The Hindu : National : Buddha statues unearthed near Chennai

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Sunday, Feb 12, 2006

National

National

Buddha statues unearthed near Chennai

T.S. Subramanian

Archaeological Survey of India finds significant ancient links

STRIKING FIND: The two Buddha statues and a pillar with a human face excavated from Kolapakkam. — Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

Chennai: Two beautiful Buddha statues and ornamental pillars have been discovered at Kolapakkam village, about 20 km from Chennai. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Chennai Circle, had earlier found a 10th century A.D. inscription in Tamil that mentioned the donation by a king from Sumatra, "Sri Vijaya Maharaja," of land to a Siva temple at Kolapakkam. The deciphering of the inscription led to the unearthing of the artefacts. The Buddhas are in dhyana (meditation) pose.

T. Satyamurthy, Superintending Archaeologist, ASI, said: "Epigraphically and structurally, these are important finds."

Kolapakkam has an Agatheeswarar temple, dedicated to Siva. The ASI had found inscriptions in Tamil on five loose stones in the Temple. Two of these were issued by Raja Raja Chola (A.D. 985-1014), who built the Brihadeeswarar temple at Thanjavur.

A third one

S. Rajavelu, epigraphist, ASI, had recently found that the third inscription belonged to "Sri Vijaya Maharaja," a king from Sumatra, and that it was issued in his eighth regnal year. The inscription mentions his donating 250 kuzhi (a measurement) of land to Agatheeswarar at Kolapakkam, which was in Perur nadu (country), a sub-division of Puliyur. Sri Vijaya was a contemporary of Raja Raja Chola and the palaeography of the inscription showed the script was similar to that of the period of Raja Raja Chola. Sri Vijaya had a cordial relationship with the Chola kingdom. Although the inscription mentioned Sri Vijaya's donation to the temple, it indirectly indicated Buddhist activity nearby, because Sri Vijaya was a Buddhist.

Exploration

Dr. Satyamurthy and Dr. Rajavelu explored the area and found the ruins of a Buddhist temple close to the Agatheeswarar temple. The two Buddha sculptures and ornamental pillars, in granite, were unearthed. The Buddha sculptures are three feet tall. One sculpture has a dharma chakra on either side of the Buddha. This was sculpted in the ancient region that is now Tamil Nadu. The other sculpture has a three-tiered umbrella above the Buddha's head and women bearing fly-whisks.

South-East Asian influence

According to Dr. Satyamurthy, the face of this Buddha has Mongoloid features and this sculpture shows South-East Asian influence. One of the ornamental pillars unearthed has a bas-relief of a human face, with a head-gear that shows South-East Asian influence. An image of Ganesa is carved on this pillar.

Kolapakkam perhaps was a centre of Buddhist activity. According to Dr. Rajavelu, this area coming under Tondaimandalam was noted for Buddhist activity about 1,000 years ago, prior to the Chola period.

Buddha statues have been discovered at Mangadu, Irandaamkattai, Kunrathur and Pattu villages, within a few kilometres of Kolapakkam, on the outskirts of Chennai.

The surmise is that when Sri Vijaya visited the Buddhist temple at Kolapakkam, he probably also visited the nearby Agatheeswaram temple and donated land to it.

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