In course of the renovation of Sri Amareswara Temple in Guntur District, several Buddhist sculptures belonging to the Amaravathi Stupa were found in the ceiling of the Nandi mandapa of the temple. Similarly while excavating foundation pits for the construction of a Gopuram to the above temple some beautifully carved sculptures were unearthed. On intimation, I have visited the temple accompanied by Dr. V.V. Krishna Sastry, Chief Technical Officer to study these sculptures. In all probability the carved slabs found over the Nandi mandapa and from inside the foundation-trench belong to the well-known stupa of Amaravathi.
Almost all the sculptures found previously from the famous Amaravathi Stupa, now exhibited at Amaravathi, Madras and London Museums have been studied by various scholars. Continuing the same tradition, we have studied in depth the new sculptures and this book is the result of our study. We hope this will be a useful contribution to the study of the Amaravathi School of Art-the pride and production of Andhra sculptors.
The assistance of Sri M. R. Gopala Rao, Executive Officer, Sri Amareswara Swamy temple, Amaravathi who offered facilities to study the new sculptures found in the temple is acknowledged. We acknowledge with thanks the excellent photographic assistance given by Sri J. V.S. Sainath and Sri V. Yellaiah, Photographers of the Department of State Archaeology. We are thankful to Sri R. S. P. Anjaneya Sarma, Mr. Habeebuddin and Sri. P. Satyanarayana for typing out the manuscript. We also express our thanks to Sri P. S. Johnstone, Publication Assistant for his meticulous correction of proofs and attending to other aspects of the publication job.
Our special thanks are also due to Sri V. V. Naidu, Director, A. P. Govt. Text Book Press and his staff particularly to Sri V. Ganga- dharam who have helped us in bringing out this booklet quickly.
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