ICHR to undertake project on Ram Setu

Ram Setu a man-made structure or natural? Historical research council to explore

INDIA Updated: Mar 24, 2017 21:28 IST

Neelam Pandey 
Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Some claim the Sethu was a bridge was built by Lord Rama’s “Vanar Sena” (army of apes and monkeys) and hence cannot be touched.(Raj K Raj /HT Representative Photo)

ICHR to Employ Underwater Archeology to Validate Ram Setu of Yore

A file photo of a poster demanding the scrapping of the Ram Sethu project in Tamil Nadu. (Photo: Getty Images)

ICHR to undertake pilot project on Ram Setu structures

Vikas Pathak

NEW DELHI: MARCH 24, 2017 18:43 IST

“One of the major projects that we are going to initiate is the Ram Setu pilot project which will seek to ascertain or find out if these structures were results of natural phenomenon or man-made,” he said.

This apart, the ICHR is also undertaking projects on the history of dance and the history of Indian art, Professor Rao said. It is also about to organise a conclave on antiquity and continuity in Indian history before the first millennium BCE.

Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/nyjm428 

C. Sivaramamurti in his lecture in 1962 refers to the flaming pillar of Amaravati sculptural friezes, in the following terms: “…in a period when the human form of Buddha was in vogue, as it had come into use much earlier, the sculptor has introduced in the place of the figure of the standing Master, a symbolic device and a special one, unknown elsewhere, a creation of the Amaravati sculptor himself, a flaming pillar on a pair of feet on lotus crowned by a wheel topped by triratna. This special symbol suggests the glory of Buddha as higher than the flaming pillar, the combined concept of Agni and Rudra, and higher than the wheel, the solar symbol, as combining all the best in triratna in himself. The great stature of Buddha is thereby pronounced almost in this symbolic Buddhist Viśvarupa. This form so appealed to the Amaravati sculptor, who created it, that wherever special emphasis was to be placed on Buddha’s great personality, the flaming pillar, as standing Buddha, was repeated." (C. Sivaramamurti, Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum, the Amaravati mode of sculpture, First edn. 1976 Repr. 2007, Chennai, Govt.Museum, p.2) http://www.e-books-chennaimuseum.tn.gov.in/ChennaiMuseum/images/books/BULLETIN%20OF%20THE%20MADRAS%20GOVENMENT%20MUSEUM%20THE%20AMARAVATI%20MODE%20OF%20SCULPTURE.pdf

See: Sivaramamurti, C. Amaravati Sculptures in the Madras Government Museum. Madras: 1942, 1956  https://archive.org/download/AmaravatiSculpturesInTheMadrasGovernmentMuseum/Amaravati%20Sculptures%20in%20the%20Madras%20Government%20Museum.pdf

For a reading of the hypertexts on the flaming pillar friezes, in the Sindhu-Sarasvati hieroglyph tradition, see: 

http://tinyurl.com/lnj2uuz Sindhu-Sarasvati Script: repository of economic prosperity in Ancient India

The Amaravati Album

	Main
	Maps and plans
	Drum slabs
	Rectangular slabs
	Medallions
	Rectangular slabs decorated with medallions
	Friezes
	Pillars and columns
	Fragments
	Inscriptional stones
	Further reading

Maps and Plans

Drum Slabs

Drum Slabs: Nagas

Drum Slabs: Seated Buddhas

Drum Slabs: Standing Buddhas

Drum Slabs: Miscellaneous Subjects

Rectangular Slabs

Rectangular Slabs: Single-framed scenes

Rectangular Slabs: Two or more framed scenes

Medallions

Rectangular Slabs Decorated with Medallions

Friezes

Pillars and Columns

Fragments

Stones with Inscriptions

Further Reading

1. Barrett, Douglas. Sculptures from Amaravati in the British Museum. London: The British Museum, 1954.
2. Knox, Robert. Amaravati: Buddhist Sculpture from the Great Stupa. London: British Museum Press, 1992.
3. Nainar, N.P. and Sarkar, H. Amaravati. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, 1972.
4. Sivaramamurti, C. Amaravati Sculptures in the Madras Government Museum. Madras: 1942.

 

The warmth and the encompassing protection of the natural order is beautifully expressed in Naga deities, who are part human and part serpent.

Copy of Barhut Relief

Copy of Barhut Relief

Copy of Barhut Relief

Unknown

Copy of Amaravati Relief

Copy of Amaravati Relief

Copy of Amaravati Relief

Copy of Amaravati Relief

Copy of Sanchi Relief

Copy of Sanchi Relief

Copy of Sanchi Relief

Copy of Sanchi Relief

Fragment of the Universal Monarch (Chakravartin) a previous Buddha, Amaravati, 2nd C. CE

Éveil du Buddha, école d'Amaravati (Pinterest)

Valley of stupas

TEXT & PHOTOGRAPHS BY BENOY K. BEHL

The Krishna Valley region has a rich heritage of Buddhist art befitting one of the greatest centres of Buddhism.

Sculpture. Amaravati. What is carried on a bowl, in veneration of the Buddha? Offerings, dAma 'gift' rebus: dhamma'righteous conduct'.

SCULPTURAL PANEL, PANIGIRI, c. 1st century A.D. (Andhra Pradesh State Museum, Hyderabad). The upper part of the panel shows the Buddha's headdress being carried up to the Tushita heaven. The lively and supple depictions of the figures are remarkable.
THE valley of River Krishna, in present-day Andhra Pradesh, was a fertile land, which, from ancient times, saw the blossoming of art infused with the life of the spirit. Here, the bounty of cotton textiles attracted Romans and others from afar, and there developed a prosperous, cosmopolitan culture. As everywhere in India then, philosophic thoughts preoccupied people. The search was for that which was beyond the material aims in life, and all permanent structures, art and monuments were dedicated to this eternal quest of the people.
This region of the Deccan has a very rich heritage of Buddhist art and architecture. An early cave at Guntupalli has a facade that is directly reminiscent of the Lomas Rishi caves at Barabar (in Bihar). These were made in the 3rd century B.C. by Emperor Asoka and his grandson Dasratha for the Ajivika sect of ascetics. The Barabar caves are known to be the earliest in India and perhaps the inspiration for the rock-cut architecture of the Deccan.

CHAITYA, SALIHUNDAM. THERE are many Buddhist stupas and a vast monastic complex on a hillock near the banks of the Vamsadhara river in Srikakulam district. The site was found in 1990. Excavations revealed stupas, a chaitya-griha, temples and sculptures of three phases of Buddhism - the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana - dating from the 2nd century B.C. to the 12th century A.D.
The exquisite later reliefs of the Krishna Valley are similar in many ways to the art of the Ajanta paintings in the western Deccan. The reliefs exhibit a supple grace, and the lines and expressions convey a quality of introspection: a preoccupation with that which is beyond the worldly realm.
In the first two centuries A.D., great caves were hewn out of the mountains in the western Deccan. Enlightenment, the Great Truth beyond the world of forms, was the focus of meditation. The creative forces and the joy of life were represented in the form of divine Yakshas and Yakshis. They were filled with a sense of well-being and the fullness of life.

Joyous Devotees, Panigiri, 1st century A.D. Recent excavations carried out by the Department of Archaeology & Museums, Andhra Pradesh, have unearthed well-preserved exquisite reliefs on stupa railings and pillars of the 1st century A.D. There is a sophisticated sense of design and the figures are full of activity. They convey the joy and flourishing culture of the Krishna Valley in that period.
Meanwhile, in central India, by the 1st century A.D., the toranas of the gateways of Sanchi were complete. The Enlightenment of the Buddha and the path of dharma were represented by symbols that were universal to all religious streams in India. Yakshas, Yakshis and Lakshmi were presented in the art. On the plains of the Ganga and in Gandhara, in the first two centuries A.D., images of the Buddha, Jaina tirthankaras and Hindu deities had come into being.
The fertile valley of the Krishna river was the cradle of civilisation in the eastern Deccan. This area became one of the greatest centres of Buddhism, and over 140 early Buddhist sites have been listed in the region.

A SCULPTED MEDALLION from Panigiri. Recent excavations, conducted by the Department of Archaeology & Museums, Andhra Pradesh, have unearthed a rich treasure trove of fine sculptural reliefs made on stupa railings at Panigiri, about 110 km from Hyderabad. These date back to about the 1st century A.D. The stone is marvellously carved to convey the softness and pliability of human flesh.
Stylistic similarities with the art of Bharhut suggest that the early reliefs found here at stupa sites belong to the 1st century B.C. Jaggayapeta, on a tributary of the Krishna , had many stupas. A relief from Jaggayapeta shows a chakravartin, or a universal monarch, and his seven precious possessions. The shallow carving and other stylistic features are similar to Sunga period reliefs at Sanchi, Bodh Gaya and Bharhut.
The Buddhist site of Amaravati is on the banks of the Krishna, next to the ancient capital of Dharanikota in present-day Andhra Pradesh. The history of the stupas at this site covers at least 1,400 years, from the time of Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century B.C. The earliest railing pillars of the stupa are of granite and were installed by Asoka.

Prince Siddhartha on horseback, Amaravati (British Museum, London). The stupa at this site has a history of over 1,400 years, from the time of Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century B.C. There are many fine sculptural panels here of the various periods of the stupa
By the 1st century B.C., the stupa was enlarged and sculpted limestone slabs with narrative sculptures were added. A drum slab of the stupa shows the Buddha’s enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. Footsteps and parasols indicate his presence. The shallow relief, broad faces, turbans and heavy earrings are reminiscent of other Sunga period art.
The Mahastupa

In the 2nd century A.D., the Satavahanas extended their rule to the eastern Deccan. Under them, the sculptural relief of the magnificent stupa reached its culminating phase. The entire stupa was covered with shimmering limestone slabs, with exquisite sculpture. An ornate stone vedika was also added. Today, only a mound remains of the Mahastupa, or Great Stupa, as it is called in inscriptions. In its time, its glory was known throughout the Buddhist world.

Sculptures, Panigiri, 1st century A.D. The graceful compositions of the Krishna Valley reliefs are among the finest in Indic art. The flow of lines is mellifluous and conveys the quality of grace that underlies all of creation. These railings and pillar fragments were excavated recently by the Department of Archaeology & Museums, Andhra Pradesh.
Fortunately, we have an idea of what the stupa looked like from depictions of it in the sculptural reliefs. This self-imaging of the monument is a tradition that continues from here onwards in Indian architecture. The Mahastupa was 162 feet (49.4 metres) in diameter. The railings were made 15 feet (4.6 m) away, taking the total diameter of the monument to 192 feet (58.5 m). The railings were richly sculpted. Their pillars, about 10 feet (3.05 m) high, had full-blown lotuses in the centre and half lotuses on the top and the bottom. The lotus, which rises in its beauty from murky waters, is a pan-Indian symbol of purity and transcendence.

Narrative carvings of the life of the Buddha were made on the inner surfaces of the pillars. The stories are told in greater detail here than was done earlier at Sanchi.

Early stupas, Sankaram. The vast Buddhist site of Sankaram was discovered in 1907. It has numerous stupas, rock-cut caves and sculptural brick temples. The stupas seen here are from the Hinayana period of the site, which also has later monuments of the Mahayana and Vajrayana periods.
From the 1st century A.D. onwards, artists in North India, around Mathura and in the northwestern Gandhara region, had begun to depict deities in human form. Earlier, symbols had been used to indicate the presence of Buddhas and Jaina tirthankaras. Artists in the western and in the eastern Deccan took more time to break away from earlier conventions of art in which personalities had not been depicted. It is only in the 2nd century A.D. that the Buddha was depicted in the art of the Deccan.
A pillar of the vedika depicts the Buddha receiving rice pudding as his first meal after abandoning his austerities. Below, we see the enlightenment of the Buddha, beneath the Bodhi tree. In this sequence, the Buddha is indicated by his footprints.

Chaityas and stupas, at Bavikonda, 15 km from Visakhapatnam. The site at Bavikonda, which means a hill of many wells, flourished between the 2nd century B.C. and the 2nd century A.D. and was of the Hinayana school of Buddhism
Another pillar narrative depicts the Great Departure, when Prince Siddhartha rides out of his palace to renounce his worldly life. Below, the story ends with the First Sermon of the Buddha, at Sarnath. After the Enlightenment, the artist preferred to use the symbol of the chakra instead of the human form of the Buddha.
The coping of the railing is fully adorned with eternal themes. Often a thick and luxuriant garland is depicted. It is reminiscent of the vine of the fullness and bounty of nature that was seen in the 2nd century B.C. at Bharhut and later at Sanchi. It is carried by turbaned youth, who represent the urbane city-dwellers of the prosperous Krishna Valley.

Standing Buddha, 3rd century A.D. (Archaeological Survey of India site museum, Amaravati). The Buddha figures of the Krishna Valley, with their serene expressions and dignified monumentality, were models for the Buddhas made in many Southeast Asian countries.
On entering the hallowed enclosure, to circumambulate the Great Stupa, the worshipper saw exquisite carvings on either side. On the right, the drum of the sacred stupa had slabs that were about 6 feet (1.8 m) high. Sculpted dome slabs rose another 11-and-a-half feet (3.5m) above the drum. A world of Buddhist narratives was created, through which the worshipper moved as he went around the stupa. Sculpted scenes, such as the Birth of the Buddha, would transport the viewer far from everyday concerns. His soul would be lifted in response to the beauty and grace before him.
In the rapt attention and divine contemplation on the faces of the attendant figures, the artists appear to have portrayed the devotion within themselves. It is a realm of gentleness and beauty, which awakens the best within us. Chitrasutra, the ancient treatise on art making, states that the purpose of art is to transform us through the presentation of harmony and grace, to show us a glimpse of the Eternal, which underlies all of creation.

Scenes from the Buddha's life, Panigiri (Andhra Pradesh State Museum).
The reliefs of the 2nd century A.D. at Amaravati are deeply cut, which gives them the appearance of being fully in the round. The depth of the cutting permits the overlapping of figures on two and even three planes. Each figure is individual and possessed of a life and movement of its own. The variety of poses is infinite. The reliefs reflect a sense of confidence among the artists, who appear to discover new possibilities for the depiction of the human form. There is a vitality and rhythm in the closely grouped compositions.
In the early tradition of art, a sense of grace prevails upon all forms. The figures portray a quality of surrender to the harmony of existence. These are not heroic individuals struggling against the vicissitudes of life but beings who recognise their place as a part of the whole of existence. It is this view of life that provides the ease and the joyousness to the figures. The sumptuous richness of the carvings is a celebration of the divinity that is all around us.

The Buddha preaching, Nagarjunakonda, 3rd or 4th century A.D. (ASI site museum, Nagarjunakonda). The sculptural remains at Nagarjunakonda have been securely dated to the 3rd and 4th century A.D. As in the case of other Buddhist monuments, the stupas were made under the rule of kings who worshipped Brahmanical deities, in this case the Ikshvakus.
Since the Indus Valley civilisation, India has been well known for its flourishing trade. Great centres of art have come up at junctions on internal and external trade routes. Greeks, Parthians and others who stayed in India took to Indic beliefs and expressed their devotion to deities in numerous inscriptions.
Commerce brought people from faraway parts of India and elsewhere together in a spirit of mutual understanding and appreciation. It is such a spirit of warmth and giving that is contained in donative inscriptions of this period across the whole of India. Here, in the Krishna Valley, too, donations of sculptures were made “for the benefit of all sentient beings of the world”.

Stupa dome panel, Chandavaram, 1st century A.D. (Andhra Pradesh State Museum, Hyderabad). The child Prince Siddhartha being taken to the palace. He is indicated by the footprints that have been made on the cloth. A tree spirit is shown displaying his reverence to the child
The exquisite phase of the Amaravati art was under the rule of the Satavahana rulers. They were devoted to Brahmanical deities and were fully benevolent to the Buddhist sangha. However, as in central and western India, this was an art of the people. The individual pillars and sculptures were the donations of lay people and the monastic community. Nuns, many of whom held high religious titles, outnumber monks in donative inscriptions. Everywhere in ancient Indian inscriptions, it is seen that women enjoyed a high economic and social status.
In the last period of the reliefs of Amaravati, a more taut and crowded grouping of figures can be seen. The limbs are elongated, in anticipation of the style to be found in the reliefs of nearby Nagarjunakonda.

Worship of the Buddha, Amaravati (ASI site museum). The fluid forms of the body, carved out of limestone, in the reliefs of Amaravati are reminiscent of the early paintings of Ajanta. The graceful lines convey surrender to the greater order of the universe. It is an art that does not seek to convey photographic reality. Instead, the grace that underlies creation is the dominant theme of the compositions.
Besides the Buddha figures in the reliefs, a number of freestanding Buddhas have been found at Amaravati and other sites of the Andhra region. They date from the 3rd century A.D. onwards. These are quite different from the Buddha figures that were being made at Mathura and Gandhara and show an independent artistic conception. These were to be the models for the Buddhas of Southeast Asia.
While the glorious Mahastupa at Amaravati was made and sculpted in different stages, from the 1st century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D., many other stupas were made in the Krishna Valley. Their railings and drum slabs are part of a vast surviving corpus of the early art of Buddhism.
Ikshvakus in power

In the 3rd century A.D., the power of the Satavahanas began to fade. However, the tradition of art, which had blossomed under them, continued. The Ikshvakus came to power in the second quarter of the 3rd century and established a new capital called Vijayapura, or the City of Victory, in the Nagarjunakonda Valley.
The great Buddhist teacher Nagarjuna, one of the most important proponents of Mahayana philosophy, was known to have lived here in the 1st or 2nd century A.D. Nagarjunakonda means “the hill of Nagarjuna”. The area continued as an important centre for the development of Buddhist philosophy under the Ikshvakus. A large number of monastic establishments for residence, study and worship were founded here for at least four different sects of Buddhists.

Women in casual stances, Nagarjunakonda, 3rd or 4th century A.D. (ASI site museum). There is an ease and freedom in the manner in which one leans upon the other, who is shown holding her girdle. This is a quality also seen in the early first millennium sculptures of the caves of western India, notably at Karle and Kondavane.
Unlike Amaravati, the remains at Nagarjunakonda have been systematically excavated and securely dated through inscriptions to the 3rd and 4th centuries. The original site was submerged by a dam in recent years. However, the edifices were carefully reconstructed and have been preserved for the future.
In Indic tradition, theology was never confined by dogma. Early literature is full of accounts of public intellectual discussions between teachers of different sects. This climate, in which different sects and philosophies coexisted, is seen in the remains at Nagarjunakonda. Chaitya-grihas with stupas are made next to shrines with statues of the Buddha. Worshippers of both share a common vihara, or monastic residence.
The style of the sculpture here is very similar to that in the last phase at Amaravati. The figures are lively and full of movement. They are cut deep into the stone. The tradition of the depiction of the stupa is continued here, on the sculptural slabs of the monument. These are made along with Gandharvas, who bring offerings to the stupa. These celestial beings are a constant motif in Indic art from the 2nd century B.C. onwards.

STUPA SLAB, NAGARJUNAKONDA, 3rd or 4th century A.D. (ASI site museum). There is a tradition of self-imaging in Indic monuments. This is a depiction of the profusely decorated stupa made on a slab, which was placed on the monument itself. Such depictions are invaluable as they give one an insight into how the stupa would have been decorated originally.
The many finely made depictions here include the scene of the birth of the Buddha. Queen Maya, the mother of the Buddha, gave birth to him while standing under a sal tree. The artist depicts her in the continuing style of the shalabhanjika, who represents the flowering abundance of nature. Her name, Maya, means the illusory nature of the world of forms around us. It is there as a reminder to the devotee.
The Great Departure of Prince Siddhartha is depicted. Divine beings hold up the hooves of his horse, Kanthaka, so that he may ride out of the palace silently.
The creative force of nature is expressed in Yakshis, whose mere touch causes trees to blossom. This continues as a theme from the earliest stupa railings of Bharhut.

Rock-cut cave, Sankaram. The eastern hill at this site bears a rich heritage of architecture and sculpture that transports one back to the glorious periods in the development of the three main schools of Buddhism
As in the case of all major Buddhist monuments since the 2nd century B.C., these at Nagarjunakonda were made under the rule of kings who themselves worshipped Brahmanical deities. However, in keeping with the Indic traditions of dharma, they were fully benevolent to institutions of all faiths. As was often the case, some female members of the royal family were devoted to Buddhism and made personal donations to monasteries. A number of Brahmanical temples were also made at Nagarjunakonda during the period. However, none has survived.
The ultimate belief was in the oneness of the whole of creation. The sculptures were made, as donative inscriptions proclaim, for the benefit of “all sentient beings”. The artist continues to present before us the grace that underlies all that is around us. That grace is also deep within each of us, and we respond to it when it is presented before us in art.

CAVE 1, GUNTUPALLI. The Buddhist heritage of the Krishna Valley spans more than a millennium. This fascinating cave is reminiscent of the earliest rock-cut caves in India, at Barabar in Bihar. The Guntupalli rock-cut caves date back to the 3rd to 2nd century B.C. and other structural remains at the site go up to the 5th to 6th century A.D.
Earlier, art brought to us the vital and living world of nature, in which man was only one part of its existence. By now the focus had shifted. Some of the attention of the earlier art, to the joy and frolicsome world of natural creation, had been left behind. The emphasis had now come more on men and women.•

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Brief Notes on Various Schools of Art in the Post-Mauryan Period

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Brief notes on Various Schools of art in the Post-Mauryan period!

The Post-Mauryan period saw the development of local or regional styles of sculptural art-Gandhara and Mathura in the north and Amarvati in the lower Krishna-Godavari valley.

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Gandhara School: A great deal of Gandhara sculpture has survived dating from the 1st to probably as late as the 6th on 7th Century, but in a remarkably homogenous style, almost always in a blue-grey mica schist, though sometimes in a green phyllite on in stucco or very rarely in terracotta.

Except for a handful of Hindu icons, sculpture took the from either of Buddhist cult objects – Buddhas and Bodhisattvas primarily – or of architectural ornament for Buddhist monasteries, such as friezes end stair-risers, to beautify rather rough masonry or to decorate the lower portions of stupas. They show almost exclusively events in the life of the historical Buddha, chiefly his birth, Great Departure and Pariniravana.

The characteristic Gandhara sculptures, the standing or seated Buddha, reflects the essential nature of Gandhara art. The iconography is purely Indian. The seated Buddha is almost always cross- legged in the traditional Indian way. He was the physical marks of a Buddha, chief among them, the usina, the urna and elongated ears.

Usina simply means a peak topknot of uncut hair. Urna is believed to be a hairy mole, which marked the Buddha’s forehead. The Gandhara Buddha never wears earrings or ornaments of any sort in his elongated ears. The Gandhara Buddha is invariably shown making one of the four significant and unchanging hand gestures, known as mudras, one of the most characteristic features of Indian iconography.

The Western classical element resides in the style, in the treatment of the robe (the heavy folds of the robe) and in the physiognomy of the Buddha, the head is certainly based on the Greek God, Apollo. The main centers from where the art pieces of the Gandhara School have been found are Jalalabad, Hadda, Bamaran, Begram and Taxila. The chief patrons of the Gandhara art were the shakas and the Kushanas.

Mathura School: The origin of the Mathura art form is traced back to the 2nd century BC, and by the 1st century AD it had become a major school of art. Mathura produced sculptural works in quantities rivaled only by Gandhara, and while were eagerly sought after and imitated all over northern India. It was here in the Kushana period that the brahmanical icon was born; and also the Jina image, creating its own style of the Buddha and Bodhisattava image.

Jains produced distinctive cult objects in the form of the Sarvatobhadrika images (four standing Jinas back to back) and the ayagapatas or votive tobelts, square slabs bearing relief sculptures on the side, possibly used as altars near a stupa for depositing offerings. Some show figures or scenes or stupas, other is carved with decorative patterns and such ancient Indian symbols as the svastika and the twin fish, adopted by the Jains as well as the Buddhists.

The great of standing Buddhas of Mathura are usually well over life size but with very little depth. They nonethless exude a sense of power with their excessively wide shoulders, thin prominent breasts, and deep navels. They invariably stand with their feet well apart and usually with a lion or a sheaf of lotuses between the feet.

The surviving heads bore a usina of a peculiar shape – hence the name Kapardin (from Kaparda). The hair was a smooth close fitting cap and foreheads were marked with the uma. The right shoulder is invariably bare, the upper garment looped over the left arm, the left hand resting on the hip, the right hand raised, palm outwards in abhaya posture. The standing Buddhas from Mathura were installed at Sravasti Sarnath (by bhikshu Bala in the period of Kanishka I and Kausambi.

Small seated Buddhas from Mathura were installed at Sanchi Abhichhatra and as Far East as Bengal and north-west as charsadda, outside Peshawar. The seated Buddhas from Mathura are even more important than the standing over because it is this form, the Yogic position called padmasana, (his legs tightly folded so that the soles of both feet, decorated with the Buddhist triratna and Dharmachakra’ signs face upward) which the great majority of Indian images have continued to take until the present day and because their iconography is richer.

The two turbaned male figures holding cowries on either side of the Buddha are the first of the attendants which had thenceforth flanked many Indian deities. There is a plain halo around his head and on the ground of the statue, the branches and leaves of a pipal tree; the symbol of the enlightenment appears in low relief.

Most of the inscriptions record the setting up of a Bodhisattava image at this time and not of a Buddha – a large standing Bodhisattava in the round, who in contrast to the Buddha, wears jewellery and usually a rolled scarf over a shoulder and looping down below the knee, but the robust and well flushed bodies are the same.

The appearance of Hindu icons at Mathura coincides with the emergence of the two great theistic cults, the saiva and the vaisnava, each with its own pantheon, but their number is insignificant in comparison to Buddhist and Jaina images. The two prominent icons, to speak of an established iconography, area lingas with one face or faces of Shiva projecting from them, and the goddess Durga slaying the demon buffalo (Durga Mahisasuramardini).

Small icons of Varah Vishnu, recognizable by his characteristic crown, shiva as Ardhanari, (half man half woman, the division being vertical), Sasthi and Kartikeya have all been found. The iconography of the principal Gods was still in the process of formation.

Considering the quintessentially Indian aesthetic sense in most Mathura sculpture (carved out of the characteristic red sandstone with beige spots), it would not be right to think of Mathura as culturally isolated. Its position being important trade routes from Konkan to the lower doab and Pataliputra on the one hand and Gandhara on the other make this unlikely.

A significant dimension of Mathura art is that it also produced free-standing sculptures of kings and other notables, for examples, of the great Kanishka, portraits which are rare in Indian art.

Another thing worth noticing about this school is that it depicts various patterns of life on the votive pillars, e.g. scenes from forests.

Amaravati: Except for the splendid standing Buddhas, none earlier than the 3rd on 4th century AD, which later provided the model for those of Sri Lanka and South-east Asia, early Andhra sculptures consists almost exclusively of reliefs. The sculptural reliefs all in marble like limestone of Palnad, decorating the monumental stupas at Amaravati, date back from 2nd century BC and others not so outstanding are from Nagarjuna Konda. Lesser stupas with sculptural reliefs were erected at a few other sites. Among them is Jagaayapeta, the source of the famous chakravartin (world-emperor) relief.

The relief at Amaravati represents the traditional narrative arts taking themes from Buddha’s life and from Jataka stories. In the narrative scenes the superlative beauty of the individual bodies (they are well-modeled with long legs and slender frames and sensual expressions) and the variety of poses, many realizing new possibilities of depicting the human form, as well as the swirling rhythms of the mass compositions, all combine to produce some of the most glorious reliefs in world art.

Kings, princes and palaces figure prominently in sculptural representations. For example, the story of King Udayana and his queen is depicted on a relief, as is also a scene of a king on March with horse riders and footmen and a king in his court receiving presents, etc.

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/notes/brief-notes-on-various-schools-of-art-in-the-post-mauryan-period/4441/

• Ancient Art (Sculpture) from Amaravati
  • Amaravati art as one of the three major styles or schools of ancient Indian Sculpture
    • Other two being the Gandhara style and the Mathura style.
  • Use of White marble (to Potrays a Greco-Roman influence)
  • Physical beauty with elegance
  • Narrative rather than individualistic (not deities but Humans)
  • Depiction of Kings and Princes
  • Direct result of the close trade and diplomatic contacts between south india and the ancient roma
  • Amaravati has itself yielded a few Roman coins
  • World’s finest examples of Narrative sculpture.

http://www.civilsdaily.com/blog/spiritual-tourism-1-prasad-cities-ajmer-and-amaravati/

Photos cities Amaravathi (village), Guntur district

Budha statue under construction, Amravati, andhra pradesh, india

• evdsastry 2009-04-09 00:00:00

Mallikarjuna alayam, Amravati

• evdsastry 2009-04-09 00:00:00

Statua di Buddha ad Amaravati, India, Andhra Pradesh, gennaio 2006

• Marco Carnelli 2009-11-21 00:00:00

Kala Chakra Budha Statue at Amaravathi in Andhra Pradesh, India

• Tandavakrishna Tungala 2009-11-03 00:00:00

Amareswara Temple at Amaravati

• Satya Josyula 2012-11-29 00:00:00

Sri Hanuman Statue at Amaravathi in Andhra Pradesh

• Tandavakrishna Tungala 2009-11-03 00:00:00

AMARAVATHI BOUDDHA STUPA LARGEST IN INDIA

• bgrmandava 2010-12-26 00:00:00

River krishna at Amaravati

• vasireddi 2009-05-30 00:00:00

Krishna river Scenery

• Guhan 2012-02-04 00:00:00

MUSIUM, AMARAVATHI, GUNTUR

• ANUBABU 2010-05-30 00:00:00

STUPA MODEL, MUSIUM, AMARAVATHI, ANDHRAPRADESH

• ANUBABU 2010-05-30 00:00:00

New sculptures at Budha Statue at Amaravathi

• chandana_rahul 2010-05-31 00:00:00

DYANA BUDDA, AMARAVATHI, GUNTUR

• ANUBABU 2010-05-30 00:00:00

Budha Statue at Amaravathi

• chandana_rahul 2010-05-31 00:00:00

SRI MALLIKARJUNA TEMPLE prasadam counter ,AMARAVATHI

• vijju84 2010-08-30 00:00:00

Krishna River at Amaravathi

• vijju84 2010-08-30 00:00:00

Amaravathi musuem

• kayakalp 2014-04-12 00:00:00

Amaravathi Ghat

• kayakalp 2014-04-12 00:00:00

Sri Mallikarjuna Temple Entrance,AMARAVATHI

• vijju84 2010-08-30 00:00:00

BOATS PARKED AT KRISHNA RIVER ,AMARAVATHI

• vijju84 2010-08-30 00:00:00

Krishna River at Amaravathi

• vijju84 2010-08-30 00:00:00

BOATS PARKED AT KRISHNA RIVER ,AMARAVATHI

• vijju84 2010-08-30 00:00:00

Buddha Statute

• Cheeni_Kum 2011-08-15 00:00:00

Amaravathi Kala Chakra Budha Statue at in Andhra Pradesh (GK Anapathi)

• gkcolourlab 2012-09-08 00:00:00

Amaravathi Kala Chakra Budha Statue at in Andhra Pradesh (GK Anapathi)

• gkcolourlab 2012-09-08 00:00:00

River Krishna from Amaravati Temple

• Satya Josyula 2012-11-29 00:00:00

Sri Amareswaraswamy Temple at Amaravathi in Andhra Pradesh

• Tandavakrishna Tungala 2009-11-03 00:00:00

Krishna River

• Guhan 2012-02-04 00:00:00

Similar look like Varanasi in Amaravathi

• Guhan 2012-02-04 00:00:00

BUDDHA STATUE, AMARAVATHI

• ANUBABU 2010-07-09 00:00:00

Amaravathi

Amaravati,like Bharhut and Sanchi, artifacts constitute a continuum from Sindhu-Sarasvati Script heritage.

Amaravati frieze shows a woman scribe and an artisan scribe inscribing on tablets

Hieroglyph karaṇa rebus: kārṇī 'supercargo of a ship' kul-- karṇī m. ʻ village accountant ʼ(Marathi) 

dhAtu 'strands of rope' rebus: dhAtu 'mineral ore, element'; kuTi 'tree' rebus: kuThi 'smelter', kariba 'trunk of elephant' rebus: karba 'iron'; kharA 'crocodile' rebus: khAr 'blackwmith'; kol 'tiger' rebus: kol 'working in iron', kolle 'blacksmith', kolhe 'smelters'. Parasol hieroglyph: Ta. kuṭai umbrella, parasol, canopy. Ma. kuṭa umbrella. Ko. koṛ umbrella made of leaves (only in a proverb); keṛ umbrella. To. kwaṛ id. Ka. koḍe id.,parasol. Koḍ. koḍe umbrella. Tu. koḍè id. Te. goḍugu id., parasol. Kuwi (F.) gūṛgū, (S.) gudugu, (Su. P.) guṛgu umbrella (< Te.). / Cf. Skt. (lex.) utkūṭa- umbrella, parasol. (DEDR 1653).. Rebus: koD 'workshop'. Ta. koṭṭakai shed with sloping roofs, cow-stall; marriage pandal; koṭṭam cattle-shed; koṭṭil cow-stall, shed, hut; (STD) koṭambe feeding place for cattle. Ma. koṭṭil cowhouse,shed, workshop, house.Ka. koṭṭage, koṭige, koṭṭige stall or outhouse (esp. for cattle), barn, room. Koḍ. koṭṭï shed. Tu. koṭṭa hut or dwelling of Koragars; koṭya shed, stall. Te. koṭṭā̆mu stable for cattle or horses; koṭṭāyi thatched shed. Kol. (Kin.) koṛka, (SR.) korkā cowshed; (Pat., p. 59) konṭoḍi henhouse

Nk. khoṭa cowshed. Nk. (Ch.) koṛka id. Go. (Y.) koṭa, (Ko.) koṭam (pl. koṭak) id. (Voc. 880); (SR.) koṭka shed; (W. G. Mu. Ma.) koṛka, (Ph.) 

korka, kurka cowshed (Voc. 886); (Mu.) koṭorla, koṭorli shed for goats (Voc. 884). Malt. koṭa hamlet. / Influenced by Skt. goṣṭha-. (DEDR 2058)

Wash drawing by Murugesa Moodaliar of a carved railing coping from the Great Stupa of Amaravati. "The drawing No.27 depicts a long narrative scene carved on the inner face of a railing coping which has been assigned to the early High Period at Amaravati, 2nd century CE. The scene has been identified as representing the 'adoration of the stupa'. The drawing No.28 depicts the carvings on the outer face of the same railing coping. The decoration consists of an ondulating garland carried by running turbaned young men. In the spaces created by the garland there are the following elements: a stupa with worshippers; a trio of rampant animals supported by three dwarfs standing on addorsed makaras, mythological sea-monsters; a dharmacakra, the Wheel of the Law over an empty throne, symbol of the First Sermon of the Buddha; the bird Garuda perched on the coiled body of a naga (serpent)."

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/other/019wdz000002256u00000000.html

Indus script hypertexts on Amaravati sculptural proclamations signify dhāma ʻreligious conductʼ(Old Bengali) and relate to metal- mint-work.

kulā ʻwinnowing fan' (Oriya.Assamese)(CDIAL 3350) rebus: kol 'working in iron' kolhe 'smelter'.  kaláśa ʻwaterpotʼ RV., a metaphor of prosperity. nidhí m. ʻ setting down (food), hoard ʼ RV. [√dhā]Pa. nidhi -- m. ʻ receptacle, treasure ʼ; Pk. ṇihi -- m. ʻ storehouse ʼ; Si. nī ʻ subterranean treasure -- chamber, mine ʼ; -- Kho. (Lor.) niya ʻ a place where there is litter and rubbish ʼ phonet. rather < nidhāˊ -- .(CDIAL 7207) The inverted 'srivatsa' or fish-fin khambhaṛā 'fin' base of the vase of prosperity signifies kammaTa 'mint, coiner, coinage'. dula 'pair' rebus: dul 'cast metal'. I suggest that the hypertext messagig on this sculptural frieze is a proclamation of metal-, mint-work as a nidhi, a treasure. Thre carriers of the three strands of rope are nidhāˊ'depositing' the metallic in the treasury. dhāˊtu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ MBh., ʻ metal, mineral, ore (esp. of a red colour) ʼ Mn., ʻ ashes of the dead ʼ lex., ʻ *strand of rope ʼ (cf. tridhāˊtu -- ʻ threefold ʼ RV., ayugdhātu -- ʻ having an uneven number of strands ʼ KātyŚr.). [√dhā]Pa. dhātu -- m. ʻ element, ashes of the dead, relic ʼ; KharI. dhatu ʻ relic ʼ; Pk. dhāu -- m. ʻ metal, red chalk ʼ; N. dhāu ʻ ore (esp. of copper) ʼ; Or. ḍhāu ʻ red chalk, red ochre ʼ (whence ḍhāuā ʻ reddish ʼ; M.dhāū, dhāv m.f. ʻ a partic. soft red stone ʼ (whence dhā̆vaḍ m. ʻ a caste of iron -- smelters ʼ, dhāvḍī ʻ composed of or relating to iron ʼ); -- Si. dā ʻ relic ʼ; -- S. dhāī f. ʻ wisp of fibres added from time to time to a rope that is being twisted ʼ, L. dhāī˜ f.(CDIAL 6773).

Fragments from the sculptural ruins of Amaravati. 

Amaravati. Dome slab. With Indus Script hieroglyphs. khambhaṛā 'fin' rebus: kammaṭa 'coiner, coinage, mint' tAmarasa 'lotus' rebus: tAmra 'copper'.aya 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'metal' kol 'tiger' rebus: kolhe 'smelter' kolle 'blacksmith'. sippi 'mollusc' rebus: sippi 'artisan, sculptor'.

Drawing of two medallions (perhaps the inner and outer face of the same piece). [WD1061, folio 45]. The top medallion shows nAga venerating a blazing pillar of light: yupa, iSTi. Atop this pillar, the 'srivatsa' hypertext proclaims the mint sculptor. Bottom medallion: tAmarasa 'lotus' rebus: tAmra 'copper'.

Dome slab. Srivatsa hypertexts.

A wheel atop a pillar is also adorned with 'srivatsa' hypertext. eraka 'nave of wheel' rebus: eraka 'moltencast, copper'. arA 'spoke' rebus: Ara 'brass' as in ArakUTa (Samskrtam) The wheel is also a metaphor for dhammacakka (Pali)

See: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/amaravati/homepage.html Amaravati album.

https://www.academia.edu/23641129/Indus_script_hypertexts_on_Amaravati_sculptural_proclamations_signify_dhamma_and_relate_to_metal-_mint-work