Sannati: The forgotten Buddhist site of Karnataka is back in the reckoning Premium

Left neglected for many years after it came to light through the ASI excavations in the 1990s, the ancient Buddhist site of Sannati on the bank of the Bhima River got a restoration project in 2022. One phase of work has concluded and the next phase is set to begin after the Lok Sabha elections

The year was 1986. A natural calamity hit Sannati village in Kalaburagi district and partially destroyed the Chandralamba temple complex. While clearing the debris, the villagers found that the idol of Kali, their deity, was damaged in the calamity. They decided to replace the damaged idol with a new one. While removing the idol, they found some words etched on the Panipeetha, the base slab, of the idol. The curious villagers contacted historians who deciphered inscriptions written in the Prakrit language using the Brahmi script.

It turned out to be a 2000-year-old Ashokan edict. The inscription led the historians and archaeologists to an abandoned well at Kanaganahalli village on the bank of Bhima River located about 3 km from Chandralamba temple.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) began excavating the area in 1994 hoping to unearth more material of historical importance. Its efforts did not go in vain as its four-year excavation yielded historical marvels. The study of the material found in the excavation firmly established that the “abandoned well” was indeed the site of Adholoka Maha Chaitya [the Great Stupa of the Netherworlds] as it was referred to and described in many inscriptions and built in the Ashokan era.

The Maha Stupa, which measures nearly 22 meters in diameter and rose to a height of about 17 meters, is believed to have been developed in three constructional phases – Maurya, Early Satavahana and Later Satavahana periods -- stretching from 3rd Century B.C. to 3rd Century A.D. It is built with locally available limestone with elaborate ornamentation, Ayaka platforms in the cardinal directions and the circumambulatory path enclosed by a four-barred railing with entrances in cardinal directions.

The excavation also recovered another precious stone of historical importance – a stone sculpture portraying Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. The emperor is seen surrounded by his queens and female attendants in this rare sculpture. The sculpture had the words “Raya Asoko” etched on it in Brahmi script leaving little scope for mistaking the identity of the man featured in it. While the Stupa is believed to be one of the largest Stupas built at the time, the stone portrait is considered to be the only surviving and available image of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. 

The recoveries included around 60 dome slabs with sculptural renderings of selected Jataka stories, main events in the life of the Master, portraits of Shatavahana monarchs and certain unique depictions of Buddhist missionaries sent by Ashoka to different parts. There were 72 drum slabs decorated with a variety of Dharma-Chakras, Stupas, the first sermon, Bodhi-tree, Naga Muchulinda, and Viihara complexes. Also found were over 10 inscribed sculptures of the Buddha, over a dozen Buddha-Padas, fragments of Ayaka pillars, umbrella stones and shafts, parts of sculptures of Yakshas and lions and 250 Brahmi inscriptions with varied paleographical features.

It was a great discovery of the ASI that put Sannati and Kanaganahalli villages on the world map of archaeology attracting historians, archaeologists and researchers, apart from tourists, from across the world.