It is a Pre-Satavhana site dating back to 200 BC - 200 AD.
Capital of Mahisamandala
Discovered a 25-ft high mound spread over 100 acres which they presume to be a Buddhist stupa with myriad segments throwing light on the Buddhist link of the present Telangana region.
One of the fortified urban settlements of Satavahanas.
Proved to be an important kshetra of Brahmanical faith particularly Sakti cult of that time which was clearly shown through the exposed structures and other associated findings such as coins and sealings.
The excavation yielded a large number of glass vessels indicating Roman influence that indicate the existence of a separate settlement of Romans in Kondapur who had brisk contact and trade with India.
If a stupa is unearthed as hoped by the ASI, this will be the first Buddhist site in Telangana, firmly establishing the belief among historians that this region too was part of the Satavahana empire that extended into present Maharashtra and that Kondapur, indeed, was a city that had a direct connection with Paithan.
The stupas found elsewhere in the State, barring the Amaravathi ones, occupied smaller extents.
The exhibits from this museums are basically retrieved from an ancient mound locally known as Kotagadda (Fort Mound) located at a distance of one km east of the museum.
Nearly 2,000 coins and many coin-moulds, ornaments made of gold and semi-precious stones, beads and terracotta figurines have been recovered from the surface area itself.
A valuable find was a gold coin of the Roman king Augustus.
The historians’ team is of the view that ancient Kondapur city was larger than Amaravathi skirted by a mud-fort.
A lake that possibly served the city as its water source, lies now by the side of the mound.
While the fort’s mud-wall is visible even now, most of the other remains of the city lie buried under the earth, as a result of the earthquakes and catastrophes through ages.
Any excavation of the agricultural fields that covered these remains now, are sure to reveal different facets of the buried city, says Mr. Das.
Several structural remains have already been identified, some of them belonging to Chaitya halls/monasteries.
Furnaces, floors, workplaces and storerooms have also been discovered indicating a rich industrial past. It is assumed that ceramic industry thrived in ancient Kondapur.
The site was first explored by the famous Archaeologist Mr. Henry Cousens in the early years of the 19th Century. Subsequently the Department of Archaeology of the erstwhile Hyderabad State under H.E.H. the Nizam of Hyderabad excavated this mound for a couple of seasons from 1940. A small museum was established with the excavated material over the ancient site itself which was later shifted to the present building. The museum came under the administrative control of Archaeological Survey of India in 1952.
The Archaeological Museum, Kondapur houses a rich collection of minor antiquities unearthed from the digs of 1940-1942. The museum has a Central hall and two more galleries in enclosed corridors.
In the main hall a good number of antiquities are displayed in wall showcases representing different facets of material culture of the early historic period such as pottery, terracotta figurines, bone and shell objects, metal objects, talismans, pendants, beads, inscribed pottery and coins etc. brick tiles, sharpening stones, moulded bricks and designed panels.
In the other galleries, prehistoric tools and fossils are exhibited. Apart from these objects, a couple of sculptures, a Buddhapada, a standing image of four handed Vishnu carved on a door jamb and two inscribed storage jars are other attractive pieces in this gallery.
Entrance Fee Rs.2/- for visitors above 15 years
Museum Hours 1000 A.M. to 0500 p.m.
Free entrance to children below 15 years.
Museum remain closed on Friday
http://asi.nic.in/asi_museums_kondapur.asp
http://www.panoramio.com/user/6860561/tags/kondapur%20museum
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/historical-site-discovered-at-kondapur/article1177396.ece
If a stupa is unearthed as hoped by the ASI, this will be the first Buddhist site in Telangana, firmly establishing the belief among historians that this region too was part of the Satavahana empire that extended into present Maharashtra and that Kondapur, indeed, was a city that had a direct connection with Paithan.
The stupas found elsewhere in the State, barring the Amaravathi ones, occupied smaller extents.
The exhibits from this museums are basically retrieved from an ancient mound locally known as Kotagadda (Fort Mound) located at a distance of one km east of the museum.
Nearly 2,000 coins and many coin-moulds, ornaments made of gold and semi-precious stones, beads and terracotta figurines have been recovered from the surface area itself.
A valuable find was a gold coin of the Roman king Augustus.
The historians’ team is of the view that ancient Kondapur city was larger than Amaravathi skirted by a mud-fort.
A lake that possibly served the city as its water source, lies now by the side of the mound.
While the fort’s mud-wall is visible even now, most of the other remains of the city lie buried under the earth, as a result of the earthquakes and catastrophes through ages.
Any excavation of the agricultural fields that covered these remains now, are sure to reveal different facets of the buried city, says Mr. Das.
Several structural remains have already been identified, some of them belonging to Chaitya halls/monasteries.
Furnaces, floors, workplaces and storerooms have also been discovered indicating a rich industrial past. It is assumed that ceramic industry thrived in ancient Kondapur.
The site was first explored by the famous Archaeologist Mr. Henry Cousens in the early years of the 19th Century. Subsequently the Department of Archaeology of the erstwhile Hyderabad State under H.E.H. the Nizam of Hyderabad excavated this mound for a couple of seasons from 1940. A small museum was established with the excavated material over the ancient site itself which was later shifted to the present building. The museum came under the administrative control of Archaeological Survey of India in 1952.
The Archaeological Museum, Kondapur houses a rich collection of minor antiquities unearthed from the digs of 1940-1942. The museum has a Central hall and two more galleries in enclosed corridors.
In the main hall a good number of antiquities are displayed in wall showcases representing different facets of material culture of the early historic period such as pottery, terracotta figurines, bone and shell objects, metal objects, talismans, pendants, beads, inscribed pottery and coins etc. brick tiles, sharpening stones, moulded bricks and designed panels.
In the other galleries, prehistoric tools and fossils are exhibited. Apart from these objects, a couple of sculptures, a Buddhapada, a standing image of four handed Vishnu carved on a door jamb and two inscribed storage jars are other attractive pieces in this gallery.
Entrance Fee Rs.2/- for visitors above 15 years
Museum Hours 1000 A.M. to 0500 p.m.
Free entrance to children below 15 years.
Museum remain closed on Friday
http://asi.nic.in/asi_museums_kondapur.asp
http://www.panoramio.com/user/6860561/tags/kondapur%20museum
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/historical-site-discovered-at-kondapur/article1177396.ece
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