Amaravati Sculptures in the Madras Government Museum

Abstract

THIS work is essentially a description of those sculptures and inscriptions of the Amaravati Stupa which are now preserved in the Madras Museum. There are also important slabs in the British Museum ; and if they seem there to be as much out of place as the Elgin Marbles, some excuse may be found in the story of their discovery and the dissolution of the monument. It was discovered in 1797 by Colonel Colin Mackenzie of the Trigonometrical Survey at Amaravati, a town on the south bank of the Krishna some sixty miles from the mouth. A local landowner was found to be removing the materials for the establishing of a new town. The Muslims were also removing marbles for their mosques, and they appear to have taken care to efface all signs of idolatry from the slabs. Amaravati Sculptures in the Madras Government Museum By C. Sivaramamurti. (Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum, New Series—General Section, Vol. 4.) Pp. xviii+376+45 plates. (Madras: Government Press, 1942.) 14.8 rupees.