Bhattiprolu
Encyclopedia
Bhattiprolu is a small village
in Guntur
District
of Andhra Pradesh
State in Southern India.
. Bhattiprolu is well known for its Buddha stupa
(Vikramarka kota dibba) built about 3rd-2nd century BC. During excavations at Bhattiprolu there has been found linguistic
evidence
of a Telugu language
that belongs to 3rd Century BC, and the progenitor of Brahmi script
, well known as Bhattiprolu Script
to historians
. Merchants took the script to Southeast Asia
where it parented the scripts of Mon, Burmese, Thai, Khmer
, Javanese
and Balinese
languages. Their similarities to Telugu script
can be discerned even today.
and jewels were found. The stupa
was found to be 40 meters in diameter with an additional basement of 2.4 meters wide running all around. The most significant discovery is the crystal relic casket of sarira dhatu of the Buddha from the central mass of the stupas. The Mahachaitya (great stupa) remains of a large pillared hall, a large group of ruined votive stupas with several images of Buddha, a stone receptacle containing copper vessel, which in turn, contained two more, a silver casket and within it, a gold casket enclosing beads of bone and crystal were found.
script in South India
comes from Bhattiprolu. The script was written on an urn containing Buddha's relics. Historians surmise that this script gave rise to the Telugu
Script. Bhattiprolu had been a great centre of Buddhism
since pre-Mauryan times (4th century BCE). From there Buddhism
spread to east Asia
, giving rise to the modern Thai
, Burmese, Javanese
and Balinese script
s which bear a strong resemblance to the Telugu script
. The script also spread to the Rayalaseema
region.
and 15 minutes drive from Repalle
. It is a station on the Repalle-Tenali railway and falls under the Guntur division
of South Central Railway.It is also well connected to Repalle
, Tenali
, Bapatla
, Ponnur
via road and lies on the National Highway 214A (India)
.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in Guntur
Guntur
Guntur , is a city and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, located to the north and west of the Bay of Bengal. It is approximately to the south of the national capital, New Delhi and south east of state capital, Hyderabad. Guntur is the fourth largest city in Andhra...
District
District
Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
State in Southern India.
History
The original name of Bhattiprolu was Pratipalapura, a flourishing Buddhist town in the ancient Sala kingdom that predated Andhra Satavahanas. From available inscriptional evidence, King Kuberaka was ruling over Bhattiprolu around 230 BC230 BC
Year 230 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Barbula and Pera...
. Bhattiprolu is well known for its Buddha stupa
Stupa
A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....
(Vikramarka kota dibba) built about 3rd-2nd century BC. During excavations at Bhattiprolu there has been found linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
of a Telugu language
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
that belongs to 3rd Century BC, and the progenitor of Brahmi script
Brāhmī script
Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...
, well known as Bhattiprolu Script
Bhattiprolu Script
The Bhattiprolu script is a variant of the Brahmi script which has been found in old inscriptions at Bhattiprolu, a small village in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, South India...
to historians
. Merchants took the script to Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
where it parented the scripts of Mon, Burmese, Thai, Khmer
Khmer script
The Khmer script is an alphasyllabary script used to write the Khmer language . It is also used to write Pali among the Buddhist liturgy of Cambodia and Thailand....
, Javanese
Javanese script
The Javanese alphabet, natively known as Hanacaraka or Carakan , known by the Sundanese people as Cacarakan is the pre-colonial script used to write the Javanese language....
and Balinese
Balinese script
The Balinese alphabet is an abugida that was used to write the Balinese language, an Austronesian language spoken by about three million people on the Indonesian island of Bali. The use of the Balinese script has mostly been replaced by the Roman alphabet. Although it is learned in school, few...
languages. Their similarities to Telugu script
Telugu script
Telugu script, an abugida from the Brahmic family of scripts, is used to write the Telugu language, a language found in the South-Central Indian state of Andhra Pradesh as well as several other neighboring states. The Telugu script is derived from the Bhattiprolu script...
can be discerned even today.
The Stupa
Three mounds were discovered in Bhattiprolu in 1870. In 1892 when excavations were undertaken by Alexander Rea, three inscribed stone relic caskets containing crystal caskets, relics of BuddhaGautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
and jewels were found. The stupa
Stupa
A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....
was found to be 40 meters in diameter with an additional basement of 2.4 meters wide running all around. The most significant discovery is the crystal relic casket of sarira dhatu of the Buddha from the central mass of the stupas. The Mahachaitya (great stupa) remains of a large pillared hall, a large group of ruined votive stupas with several images of Buddha, a stone receptacle containing copper vessel, which in turn, contained two more, a silver casket and within it, a gold casket enclosing beads of bone and crystal were found.
The Script
One of the earliest evidence of BrahmiBrāhmī script
Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...
script in South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
comes from Bhattiprolu. The script was written on an urn containing Buddha's relics. Historians surmise that this script gave rise to the Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
Script. Bhattiprolu had been a great centre of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
since pre-Mauryan times (4th century BCE). From there Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
spread to east Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
, giving rise to the modern Thai
Thai alphabet
Thai script , is used to write the Thai language and other, minority, languages in Thailand. It has forty-four consonants , fifteen vowel symbols that combine into at least twenty-eight vowel forms, and four tone marks ....
, Burmese, Javanese
Javanese script
The Javanese alphabet, natively known as Hanacaraka or Carakan , known by the Sundanese people as Cacarakan is the pre-colonial script used to write the Javanese language....
and Balinese script
Balinese script
The Balinese alphabet is an abugida that was used to write the Balinese language, an Austronesian language spoken by about three million people on the Indonesian island of Bali. The use of the Balinese script has mostly been replaced by the Roman alphabet. Although it is learned in school, few...
s which bear a strong resemblance to the Telugu script
Telugu script
Telugu script, an abugida from the Brahmic family of scripts, is used to write the Telugu language, a language found in the South-Central Indian state of Andhra Pradesh as well as several other neighboring states. The Telugu script is derived from the Bhattiprolu script...
. The script also spread to the Rayalaseema
Rayalaseema
Rayalaseema is a geographic region in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. It includes the districts of Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa, Kurnool. These Telugu speaking districts were part of Madras Presidency until 1953 when Telugu speaking districts of Madras presidency were carved out to form...
region.
Villages
Some of the villages in Bhattiprolu mandal are Addepalli,Vellatur,Voleru, Chintamotu, Pedapulivarru, Gorigapudi, Guttavaripalem, Pesarlanka, Pedalanka, Pallekona, Allamudi Gudavalli and Ilavaram,Vemavaram,Surepally.Transport
Bhattiprolu is around 28 km from TenaliTenali
Tenali , is a town and a mandal in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It has a population of 149,839 . It is located 16 miles east of Guntur City. Three canals of the Krishna River flow through Tenali making it a part of the rice bowl of Andhra Pradesh. One of the canals is...
and 15 minutes drive from Repalle
Repalle
Repalle is a town, mandal and a municipality in Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located 28 miles south of Guntur.-Geography:Repalle is located at...
. It is a station on the Repalle-Tenali railway and falls under the Guntur division
Guntur division
Guntur Railway Division is one of the six divisions of South Central Railway , a zone of the Indian Railways. SCR has its head quarters at Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh and serves almost the whole of the state of Andhra Pradesh, a large part of Maharashtra along with small portions of Madhya...
of South Central Railway.It is also well connected to Repalle
Repalle
Repalle is a town, mandal and a municipality in Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located 28 miles south of Guntur.-Geography:Repalle is located at...
, Tenali
Tenali
Tenali , is a town and a mandal in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It has a population of 149,839 . It is located 16 miles east of Guntur City. Three canals of the Krishna River flow through Tenali making it a part of the rice bowl of Andhra Pradesh. One of the canals is...
, Bapatla
Bapatla
Bapatla, formerly known as Bhavapuri, is a town and mandal of Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located south of Guntur City on the East Coast.-Assembly constituency:Bapatla is an assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh....
, Ponnur
Ponnur
Ponnur is an urban town and a municipality located 28 k.m. south of Guntur City in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, India.-Demographics: India census, Ponnuru had a population of 57,640. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Ponnur has an average literacy rate of 68%, higher...
via road and lies on the National Highway 214A (India)
National Highway 214A (India)
National Highway 214A starts from Digamarru and ends at Ongole , both places in the state of Andhra Pradesh...
.