A potential UNESCO heritage site, why Phanigiri in Telangana is central to tracing region’s Buddhist past

“In our childhood, we used to play here. There was no protection wall or any restrictions,” says Uppala Somasekhar, 41, a farmer from the Phanigiri village in the Suryapet district.

In Sanskrit, ‘Phana’ means a serpent’s hood and ‘Giri’ means hillock. The site is closely related to Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh.(Express photo by Rahul V Pisharody)

“We children,” he recalls, “would stumble upon marble-like small pieces of rocks and use them as chalk pieces without releasing they were green limestone remnants of a 2,100-year-old landscape.”

In Sanskrit, ‘Phana’ means a serpent’s hood and ‘Giri’ means hillock. The site is closely related to Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh. It is located at a height of about 150 feet and about 35 km from the district headquarters, Suryapet. The village is located about 140 km from the Telangana capital, Hyderabad.

Somasekhar, pointing to the top of the hill, adds that it took more than 60 years for the government to start excavations after a major Buddhist heritage site was discovered during explorations by the Nizam’s Department of Archeology between 1941 and 1944. The then director Khwaja Muhammad Ahmed documented the preliminary excavation of the site in his book Phanigiri Bouddharamulu in 1950 before it fell into apathy and neglect. Today, after the eighth field season of excavations, Phanigiri has already found itself among historical Buddhist heritage sites of global importance.

Veeraiah, 45, one of the four security guards at the site, says research scholars, professors, students and even tourists from countries such as Japan, Thailand, China, Sri Lanka and Nepal have been visiting the site and the site museum. (Express photo by Rahul V Pisharody )

The first round of field excavations was initiated in 2001, and the latest, the eighth, concluded recently with the unearthing of a horde of 3,750 led coins dating back to the Ikshvaku period (300 CE-400 CE), among others. While coins from different eras, such as Kshatrapa, Mahatalapara, Satavahana, and Ikshvaku kings, have been recovered, one of the notable pieces among them is a Roman gold coin weighing 7.3 grams from the times of Roman emperor Nerva Caesar Augustus (96 to 98 AD), recovered in 2012.

Emergence of Buddhism in the region

Buddhist scholar E Shiva Nagi Reddy says Buddhism arrived in Andhra Pradesh during the life and times of the Buddha in the fifth century BC. In Buddhist scripture ‘Suttanipata’, one of the ‘Tipiṭaka’, mentions that a sage named Bavari from today’s Telangana region sent 16 of his disciples to meet the Buddha at Shravasti in today’s Uttar Pradesh, and only one of them Pingia returned to the sage. He informed Bavari about the Buddha’s Dhamma, and Buddhism reached the region.

vertical panel sculpture carved in green limestone is often referred to as the jewel of Phanigiri for its quality of carving, composition and the story that it conveyed. Four of the panels from the site recently returned after a year from New York’s Metropolitan museum and National Museum in South Korea after it was loaned to them. (Express photo by Rahul V Pisharody )

At the same time, the ruler of Assakajanapata, located in southern Telangana today, is said to have converted to Buddhism, according to scriptures. Kotilingala, an ancient submerged site in today’s Karimnagar, dates back to the 4th century BC and is one of the earliest Buddhist sites in the region, Reddy says.

Similarly, Dhulikatta in today’s Peddapalli district is another site dating back to the 3rd century BC. In his book Buddhist Archeology in Telangana, Reddy explains how Buddhism thrived during the period with patronage from various regional rulers.

In the Telugu version of the Thai book A Pictorial Biography of Sakyamuni Buddha, which was also published later in Chinese and English, its translator Medam Narayana Reddy says Buddhism was widespread in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh since the third century BC and more than 150 sites have been located.

Phanigiri has the potential to become a great heritage site in the country and can vie for the UNESCO world heritage tag in future if conserved well. (Express photo by Rahul V Pisharody )

He adds that Buddha is a ‘household’ name in the state, although Buddhism disappeared here after the 14th century CE, as in other parts of India. “The great sons of soil like Acharya Nagarjuna, Dhiganaga, and Buddhaghosha who were institutions within themselves, propounded various schools of Buddhist thoughts in vast monastic settlements on the banks of river Krishna, Godavari and along the coastal belt of Bay of Bengal, between 3rd century BC and 12th century AD,” says K Sangharakshita Mahathera, chairman of Secunderabad-based Ananda Buddha Vihara Trust, which published the translated version.

An interim report from 2001-2007 by the Department of Archeology, ‘Phanigiri-A Buddhist Site in AP,’ mentions that the sculptural panels unearthed here are masterpieces of Buddhist art representing the mature phase of the Amaravati school of art and that the monograph on Phanigiri serves as a source to reconstruct the cultural history of Andhra Pradesh.

“Based on the phase-wise constructions of religious and secular structures, the size of bricks used in the constructions, material evidence such as pottery, epigraphs, coins and sculptures, and other cultural material, the monastic establishment at Phanigiri initially commenced with the Hinayana tradition (1 BC to 1 AD) and continued with the Mahayana tradition up to the 3rd and 4th centuries AD,” says the report.

Scriptures and map from Phanigiri.

Former director of the Department of Archeology in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, P Chenna Reddy, who edited the interim report, writes that the Phanigiri monastic complex is strategically located on the ancient trade route connecting the monasteries on the west and the east coast. The monastery has sustained for a longer duration with the support of other monasteries in and around, namely Gajulabanda, Tirumalagiri, Vardhamanukota, Arlagaddagudem and Nagaram, etc., on the banks of river Aleru, he adds.

The report mentions a Mahastupa and votive stupas (both in brick and stone), six viharas, apsidal Chaityagrihas, stone-pillared congregation halls, platforms and a square shrine built in the different phases. Pottery, tiles, stuccos, sculptured panels, inscriptions, and coins are other materials found during excavations.

In the book Phanigiri—Interpreting an Ancient Buddhist Site in Telangana, N R Visalatchy, the former director of the Telangana Department of Archeology, explains that the decline of Buddhism in the river Krishna valley, including the site of Phanigiri, was due to a decrease in support, changes in politics, and internal conflicts within the religious community.

She further writes, “The end of Phanigiri was brutal. The site was vandalised and completely desecrated. The evidence is the large-scale dumping of broken sculptures in front of two Chaityas.”

A potential UNESCO World Heritage site

Veeraiah, 45, is one of the four security guards at the site. He mentions that research scholars, professors, students, and even tourists from countries like Japan, Thailand, China, Sri Lanka, and Nepal have been visiting the site and the site museum. Veeraiah has been guarding the site for the last 22 years and notes that some visitors come back multiple times. He mentions that these Buddha jataka panels are unique and are not found anywhere else in the country. He also says that the number of visitors has been increasing.

The director of the department of Archeology Bharati Hollikeri says this vertical panel sculpture carved in green limestone is often referred to as the jewel of Phanigiri for its quality of carving, composition and the story that it conveyed. (Express photo by Rahul V Pisharody )

Somasekhar, who grew up playing on the hillock like other children from the village, mentioned that the site was additionally damaged by treasure hunters. They not only dug up parts of the site but also destroyed certain structures, hoping to find gold underneath. He pointed to the compound wall and a gate to emphasise that the site has been protected since excavations began in 2001.

“And yet, in 2003, an important Buddhist panel depicting the three stages of the Buddha’s life, including the tuft of Siddhartha being carried to heaven, was stolen. It was cut into three pieces and taken away. It was said to be worth around Rs 2 or 3 crore. Later, the police recovered the panel buried under a toilet in Macherla in Andhra Pradesh as the thieves were waiting for the right opportunity to sell it,” recalls Somasekhar.

The director of the Department of Archeology, Bharati Hollikeri, says that the vertical panel sculpture, carved in green limestone, is often referred to as the jewel of Phanigiri because of its high-quality carving, composition, and story it conveys. After being loaned to them, four of the panels from the site recently returned from New York’s Metropolitan Museum and the National Museum in South Korea after a year.

“This special panel could not be sent as it could be further damaged. Most of the important sculptures and panels are displayed at the site museum inaugurated last year,” she adds.

Sreeramoju Haragopal, a heritage activist and the convener of Kotha Telangana Charitha Brindam (KTCB), a volunteer group preserving heritage, says the details and findings of Phanigiri excavation should be brought out in the form of a book in English and other languages for the public to consume.

“The artefacts should be scientifically preserved and placed in glass boxes for posterity in a bigger and better museum. The Chaithyagirhas and Viharas must be conserved and protected. If conserved well, Phanigiri has the potential to become a great heritage site in the country and can vie for the UNESCO world heritage tag in the future,” he adds.

Responding, Hollikeri says, “The UNESCO World Heritage Site tag is too early to talk about. The process is very long. We have to send a dossier for inclusion in the tentative list, and there are already 57 from India in the tentative list. Our idea is to clear as many monuments into the tentative list as possible. Surely, this site has potential.”

Sharing the department’s plans for Phanigiri, she says that the department is working out on a Buddhist circuit connecting such important heritage sites across the state.

“We are also planning to build a bigger and modern museum near the site to house all the artefacts from Phanigiri. The excavation is more or less over, and our focus is on conserving the site. We need to build some amenities, too, for the people visiting,” says Hollikkeri.