Annual Report of the Department of Archaeology & Museums Andhra Pradesh: 1972-1973 (An Old and Rare Book)

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The Annual Report for 1972-73 mainly consists of the results of excavations conducted at Golconda by the then Director Sri Mohd. Abdul Waheed Khan. The Qutb Shahi's of Golconda have left behind them an array of great monuments, forts, mosques and other civil buildings. Most of the civil and military buildings have crumbled and disintegrated due to vagaries of time and negligence of man. The religious buildings particularly Mosques and Dargahs have firmly stood the test of time as in the case of Hindu temples. The abodes of Gods are always cared for, than the abodes of man.

The excavation at Golconda is mainly intended to bring out the socio-cultural aspects of the common man of the Qutb Shahi period. Through literature and their monuments, we may be able to construct the history of the kings and their achievements but we do not know much about the common folk. With this aim the excavation at Golconda was initiated, which resulted in the discovery of many structures like a warehouse, residential quarters, a cemetery and a net-work of conduit pipes etc.

The Annual report also includes a brief account on the excavations conducted at Peddabankur in Karimnagar district. The antiquity of the site was traced right from the Megalithic period, but the results mainly pertain to the Satavahana period. This year's excavation also brought out some elliptical and oval structures. The ellipsoidal form when bifurcated in the middle, becomes two apsidal structures. Most of the Chaityagrahas are apsidal in plan.

The absolute form provides sufficient space for circum-ambulation. Whether the elliptical structures found at Peddabankur during the pre-Satavahana and Satavahana period have any religious connotations is not very clear. But it was more popular probably among the poor than the round or rectangular forms.

The minor antiquities from Peddabankur included coins of Gautamiputra Satakarni and Augustus Caesar dated from 63 B.C. to 14 A.D. The results of Carbon-14 analysis of some charcoal fragments found at this level and analysed by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research gave a date of 1930 years from the present.

The report also includes a brief survey of results of the excavation at Gollathagudi. The excavation brought out a large collection of stucco art pieces ranging from floral designs to human figures. Some of the earlier figures were painted. The figures of ladies with prominent breasts, thick lips and elaborate hair dresses are simply unique and of a very high artistic order. Though the excavator conjectured that the structures may belong to the 8th century A.D., I personally believe that the temple building with brick had not continued in this part of Deccan beyond 6th century A.D. We also see at Gollathagudi a gradual transition from brick to stone masonry. The stucco figurines have been found only while exposing the brick structures. The stucco figures are mainly intended to embellish the exterior surfaces of the brick walls. This practice is neither necessary nor practicable in the case of stone masonry. In the year 1966 the Editor chanced upon an extensive Buddhist site at Chandavaram and recommended for horizontal excavation. As a result the excavation at the Buddhist site at Chandavaram was commenced in December, 1972. The stupa which is probably the most loftiest and magnificent in the whole of South India was constructed at a hillock locally known as Singarakonda or Srungarakonda beautiful hillock. It is a typical Andhra Stupa with Ayaka platforms at the four cardinal points. Interestingly, a large number of sculptured dome panels each of a height of 10 ft. were recovered. Each slab consists of three panels, depicting the Bodhi tree, Dharmachakra and the worship of the Stupa. Further excavation during subsequent years bad revealed many more interesting details.