-| Guntupalli | -
Location: District West Godavari (Andhra Pradesh ) - Lat 17º 0'N,
Long 81º 8' E
Guntupalli is a village 45 kms. from the Ellora railway station. The Buddhist
site is situated on the picturesque hill near the village, with its two rock
projections jutted out in the form of a horse-shoe arch overlooking a narrow
ravine with structural and rock cut Buddhist remains. The Buddhist establishment,
occupying a commanding position above the head of the ravine, is a circular
chaitya griha with an oblong projection towards the west which accommodate a
narrow porch. The brick structure was plastered both from interior and exterior.
The circumbulatory passage between the wall has a stone slab paved floor. The
western face of the stupa and facing the passage has three free standing images
of Lord Buddha. The elevated terrace, on which the chaitya griha is located,
is approached from the west by a long flight of Steps.
To the west of the cluster of stupas are the ruins of a pillared Mandapa and
immediately to the west of the Mandapa is an apsidal sanctuary made of bricks.
The high pedestal in the apse probably contained an image of Lord Buddha.
The most interesting feature of this Buddhist site is the rock cut caves in
two distinct groups at two different heights. They are more significant in terms
of rarity of such architectural attempts at the south eastern coastal area than
their architectural and artistic greatness. In spite of this, the cave have
a charm of their own in their simplicity and severity. The lower group perched
on the west of the ravine consists of a single chaitya griha and four monasteries
all in a row overlooking the cells which are worth seeing. Besides the above
features, there is also a peculiar circular chaitya griha - the chief interest
of the second group of the caves.
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