1st century stone bowl sheds light on Buddhist influence in Telangana

HYDERABAD: In a rare find which makes new revelations regarding the prevalence of Buddhist influence in the Manjeera river valley in Telangana during the Satavahana era, researchers have found a stone bowl dating back to 1st century CE with a small inscription in Prakrit language alluding to the fact that it could belong to a Buddhist bhikkuni (nun) named Hima.

A team comprising Dr MA Srinivasan (archaeologist and Assistant Professor at Potti Sriramulu Telugu University), B Shankar Reddy and Ch Niveditha Shalini discovered the bowl on a mound in Borlam village located 5 km away from Banswada of Kamareddy district  The mound is situated adjacent to the Adi Basaveswara Devasthanam, which is part of Kavi Manavallaiah Matham of Bichkunda.

The inscription was written in Prakrit language and in Brahmi script.  The inscription which has five Brahmi alphabets reads as ‘Himabuhiya’ or ‘Himabudhiya’ might be the personal name of a bhikkhuni (nun) named ‘Hima’, Dr Munirathnam Reddy of Archeological Survey of India (ASI), who edited this label inscription, says.

“This is the sixth Brahmi-label inscription found in the Manjeera valley. All these label inscriptions found in the valley belong to the Mauryan and Satavahana period, and enriches the evidence in reconstructing the early history of Telangana, especially the Satavahana period,” says Dr MA Srinivasan, who is also the general secretary of the Public Research Institute for History, Archaeology and Heritage (PRIHAH).
The present site, where the stone bowl was found, is about 5 km away from Manjeera river bank. Earlier, PRIHAH researchers found a Brahmi inscription at Maltummeda of Kamareddy district and four such inscriptions near Edupayala of Medak district.