Kamal Guha at 12:53, 24 November 2023

2023-11-24T12:53:48Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Kanaganahalli
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name = Kanganhalli
| nickname =
| settlement_type = Village
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| pushpin_map = India#India Karnataka
| pushpin_relief = yes
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Karnataka, India
| coordinates = {{coord|16.835433|N|76.932541|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Karnataka]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Gulbarga district|Gulbarga]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 = 1.5
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total =
| population_as_of = 2001
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[Kannada]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code = 585 211
| area_code_type = Telephone code
| area_code = 08474
| registration_plate =
| blank1_name_sec1 = Nearest city
| blank1_info_sec1 = Chitapur
| website =
| footnotes =
}}

'''Kanaganahalli''' is about 3 km from [[Sannati]]. An important [[Buddhist]] site, the place where an ancient [[Buddhist]] Mahastupa site found. It is on the left bank of the [[Bhima river]]<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://kannadasiri.kar.nic.in/archaeology/eng/E17_Gulbarga.htm
|title=GULBARGA DISTRICT
|access-date=2009-02-18
}}</ref> in Chitapur taluk, [[Gulbarga District]] in [[Karnataka]], [[India]]. Nalwar is the nearest Railway station about 19 km from Kanaganahalli. The Buddhist site about 2.5 km from Chandrala Parameshwari temple of Sannati.

==History==
{{main|Mauryas|Ashoka|Buddhism}}
The remains of the excavations site at Kanaganahalli can be dated to between the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD.

In circa the 1st century BC the [[stupa]] at Kanganhalli was constructed, as per the inscriptions referred to as ''Hama Chaitya'' and it was patronized by the Hinayana and Mahayana people during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. During the [[Shatavahana]] period, the [[Amaravathi village, Guntur district#Amaravati School|Amaravati School]] of art made a deep impact on the sculptural and architectural forms of Kanaganahalli region. This was indeed a period of great artistic efflorescence that gave the ''Maha chaitya'' here the most impressive form unsurpassed in the history of stupa architecture in the south India.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.vbu.edu.vn/?aacecom=view&code=detail&id=60
|title=Kanganhalli: A unique discovery of Buddhist site in India
|publisher=Dr. D. Dayalan, Archaeological survey of india
|access-date=2009-05-10
}}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The sculptured panels of the ''medhi'' are distinctly of native creation. The skill of making two dimensional sculptures and the carving of typical animal motifs are also of indigenous nature. Exhibit a transition phase between the early phase of Amaravati sculptural art and the elaborately sculptured panels of [[Nagarjunakonda]] with the sculptural panels found at Kanaganahalli stupa.

The volumes of their improvement over their Amaravati counterparts. The mastery of the artist of Kanganhalli in carving the ''geometric patterns, floral motifs, dress and ornamentation'' of the contemporary times and the concept of composition of the subject matter in the large sculptured panels.

The Kanaganahalli ''Maha Stupa'' is the veritable gallery of eminent rulers like King [[Ashoka]] and the [[Shatavahana]] rulers (Simuka, Pulumavi) are immortalized by depicting their portraits at Kanaganahalli.

Unlike the torana of Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, portrait of emperor [[Ashoka]] is said to have depicted there in inscription found at Kanaganahalli.

At Kanganhalli up to the anda portion of the stupa is available, although majority of the architectural members and the sculptural panels are dislodged from the original position.

== ASI Excavation Site ==
[[File:Ashoka with his Queens at Sannati-Kanaganahalli Stupa.jpg|thumb|[[Ashoka]] with his Queen, at [[Sannati]] (Kanaganahalli Stupa), 1st-3rd century CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=9788131711200 |page=333 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA333 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=Political Violence in Ancient India |date=2017 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674975279 |page=162 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6A4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA162 |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:Ashoka in the Kanaganahalli inscription.jpg|thumb|The words ''"Rāya Asoko"'' (𑀭𑀸𑀬 𑀅𑀲𑁄𑀓𑁄) in [[Brahmi script]] inscribed on the relief identify king [[Ashoka]] as the subject matter.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thapar |first1=Romila |title=Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199088683 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NoAyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT27 |language=en}}</ref>]]
Kanaganahalli is the excavation site of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://asi.nic.in/asi_exca_2005_karnataka.asp
|title=Excavations - 2000-2005 - Karnataka
|access-date=2009-02-18
}}</ref>

===Excavation during 1994 to 1998===

* During the excavations (1994 to 1998) at Kanaganahalli, found remains of a massive [[Stupa]], many brick structures in the form of a [[Chaitya]]-griha and votive stupas were brought to light.
* During the excavations many architectural members of the stupa found like fragments of sculptured veneering slabs, members of railings, pillars, capitals, [[Buddha]] padas, sculptures of yaksha and four images of [[Buddha]] many more.
* The sculptured panels depicts various Jataka stories and life of Lord [[Buddha]] and portrait of many [[Shatavahana]] king.

===Inscriptions===

In addition to one long inscription, 145 short inscriptions were discovered from the excavations site, dating between 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. The very important discovery was the sculpture of [[Maurya]] emperor [[Ashoka]] with the label "Rayo Asoka".<ref>Michael Meister, "Early Architecture and Its Transformations: New Evidence for Vernacular Origins for the Indian Temple," in The Temple in South Asia, ed. Adam Hardy, London 2007</ref> Kanaganahalli in Karnataka is the site with an inscription in Brahmi script reading "Ranyo Ashoka" (King Ashoka) and a sculpture of King Ashoka.<ref>It is not a Rayo Ashoka but Ranyo Ashoka. "A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century" A Book By Upinder Singh.</ref>
<ref>Ranyo Ashoka inscription refer to http://storyofkannada.blogspot.com/2009/12/karnataka-ashoka-s-swarnabhoomi.html?m=1</ref>

===Excavation during 2000 to 2002===

* During the excavations (2000 to 2002) found bare ruined remnants of a number of brick built structures like paved and sheltered passages connecting them. Also found part of a possible monastic complex to the north west of the main stupa.
* Antiquities such as lead coins bear names of [[Shatavahana]] king like Satakarni, Pulumavi and Yajnasri.
* The most important finding of the excavation include a stone sculptured slab bearing the name ''' ''Raya [[Ashoka]]'' '''. The first inscribed portrait of [[Ashoka]] (surrounded by female attendants and queens) found at Kanaganahalli,<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-22/spiritual-destinations/30606797_1_emperor-ashoka-neem-tree-amartya-sen
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909160017/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-22/spiritual-destinations/30606797_1_emperor-ashoka-neem-tree-amartya-sen
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=2013-09-09
|work=[[The Times of India]]
|title=Rediscovering Ashoka - Kanganhalli
|access-date=2013-06-18
}}</ref> was unearthed from the ruined Buddhist stupa.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:Kanaganahalli relief.jpg|Kanaganahalli aniconic relief of the empty throne of the Buddha
File:Kanaganahalli dharmachakra relief.jpg|Kanaganahalli dharmachakra relief
File:Kanaganahalli inscribed panel portraying Asoka (perspective).jpg|Kanaganahalli inscribed panel portraying Asoka
</gallery>

===Satavahana inscriptions===
The oldest [[Satavahana]] inscription is the one found on a slab of the upper drum (medhi) of the Kanaganahalli Great Stupa mentioning year 16 of Vasisthiputra Sri Chimuka Satavahana's reign, which can be dated from ca. 110 BCE.<ref name="auto1">Ollett, Andrew, (2017). Language of the Snakes: Prakrit, Sanskrit, and the Language Order of Premodern India, University of California Press, Okland, p. 194.</ref><ref name="auto7">Poonacha, K.P., (2013). Excavations at Kanaganahalli, Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi</ref><ref name="auto">Nakanishi, Maiko, and Oskar von Hinuber, (2014). Kanaganahalli Inscriptions (Supplement to the Annual Report of the International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University for the Academic Year 2013, Vol. 17., Tokyo.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ollett |first1=Andrew |title=APPENDIX B: Sātavāhana Inscriptions |journal=Language of the Snakes |date=2017 |page=194 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1w8h1vk.14 |publisher=University of California Press|jstor=10.1525/j.ctt1w8h1vk.14 }}</ref>

{{quote|𑀭𑀸𑀚𑀸 𑀲𑀺𑀭𑀺 𑀙𑀺𑀫𑀼𑀓 𑀲𑀸𑀢𑀯𑀸𑀳𑀦𑀲 𑀲𑁄𑀟𑁂 𑀯𑀙𑀭𑁂 𑁛𑁗 𑀫𑀸𑀢𑀺𑀲𑁂𑀓<br />
''Rano siri chimu(ka) sātavāhanasa soḍe 10 6 mātiseka<br />
"In the year sixteen 16 of King Siri Chimuka Slilaviihana"|Kanaganahalli inscription of the 16th year of Simuka.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zin |first1=Monika |title=Kanaganahalli in Satavahana art and Buddhism |journal=Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies |date=2018 |volume=41 |page=540, note 7 |url=https://www2.gko.uni-leipzig.de/fileadmin/user_upload/indologie/pdf/Mitarbeiter_Akademie_Zin/Zin2018_KanaganahalliInSatavahanaArtAndBuddhism-KingAshaokaAInFrantOfTheBodhiTree__JIABS41b.pdf}}</ref>}}

On another stone slab at Kanaganahalli, the king is possibly shown together with a [[Nagaraja]], and the inscription reads:

{{quote|𑀭𑀸𑀚𑀸 𑀲𑀺𑀭𑀺 𑀙𑀺𑀫𑀼𑀓𑁄 𑀲𑀸𑀤𑀯𑀸𑀳𑀦𑁄 𑀦𑀸𑀕𑀭𑀸𑀬 𑀲𑀔𑀥𑀸𑀪𑁄<br />''Rājā Siri Chimuko Sādavāhano nāgarāya Sakhadhābho''<br />"Lord King Simuka the Satavahana, [[Nagaraja]] Sakhadhābho"|Kanaganahalli inscription of Simuka.<ref>"Looking at that one slab from Kanaganahalli (fig. 14), 40 in the upper panel, we see a king. We do not know exactly what the lower part showed because its large part is missing; in any case it is a male person of rank. The label of the inscription reads: rājā Siri Chimuko Sādavāhano nāgarāya Sakhadhābho (?). The inscription lets us believe that it is the historical person of Śrī Simuka founder of the Sātavāhana dynasty who is depicted here, and that he was portrayed on the slab together with a nāgarāja." in {{cite journal |last1=Zin |first1=Monika |title=The Buddha's Relics and the Nāgas an Attempt to Throw Light on Some Depictions in the Amaravati School |journal=South Asian Archaeology and Art |date=2012 |volume=2 |page=763, and fig.14 |url=https://www.academia.edu/36090116 |language=en}}</ref>}}

==International Buddhist Centre==

An important [[Buddhist]] site, Government of [[Karnataka]] and ASI Planning to develop Kanaganahalli (and [[Sannati]]) as '''International Buddhist Centre'''.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/22/stories/2008122251400300.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103175035/http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/22/stories/2008122251400300.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=2012-11-03
|title=Kanaganalli to be developed as International Buddhist Centre
|access-date=2009-02-18
|location=Chennai, India
|work=[[The Hindu]]
|date=2008-12-22
}}</ref>

Government of [[Karnataka]] had constituted [[Sannati]] Development Authority and had appointed senior IAS official S.M. Jamdhar as its special officer.

==See also==

{{buddhism}}
* [[Sannati]]
* [[Kanakagiri]]
* [[Mauryan Empire]]

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130909160017/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-22/spiritual-destinations/30606797_1_emperor-ashoka-neem-tree-amartya-sen Rediscovering Ashoka, Vithal C Nadkarni, The Times of India, 22 March 2012]
* [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Narrative+reliefs+in+Kanaganahalli%3A+their+importance+for+Buddhist...-a0271884982 Kanaganahalli - the Buddhist site]
* [http://www.deccanherald.com/content/226903/sannathis-smiling-buddha.html Kanaganahalli Sannati conservation]
* [http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article3784940.ece Relics of an emperor, LAKSHMI SHARATH, The Hindu, 26 October 2012]
* [https://archive.today/20130103192534/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-12/bangalore/33166992_1_yadgir-lord-buddha-gulbarga-district Buddha circuit in Gulbarga ]
* [http://www.luczanits.net/gallery3/index.php/docu/Kanganhalli Photographic documentation of the Kanaganahalli Stupa site] - over 1,000 photos by C. Luczanits.

==Notes==
<references/>
{{Gulbarga topics}}
{{Buddhist sites in Karnataka}}
{{Buddhism topics}}

[[Category:1st-century BC establishments]]
[[Category:History of Karnataka]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Gulbarga district]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Karnataka]]
[[Category:Former populated places in India]]
[[Category:Stupas in India]]
[[Category:Buddhist temples in India]]
[[Category:Buddhist sites in Karnataka]]
[[Category:Mauryan art]]

Kanaganahalli - Revision history

Kamal Guha at 12:53, 24 November 2023