The Stupa of Kanaganahalli: Art historical and religious historical analysis of the illustrations along the circambulation path

从公元前到公元世纪，卡纳加纳哈里的佛教遗址及其大型中央佛塔一直存在。在其重要性，它必须与其他两个早期佛教艺术的经典网站，Bharhut和Sanchi进行比较，它的发现被视为印度世纪最重要的考古发现之一。令人遗憾的是，印度遗址的文献与其重要性不符;到目前为止，只有铭文在2014年的一份出版物中得到了充分的处理。第一个项目致力于研究曾经覆盖佛塔圆顶的大型浮雕板，可以追溯到公元前几十年。对这些石板上的场景进行了描述和分析，确定了它们的内容，然后将其与印度其他地区相同主题的描述进行了比较。这项研究即将完成。它的结果将Kanaganahalli置于印度早期佛教艺术的发展中，它们表明了该网站对我们了解印度佛教的重要性。佛塔上的许多图像都是独一无二的，其中有Satavahana国王的肖像，但也有记录佛陀生活中未在文学传统中传承的事件的铭文，以及与目前已知的佛陀前世故事不同的故事标题。本申请完成了该项目和对来自Kanaganahalli的雕塑材料的研究;它将集中在曾经覆盖佛塔下部的浮雕上，并且在她/他的佛塔仪式中被参观者近距离看到。这些浮雕没有描绘叙事场景;相反，与佛陀传说有关的圣地图像，但也有佛陀在场的象征性描述，以及像娜迦和夜叉这样的人物，它们创造了一种“神圣的地理”，将在项目过程中进一步研究。在大约公元120年增加到佛塔的四个突出平台上，描绘了佛陀生活的场景。这32个场景，其中一些是重复的，是Kanaganahalli和安得拉邦其他艺术中心之间相互影响的绝佳例子。该项目还包括环宇地区的三维雕塑，其中包括一系列的八个“历史”佛，包括弥勒佛，以及装饰品。其中包括该遗址与印度以外的艺术地区密切联系的众多例子，特别是与罗马的联系。在萨塔瓦哈那帝国和地中海之间的贸易往来之后，这种密集的交流蓬勃发展，最引人注目的例子是佛教的法轮，它的中心是一个狮子头，因为它是从罗马战车中得知的。

The Buddhist site of Kanaganahalli with its large central stupa existed from the pre-Christian era until the 4th century CE. In its importance it has to be compared with two other classic sites of early Buddhist art, Bharhut and Sanchi, and its discovery is seen as one of the most important archaeological findings of the 20th century in India. Regrettably, the documentation of the site in India does not correspond with its importance; so far only the inscriptions have received an adequate treatment in a publication in 2014. A first project was dedicated to the study of the large relief slabs that once covered the dome of the stupa and can be dated to the first decades CE. The scenes on these slabs have been described and analyzed, their contents identified and then compared with depictions of the same themes from other regions of India. This study is nearly finished. Its results place Kanaganahalli within the development of early Buddhist art in India, and they demonstrate the importance of the site for our knowledge of Indian Buddhism. Numerous images from the stupa are unique, among them the inscribed portraits of the Satavahana kings, but also inscriptions documenting episodes from the life of the Buddha that have not been passed on in the literary tradition, and titles of stories about previous births of the Buddha that differ from the ones presently known. The present application completes the project and the study of the sculptural material from Kanaganahalli; it will focus on the reliefs that once covered the lower part of the stupa and were seen close-up by the visitor during her/his ritual circumambulation of the stupa. These reliefs do not depict narrative scenes; rather, with images of sacred sites related to the Buddha legend, but also with symbolic depictions of the Buddha's presence and with figures like nagas and yakshas, they create a kind of 'sacred geography' that will be examined further in the course of the project. On the four projecting platforms that were added to the stupa at around 120 CE, scenes from the life of the Buddha are depicted. These 32 scenes, some of which were repeated, serve as excellent examples for the mutual influences between Kanaganahalli and other art centres in Andhra Pradesh. The project furthermore encompasses the three-dimensional sculptures within the area of the circumambulation, among them an inscribed series of the eight 'historical' Buddhas including Maitreya, as well as the ornamental objects. These include a multitude of examples for the close contacts of the site with artistic regions outside India, notably with Rome. The most remarkable example for this intensive exchange that flourished in the wake of trade contacts between the Satavahana empire and the Mediterranean is the representation of the Buddhist wheel of law with a lion-head hub as it is known from Roman chariots.