Rajahmundry: The Archaeology department authorities have found a huge basement of a Buddhist mahastupa, belonging to the Satavahana period during the excavations being carried out at A. Kothapalli village of Tondangi mandal in East Godavari district.
State archaeology director G.V. Ramakrishna Rao visited the site on April 21 and thought that the cache of Buddhist relics was a satisfactory find. Archaeology assistant director D. Pattabhi Reddy said, “We have been carrying out excavations at the Buddhist site for about 45 days and found several significant relics.”
The basement, found on a hilltop called Pedametta, was constructed using sandstone and bricks. It is circular in shape and measures 12 m in diameter. The authorities say that the basement was constructed to support a tall Buddhist stupa dating back to between 2nd century BC and 4th century AD. Over a period of time, the stupa was demolished.
The authorities have also found a Buddhist monks’ monastery, called the Apsidal Chaitya Gruha, located towards the east-south side of the stupa. It measures 17 m in length and has lime flooring.
Buddhist stupas traditionally had an umbrella-like structure on the top, called ‘Chatra’; correspondingly, the authorities found two broken pieces of a Chatra.
The authorities said that Buddhist stupas were being found at several places, including Adurru, Kapavaram in East Godavari and Kodavalur in West Godavari and also at Bojjanakonda, Thotlakonda and Bavikonda in Visakhapatnam.
The officials said that as part of the conservation of Buddhist relics found during the excavations, they may have to reconstruct mainly the stupas to restore their past glory.
