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The influence of Buddhism is subtle but deep-rooted in the land of
Andhra. Dating to the pre-Christian era, Andhra Pradesh has some of
the most fascinating archaeological monuments that tell the story of
Buddhism in the region and the legacy it left behind.
As Buddhist monks walked
the countryside, their chants reverberated in the air, the people of
Andhra woke to the clanging of cymbals and the prayers of these
monks. They grew around them a sensitive and enduring culture. Even
today their influence remains. The links with the past can be seen
in the monuments in a magnificent state of ruination while the more
lasting influence can be felt in the softness and gentle nature of
the people of Andhra.
Andhra Pradesh is known
to the present generation as the land of the ancient sites of
Buddhist learning. Even as you read about the ruins of
Nagarjunakonda or Amaravati, let alone visit them, the question that
comes naturally to mind is – when did Buddhism come to Andhra?
History is not so kind as to just hand over a date and say, “Now
you know when.” Instead it tells us many stories spread across
centuries in time.
In the pre-Christian ear,
there seems to have been a lot of communication between the people
across the length and breadth of the sub continent. No, there were
no satellites or indigenous versions of them. They were people who
traveled back and forth with messages. The means of travel were
varied. Andhra was famous for some of the greatest ports and through
the waters the culture of Andhra influenced the civilization of
Burma, Malaysia and Indo-China.
Within the country,
caravans of people – merchants, traders and religious preachers
used to travel by road with musicians, astrologers,
artists…accompanied by lots of other people. They were the ones
who carried cultural values, thoughts and symbolism from one area to
another creating the indomitable Indianness that defines Indians even
today.
Andhra Pradesh was
situated at a very central place in terms of the routes the caravans
took. At a place called Vengi, five such routes converged. It’s
importance was recognized very early in history and later Andhra
kings even set up their capital at Vengi. In fact, Andhra Pradesh
itself was often known as Vengi and the Andhra kings as Vengi kings.
The road to Kalinga, led
to the north-eastern part of India. The road to Dravida or the south
was different from the road to the south-west, which led to
Karnataka. Similarly there were two paths, one leading to the north
(to the city of Kosala) and the other to the north-west, that is the
modern day state of Maharashtra. It was along these paths that
Buddhist monks traveled and brought with them ideas and influences
just as they took back bits of Andhra culture. Interestingly the
famous Buddhist sites of Andhra Pradesh are all found along these
routes. Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati lie on the south-western road
to Karnataka while Ghantasala lies along the road to the south. To
enumerate all the Buddhist sites in the land of Andhra would be to
fill pages and pages of just names. There are a large number of
Buddhist monuments like stupas, chaityas and viharas are both
monasteries and temples where an assembly of monks and nuns takes
place. In becoming a religion, Buddhism followed and adopted much
from various beliefs of the time. Its simple rituals were based on
the cult of chaityas or sacred spots. These were often groves
of trees or a single sacred tree on the outskirts of a village which
was the abode of earth-spirits. They may or may not include a stupa
which is a mound that contains relics of locally revered monks and
ascetics. Gradually it has come to house other holy objects like
statues. Most of these monuments were constructed near water points
and so today we can locate them along the banks of River Krishna.
These are the earliest
historical monuments of Andhra. Most of them date to the Ashokan
period, 4th – 3rd century B.C. This does
not mean that Buddhism came to Andhra only with or after Emperor
Ashoka. When Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism he spread the
message of the religion as far and wide in the country as possible.
There is, however, doubt whether Buddha Himself visited Andhra
Pradesh. But there is mention of the land in early Buddhist
literature and stories like the laws of Baudhayana and so, historians
are as sure as reconstruction can be, the Buddhism came to Andhra
almost as soon as it was born. Many of the stupas that remain in
Andhra are those that were erected by Emperor Ashoka. It is said
that the emperor sent special missions to erect stups all over the
country. In the most ancient of monuments, at Bhattiprolu, may be
seen inscriptions of a southern variation of the Ashokan Brahmi
alphabet, the parent of the later Andhra script. This is, in fact,
the first evidence of the language of Telugu. At that time, scholars
say, it had many Prakrit words, gradually it came to incorporate many
Sanskrit words and adopt the present day script known as the
Vengi-Chalukya script. There is a school of thought which says that
because Andhra was exposed to so many varying influences early in its
history, the people learnt to absorb words from other languages and
enrich their own. Words from Pali, Sanskrit, Greek are some
examples. Telugu language has probably the largest number of
alphabets: 56!
The end of the Ashokan
period came with the beginning of the rule of a dynasty called the
Satavahanas. The Satavahanas ruled from 225 B.C. to 225 A.D. Their
rule is famous for their patronage of the arts. Into the period was
packed tremendous growth of Buddhism and Buddhist art in the region.
The influence of Buddhism
is not always so easily discernible. It mingles so well with the
local culture that the Buddhist elements are often not separable. The
art of toy making, for instance, which flourishes in Andhra, could
well have been influenced by the bright woodwork patronized by the
Buddhist. In literature, one finds many works influenced by
Buddhism. The great Buddhist saint Nagarjuna himself has contributed
a corpus. The influence of Buddhism was deep rooted and subtle.
Here is an example of how it has influenced the writers of Andhra.
During the National Movement and the struggle for a separate province
for Andhra many poets awoke to the call of their state and motherland
and wrote some good poetry. One pair were called Pingali and Kasturi.
These poets saw in Mahatma Gandhi a likeness to Buddha. Their poems,
therefore, centered on the spirit of patriotism but with Buddha or
his disciples as the heroes!
In architecture, there
are scholars who say it is the pattern of the viharas and the
chaityas that has formed the basis of South Indian temple
architecture. Whether this can be taken as the whole truth or not,
an influence cannot be ruled out. In fact there is no chasm between
Buddhist and Hindu art and so tradition continued – one weaving
into another.
The Satavahana period is
significant for its contribution to the history of art. The earliest
historical paintings in India, that can still be viewed, belong to
this period. Some of the most glorious Buddhist caves were excavated
out of living rock along the north-western route from Vengi.
Paintings closely resembling the ones at Amaravati are found in the
famous Ajanta caves. These paintings are concentrated in caves 9 and
10.
The art of paintings grew
even when Buddhism had waned. A fascinating example of continuity in
tradition can be seen in the adaptation of rock cut structures for
Hindu temples. In and around Bezawada a number of rock cut temples
may be seen housing Hindu gods.
All the earlier culture
of the Deccan came into a definite shape under Buddhist stimulus out
of which emerged the new Brahminical culture of the post-Satavahana
period. The third century A.D. was thus culmination of one epoch and
the beginning of another political and cultural history. The waning
of Buddhist culture was gradual, so much so that in the 7th
century A.D. when Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang visited India, he
counted 50 monasteries and 4500 monks in the area. He also noted
that simultaneously there were other regions where Jainism and
Brahminical order had replaced Buddhism.
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