Stupas of the Krishna Valley

The Buddhist sites of India, Gautam Siddharth’s escape from material world, the world of early rock-cut caves of western India and the early images of Buddha. In the last four parts of this 12-part series on the story of Buddhism, art historian and producer-director BENOY K BEHL has told us about all this. Today, he talks about…

This film is about the Buddhist heritage of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The sites covered are Guntupalli, Jaggayapeta, Amravati, Nagarjunakonda, Phanigiri, Gummadidurru, Ghantasala and others (3rd cent. BCE-4th cent. CE).

The valley of the river Krishna is a fertile land, which saw the blossoming of a rich culture, since ancient times. The bounty of cotton textiles attracted Romans and others from afar leading to the development of a prosperous, cosmopolitan culture. As everywhere in India then, philosophic thoughts permeated the ethos of this region. The search was for that which was beyond the material aims in life, and all permanent structures, art and monuments were dedicated to this eternal quest of the people. This area became one of the greatest centres of Buddhism and over 140 early Buddhist sites have been identified and listed in this region.

WATCH FILM 05: STUPAS OF THE KRISHNA VALLEY