No. 1. Uppuguндуr Inscription of Virapurisadatta's time, year 19.
B.Ch. Chhabra - EI, XXXIII, No. 37. -
(B.Ch.) A fairly extensive site with remains of Buddhist chaitya has recently been brough
to light on the west bank of the Buckingham Canal, somewhere between the railway stations
of Chinna Ganjam and Uppuguндуr, 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 stуpa which appears to
be of a large size.
The nearest village, Uppuguндуr, 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 brocken stone statues, sculptured pillars, slabs, etc. Some of these have been
removed to Uppuguндуr where they 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 designd carved on the top and a Prakrit inscription incised on its lower part.
On receipt of information regarding te 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
Uppuguндуr. 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 pillar 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 Uppuguндуr, 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.
The script of the inscription is Brаhmи of about 3rd century A. D., akin to the one used
in many a similar stone inscription from Nаgаrjunakoндa and places round about.
[Above, Vol. XX, pp. 1 ff. Amarаvati, Jaggayyapeтa and Ghaнтaщаla are some of the
other places that have yielded similar inscriptions.]
The language is Prakrit as is the case with the majority of the inscriptions just referred
to from the same region.
TEXT(B.Ch.)
1 Sidhaм Om [|*] namo bhagavato sava-sat-otamasa Saмmаsaмbudhas=eti [|*]
2 mahа[r]аjasa Mадharиputasa Ikhаkunaм siri-Vиrapurisadatasa
3 saмvachharaм 10 9 gimha-pakhaм 4 divasaм 10 3 Dhaмгakaдa-vathavasa
4 Saмghila-gahapatisa natukena Vaira-vаniya-putena Sa[м]ghilena
5 matаya Dhaмmavаnikinиya bhаtuno cha Nаgilaмnakasa bhagini-
6 Budhaмnikаya Samudaмnikаya bhariyаya Sаgaraмnikаya bhаtu-bha-
7 riyаya Saмghanikаya bаlak[а]naм cha Vairasirinakasa Chaмda . . м. .м. .
8 kasa Nаgilaмnakasa bаlakаnaм cha Dhamaмnikаya patu . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9 kаya Nаgasaмmaмnikаya cha evaм sa-nаti-mita-baмdha . . . . . . . . .
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ya] paтane mahа . . . . . . . . . . . . .
_____________________________
L. 1. Om expressed by a symbol.(B.Ch.)
L. 3. The form of the akshara meant to be mha is not regular.(B.Ch.)
L. 10. Two medial i signs are seen here over the dаmaged letters; only the right side of
the letter [ya] is visible.(B.Ch.)
[For the symbol in line 1, which is a variant of one found in Kuшанa inscriptions, see
Select Inscriptions, p. 150, note 3. In line 8, the word is bаlikаnaм which is preceded
by the list of Saкgрila's sons (cf. bаlakаnaм. in line 7) and followed by that of his
daughters. It is better to read bhagini[naм] - Ed.]