Where is Dhanyakatakam?
Srikanth Bandi
>What is Dhanyakatakam (not sure of spelling, it was the capital
>of the Satavahana empire) currently known as? I was reading
>an article on Andhra history, and came across several names
>that I would like to know the current names of. What are
>Vijayapuri and Vijayanagar (Capital of Krishnadevarayalu's
>empire) known as.
Vijayapuri is still known by that name.
I do not know about others.
>Also I assumed all along that Bezawada was an anglicised name
>for Vijayawada. Looks like Bezawada was the original name. Other
>places whose names changed include Bhagyanagaram (Hyderabad
>JaC
I heard a story related to Vijayawada. Arjuna, when he was
asked to do penance for entering the private chamber of
Dharmaraja and Draupadi, he traveled all over the country
and he was supposed to have done some 'tapas' on the hills adjoining
Vijayawada. Since one of his names is 'Vijaya', this place
came to be known as Vijayawada. If this story is ancient one,
it is possible that Vijayawada might be the original name.
-srikanth
sreedhar
Dhanyakatakam is currently known as Amaravati.It is in Guntur district.
Bezawada IS the original name of Vijayawada.It was so named because it was (at
that time) very small,like a 'Bezzam' (small hole).Infact Vijayawada is a funny
amalgalm of a Sanskrit word Vijaya and a Tenugu (pristine Telugu) word Wada and
several scholars consider it as being 'odd'.
Rajasekhar Sayana
One of those scholars was my telugu lecturer Mr. Pedibhotla Subbaramaiah,
Andhra Loyola College, Bezawada.
--
--Rajasekhar
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Srikanth Bandi
This article is posted for Chowdhary gaaru as there seems to
be some problem in posting from his end.
-srikanth
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In article <2nou52$c...@disun1.epfl.ch>, ba...@di.epfl.ch (Srikanth Bandi) writes
:
> In article <2nhek2$2...@podsun10.cc.binghamton.edu> bc2...@podsun10.cc.bingham
ton.edu (sreedhar) writes:
>>
>>Dhanyakatakam is currently known as Amaravati.It is in Guntur district.
>>
>>Bezawada IS the original name of Vijayawada.It was so named because it was (at
>
> The name Amaravathi came into practice only 3 or 4 centuries ago.
> When I visited the Museum in Amaravathi with a friend, the guide
> there told us that a king ruling this place that time thought
> that he was the Devendra and changed this place name to
> Amaravathi befitting his divine status.
>
> -srikanth
>
I tried to post this a couple of times and had trouble posting it. If you have
already seen this, please accept my apology.
DhaanyakaTaka also known as DhanakaTaka is currently known as dharaNikOTa,
a hamlet, two kilomters away from amaraavati in Guntur District (source:
telugu sanskRUti: vol 1: dESamu, charitra, 1983).
The original capital of the Saatavaahanaas was pratishTaanapuram, now known as
Paithaan (sp?) in Aurangaabaad dt in MahaaraashTra.
Regarding the time when amaraavati is named, my sources are unclear.
Amaraavati, the seat of the buddhist stoopa, and dhaanyakaTaka appear to be
situated together in those days in a city of approximately seven square miles.
Three of my sources talk about amraavati stoopa of Satavaahana times, but
whether they got the name post facto or if the name was in use then is unclear
to me.
One of my sources talked about Hieun Tsong (sp?) referring to the take over of
amaraavati stoopa by Hindus during vishNukundina time. This seems to have been
written in 3rd or 4th century AD. Of importance, in that quotation is,
the reference to the AmarEswaraa temple of amaraavati. (Indeed, the deity in
amraavati's main temple is referred to as AmarEswara. I also recall, vaguley,
reading a puraaNa slOkA -displayed at amaraavati temple- referring to
amaraavati and amarEswara (sthala puraaNa of that temple as well as other
major Siva temples in Andhra)). Therefore I am inclined to believe that the
name amaraavati has beena round at least since the fourth century AD.
Regards.
---V. Chowdary Jampala
Srikanth Bandi
Sri Jampala wrote:
>I tried to post this a couple of times and had trouble posting it. If you have
>
>One of my sources talked about Hieun Tsong (sp?) referring to the take over of
>amaraavati stoopa by Hindus during vishNukundina time. This seems to have been
>written in 3rd or 4th century AD. Of importance, in that quotation is,
>the reference to the AmarEswaraa temple of amaraavati. (Indeed, the deity in
>amraavati's main temple is referred to as AmarEswara. I also recall, vaguley,
.....
>Regards.
>
>---V. Chowdary Jampala
>
I do not know how far this take over of the stoopa is historically
established fact. When I visited Amaravathi (that was in Dec '91),
I bought a small booklet in Telugu which dealt with the controversy.
Now I can not recall either the author or any of the detailed
contents. Only thing I remember is the conclusion which says that
the temple was *not* built on the site of stoopa.
Are there any reliable sources which throw some light on this?
-srikanth
Srikanth Bandi
-------
In regards to your question about Amaraavati, I will quote the relevant
paragraph from "aandhrula sanxipta caritra" by ETukoori balaraamamoorti.
(translation mine).
(writing about maadhava varmaa II of the vishNukunDina dynasty)
... His capital was vijayawaaDa. ... During his time, the moglraajapuram and
unDavalli caves lost their Buddhist characteristics and were transformed into
abodes of Hindu deities. Huien Tsong (sp?), the Chinese pilgrim wrote that
during his (maadahva varma II's) time only that Amaraavati stoopa slipped from
the hands of buddhists into the hands of Hindus. The story about this is as
follows:
"Amaraavati stoopa was under the control of the Buddhist monks.
Brahmins started a dispute asking for the control over this stoopa. The
Buddhist monks locked themselves inside. The brahmins laid seize outside.
Finally, the Buddhist monks opened the doors, came out of the stoopa, and went
to the king seeking his arbitration. The brahmins took over the stoopa during
this time. The king ruled on the side of the brahmins. The displaced buddhist
monks left. after a few days, Amaraavati stoopa became amarESwara temple",
wrote Hieun Tsong.
(My comments: The story was given in quotation marks by the author, who
ascribed the quote to Hieun Tsong. So, I am assuming that the names Amaraavati
and AmarESwara were used by Hieun Tsong. On the other hand, the author used the
word vijayawaaDa to denote bezawaaDa, which does not fit well here. At a later
point, in the same section, the author says -again, my trnslation- ...
Vishnukundina kingdom spread from river krishNa to kaLinga dESA. In the
beginning, Amaraavati was their capital. Vexed by the Pallava attacks, they
shifted the capital to vEngi city and finally settled in vijayawaaDa. This has
been a constant problem in my search for the first appearence of the name of
amaraavati. The writers keep referring to current day names of old cities.
Since the Hieun Tsong anecdote is given in quotation marks, I am inclined to
believe that he used the name amaraavati in his writings. Also, looking at the
style and structure of the amarESwara temple, I tend to believe it is older
than 4-5 centuries. Leads me to believe that the name amaraavati is older than
four-five centuries.)
----Chowdary.
Rao Vempaty, x4859,Unisys
> In article <2nhek2$2...@podsun10.cc.binghamton.edu> bc2...@podsun10.cc.binghamton.edu (sreedhar) writes:
> >
> >Dhanyakatakam is currently known as Amaravati.It is in Guntur district.
> >
> >Bezawada IS the original name of Vijayawada.It was so named because it was (at
>
> The name Amaravathi came into practice only 3 or 4 centuries ago.
> When I visited the Museum in Amaravathi with a friend, the guide
> there told us that a king ruling this place that time thought
> that he was the Devendra and changed this place name to
> Amaravathi befitting his divine status.
>
> -srikanth
>
captured Dhanya Katakam. According to that story, Dhanya Katakam is Cuttack,
in Orissa. The story clearly specifies the route taken to Cuttack (via
Rajahmundry and Vizianagaram) and says that it was ruled by Gajapati kings. Since this
happened in 16th century, in recorded history, I am inclined to believe that Dhanya
Katakam got Xformed to Cuttack.
SriKrishnaDevarayas capture of Dhanya Katakam is very interesting and was master
minded by Thimmarusu (who else!). His army arrived there after a series of
victories and very tired, and SKD made the faux pas -- lay seige to fort and commited
to war. They then realized that Gajapati king is a real 'Gajapati' with
enough force to crush the seige. SKD did not want to back out; that would be a
disgrace to our hero.
Thimmarusu sent six shipments of gems and gold, as a bribe to the generals of
Gajapati, with explicit instructions to the carriers to get caught and sqeal
a cooked up story on treachery. When the Gajapati learned the story, he abandoned his
fort overnight. The next day SKD walked in triumphant, with out a battle.
(how cool :-)). They made friends later and Gajapati gave his sister in wedding
(3rd queen of SKD) and a massive fleet of prime elephants. (even cooler :-))).
(I read this in a telugu high school nondetailed).
VNRao