Author: Uday Mahurkar
Publication: India Today
Date: May 18, 2009
Introduction: The excavation of a Buddhist
monastery in Vadnagar is a historical milestone. Gujarat expects the site
to grow into a prime destination for tourists on the Buddhist circuit
The Gujarat Government's extravagant plans
to sell the state as a destination for Buddhist tourists have just got an
unexpected boost. Archaeologists have excavated a Buddhist vihara (monastery)
in Vadnagar, considered the crown jewel among historical sites in Gujarat.
A votive stupa has also been discovered.
They were built by devotees to pay their gratitude
to Lord Buddha on fulfilment of their desires. Over the past five decades,
many historical sites have been excavated in this area but this is the first
time that a Buddhist vihara has been unearthed. Gujarat director of archaeology
Y.S. Rawat says, "In archaeological terms, we have discovered a gold
mine since it proves what Hieun Tsang had written."
Tsang was the famous Chinese traveller and
historian who in his travels in India from 629 to 645 A.D had described many
towns that he visited. One of them was Vadnagar, which archaeologists regard
as one of the few Indian towns to have remained continuously inhabited for
the past 2,200 years.
It has lived through the Buddhist era, the
Solanki era, the Sultanate and Mughal periods and Gaekwad rule. On Vadnagar,
Tsang wrote there were 10 Buddhist viharas in the flourishing town and 1,000
monks lived there.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is a native
of Vadnagar and the force behind the drive to sell Gujarat as a Buddhist destination,
is understandably upbeat. During a recent visit to the state, Sri Lankan Tourism
Minister Milinda Moragoda promised that the country will look at Gujarat as
a Buddhist tourist destination.
Not just this, the monastery also received
global recognition recently when known British expert Robin Conningham, who
is engaged in research on the great Buddhist site in Anuradhapur in Sri Lanka,
called it a significant discovery.
Till now, Gujarat's main Buddhist site has
been Devnimori, which was excavated by noted archaeologist S.N. Chaudhary
in 1959. Like in Sarnath and Sanchi, there are many stupas across India which
have stone or brick structures containing the Buddha's relics in caskets buried
inside stupas where they usually can't be seen. The Devnimori casket, believed
to contain the ashes of Lord Buddha, is one of the few which can be seen and
touched.
Vadnagar promises more, however. What Rawat
and his team of four have discovered is a 16x16 m structure with a 7x7 m courtyard
surrounded by a dozen cells in which monks lived. The excavated artifacts
are small in size but confirm that it was a Buddhist settlement. There is
small plaque carved in stone which shows a monkey offering honey to Lord Buddha,
part of a famous tale depicted at many Buddhist sites. Then there is a disfigured
head of the Buddha inscribed on a stone with the prabhamandap (aura) depicted
around the head. A votive tablet showing the footprint of the Buddha has also
been discovered.
Archaeologists also excavated what is called
Northern Black Polished Ware. Associated with Buddhist settlements, some bear
inscriptions in the Brahmi script saying, "Shakasya" (probably another
name for Buddha who was also called Shakyamuni), "Devrishi" (another
name for Buddha) and "Dhamma" (religion). Another important find
was a finely sculpted head in the Gandharva style. More fascinating is the
discovery of pieces of Roman pottery in the form of amphoras, as well as decorative
pieces of classical Greek art. Dalip Kushwaha, an archaeologist who assisted
Rawat, says, "The discovery of these artifacts clearly indicates that
Vadnagar must have had a trade link with the Romans and possibly even the
Greeks."
Excavations by the team at two other spots
have also confirmed Vadnagar's historicity. The findings show successive phases
of occupation and construction over the past 2,200 years. The artifacts also
reflect the socio-economic condition of different periods. These include coins
of different dynasties and are of copper, silver, lead and potin (an alloy).
The most famous Buddhist settlement in Gujarat
is at the foot of the Girnar Hills on Junagadh's outskirts in the form of
inscriptions, caves and a water system built by Emperor Ashoka who spread
Buddhism after embracing it following the Battle of Kalinga. The rock edict
of Ashoka near Junagadh has 14 inscriptions describing the Buddhist edifice
on which his empire was shaped. There are other Buddhist caves in Sana near
Una and at Prabhas Patan, both in Junagadh district. Then there are two Buddhist
caves in Talaja near Bhavnagar and Khambalida near Rajkot. The one at Khambalida
has two large sized sculpted stone figures of Bodhisattavas- Padmapani and
Vajrapani.
But the pride of Gujarat is undoubtedly Devnimori.
According to the two inscriptions on the casket, there is a copper box inside
which contains the Buddha's ashes. The inscriptions also name two monks who
brought the Buddha's relics to Devnimori and built the stupa and the monastery
around it in the 4th century A.D. Before a dam submerged Devnimori village,
important remains of the monastery, including the casket, were removed. Modi
now plans to build a majestic Buddhist temple around the relics of Devnimori
to draw South-east Asian Buddhist tourists.
Vadnagar has a huge, exquisitely carved "Kirti
Toran", a gateway believed to be part of a great temple complex built
during the Solanki era (also known as the Gujarat's golden age) before it
was destroyed by Muslim rulers of the Sultanate period. A similar gateway
was recently resurrected by the Archaeological Survey of India. The two victory
towers located near the main lake now make a splendid picture. With the latest
discovery, Vadnagar's golden age may have just returned.
