The first week of January 2015 marked a significant archeological discovery in India. A number of ancient Buddhist artifacts were found at Phanigiri, an old Buddhist site of learning, in the district of Nalgonda, Telangana State, in southern India.
A potin coin. From Neeraj Murali
On 6 January, at the northeast corner of the Mahastupa (Great Stupa), excavators discovered a red earthenware relic casket and a silver container, within which were 11 miniature beads, plus three silver and three thin flower petals, believed to be the belongings of a chief monk or an important Buddhist figure. A potin coin (an alloy of copper and lead) was also uncovered, with the bust of a male figure (a king) depicted on one side and a ship with a legend of 3rd century inscriptions on the reverse. The finding of personal possessions dating back to the 3rd century is rare and significant. The deputy director (excavations) of the Department of Archaeology and Museums, J. Vijay Kumar, explained: “Usually we get only bodily remains of Buddha or of any important monks. The fact that gold, silver and beads were preserved here, indicates the importance of the personality” (The New Indian Express).
Telangana’s principal secretary of tourism B. P. Acharya was also quoted in The New Indian Express as saying, “The Buddhist findings are pertaining to 3rd century AD. First time we have a Buddhist [casket] with material in it and this puts Phanigiri area as an important Buddhist heritage site.”
Telangana District, India. From Wikipedia
Excavations were first carried out at Phanigiri in 1941, under the archeology department of the then Nizam government, followed by another excavation in 2002. These previous excavations unearthed a number of panels, inscriptions, coins, inscribed pillars, and other artifacts. But thanks to these latest finds, as The New Indian Express states, “it can be confidently assessed that this Mahastupa may be considered as Paribhogika stupa (containing the personal belongings of Buddhist monks).”
J. Vijay Kumar explained that the discovery of the casket is important since archeologists have only found such relic caskets in two other places in what is known as “undivided” Andhra Pradesh (which, until 2 June 2014, included what is now Telangana State). These are the Nagarjuna Sagar and Bojjannakonda sites. The Times of India quoted B. Srinivas, director of the Department of Archaeology and Museums, as saying the fact that Phanigiri is the first stupa discovered in Telegana that contains the personal belongings of a Buddhist monk “is considered auspicious.”
Phanigiri Buddhist site. From Sanjay Jambhulkar; wikimapia.org
Director Srinivas also added that immediate action for the site has already been decided: “Excavation will continue and simultaneously restoration of the site will be taken up. Structures will be covered with lime mortar and in future, it will be one of the important tourist spot in the region.”
The Phanigiri site was an important Buddhist learning center, dating between the 3rd century BCE and 3rd century CE. Only four acres of the 16-acre site has been explored so far. The complex also includes a number of vihara (a type of monastery with living quarters for the monks) and chaitya (a Buddhist prayer hall with a stupa at one end).