Today along with Mr. Venkatesh Suggu and Mr. Tshewang, I have gone for a trip to Thotla Konda, a ruined Buddhist site near Visakhapatnam which over looks the Bay of Bengal Sea.In Telugu Thotla is Trough and Konda 'Hill' thereby meaning a hill of troughs. It lies 128 meters above Mean Sea Level. Several rectangular rock-cut troughs are found which were considered to have been used for storing water and then consumed after treating with herbs. After the excavations were conducted by the Indian Navy during 1988-93, it is established that Hinayana Buddhist Complex existed here 2000 years ago. Following are some of the snapshots with a bit of description.
This is a gate towards the ruined Buddhist complex.
This is the top of the broken pillar which is supposed to be part of the main stupa (Maha Stupa)
This is believed to be the model built prior to the construction of the Maha Stupa and based on this model the Maha Stupa has been built.
This are the ruins of the U-shaped congregational hall. To its left were also seen the ruins of a 64 pillared congregational hall where the Sanghas (monks) used to gather for meditation and religious discourses.
The rock-cut trough which were used for water storage
This is one of the eleven stone wells (troughs) found nearby the Buddhist complex. Interestingly, its said that water in this well never dries up proving the point that its not just the rain water which fill it up but may have an underground source to it. It is also believed to have bee created by the senior disciples of Buddha as per what they saw in their vision during meditation and hence its considered holy.
This trough appears like a bath trough but the guide explained that its here where the water stored in the larger troughs are being treated here by adding herbs and made consumable.
This pond is believed to have been the bathing place for the Sanghas as there is a remnant of the footpath connecting this pond and the complex.
The broken remains of King Ashoka's Chakra which is believed to have been also the main part of the Maha Stupa.
Besides the above remnants, other ruins found in the complex includes the four rectangular rooms used for cooking and storing food, the dormitories for the Sanghas, circular meditation hall, and remnants of smaller stupas, the site where Buddha's footprint was placed for worship by the disciples and so on. The Buddhist complex and its influences has declined by the 3rd Century AD, due to rise of Hinduism and the decline in the maritime trade according to what our guide mentioned.
P.S: The guide was explaining in Telugu who seemed to have loads of information but communication was the main constraint. So Mr. Venkatesh acted as a translator to two of us.
