When Stones are All that Survived: The Case of Buddhism in Andhra

Abstract

The conclusion of the project of the University of Munich, aiming at a new publication of all narrative reliefs from the Amaravati School of sculptures (Andhra Pradesh 1st c. BCE – the 4th c. CE) is that there are many reliefs in Andhra for which no explanation can be given, neither in Pali nor in the texts of the ‘northern’ schools. The reason for this is that not a single text is available today from the Buddhist culture of the region (predominantly the Caitika or Śaila Schools associated later with the Mahāsānghikas), so that the narrative reliefs are all that survived today. A typical example presented here is a relief from Amaravati (Fig. 1), explained previously as illustration of the Morajātaka, which in fact must be a different narration of the peacock that gave or saved a child, perhaps from a serpent bite. The story is not known today.