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No. 37–UPPUGUNDUR INSCRIPTION OF VIRAPURISADATA'S TIME, YEAR 19
(1 Plate) B. CH. CHHABRA, New DELHI
(Received on 17. 6. 1958) A fairly extensive site with remains of a Buddhist chaitya has recently been brought to light on the west bank of the Buckingham Canal, somewhere between the railway stations of Chinna Ganjam and Uppugundūr, the railway line lying about half a mile south-east of the site. There is a lake, called Rumperu, beyond the railway bridge at that point. The lake is connected with the sea, about 5 miles from there. In ancient times, the sea might have been nearer the site, as it abounds in shells as well as in brickbats, stone pieces and potsherds, lying about or stuck in the ruined structure of the stupa which appears to be of a large size.
The nearest village, Uppugundur, in the Ongole Taluk of the Guntur District, is about 2 miles west of the site. The land within which it is situated belongs to one Sri Gogineni Nagiah. The site was accidently exposed by the landlord's men while digging a deep channel for draining out excess rain-water from the paddy fields nearby. The antiquities laid bare included broken stone statues, sculptured pillars, slabs, etc. Some of these have been removed to Uppugupdūr where they are kept in an enclosure, close to the Village Munsif's Office, for safe custody. Among the exposed antiquities was a marble pillar which had some figures and designs carved on the top and a Prakrit inscription incised on its lower part.
On receipt of information regarding the discovery of the inscription, I visited the site on January 21, 1958, in the company of Sri Pallela Pulla Reddi, the acting Village Munsif of Uppugundür. On arrival there, to our great surprise and disappointment, we found that the inscribed part of the pillar had been broken away and missing. The chisel marks on the remainder of the Dillar as well as a quantity of unsoiled chippings strewn thereabout were proclaiming, so to say, that the act of vandalism had been perpetrated freshly. I was told that, at the time of the removal of a damaged Buddha statue and some sculptured pieces to the village of Uppugundūr, the inscribed pillar had been allowed to be left in situ, the landlord having taken it upon himself to take care of that. It is a pity that this pillar was not removed to a place of safety along with the rest of the finds. Luckily, the Superintendent, Nagarjunakonda Excavation Project, had already secured an estampage or two of the inscription, a photograph of which is reproduced here.
As may be seen from the photograph, the inscription has undergone some damage at its lower end. The extant portion shows 10 lines of writing, the first six being complete and the remaining ones progressively damaged. Unfortunately, the most important part of the record, in which its object was mentioned, has been lost to us in the portion already broken away. The tenth line, the extant portion of which reads (ya?)-patane mahā, obviously mentioned the name of the place (patana, Skt. pattana), followed by what might have been mahāchetiyan, the erection of which must have been the object of the record.
The script of the inscription is Brāhmi of about the 3rd century A. D., akin to the one used in many a similar stone inscription from Nāgārjunakonda and places round about. The ornamental treatment of the top and bottom strokes of various aksharas is its chief characteristic.
1 Macron over e and o has not been used in this article.
1 Above, Vol. XX, pp. 1 ff. Amaravati, Jaggayyapeta and Ghantabala are some of the other places that have ielded similar inscriptions.
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