SOAS - 10th Jaina Studies Workshop [06] Jaina Stupa at Vaddamanu, Andhra Pradesh: A Study

Friday, 7th March 2008
Brunei Gallery Lecture Theater

Jaina Art & Architecture
10th Jaina Studies Workshop at SOAS

Jaina Stupa at Vaddamanu, Andhra Pradesh: A Study

Lecture: Jaina Stupa at Vaddamanu, Andhra Pradesh: A Study - Prof. Avadhanula Vijaya Kumar Babu, Osmania University, Hyderabad

Prof. Avadhanula Vijaya Kumar Babu,
Osmania University, Hyderabad

Abstract:

Vaddamanu, mentioned as Wudlamaanu in the 1887 report of Robert Sewell, and as Vadhamaanu, in the topo sheet of 1926, is a small vil­lage lying on 16'' 32' Latitude on North and 80" 30' Longitude on East, situated at a distance of 10 kms, from Amaravati, the famous Buddhist centre in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. Excavated antiquarian remains, such as Middle Paleolithic and Neolithic assemblages; Microlithic blades; Capstones and Orthostats from Megalithic burials; lead and other coins belonging to Satavahana and Ikshwaku times; and the structural re­mains of a Jaina stupa built during c.300 BC etc., push back the con­tinuous and uninterrupted habitation at Vaddamanu, from Paleolithic times until today.

Although numerically Jaina sttupas are limited, on the grounds of aesthetics, historicity and religious values, they are worth studying. The structures; the inscribed potsherds, divulging the names of the donors, recipients of the donations and the kings; coins with legends; plain and inscribed sculpted fragments, with floral designs, miniature sttupas and structural motifs; the auspicious symbols; human and mythical art forms - as found at Vaddamanu, in comparison with similar executions found at Jaina stupas at Khandagiri, Mathura and Udayagiri, during the contemporary period.

The paper makes an attempt to study the architectural features and other findings; those attest and confirm the history and antiquity of Vaddamanu and its affiliation to Jainism, as a contemporary living religious centre in Andhra and the contribution of Andhra to Jainism. The study will be supported by drawings, photos, plans, plates, tabular forms and textual statements.

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Lecture: Jaina Stupa at Vaddamanu, Andhra Pradesh: A Study - Prof. Avadhanula Vijaya Kumar Babu, Osmania University, Hyderabad Lecture: Jaina Stupa at Vaddamanu, Andhra Pradesh: A Study - Prof. Avadhanula Vijaya Kumar Babu, Osmania University, Hyderabad Lecture: Jaina Stupa at Vaddamanu, Andhra Pradesh: A Study - Prof. Avadhanula Vijaya Kumar Babu, Osmania University, Hyderabad

Lecture: Jaina Stupa at Vaddamanu, Andhra Pradesh: A Study - Prof. Avadhanula Vijaya Kumar Babu, Osmania University, Hyderabad