HYDERABAD: Buddhism was founded on the teachings of Gautama Buddha (563-483 BC), who was born in Kapilavastu in Nepal as Siddhartha of the Sakya clan. While the biggest spread of Buddhism happened under the rule of Asoka, who ruled from 269-232 BC, the coming centuries saw its spread in south India, in Sri Lanka and towards the East, including Nepal, Myanmar, and Tibet.
As Buddhism continues to remain significant in the present day, with the development of the Buddhavanam project as the biggest tourist site and the possibility to grow further in the future, according to Mallepally Laxmaiah, special project officer at the site, we understand the development of religion in Telangana.
“Buddhism started in Telangana from the Hinayana period, i.e. 2nd and 1st century BC onwards. The Satvahana kings who patronised Buddhism tried to capture Kotilingala in Jagityal district, an excavated site from the time of the first Satvahana king, Simuca was found and prior to that some remnants were found,” said Veerender Mallam, an archaeologist at the Salar Jung Museum.
From there, he added, the spread of Buddhism went to Dhulikatta in the Peddapalli district, Phanigiri in the Suryapet district, Nelakondapalli in the Khammam district, Karukonda in the Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, Nagarjunakonda in Nalgonda district and then to Andhra and Maharashtra. The first few were excavated by the State Archeology Department in the 1980s and 1990s. From here, remnants from both Hinayana and Mahayana periods were found.
“As Satvahanas fled towards the West, from Kotilingala, they went to Kondapur and then to Nagpur and Nasik. Coming to other places, in around 140-150 AD, during the time of Yajna Sri Satakarni, one of the strongest Satvahana kings, who ruled over Krishna and Godavari river basins, the religion saw its widespread popularity as patronised by the king,” said Mallam
As the Ikshavaku kings were the feudatories of Satavahanas, they started their rule in the Nagarjunakonda area. While the kings helped develop Buddhism, their wives, the queens commissioned Buddhist sculptures. So most of the sites that we see in Nagarjunakonda were actually patronised by the queens. These were developed during the time of the second and third Ikshavaku rulers. They started to develop their kingdom in Telangana also from Nalgonda. They built stupas in Nelakondapalli in the present Khammam district, which houses one of the biggest stupas in the country, he added.
It is possible that here a factory was established to build Buddha statues and send them to other areas as well. One of these pieces can be found in the Salar Jung Museum also.
From there, they moved to Phanigiri in the Suryapet district and surrounding regions developed in the 2nd century AD during the time of the last Ikshavaku rulers.
“After that, there was not much spread of Buddhism in Telangana. It probably concluded in the 3rd century AD,” he said.
New evidence was found a couple of years ago from a small village called Badanakurthi in the Nirmal district, with pre-Satvahana coins dating back to the 1st century BC suggesting the existence of Buddhism in that period.