Kanganahalli, situated about 3 km from

Sannati Sannati or Sannathi is a small village, located on the banks of the Bhima River in Chitapur taluk of Kalaburagi district of Northern Karnataka. It is famous for the Chandrala Parameshwari Temple and the excavations by the Archaeological Survey o ...

, is an important

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

site where an ancient Mahastupa was built. It is on the left bank of the

Bhima river The Bhima River (also known as Chandrabhaga River) is a major river in Western India and South India. It flows southeast for through Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana states, before entering the Krishna River. After the first sixty-five k ...

in Chitapur taluk,

Kalaburagi district Kalaburagi district, formerly known as Gulbarga district, is one of the 31 districts of Karnataka state in southern India. Kalaburagi city is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district is the headquarters of Kalaburagi div ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Nalwar is the nearest Railway station about 19 km from Sannati. The Buddhist site about 2.5 km from Chandrala Parameshwari temple of Sannati.

History

The remains of the excavations site at Kanaganahalli can be dated to between the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD. In circa the 1st century BC the stupa at Kanganahalli was constructed, as per the inscriptions referred to as ''Hama Chaitya'' and it was patronized by the Hinayana and Mahayana divisions of Buddhism during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. During the

Satavahana The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the la ...

period, the

Amaravati School The Amarāvati ''Stupa'', is a ruined Buddhist '' stūpa'' at the village of Amaravathi, Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh, India, probably built in phases between the third century BCE and about 250 CE. It was enlarged and new sculptures repla ...

of art made a deep impact on the sculptural and architectural forms of Kanaganahalli region. This was indeed a period of great artistic efflorescence that gave the ''Maha chaitya'' here the most impressive form unsurpassed in the history of stupa architecture in the south India. The sculptured panels of the ''medhi'' are distinctly of native creation. The skill of making two dimensional sculptures and the carving of typical animal motifs are also of indigenous nature. Exhibit a transition phase between the early phase of Amaravati sculptural art and the elaborately sculptured panels of

Nagarjunakonda Nagarjunakonda (IAST: Nāgārjunikoṇḍa, meaning Nagarjuna Hill) is a historical town, now an island located near Nagarjuna Sagar in Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, near the state border with Telangana. It is one o ...

with the sculptural panels found at Kanaganahalli stupa. The volumes of their improvement over their Amaravati counterparts. The mastery of the artist of Kanganhalli in carving the ''geometric patterns, floral motifs, dress and ornamentation'' of the contemporary times and the concept of composition of the subject matter in the large sculptured panels. The Kanaganahalli ''Maha Stupa'' is the veritable gallery of eminent rulers like King

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

and the

Shatavahana The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the late ...

rulers (Simuka, Pulumavi) are immortalized by depicting their portraits at Kanaganahalli. Unlike the torana of Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, portrait of emperor

is said to have depicted there in inscription found at Kanaganahalli. At Kanganhalli up to the anda portion of the stupa is available, although majority of the architectural members and the sculptural panels are dislodged from the original position.

ASI Excavation Site

Ashoka with his Queens at Sannati-Kanaganahalli Stupa

Kanaganahalli is the excavation site of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...

Excavation during 1994 to 1998

* During the excavations (1994 to 1998) at Kanaganahalli, found remains of a massive Stupa, many brick structures in the form of a

Chaitya A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...

-griha and memorial stupas were brought to light. * During the excavations many architectural members of the stupa found like fragments of sculptured veneering slabs, members of railings, pillars, capitals,

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

padas (footprints), sculptures of yaksha (non-human beings) and four images of

many more. * The sculptured panels depicts various Játaka which are legendary life of Lord

and portrait of many

king.

Inscriptions

In addition to one long inscription, 145 short inscriptions were discovered from the excavations site, dating between 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. The very important discovery was the sculpture of

Maurya The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

emperor

with the label "Rayo Asoka". Kanaganahalli in Karnataka is the site with an inscription in Brahmi script reading "Ranyo Ashoka" (King Ashoka) and a sculpture of King Ashoka.

Excavation during 2000 to 2002

* During the excavations (2000 to 2002) found bare ruined remnants of a number of brick built structures like paved and sheltered passages connecting them. Also found part of a possible monastic complex to the north west of the main stupa. * Antiquities such as lead coins bear names of

king like Satakarni, Pulumavi and Yajnasri. * The most important finding of the excavation include a stone sculptured slab bearing the name ''Raya

'' . The first inscribed portrait of

(surrounded by female attendants and queens) found at Kanaganahalli, was unearthed from the ruined Buddhist stupa. File:Kanaganahalli relief.jpg, Kanaganahalli aniconic relief of the empty throne of the Buddha File:Kanaganahalli dharmachakra relief.jpg, Kanaganahalli dharmachakra relief File:Kanaganahalli inscribed panel portraying Asoka (perspective).jpg, Kanaganahalli inscribed panel portraying Asoka Conservation restarted in 2022.

Satavahana inscriptions

The oldest

inscription is the one found on a slab of the upper drum (medhi) of the Kanaganahalli Great Stupa mentioning year 16 of Vasisthiputra Sri Chimuka Satavahana's reign, which can be dated from ca. 110 BCE.Ollett, Andrew, (2017). Language of the Snakes: Prakrit, Sanskrit, and the Language Order of Premodern India, University of California Press, Okland, p. 194.Poonacha, K.P., (2013). Excavations at Kanaganahalli, Archaeological Survey of India, DelhiNakanishi, Maiko, and Oskar von Hinuber, (2014). Kanaganahalli Inscriptions (Supplement to the Annual Report of the International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University for the Academic Year 2013, Vol. 17., Tokyo. On another stone slab at Kanaganahalli, the king is possibly shown together with a

Nagaraja Nagaraja ( sa, नागराज ', ) is a title used to refer to the nagas, the serpent-like figures that appear in Indian religions. It refers to the kings of the various races of the nāga, the divine or semi-divine, half-human, half-serpen ...

, and the inscription reads:

International Buddhist Centre

An important

site, Government of

and ASI Planning to develop Kanaganahalli (and

) as International Buddhist Centre. Government of

had constituted

Development Authority and had appointed senior IAS official S.M. Jamdhar as its special officer.

External links

Rediscovering Ashoka, Vithal C Nadkarni, The Times of India, 22 March 2012

Kanaganahalli - the Buddhist site

Relics of an emperor, LAKSHMI SHARATH, The Hindu, 26 October 2012

Buddha circuit in Gulbarga

Photographic documentation of the Kanaganahalli Stupa site
- over 1,000 photos by C. Luczanits.

Notes

{{Buddhism topics 1st-century BC establishments History of Karnataka Buildings and structures in Kalaburagi district Archaeological sites in Karnataka Former populated places in India Stupas in India Buddhist temples in India Buddhist sites in Karnataka Mauryan art