Visakhapatnam: A statue of Vajrayana, a Buddhist deity, was being worshipped as Kalabhairav in the Vommili village of V. Madugula mandal in Vizag agency for ages. This came to light when a team of the department of archaeology and museum inspected the area and hit upon many Buddhist artefacts.
Excited over the findings, the department is planning to take up a survey in the adjacent areas. “For the first time, we explored traces of a Buddhist monastery in the Vizag agency, that too in a tribal area, so-me months ago. The significance of the finding is th-at whatever Buddhist sites we had discovered in the past were close to the coast and this is in a hinterland.
“The inspection revealed that the monastery flourished between 1st Century BC and 8th Century AD,” stated assistant director (archaeology and museums) K. Chitti Babu.
“Among the antiquities, we also found an idol of Vajrayana deity (26*6.2 cm) that appears to be of 7th and 8th Century AD. The local people were worshiping it as Kalabhairav deity, and keeping it under a tree,” he said.
He further claimed that the antiquities discovered from the area indicated that a section of the tribal community in the area also embraced Buddhism in the past.
Many historical evidences at the site were ruined as the area was under cultivation for a long time. Excited over the findings, the department is planning to take up a survey on the hills in the Vommili village.
