buddhist monastery excavations at poompuhar

[babugandhi]

freinds,
last year i came to know about this place. i have visited 3-4 times
now. this is an ancient buddha viharam complex. it had existed till
300AD. it was a three story struture with a 60 feet buddha statue at
the centre(now only his feet are available). the excavation have been
going on for the past 60 years but only now it is made for public view
by ASI. there is a small museum inside too (it has rare artifacts
like karikalan time coins, buddha feet and many stone images).

the buddha vihara is very important as it is the only such excavated
structure in tamil nadu. it may have been associated with
kovalan,kannaki and manimekalai...etc.

it is situated right to the nagarathar viduthi and right north to the
pallavaneeswaram temple( the main road divides the two) it is possible
the whole area was later demolished by saivites and the viduthi and
temple came about in 3rd century AD.

the nagarathar viduthi is relevant here as kovalan kannaki are
considered by nagarathars as one of their members. patinathar was also
stayed here for long periods.

opposite to this structure down south towards cauvery river is a very
small temple called sampathi amman temple . it is now in extremely
dilapidated condition. it is mentioned in silapathikaram as kannaki
worshiped here.

these places are completely ignored by tourists. i give the link below
from wikimapia which has marked the nagarathar viduthi and the
pallavaneeswaram temple. the budha vihara excavations are partly
visible just next to the viduthi(on the right side). the
pallavaneeswaram temple was associated with pallav reign in this
region.it faces the east and the viharam is on its northern side.

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=11.1474611&lon=79.830367&z=18&l=0&m=b&v=8

there is an ancient inland water way coming a good 5km into the
mainland belonging to the sangam period. the excavations are seen now.
but it is not visible in the google map.

the poompuhar art gallery is well known, but there is a small museum
nearby which has rare artifacts like a silambu very much resembling
the kannaki perios one. this silabu was found in kollam coast and was
donated to the state govt by a pvt collector.
when you visit poompuhar donot forget these sites.
gandhi

gandhi

[srirangammohanarangan v]

>>>it is situated right to the nagarathar viduthi and right north to the
pallavaneeswaram temple( the main road divides the two) it is possible
the whole area was later demolished by saivites and the viduthi and
temple came about in 3rd century AD.<<<

 

Dear Mr Babugandhi,

 

Thanks for the entry. I think many more such info can be expected of you.

 

As regards the above  bit of observation , Is there any evidence or plausible surmise

to evoke a doubt like 'demolished by the saivites'?  

or is it a long shot in the dark?


 

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[babugandhi]

> As regards the above  bit of observation , Is there any evidence or
> plausible surmise
> to evoke a doubt like 'demolished by the saivites'?
> or is it a long shot in the dark?
>

i have no exact idea about it , as you say it could be a long shot in
the dark.
general feeling here is that many saivite temples were constructed
over the jain/buddhist vihara

there is one another buddha vihara worth mentioning that is the
choodamani vihara of nagapatnam
it was patronised even by rajaraja-1. it continued to exist till
1750( in an unused condition). the jesuit preists converted it into a
church and a college. that is the original st.joseph's college. it was
later shifted to trichi.

the church and the college now function as district court. the road in
front of it is known as the rajaraja peruvazhi in the tanjore
inscriptions.also the pond south of it and a small sand dune
behind(west) of the complex were mentioned in the tanjore inscriptions
as the landmarks of the land given by rajaraja. the vihara itself was
said to be constructed by a choodamani varman of indonesia.

you can see the land marks exactly in order even now.

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=10.7728561&lon=79.8403072&z=18&l=0&m=b

gandhi

[D Balasundaram]

Very interesting.

On Sundar, July 25, Mr Thiagarajan, a resident of Melaperumpallam, spoke about the excavations in Poompuhar at the annual Silappathikara Vizha at Coimbatore. He mentioned about these excavations in his speech.

I look forward to visiting these during my next trip there. I visit Nangur about three times a year.

 

D Balasundaram

2010/7/10 babugandhi <dr.bab...@rediffmail.com>

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D Bala sundaram
Coimbatore

[N. Kannan]

2010/7/11 babugandhi <dr.bab...@rediffmail.com>:

> as the landmarks of the land given by rajaraja. the vihara itself was
> said to be constructed by a choodamani varman of indonesia.
>

எவ்வளவு சுவையான சேதி!

இந்தோனீசியாவிலொரு சூடாமணி வர்மன்!

கெமிர் இந்து அரசர்கள் பெயர்கள் எல்லாம் இப்படி ‘வர்மன்’ என்றுதான்
முடியும். அது பல்லவத்தொடர்பா? இல்லை சேரத்தொடர்பா?

அரசியல் ரீதியாகவும், கிழக்கு நோக்கிய நமது ஆசியப் பார்வையைத் திருப்ப
இம்மாதிரி சான்றுகள் உதவும். நம் பல்கலைக் கழக ஆய்வுகள் இன்னும்
‘புதுக்கவிதையில் ரத்தம்’ என்றுதான் ஆய்வு செய்து கொண்டு இருக்கின்றனவா?
;-)

க.>

[விஜயராகவன்]

On 27 July, 07:52, "N. Kannan" <navannak...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 2010/7/11 babugandhi <dr.babugan...@rediffmail.com>:

>
> > as the landmarks of the land given by rajaraja. the vihara itself was
> > said to be constructed by a choodamani varman of indonesia.
>
> எவ்வளவு சுவையான சேதி!
>
> இந்தோனீசியாவிலொரு சூடாமணி வர்மன்!
>
> கெமிர் இந்து அரசர்கள் பெயர்கள் எல்லாம் இப்படி ‘வர்மன்’ என்றுதான்
> முடியும். அது பல்லவத்தொடர்பா? இல்லை சேரத்தொடர்பா?

பொதுவாக க்ஷத்ரியர் - அதவது ராஜகுலம் - என்றழைக்கப்பட்டவர்கள் பெயர்
வர்மா என முடியும் (சர்மா பிராமணர்கள் போல)

விஜயராகவன்

[விஜயராகவன்]

If proper excavations and archeology is done at the sites of presumed
Buddhist viharas, even if there are other strucrures like church or
temple on it, the foundations can be seen of the original Viharas or
other vihara remnants can be found.

Vijayaraghavan