When the Chinese thought the world of Mehsana

Vadnagar (230 48| N; 720 36| E) is located in Mehsana district of Gujarat. Known in the past by various names like Nagara, Camatkarapura, Anandapura and Vrddhanagar, the town is situated at the southern and southwestern edge of a large tank called Sarmistha. It is completely fortified by high walls that are more or less intact.

Tradition associates it with the settlements of the well-known Brahmin community of Gujarat, the Nagars. Vadnagar was one of the most important centres in north Gujarat, connecting Rajputana, Malwa, Saurashtra and the Deccan.

Chinese monk and traveller Hieung Tsang visited Vadnagar somewhere around 641 A.D. and called it Anandapura. He observed 1,000 Sammatiya monks residing in 10 monasteries there. "Starting from here and covering 700 li (approx 500 metres), we come to O-nan-to-pu-lo (Anandapura or modern Vadnagar). Anandapur is 20 li in circuit; there is no chief ruler and is under Malava.

Ten Sangharamanas exist with less than 1,000 priests of the Sammatiya School or Little Vehicle". The Skandapurana has a sub-section called Nagarakhanda, intending to give an account of the Nagar Brahmins and incidentally throws light on the traditional history of this town, supposed to be the original centre of this community. Vadnagar is a key to the understanding of what is called the North Gujarat Settlement Pattern. Also, the town of Vadnagar is an example of historical Indian town planning and architecture.

In the recent excavations (in the year 2008-2009) carried out by the Gujarat State Department of Archaeology under the direction of YS Rawat, a Buddhist monastery was brought to light in Vadnagar. On plan it measured about 14.04m x 14.04m. Two additional chambers were added on the west at its north western corner.

The monastery had an open central courtyard around which initially nine cells were constructed. To the narrow veranda was added another on the northern side. The veranda was attached to an entrance platform from the north side having two flights of steps from the east and west. Burnt bricks have been used for construction. The sizes of bricks measured 41/42cm x 25/26cm x 6/7cm in length, breadth and thickness respectively. The monastery appears to have been constructed around circa 2nd-3rd century A.D.

Around the northeast corner of the monastery two small votive stupas have been uncovered. On plan, one of them is square and the other is circular. The former was constructed in terraced fashion vertically showing three squares in diminishing order from bottom to top. The top was surmounted by a solid dome of which only the base is remaining.

According to archaeological stratigraphy these votive stupas were built later say for example around 4th-5th Century A.D. A broken head of Buddha, a votive tablet with foot impression and six-petalled flowers were found along a broken crescent shaped stone toilet tray depicting a scene of a monkey offering honey to the Buddha. Black polished ware shreds inscribed with Brahmin legends like Devshririshi, Shakasya and Dhamma have also been found from the monastery.

—The city-based writer specialises in writing on architecture