English
This may be the origin of the name Dipal dinne, which certainly does not mean “ Hill of Lights.” Can Dipal, by any synonym, be assumed to mean diamond ? \ 160 THE TOPE AT AMRAVATI. .Kistnah. First, from its position half-way; * next, because here only, so far as I know, are those diamondt mines near the coast; but more because, as will be abundantly proved by the sequel, it was the residence of the Naga Raja. The Naga Raja steals the relic. from the princess when she is asleep, but he_is forced by the power of a Thero, from the Himalaya, to restore it, and the wanderers . again embark, and after various adventures reach~Ceylon in the year 312. Mahdsena had been dead nine years, but the fugitives are received with open arms by Meghavarna,§ the reigning. sovereign; a brick and mortar Chaitya is made, and the relic brought by the prince and princess enshrined with great solemnity (Colonel Low, p. 86). . ; The narrative then proceeds :—‘* Three years ' dad passed away, when the king .* of Lank& perceived from an ancient prophecy that in seven years from that date. “a certain king, Dhammisoka Raja, would erect a temple on the Diamond Sands; °* and he likewise recollected that there were two: Donas of relics of Buddha still concealed in the country of Naga Raja. He therefore directed a. holy person to “ go and bring these relics.’ The Naga Raja’s brother swallows the relics, and flies to Meru, but they are taken from him and brought back. “ Soon after this Naga ** Raja arrived (in Ceylon), in the form of a handsome youth, and solicited: a few “ relics from his majesty, which were bestowed upon him accordingly.” — His majesty now ordered a golden ship to be made. It was one cubit long and one span broad. The relics were put into a golden cup; this was placed in a vase, and the whole put into the golden ship. A wooden ship was next built, having a breadth of beam of seven long cubits. — Danta Kumara and Hemachal4 being desirous of revisiting their country, the king of Lank& sent with them ambassadors to. one of the five|| kings who now -ruled there, requesting him to show them every attention. The vessel reached the Diamond Sands in five months, and the prince and princess went on shore, accompanied by the priests. An account is then given of the building of the temple, and the mode in which the relics were placed. The vessel now set sail for Dantapura, which it reached in little more than three months. The ambassadors of the king of Lank& landed with the prince and princess. They were treated with much estan: and remained in the country. * The Siamese, .as Colonel Low points out, wishing to make their own country the scené of these events, have lengthened the periods of the voyage preposterously. They make it three months from Cuttack | to the Diamond Sands, and three more from thence to Ceylon.—J. A. 8S. B., vol.. XVIL * Ph II, pages 86 and 87, * fT One of the Gigece of Colonel Mackenzie’s surveys was to mark the diamond mines in the locality. He plots the diamond district as extending to about eight miles north of Amravati, but it seems there are no mines elsewhere. Their position is marked on the map, Plate XLVL _ $ It does not seem quite clear how far the Ceylonese dates are to be relied upon as quite correct about this time. Avowedly there is an error to the extent of at least sixty years in the date their annals assign to Asoka. This has subsequently been adjusted, to some extent, by Mr. Turnour, but not, so far as I can judge, in such a manner as to inspire entire confidence. My impression is that the dates in the fourth century are all from ten to fifteen years too early. § Is not this the Varija of the Western Cave Inscrip. ?—J. B. B. R. A. S., vol. V. p. 42. || Those who, according to the Daladdvansa, had combined with the nephews of Khirddh4ro and conquered the country. = HISTORY OF MONUMENTS. 161 ' After this follows a third tradition which Colonel Low treats as if referring to another king and to. different circumstances, but both from the name he bore and the whole of the circumstances mentioned in the context seems undoubtedly to have been the same person. In the legend he is called Dhammisgoka* and ruled the country of Arvadi, apparently Avanti (Ougein) with strict justice, but is forced by a famine to emigrate with his followers, amounting to 31,000 able-bodied men. The wanderers proceeded southward for seven months. After various adventures they reach a place where water and fish were abundant. Next day the king mounted his horse and reached the Diamond Sands. Here he meets the Naga Raja, builds a Chaitya, and founds a city. ‘© Dhammasoka reigned here quietly for seven years, but mortified and unhappy ** because he could not reach the relics. “His Majesty accordingly offered a high “‘ reward to any one who should find the relics and disinhume them. But this proved “ of no avail. It sé happened that, in the dilemma, a Putra or son of the king of Rém or Roum, named Kakabhdsa, who happened to be trading to the country of “ TakkhasilA, encountered a violent storm. He had 500 souls on board, who, suppli- * cating the gods, were rescued from death. The ship, with much difficulty, reached * close to the Diamond Sands, attd observing ios of population cast anchor with “ a view to refit.” The Prince of Rémf assists the Naga Raja to recover the hidden treasure, and to build a ‘wonderful nine-stdried Chaitya over it, many particulars of which are given; but_as they are too long to extract, and either are imaginary or do not refer to the particular building we are engaged upon, it is hardly necessary to quote them here. These quotations might be multiplied to almost any extent; but enough has probably been adduced to’ show that, in the beginning of the fourth century—about the time when the struggle for the tooth relic was convulsing all India—Buddhist tradition points most distinctly to the Diamond Sands, on. the banks of the Kistnah, as the place where a great temple was being built. The kingdom of the Naga Raja certainly was there; and‘so far as can be judged from every indication as to the locality, if it was not at or near Amravati, it could not possibly have been far from the spot.’ Though all this tends to confirm the idea that the building referred to is the | Amravati Tope, the inference rises almost to certainty when. we come to examine the sculptures with which it is adorned. In one bas-relief a ship is represented with * This is evidently a title, though from ‘the similarity of the. name Colonel Low confounds him with the great Asoka, and places him 321 2.c. t It would be absurd to found any serious theory on the mention of the name of Rome, if it stood alone and unsupported. The circumstance mentioned in the narrative of the strangers being white men, and coming by sea, is a small confirmation that the people here mentioned were really Europeans. My impression, however, is that few who are familiar with the arts of Rome in Constantine’s time, and who will take the trouble to master these Amravati sculptures, can fail to perceive many points of affinity between them. The circular medallions of the arch of Constantine—such as belong to his time—and the general tone of the art of his age so closely resemble what we find here, that the coincidence can hardly be accidental. The conviction that the study of these sculptures has forced in my mind is, that there was much more intercommunication between the east and west during the whole period from Alexander to Justiuian than is generally. supposed, and that the intercourse was especially frequent and influential in the middle period, between Augustus and Constantine. : (4799.) x 162 | | THE TOPE AT AMRAVATI. two persons on board, bearing relics, and _is being welcomed by a Naga king on approaching the shore. In another an ark, in the form of a ship, like that described above, is being borne in state on men’s shoulders ; and in numerous scenes there are conferences between the Naga king and a prince or king accompanied by a lady, neither of whom nor any of whose suite are Nagas. . Of course these may represent other similar scenes which have happened to. other people; but .a. careful examination of the whole presents so many poinjs of coincidence that I hardly think they can be accidental. One point which the sculptures undoubtedly reveal is that Amravati was the capital, or, at least, the residence of the Naga Raja. In all the.sculptures which do not relate to the life of Buddha, and in many of these, the Naga king appears with his hood of a seven-headed snake, and all his women have also single snakes - at the back of their heads. As-will be presently shown, Naga worship, almost super- sedes Buddhism in the religious representations, so much so, indeed, that it is some- times difficult to say to which religién the temple is dedicated. It may be quite true that no single part of this evidence is sufficient to prove the case, but, taking the whole of it together, I think it must be admitted to be _ sufficient to justify the presumption that the beginning of the fourth century was the great building epoch at Amravati. When all the evidence about to be advanced in describing the Plates is added to what has been adduced, few, T fancy, . will be inclined to doubt but that the two great Rails at Amravati are part of the Temple at the Diamond Sands, which, .according to the Ceylonese computation, was commenced in the year 322. Judging from the elaboration of the outer Rail, it - may have taken fifty years.to complete. If this be so, the date of its completion may be about the year 370 or 380 of our era, and the principal part of the building may thus have remained complete for 150 or 200 years’ after that time, before it was deserted, as mentioned by Hiouen Thsang.