CHENNAI: In recent years, Amaravati has been synonymous with bifurcated Andhra Pradesh’s quest for capital. However, hundreds of years ago, it was a significant Buddhist site. The Great Shrine of Amaravati or the Amaravati stupa, a ruined Buddhist monument dating back to 3rd Century BCE, was unearthed here by the British. While the colonisers took a good portion of their bounty back home to England — a collection of the Amaravati ‘Marbles’ is on display at the British Museum in London — they sent 299 artefacts from the find to the Government Museum in Chennai. These relief sculptures carved on limestone slabs have practically remained a secret in Chennai for decades, tourists discovering them more often by chance, than by plan. Now, things are set to change, with the museum planning to publicise the artefacts more effectively, so that the Amaravati ‘marbles’ are finally brought out of the shadows.
The discovery
It was in 1797 that Colonel Colin Mackenzie discovered the Amaravati site (a village in Guntur district). In 1845, Sir Walter Smith dug the south-west part of the mound and recovered a few sculptured pieces. Towards the close of the century, Robert Sewell (in 1877), James Burgess (in 1881) and Alexander Rea (in 1888-89) made attempts to excavate and record the sculptured stones systematically. Rea conducted two more excavations, one in 1905-06 and the other in 1908-09. The Amaravati stupa has been described, in inscriptions, as maha-chaitya, its history extending over a millennium and a half.
“During the first phase of excavation, the East India Company was ruling these regions and they had the option of taking whatever they wanted. During the second phase, an officer in charge of the Egmore museum, announced in 1851, thought the best of the artefacts should be stored here as well. So, most of the pieces from the second batch were kept here,” a retired curator from the Government Museum said.
“Though the excavation began in 1845, collections from the excavations started coming late. In fact, the first set was sent to the British Museum from here,” the curator said.
He added that the British Museum collection was similar to that at the Government Museum, which has the second largest collection of the pieces after London.“The collections are distributed over several museums, but a majority of the artefacts are housed in the Government Museum in Chennai and the British Museum in London,” a curator at the museum explained, adding that the site itself could be explored further.
The collection
The pieces, displayed in the Museum’s Amaravati Gallery, date from 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD. The collection consists of carved relief limestone panels depicting important episodes in the life of the Buddha, as well as Buddhist emblems and symbols. Among the collection in Chennai, are pieces that show the famous Jataka tales, including one that shows the Buddha taming Nalagiri, a rampaging elephant, with the power of his love. Other pieces depict the previous births of the Buddha. Railings, carved slabs that were placed around the stupa. and a pillar depicting scenes of the departure of Gautama Buddha from his palace at Kapilavastu in search of enlightenment are also on display.
An attraction for pilgrims
“Roughly one lakh Buddhists from Sri Lanka come to Chennai on their way to Bodh Gaya. Many travel by train as they cannot afford air travel. Some people from here go to Varanasi via Bhopal,” said Ven. Kalawane Mahanama Thero, monk in-charge, Maha Bodhi society of Sri Lanka, Chennai Centre.
“Buddhists also come to the temple in the Chennai Centre. Although the numbers of visitors has come down after the attack on monks and Buddhist people from Sri Lanka in Tamil Nadu a few years ago, a large number still visit Chennai and the temple,” added Ven. Kalawane Mahanama Thero.
New plans
To attract pilgrims and other tourists to the museum to see the collection, the government is finally taking some focused effort. “Approximately 1,100 visitors come to the museum each day. The exhibits, including the Amaravati collection, can only be promoted by telling tourists about them. So, we are planning to engage college students from history, anthropology, geography, and other streams to talk about the history of the objects on display,” M S Shanmugam, Commissioner, Department of Museums said.
“The curators can educate the college students, who can explain the displays to people, including school children, who visit the museum.”To this end, the museum would sign Memorandums of Understanding with colleges. The students might be given some incentives in the form of certificates. They also might be given a t-shirt, cap and badge. This would be encouraging for them also,” said Shanmugam.
Shanmugam explained that the Amaravati exhibits had been displayed in the Amaravati Extension gallery in recent years. “In the past, an international seminar was organised on the preservation of antiquities with special reference to the Amaravati sculptures, before the galleries were reorganised,” he said.
“Now pamphlets are also being designed to highlight separate galleries and objects. We will also be including the Amaravati collections in expert talks being organised in the Museum auditorium regularly. A video wall and more soft content are being prepared to highlight the Jataka stories,” he added.Without focused efforts, P Asoka, president, Approved Tour Guides’ Association, noted that it was foreign tourists who were showing more interest in collection. “On our part we promote the Amaravati sculptures but many are not aware of the significance of the Amaravati collection at the Government Museum here. If promoted, many international and local visitors might show interest,” Asoka said.