The historic Buddhist stupa at Chandavaram village in Prakasam district is in dire need of attention.Photo Credit: KOMMURI SRINIVAS
Posted on 11/20/2022 11:18:11 PM PST by SunkenCiv
The ancient site where Hinayana Buddhism once flourished... the sleepy Chandavaram village in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh... is famous for its magnificent Buddhist stupa... and continues to be a major attraction for research scholars who explore the historic site on the banks of the Gundlakamma river...
The stupa is the biggest in Andhra Pradesh rivalling the one at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh in its grandeur... The artefacts at the historic structure... includes various Buddhist relics which have weathered many a storm. Mahayana Buddhism also thrived at Chandavaram later.
It has preserved for posterity the magnificent stupa, 120 ft in circumference and 30 ft in height... includes a meditation hall, restrooms and stairs from three sides. Events related to Buddha's life and his teachings, including the great renunciation, Bodhi tree, throne, pillar of fire and Dharmachakra are found on the four sides of the stupa.
Showing the idols gathering dust at the local panchayat office, local historian Jyothi Chandramouli laments that the proposal to set up an on-site museum has failed to see the light of day...
The remains at the historic place include a Maha Chaitya with a dome 1.6 m in height and a drum 60 cm wide, and a three-winged vihara. It also has sculpted slabs, Satavahana coins and Brahmi inscriptions...
Along with this site, the nearby Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda sites and other important historical places can be clubbed for organising package tours from the district headquarters, which is 70 km away from the historic site, say locals. The historic site can also be reached from Donakonda, a strategic airstrip for the British during World War II. A motel and a tourist guest house are an urgent need of the hour.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehindu.com ...
The historic Buddhist stupa at Chandavaram village in Prakasam district is in dire need of attention.Photo Credit: KOMMURI SRINIVAS
First recorded in 1875–80, “stupa” is from the Sanskrit word स्तूप (stūpa) for heap.
As to shtup, Mel Brooks might tell you the Yiddish origin but it means , uh, engaging in relations.
So we might ask if there is any record of who got shtupped at the stupa.
Who cares except H1Bs in CA and gov’t ?
Stupa is as Stupa does......................
From that last paragraph, seems that somebody’s uncle runs a tourist agency in Donakonda.
Interestingly, there’s a Christian cemetery there. Perhaps St. Thomas wandered through, stupaing here, stupaing there, saving a few souls along the way.
LOL
About your post? No one but you.
Yeah, the drive is on to raise the money to do the conservation/restoration work, and someone there thinks the way to do that is through tourism. I edited out most of those allusions.
Makes sense, tks for clarifying.
Now I’m fascinated by Christianity in India...
This one, for example: Youtube vid titled, “girls dancing in semi Christmas event in RCM church donakonda|Steven|” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12BIYbM2EJY
There’s plenty of evidence beyond the 3rd century legendary writings that St. Thomas the Apostle evangelized in the sub-continent. Makes perfect sense that he followed Roman and Jewish trade routes/ networks. While he would have been targeting Jews for conversion, he obviously got further than that, as, per legend, he was martyred by angry Hindu priests on the East coast. We know he converted Hindus in Kerala, on the southwest coast, so he was likely pushing to the east when he was killed. In the 3rd century, East Syrians (Jewish Christians) arrived to Kerala and were granted trading rights by a local king.
There was a bit of mixing of Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim practices in Indian Christianity, as we see from that YouTube video. Muslims protected St. Thomas’ tomb up through the arrival of the Portuguese, who built a church on the site.
One of my favorite stories of De Gama’s first voyage to the east coast of Africa is when he met Hindus there who responded to his saying “Christ” with mantras of “Krishna,” causing a bit of confusion between the parties.
additional of possible interest:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/727602/posts
https://freerepublic.com/tag/losttribes/index
https://freerepublic.com/tag/romantrade/index
https://freerepublic.com/tag/ancientnavigation/index
Your post, no one cares.
Clearly you do.
Nice try,
NOT !
Nice try,
NOT !
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