Buddhist Relic Caskets in South India

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Mahaparinirvana: In literature and art. 3. Chaitya and stupa. 4. Tooth-relic: consecration at Dantapura. 5. Relic Caskets: materials and methods of consecration. 6. Sites and relics: i. Amaravati. ii. Bavikonda. iii. Bhattiprolu. iv. Ghantasala. v. Gudivada. vi. Gummadidurru. vii. Guntupalle. viii. Jaggayyapet. ix. Kottur. x. Nagarjunakonda. xi. Pavurallakonda. xii. Ramatirtham. xiii. Salihundam. xiv. Sankaram. xv. Timmavaram. xvi. Vaddamanu. 7. Relic festival 8. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

"The present book dealing with the holy relics and reliquaries discovered at a host of Buddhist stupas in various parts of South India is the first of its kind. Incidentally it examines the various caskets, the different kinds of materials used for preparing them, their shapes and sizes and finally the method of consecration followed for enshrining these holy relics. Alongside it also provides an uptodate account of Buddhism in South India, its rise, growth and spread since its inception. Further, the author, taking into consideration the archaeological and literary data, tries to set at rest the conflicting opinions held by scholars regarding the identification of Dantapura, the capital city of ancient Kalinga. Equipped with the unique discovery of a large quantity of corporeal remains in a relic casket at Bavikonda, near Visakhapatnam, A.P., the author makes bold to identify it with the one, where the celestial Drona, who distributed the holy relics, raised a Stupa enshrining his own share of the Master's relics. Apart from providing original literary and archaeological data, the book contains interesting illustrations i.e., drawings, photographs, sketches, etc., which lie scattered in various reports.

Thus the book contains some bold and original interpretations of the author which stir the scholars to delve deep into the matter. The acceptability or otherwise of the ideas put forward by the author, is left with humility to the host of scholars and authorities on the subject." (jacket)

[B. Subrahmanyam also wrote Pre, Proto and Early Historic Cultures of Khrishna-Tungabhadra Valley.]