Sculpture of the
Buddha recovered from Griddhakūṭa (Vulture's Peak) and currently kept at Nalanda Museum
In
the year 1871 Broadley on the basis of the description of Chinese monk-scholar Venrerable
Xuanzang (7th CE) identified the Deoghāṭ hill (The Buddhistic Remains of Bihar, A. M. Broadley,
p.38) south of Vipulā
hill (Rājgir) as Griddhakūṭa (Vulture’s Peak).. Very few antiquities were
discovered at the Griddhakūṭa and most prominent among those few was the 91cm,
red sandstone image of the Buddha in preaching mudrā (posture)from Gupta period (5-6th CE). This was the only large stone sculpture (See Fig-1) found
at the site and most probably the same image that was mentioned by Venerable
Xuanzang.
Considering the situation at that time the rich antiquities recovered from Griddhakūṭa were removed to Nalanda Museum (See Fig-2) for safety and display reasons. Griddhakūṭa and many such sacred sites became meaningless archaeological sites sans the images of the Buddha and Buddhist deities that originally belonged to these places. Griddhakūṭa is now a very popular pilgrimage destination for the followers of the teachings of the Buddha all over the world. Griddhakūṭa now receives more than 5 lacs pilgrims each year. It will be in interest of all the stakeholders to restore this ancient image with necessary security precautions and without compromising the archaeological significance of the Griddhakūṭa in order to revive the religious sanctity of the Place. This will facilitate restoration of the religious sanctity of Griddhakūṭa to next level and will send a very positive message all over the world and will facilitate the growth of the pilgrimage.
Considering the situation at that time the rich antiquities recovered from Griddhakūṭa were removed to Nalanda Museum (See Fig-2) for safety and display reasons. Griddhakūṭa and many such sacred sites became meaningless archaeological sites sans the images of the Buddha and Buddhist deities that originally belonged to these places. Griddhakūṭa is now a very popular pilgrimage destination for the followers of the teachings of the Buddha all over the world. Griddhakūṭa now receives more than 5 lacs pilgrims each year. It will be in interest of all the stakeholders to restore this ancient image with necessary security precautions and without compromising the archaeological significance of the Griddhakūṭa in order to revive the religious sanctity of the Place. This will facilitate restoration of the religious sanctity of Griddhakūṭa to next level and will send a very positive message all over the world and will facilitate the growth of the pilgrimage.
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Fig:1-
The antiquities from Griddhakūṭa (RAJGIR
by M H Kuraishi, Revised by A. Ghosh, Published by The DG, ASI, New Delhi, PP-
33)
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