The Cultural Centre of Vijayawada (CCV), in its survey of archaeological remains, historical sites and monuments, discovered a granite idol of the Buddha in ‘Bhumisparsa Mudra’, also known as ‘Akshobhya’, at Vaikunthapuram village in Amaravati. With the discovery of the idol, Vaikunthapuram in Guntur district has found a place on the map of Vajrayana Buddhist sites of Andhra Pradesh.
Originally found on the river bank, the sculpture was shifted to Vaikunthapuram by villagers, and on learning about its antiquity, they placed it on a pedestal.
The survey, led by CCV Chief Executive Officer E. Sivanagi Reddy, brought to light an extensive Buddhist settlement along the right bank of Krishna and on the hills of Vaikunthapuram.
“The entire area is littered with potshreds of black and red ware and red ware of the Satavahana times (1st and 2nd centuries AD),” Dr. Reddy said. The Mahayana Buddhist site at Vaikunthapuram continued to be a Vajrayana centre up to the 9th century AD, as attested by the presence of the Buddha sculpture.
“The late Prof. B.S.L. Hanumantha Rao of the Mahayana Buddhist Centre, ANU, had established that Vajrayana, the third phase of Buddhism [the other two being Theravada and Mahayana] originated at Dhanyakataka Amaravati in the 4{+t}{+h}century AD,” Dr. Reddy added.
