Buddhist sites in the eastern Deccan, two are note-
worthy: Amaravat and Nagarjunakonda (Andhra
Pradesh). The stupa at Amaravatachieved its final
form in the second and third centuries C.E. during the
S ́atavahana and Iksvaku periods. Almost nothing is
preserved of this monument, which was the largest in
the eastern Deccan, apart from an earthen mound and
a surrounding pathway defined by upright slabs. A
number of celebrated finely sculpted limestone slabs
that have survived depict this lavishly decorated mon-
ument with imposing projecting gateways in the four
directions. Among the distinctive features of this struc-
ture were four votive platforms, each with five pillars,
aligned with the four entrances. The surviving up-
rights, capping pieces, and slabs have been removed
from the site and are displayed in various museums;
the largest collection is at the Government Museum
Chennai (Madras).
During the third century a number of changes were
occurring in Buddhist religion and art. These are re-
flected in the structures at Nagarjunakonda, the most
important Buddhist settlement of the region, set in a
valley delimited by the Krsnariver on the west. In the
third and fourth centuries, when Nagarjunakonda was
the capital of the Iksvaku rulers, the successors of the
S ́atavahanas, a large number of monasteries and stupas
were erected according to the cultic needs of various
Buddhist schools, of which at least four were represented
there. Here the great innovation is the wheel-shaped
plan of the stupas, demonstrating the transformation of
a sacred Buddhist symbol into an architectural design.
Each monastic unit consisted of a stupa, a caitya hall,
and a vihara (monastic quarters). The residential unit
would be generally separated from the stupa by two
caitya halls facing each other, one containing a stupa
and the other a buddha image, thus equating the stupa
with the buddha image. The stupa and the image of
the Buddha eventually coalesced in the fifth century in
the AJANTAcaves. Although most of the excavated re-
mains at Nagarjunakonda were submerged under the
waters of the Nagarjuna Sagar, a few monuments were
recreated on a hilltop, now an island in the middle of
the lake. Limestone panels and friezes once decorating
various monuments have been discovered, and to-
gether with the carvings found at Amaravat, they areSTUPA
Reliefs depicting events from the life of the Buddha adorn the gate leading to this first-century B.C.E.stupa at the great monastic com-
plex of Sañclat Vidisa near Bhopal, India. © Adam Woolfitt/Corbis. Reproduced by permission.