Kondapur
is a small village in the Medak District of Andhra Pradesh state in
India. About 1 km south of this village, there is a small hillock or
a mound about 11 meters tall. The famous British archaeologist Mr.
Henry Cousens, then working with Archaeological survey of India,
first explored this site in first decades of the of twentieth
century. Later in 1941-42, Department of Archaeology of the
erstwhile Hyderabad State under H.E.H. the Nizam of Hyderabad,
started excavation work at this site under the leadership of
G.Yazdani and came to conclusion that it was a Buddhist site after
collecting evidence of stupas and other Buddhist structures. However,
they excavated the peripheral areas only leaving the middle mound
intact.
The
Archaeological survey of India, again took up the excavation work in
the years 2009-10 and 2010-11, on a sprawling area of 81 acres and
have now come to conclusion that actually the site is an important
milestone from a period that began two centuries before, and ended
three centuries later, from beginning of our era. The entire region,
where this site is located is commonly known as the Deccan and
during this period, it was ruled by Satavahana kings, who until
demise of the great emperor of India, Asoka, were vassal kings under
him. After his death they declared independence and set up their own
empire of the Deccan.
For
first two or three hundred years, Satavahana kings ruled from
Pratishthan (todays's Paithan city) from Marathawada region of the
present Maharashtra state. Due to unknown reasons, they appear to
have shifted their base eastwards, though the exact location of their
new capital remains unknown.
Around
200 CBE, after demise of 3rd Satavahana king Satkarni, his queen
Nayanika had got inscribed a huge epigraph about the king, in the
cave of Naneghat in western Ghat mountains of India. This inscription
clearly states that though, it was a golden period of Buddhism in
India, Satavahana kings were Brahmins and followed Vedic religion. In
fact, Naneghat inscription clearly lists the Yagnas ( ritual of
sacrificing things to fire on an altar.) that were performed by the
late King as a proof of his dedicated and religious frame of mind.
Even
though, we have proof that Satavahana kings followed Vedic
traditions, little was ever known about their traditions. Another
thing that was missed was any kind of evidence about the Gods, whom
people from Satavahana period worshipped.
In one
of the rock cut temples at Pitalkhora from that period, a statue of a
demi-God known as Yaksha was discovered. On one of statue's wrists, still intact, the sculptuerer has carved his name as Kanhadasa or servant
of Krishna, thereby indirectly confirming, that worshipping of
Krishna was being practiced in those years. Except for this little
bit of evidence, very little was known about the Gods whom Satvahana
people worshipped.
Archaeologists
have found that in the Deccan area, human settlements have been in
existence even more than a millennium before the Satavahana period.
Extensive exploration work has been carried out by Researchers of the
Deccan college from Pune, at several places like Jorwe, Inamgaon and
Diamabad. Conclusive evidence has been unearthed that proves that
these people worshipped mother Goddesses. An eminent archaeologist
M.K.Dhawalikar writes in his book “Environment and Culture,” and
I quote:
“there
is very definitive evidence that the Jorwe people worshipped mother
Goddesses, one with head and other without head. The all powerful
mother is represented by well baked figurines, whereas unbaked ones
may have been worshipped on certain occasions only. Small figurines
of mother Goddess placed in pit silos were obviously connected with
fertility. The one with blind holes over her body was probably
connected with smallpox. But far more interesting is the discovery at
Inamgaon of a clay box containing a female figure and over the box
was yet another but without head and a bull, all unbaked. It is
interesting to note that a figurine without head is presently
worshipped by the Warlis, a tribe in western India near Bombay. They
call it the “Palghat,” which in their language means the position
of a woman at the time of child birth. She is connected with child
birth and fertility. ”
The
new excavations done at Kondapur now, have brought to light religious
practices of people living in Deccan at the beginning of our Era. The
new series of excavations are headed by G. Maheswari, Superintending
Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, with a team of about
15 members. Some 45 labourers have been hired to excavate the ancient
remains with utmost care. The main discovery at the excavation site
includes some brick structures found in the western extreme of the
main mound, which yielded authentic evidence of a Vedic or fire
worshipping sect. It's a vast complex having a circular shrine facing
south with one entrance and surrounded by rectangular chambers and
fire altars , three metres in depth, having 37 courses of burnt
bricks of different shapes -- triangular and sand clock-shaped,
behind the chambers. These supposedly fire altars have yielded
significant evidence of fire activities in them along with five
numbers of pots stamped with impressions of a trident. Apart from
this, the whole temple complex yielded plenty of animal bone pieces,
perhaps for sacrificial purposes and related pottery articles such as
bowls, sprinklers, spouted vessels and iron implements like spear
heads and knives. The kings obviously performed the ‘yagnas’ at
these altars and sacrificed animals to propitiate the goddess or seek
a male heir. A lime and clay image of a Brahmin, probably the Raja
Guru, with a thick sacred thread, embracing the king, along with many
silver and gold-plated coins and terracotta seals bearing images
closely resembling Roman Emperor Tiberius have also been found. This
image shows clearly the status enjoyed by Brahmin priests.
Did
the Satavahana period people worship any idols besides Vedic
sacrifices at the fire altar? Kondapur excavations provide a clear
cut answer. In the vicinity of the circular structure, images of nude
women adorned with jewels, which are known as Lajja Gouri (Goddess
of fertility) have been found with a few cult objects made of iron.
This clearly proves that the goddess of fertility was worshipped
here.
M.K.Dhawalikar,
whom I have quoted above, says in his book and I quote:
“ It
may be noted that sculptures of of a nude Goddess without head but
with legs spread apart occur in the Deccan from the 2nd Century BCE
onwards. They are presently worshipped by barren women with a view to
procuring an offspring. They can be identified as reprtesentations of
Goddess Shakhambari, a form which Goddess Durga is said to have
assumed in order to ward off a 100 year famine.”
Kondapur
excavations are really significant because firstly they throw light
on religious beliefs and traditions of the people in the Deccan
living at the beginning of our era. Even more important than that is
the fact that the cult of Goddess of fertility, followed by people of
Indus civilization first and then followed by the Chalcolithic
cultures of the Deccan, was still followed by the people in
Satavahana period and still continues to be followed by certain
tribes and people of today.
16th
May 2014
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