have been used as steps for the bathing ghat near the temple.
Adding to the picturesqueness of the place in earlier times was a circular building ajoining the river. This has been completely rifled by the villagers, and only the circular basement of a stlipa now remains; the superstructure is almost entirely gone. From what is left, it is evident that dressed limestone set in mortar formed the dome in regular ashlar style, instead of brick (P1.4). The basement has still in situ some fascinating reliefs. One of them is remarkable for its galloping buffalo and winged horse (P1. 5). Other reliefs, portions of Ayaka pillars, and other architectural members of the lost building have been piled up in constructing a modern roofless enclosure around a figure of Mahi~sisuramardini, in the same field barely 5 o yards away (P1. 6).
Two Ayaka pillars with Prakrit inscriptions, probably belonging to the same monument, were found lying in the fields adjoining the river (P1.7). In a few other cases the tops of such pillars have finely carved relief panels (Pls. 8 a, b). The presence of these pillars at Sannathi is a point of similarity with the Buddhist monuments of Amarivati and Nagarjunakon<;da. They
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were generally set up at the four cardinal points in groups of five, to symbolize the five chief events in the life of the Buddha: the Nativity, Renunciation, Enlightenment, First Preaching, and Entry into
Nirv.na. Typically Satavahana, these reliefs open up a new chapter in the art history of Karndtaka. They range in time from the first to third centuries, A.D., on the basis of stylistic evidence corroborated by the paleography of the inscriptions in Prakrit.
Some reliefs depict simply and elegantly domestic scenes in which men and women, chiefly of the rich and princely classes and flanked by flywhisk bearers, relax with the wine cup (Pls. 8 b, 9, io, ii). The headdresses of the men and the coiffures of the women, couples with their
heavy girdles and ornaments on ears, wrists, and ankles, remind us of Mathurd, Begram, and
early Amaravati. A specific point of similarity is the damaru-shaped ear ornament, familiar from one of the Yaksi figures from Mathurd, which appears on a broken female figure from Sannathi, and on the female attendant in the Nativity panel (Pls. z, 16).
Some of the slabs bear inscriptions, now under study, which give the names of donors who contributed these panels and other ornamental pieces to cover the Buddhist buildings. One such was a certain householder Sulasasa (Pl. 18). On one of the Ayaka pillars is found the name of the donor Girijatanaka, brother of Ndganika, a resident of Ahimarika (Pls. 8 a, 19). A broken
pillar mentions the dancer Govidasi, who was a member of the Buddhaireni group and paid for the construction of a compound wall, prikdra (Pl. zo). Another dancer whose name ap- pears is Aryadasi, daughter of Nadiyagudha.
There are many more fragmentary inscriptions on the relief slabs. Other interesting finds from the above-ground survey of the place are pieces of rouletted
figurines of the Kondapur type, russet-coated Kaolin painted ware, and tile pieces---all indica- tive of a typical Sdtavdhana settlement
(PIs. z5, z6, z7). There are two huge mounds near the village. They are dome-like (and hemispherical) and
perhaps contain Buddhist stirpas. Excavation of these mounds may throw considerable light on the plan and the architecture of the Buddhist buildings and also on the history of Buddhism in Karndtaka. Since the site is going to be submerged, excavation is an urgent necessity.
Texts of Inscriptions:
Pls. 8 a, I9 Ahimarikiya Niganiklya Arikibhituna Girijatanakasa