GUNTUR: Buddhist relics said to be 2,100-year-old were found at Vaikuntapuram in Thullur mandal of Guntur district on Tuesday. They surfaced during diggings at Bhavaghni Ashram in the village. An archeologist, who examined the findings, said the locals found a conical polished cup, terracotta tiles once used in the roofs of ‘Buddhist viharas’, a piece of well-polished muller granite and a broken parasol that enshrined a stupa of the Satavahana period.
He said he was surprised to find a Brahmi inscription that read “pusana” (daanam). The parasol could be a gift donated by a household named Pusana. The archeologist added Dr K Muniratnam Reddy, Director of Epigraphy, Archaeological Survey of India, had confirmed that the script belongs to 1st century BC. He explained the archeological importance of the findings to the ashram officials, and requested them to preserve them. The artefacts will be displayed at the museum being built in the Vyasa Bhagwan temple. Buddhist relics in Vaikuntapuram were first reported by British archaeologists 125 years ago, he added.