Sirpur: A forgotten medieval cosmopolis
A report on how archeological research is changing some of our fundamental ideas and mis-conceptions about the history and prosperity of medieval Bharat:
From Finding Sirpur, by Chitra Ramaswamy, some excerpts
“…Standing on the banks of the Mahanadi in Mahasamund district, Sirpur or Shreepur was once the capital of Dakshin Kosala (as Chhattisgarh was then known).
….An intriguing aspect of the findings relates to the presence of statues belonging to Vaishnavite, Shaivite, Buddhist and Jain religions at one place. This is believed to be one of the biggest temple towns of the sixth and seventh centuries discovered anywhere so far.
…Having heard so much about the ruins of the Laxman temple, we proceeded there first. The temple is believed to be among the earliest in India built solely of bricks. It is also believed to be the only temple dedicated to Laxman, brother of Lord Rama.
…The Laxman temple is believed to have been built in the 8th century by Vasata, the daughter of King Suryavarma of Magadh. Vasata was an ardent devotee of Vishnu and she built the temple in memory of her husband Harsha Gupta. Her son Mahashivagupta Balarjun, however, was the Shaivaite ruler credited with building the city of Shreepur — the City of Wealth — as the capital of the Mahakosala kingdom.
Every religion, especially Buddhism, flourished under the royal patronage of Harsha Gupta and Balarjun.
Copperplate inscriptions and a Chinese coin unearthed at Sirpur indicate that trade was buoyant under Balarjun’s rule and this brought with it exchanges of learning from neighbouring countries as well. Sirpur became an established centre of Buddhism between the 6th and 10th centuries and the Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang is believed to have visited the city.
Tsang’s travelogue mentions Shreepur as having over a hundred Buddhist monasteries inhabited by over 10,000 monks belonging to the Mahayana sect.
…Many rare idols are believed to have been stolen from Sirpur due to lack of proper security. One such piece, an idol of Goddess Tara, is believed to have been stolen in the mid-1960s and is currently housed in a US museum.”
Image: Ruins of the Laxman temple at Sirpur
Image: Remains of a Shiva temple
Read the full story here.
