Place · Buddhist stupa village · India

Ghantasala

/ˈɡʱaɳʈaˌsaːla/

Also known as Ghaṇṭasāla, Ghantasala, Kantakasola, Kantakossyla

Date

c. 1st century BCE–3rd century CE

Periods

Second Urbanisation, Classical and Puranic Age, Regional Flourishing

Function

Other / mixed

Patron dynasty

Satavahana

Condition

Ruin / excavated

Tradition

Buddhist

Confidence

Established / referenced — Established / referenced

Location

16.117, 80.925

Worth knowing

Ancient Ghantasala is identified with Kantakasola/Kantakossyla, a name recorded by the 2nd-century geographer Ptolemy. Ghantasala was once a flourishing town of Indo-Roman trade as well as an important religious centre. The ruined Maha Chaitya or stupa that was excavated here is of a unique design. A cube of solid bricks is set in the centre, inscribed with 12 constellations of the zodiac.

Connections (3)

• Companion in the same setGudivāda / Vidarbhapuri

  Ghantsala and Gudivada preserve Buddhist remains from the early historic Krishna region, making them useful markers of the dense network of Buddhist establishments that developed across the lower Krishna landscape.

• Companion in the same setAmarāvatī Mahāstūpa

  Amaravati and Ghantasala were major Buddhist centres of the Krishna valley, sharing architectural traditions, limestone sculpture and connections to the wider Buddhist culture of early Andhra.

• Companion in the same setBhattiprolu

  Ghantasala belongs to the same early Buddhist landscape as Bhattiprolu, whose stupa and relic deposits provide another important window into the development of Buddhism in ancient coastal Andhra

Sources

Archaeological Survey of India; National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities; Alexander Rea’s South Indian Buddhist Antiquities.

• Wikipedia