Fig. 1 Map of sites identified during archaeological survey in the area surrounding the Buddhist monastery of Thotlakonda.

482

Recent Research at the Buddhist

Monastery of Thotlakonda
L AR S F OG EL I N

This paper reports on my first season of archaeological research in the area surrounding Thotlakonda, an
Early Historic Buddhist monastery in North-Coastal
Andhra Pradesh. In the last 100 years the role of Buddhist
monasteries within Early Historic Period society has been
explained in a variety of ways. These range from seeing
monasteries as simple retreats, divorced from mundane
concerns (e.g. Basham 1967), to explanations which
emphasize their economic role in facilitating trade (Thapar 1966, Ray 1986) and agricultural production (Heitzman 1997). All of these interpretations rely heavily upon
Buddhist historical sources, contemporary inscriptions
and archaeological investigations of the monasteries
themselves. They all have used information derived from
monastic contexts to explain the broader social role of
monasteries. The goal of my research is to examine the
relationship between Buddhist monks and lay-people
during the Early Historic Period by directly examining
the local context of these monasteries to investigate the
smaller, non-monastic archaeological remains that surround a Buddhist monastery rather than the monastery
itself. Preliminary examination of the non-monastic
archaeological materials suggests that the monastery and
local populations were actively engaged with one another,
particularly in regard to mortuary ritual. More tentatively,
it also appears that the monastery was engaged in trade
relationships with the local populations.
From November 2000 through March 2001, I conducted systematic archaeological survey around Thotlakonda documenting the outlying smaller sites that surround the monastery (Fig. 1). Much of what I found
came as a surprise. Of the 125 sites identified during survey, roughly 100 consist of small memorial cairns, most
likely erected for dead monks and devout laity. These
memorials illustrate a strong ritual/religious interaction
between the monks in the monastery and the local popu-

lations. Other archaeological sites included reservoirs,

terraces, walls, cisterns and one small, non-monastic village. These provide evidence for more mundane relations
between the monks and laity in the region. Taken
together, it is clear that the monastery was not isolated
from its local context, but enmeshed within a landscape
of relations, both economic and religious, tying monks to
the laity in the local area. That said, the results presented
in this paper are still preliminary. This paper serves as an
introduction to my research, a report on my initial findings. Over the next few years, I will survey more territory
and complete a more thorough analysis of the data I have
collected. I expect that once I complete the research, my
results will be more nuanced than this initial discussion.
Thotlakonda is located in north-coastal Andhra
Pradesh, near the modern city of Visakhapatnam. The
site was discovered during aerial survey by the Indian
Navy and subsequently excavated by the Andhra
Pradesh Department of Archaeology and Museums
(APDAM) from 1988-1992 (Sastry et al 1992). Physically, the area around Thotlakonda is characterized by
low hills running from the Eastern Ghats to the edge of
the Bay of Bengal. These hills define numerous small valleys, most with small streams. The soil is rocky and red,
due to a high iron content. Today the vegetation consists
of a large variety of thorny bushes and grasses. Farming
is practiced in some of the valleys, though the soils are not
particularly productive. Along with agriculture, modern
coastal villages rely heavily on fishing. Presumably fishing also occurred extensively during the Early Historic
Period.
In addition to Thotlakonda, the area around Visakhapatnam is home to several other Early Historic Period
Buddhist monasteries. Only two kilometers from Thotlakonda, on an adjacent hill, lies Bavikonda. This site was
excavated by the APDAM from 1982-1987 (Prasad 1993,

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Recent Research at Thotlakonda fogelin

1994). Excavations revealed a monastery with roughly 50

cells, a m a has tup a, numerous smaller s tup a s, and several
c h a i t y a s. The entire facility was organized around a central, pillared hall. Among the more important finds were
ceramic, gold, and silver relic caskets in the cardinal points
of the m a has tup a. The contents of these caskets included
a variety of beads. In one, ashes and fragments of bone
were found. No inscriptions were found on any of the caskets. Seven-and-a-half kilometers north of Thotlakonda
lies Pavuralakonda, another contemporary Buddhist
monastery. It lies on a high, narrow hill above the modern
town of Bhimunipatnam. Excavations are currently being
conducted by the APDAM. While the settlement conforms to the narrow terrain in which it is located, the general layout and material remains appear similar to other
sites in the area. Evidence from both sites suggests that
neither monastery was active past the 3rd century AD.
To the southeast of Visakhapatnam lies Sankaram,
another contemporary of Thotlakonda. However, the
presence of images of both the Buddha and Shiva suggest
that, unlike the other monasteries in the area, it continued
in use through the 9th century (Mitra 1971). Though less
investigated, another Early Historic Period Buddhist
monastery, Dharapalem, can be found near the modern
temple of Simalchalam, on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam. Taken together, these five sites suggest that a fairly
high concentration of Buddhist monasteries existed in the
Visakhapatnam area. What is missing at this time is any
large Early Historic Period settlement. It seems likely,
given the large number of monasteries in the area, that
some larger, non-monastic settlements must have also
existed. These may be located under Visakhapatnam or
Bhimunipatnam, or, perhaps, in locations still accessible
archaeologically. Survey beyond the monastic walls is
required to flesh out a more complete picture of the social
context in which these monasteries are found.
Thotlakonda is located on top of a low, flat-topped
hill adjacent to the Bay of Bengal. To the south of the hill
are several small valleys, but little agricultural land. Better agricultural land lies to the north within a wider river
valley. Immediately below the hill lies a protected anchorage used by local fisherman. The coastline of the area has
been steadily moving outward since the Early Historic
Period. Given the local topography, it is likely that in the
Early Historic Period the anchorage would have been
even more protected than the existing one.

484

The APDAM (Sastry et al 1992) excavations at

Thotlakonda revealed a large monastery with roughly 60
cells, a m a has tupa, 12 smaller stupas and 5 c h a i t y a s. On
the western side a refectory was identified. In the center
of the complex was a large, rectangular hall. Surrounding the site are numerous cisterns and a large reservoir.
The overall plan is similar to Bavikonda and Pavuralakonda. As far as the material remains, 75% of the
ceramics consist of red wares, with another 15% red and
black wares. The remaining 10% of ceramics consist of
tan, gray, and black wares. For the most part the ceramics are unslipped and undecorated. The few sherds with
decorations range from simple incised patterns to some
simple rope motifs on the rims of larger storage vessels.
Nine Satavahana and five Roman silver coins were
found. Twelve Brahmi inscriptions have been dated
paleographically to between the 3rd century BC through
the 2nd or 3rd century AD. Unfortunately, most of these
inscriptions are fragmentary and short. They do not
shed light upon the specific sect that lived in Thotlakonda. No Buddha images have been found at the site,
suggesting that no Mahayana occupation occurred.
Given all of the information, the excavators suggest the
site was occupied between the 3rd century BC through
the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD. Within this period the site
reached its maximum size in the 1st and 2nd centuries
AD. It seems likely that all other archaeological sites on
the hilltop are contemporary with the monastery. While
analysis is ongoing, all diagnostic ceramics examined so
far are characteristic of Early Historic Period forms from
the immediate area.

Research methodology
and preliminary results
My focus on non-monastic archaeological remains
required that I employ a research strategy that would
allow smaller, more ephemeral archaeological remains
to be identified. For this reason I employed systematic
archaeological survey. In this technique a small group
of people walk over a landscape, systematically
recording all archaeological remains they come across.
The level of detail recorded in archaeological survey is
dependant upon several factors, including the spacing
between the surveyors and the overall visibility of the

terrain (Fish & Kowalewski eds. 1990). My survey was

conducted using a 20-meter spacing between each
person. In general, visibility was good, allowing for
fairly reliable identification of sites. On the hilltop,
occasional patches of thorns caused some problems,
but in general the poor soils were covered sparsely
with grasses and small shrubs. The floodplain below
the monastery was more variable. In dry and fallow
fields survey was unproblematic. In irrigated fields
survey was impractical. As luck would have it, one
large area had recently been laid out for the establishment of a new satellite town to Visakhapatnam. This
area had been thoroughly cleared of vegetation which
allowed for excellent visibility. For most of the season
I worked with a single assistant. For three weeks I
worked with an additional crew of three students from
JNU in New Delhi. Fieldwork lasted for 31/2 months,
from November through February. Each time archaeological remains were found, the crew stopped and
recorded the material. All sites were photographed and
mapped, and surface artifacts were collected. The
locations of all sites were recorded using a GPS unit.
In larger sites artifacts were collected in 2 2 m units
organized in a grid across the site. Additional units
were added in areas of high artifact density. Finally, an
overall search for diagnostic artifacts was conducted.
In total, 125 sites were identified in roughly 3,5 square
kilometers.
Of the sites found during survey, the majority consisted of small cairns (Fig. 2). Others included walls, terraces, reservoirs, cisterns and one non-monastic settlement. Here I will discuss the reservoirs and terraces, the
cairns, and the settlement. Almost all sites were constructed of easily available, unmodified boulders. These
boulders litter the surface of the hill in large fields. In some
cases, the density of boulders was so high that it potentially hindered the identification of sites. For example,
walls and terraces are often identified archaeologically by
alignments of three or four stones. With the ubiquity of
stones in the boulder fields, small alignments often
occurred naturally. Within the boulder fields, the criteria
for identification of walls had to be raised to alignments of
eight or ten stones. Similarly, strict criteria were also
developed for the identification of cairns. Due to these
conditions, it is likely that some smaller or more heavily
eroded cairns and walls were not recorded. While some

archaeological material may have been missed, the sites

recorded are clearly genuine.
The APDAM research identified one large reservoir
immediately northeast of Thotlakonda. In the course of
survey two more reservoirs were identified. These reservoirs were placed opportunistically in natural drainages
where a small dam could retain relatively high amounts of
water. Reservoirs were identified through dams and terraces surrounding the depressions in which water was
collected. These terraces were most likely intended to
prevent the reservoirs from slowly accumulating silt,
which, over time, reduce the total amount of water available from the reservoir. Terraces of this sort have been
identified throughout South Asia. They are most clearly
discussed by Morrison (1995) in relation to reservoirs at
Vijayanagara. Though not large, these terraces could also
have been employed for limited agricultural purposes.
While I doubt that any significant quantities of food
could have been grown, they may have been used for
herbs or medicinal plants. All of the reservoirs on the hilltop surrounding the monastery were rain-fed. The presence of three reservoirs and at least eleven cisterns in
close proximity to the monastery suggests year-round
occupation of the site, with rainwater collected in the wet
season used in the dry season.
When I planned my research, I expected to complete
survey of the hilltop within a month and find, perhaps, 25
sites. Within one week I had already found 25 clusters of
cairns. Each cluster itself had between 2 and 20 cairns. In
retrospect, the large number of cairns is not surprising.
At several Buddhist sites, including Thotlakonda, large
numbers of carved stone votive s tupas have been reported
(Cunningham 1892). In general, however, votive stupas
have not been mapped, and in some cases have been
cleared by the excavators of Buddhist sites. Schopen
(1997) has argued that burial near a m a hastup a was
believed to place an individual in the perpetual presence
of the Buddha. Votive stupas are two pieces of stone
carved to resemble a m a has tup a. In sites where inscriptions remain, the contents of the votive stupas are identified as the cremated remains of monks and devout laity.
In the same way that the votive s tupas are smaller versions
of a mahastupa, I argue that the cairns I identified are
even more simple memorials. While more prosperous
individuals or families could afford a carved votive stupa
within the monastery, the simple cairns I identified

485

Recent Research at Thotlakonda fogelin

Fig. 2 Cairn typical of those found during archaeological survey.

beyond the monastic walls were the memorials of less

wealthy Buddhists.
The cairns identified during survey were simple piles
of unmodified boulders. They ranged in size from one to
twelve meters in diameter, while most were roughly three
meters. Four cairns close to the monastery were excavated by the APDAM in 1992 (Subrahmanyam 1993).
Inside they found only a few small sherds of red-ware
urns. Like the urns within votive stupas, it seems likely
that these sherds were from simple vessels that originally
contained the cremated remains of Buddhist monks and
lay-people. Cairns were found alone in isolated portions
of the hill and in clusters of up to twenty cairns. Often
these clusters consisted of a few larger cairns, with several
smaller cairns distributed around them. I am still in the
process of mapping and analyzing these cairn clusters.
An examination of size distributions and rank size analysis could well provide insight into their organization. One
pattern that has emerged concerns the locations of these
cairns and cairn clusters. Most of these cairn clusters are
in locations with a prominent view of the monastery. This
pattern reinforces the claim that these cairns served a
similar role as the votive stupas as discussed by Schopen.
The people enshrined within these cairns would have
been in the perpetual presence of the Buddha.

486

Those cairns located in positions without a direct view

of the monastery show a markedly different pattern than
those that do. These cairns tend to be larger and found
in locations with prominent views of either the ocean, or
inland areas below the hill. This pattern is most clearly
shown by the location of the two largest cairns found during survey (Fig. 3). Both are located on the northern edge

Fig. 3 Map of large cairns, non-monastic settlement

and the Buddhist monastery of Thotlakonda.

of the Thotlakonda hill, one overlooking the anchorage

and the other overlooking an inland non-monastic settlement. In the original site report for Thotlakonda, the
excavators suggested that the mahastup a could have
served as a beacon or landmark for ocean-going vessels.
This is true. However, given the flat top of the hill on
which the monastery is found, the mahas tupa would only
have been visible to vessels relatively far out to sea and to
other monasteries on neighboring hills. The mahastup a
was not visible to inhabitants immediately below the hill.
In contrast, the large cairns on the northern edge of the
hill would have announced the presence of the monastery
to the local populations. Further, the largest of these
cairns, and the only cairn found to have a harmika, is
located in a position visible to the interior, not the ocean.
This suggests that the visible presence of the monastery
is not simply for the purpose of coastal trade, but also
projected toward the local populations. In turn, this suggests that the monastery employed religious symbolism,
a stup a, to foster its relationship with the local populations
on the floodplains below the monastery. A similar argument has been put forth concerning the visual presence
of Sanchi in Madya Pradesh (Shaw 1999).
The large cairn overlooking the inland settlement is
among the more interesting of the sites identified in the
survey (Fig. 4-5). Located on the edge of the hill, erosion
has caused significant disturbance. Despite this, it is still
possible to identify a large central cairn, as well as a cir-

Fig. 4 Plan of the large cairn or stupa on hill overlooking inland,

non-monastic settlement.

Fig. 5 Harmika found adjacent to large cairn or stupa on hill overlooking

inland, non-monastic settlement.

cumambulatury path. Given this cairns size and the

presence of a harmika, it may be more appropriate to
refer to it as a stupa. This stupa is itself part of a cluster
of sites including a carved pillar, several cisterns and
other cairns. No other similar collection of features exist
on the hilltop outside of the monastery one-and-a-half
kilometers away. However, in comparison to the
monastery this cluster of sites is small. There is no evidence of viharas or other architectural features.
It seems that this cluster of sites was an important
memorial, halfway between a simple cairn and the

Fig. 6 Votive stupa at Buddhist monastery of Thotlakonda.

487

Recent Research at Thotlakonda fogelin

mahastupa of the monastery (Fig. 6). In this way it illustrates the continuum of memorials from the simple, small
piles of stone found throughout the hill, through carved
votive stupas and elaborate cairns to the stupas and
chaityas of the monastery itself. When viewed together,
the entire hilltop is packed with a variety of memorials, all
sharing the same basic components. Given the likelihood
that many of these cairns represent the memorials of laity,
it suggests an active relationship between the monastery
and the local populations. Further, it suggests that the
monks and lay people shared similar attitudes towards
death and the proper disposal of the dead. As for other
aspects of this relationship, answers lie below the hill,
away from the monastery.
Because of the large number of sites on the hilltop, I
was not able to survey as much area at the base of the
hill as I intended in the first season. Nevertheless, one
small settlement was found within modern agricultural
fields and orchards below the monastery. After centuries of plowing, no architectural features remain. The
settlement is indicated solely by a large, often dense,
ceramic scatter. The scatter covers at least three
hectares. In places the ceramic density exceeds 100
sherds per square meter. While the analysis of this material is ongoing, several diagnostic sherds from the settlement are similar to sherds found at Thotlakonda. In
particular, an applique rope motif occurs at the settlement and all three monasteries in the area. At this time
it appears that this motif only occurs on large, storage
vessels. While it is tempting to suggest this indicates
goods were transported from the settlement to the
monasteries in these vessels, it is also possible that the
material traveled the opposite direction, or that both the
settlement and monasteries received goods from an
unspecified third location. What this does suggest is that
the monasteries and the settlement were involved in the
same network of trade relations, the organization of
which awaits further analysis. Other ceramic forms
found in the monasteries and settlement also seem to
correspond with one another. The relative frequencies
of different ceramic wares also appear, at this, time to be
similar, though the settlement may have a higher proportion of red wares. Thus, at this point it is safe to say
the site was contemporary to the monastery, but it is not
yet possible to state if the settlement predates or postdates the monastery as well.

488

In the winter of 2001-2002, I will return to Thotlakonda in order to complete survey of the remaining
areas on the floodplain below Thotlakonda. Some of the
questions concerning the non-monastic populations may
become clearer with additional data. Over the next few
years I will further analyze my material. For now, my
research findings are preliminary, and subject to change.
My hope is that this archaeological research will, in the
end, help clarify the relationships between monastic and
non-monastic people in the Early Historic Period. At this
time it appears that the view that monasteries were
isolated retreats, divorced from more mundane concerns,
is inappropriate to Thotlakonda. In contrast, the monks
at Thotlakonda seem to have been actively engaged with
the local populations. Those researchers who have
argued for more active involvement of monasteries in
their local contexts have usually emphasized economic
interdependency and trade. In contrast, at Thotlakonda
interaction is shown most clearly in mortuary ritual. This
suggests that monastic interaction with the laity does not
necessarily result in the de-emphasis of religious concerns
that the interaction can still have a fundamentally
ritual/religious orientation.
All illustrations by author.

Acknowledgements: I would like to thank the Andhra Pradesh Department

of Archaeology and Museums and the Archaeological Survey of India for
supporting this project. Funding for the project was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (Gr. 6597). Additional logistical support was provided by the American Institute of Indian
Studies. The assistance of Praveena Kumar, Smita Sahay, Chhaya Bhardwaj and Hemanth Kadambi made the fieldwork in Visakhapatnam possible. Finally, I thank Carla Sinopoli for her help in all phases of this
research.

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Cunningham, A. (1892) Mahabodhi or the Great

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