The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Humble cobbler’s gift to State

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 20, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Humble cobbler’s gift to State

M. Malleswara Rao

The ‘poornakumbham’ on the Amaravathi stupa, the State emblem, was found to be sculpted by a cobbler

The ‘poornakumbham’

HYDERABAD: The ‘poornakumbham’ (overflowing vase) on the Amaravathi stupa, which the State Government has adopted as its emblem, has been found by archaeologists to be sculpted by a cobbler, Vidhikudu. A 100-square foot replica of the ‘poornakumbham’ which lies at the centre of the Government’s circular emblem consisting of the Ashoka Chakra and four lion heads, is being installed at the main gate of the Secretariat. Being chiselled out of white granite rock by sculptor T. Venkateswarlu, sthapathi of the Venkateswara Shilpasala near Shilparamam here, the replica is to be unveiled on Ugadi (April 7) by Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Gift to monastery

The writing found at the bottom of the ‘poornakumbham’, in Prakrit, rendered in Brahmi script, indicated that Vidhikudu, a leather worker, gifted the sculpture to the Buddhist monastery, which flourished at Amaravathi in the first century BC in what is now part of Guntur district.

According to archaeologist E. Sivanagi Reddy, who served the State Archaeology Department for over two decades and is now with the National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Vidhikudu was a son of a teacher, Nagopadhyaya.

He said Vidhikudu may have offered the sculpture of ‘poornakumbham’, complete with mango leaves and coconuts, as it represented knowledge and bounty. The country was celebrating the 2,500th jayanti of Lord Buddha when the State was formed in 1956. In consonance with the event, the new Government adopted this as its insignia. For the Government, the Amaravathi ‘poornakumbham’ symbolised equality, liberty and fraternity.

New light

Historians are of the view that the ‘poornakumbham’ testifies that even leather workers enjoyed high positions in society like teachers (Vidhikudu’s father) and that the gifts offered by cobblers were accepted by the monasteries with gratitude.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh