The Kurkihar hoard is a set of 226 bronzes, mostly Buddhist, dating to between the 9th and 12th centuries CE, which were found in Kurkihar near Gaya in the Indian state of Bihar.[ Guy, The "Påala-Sena" Schools of Sculpture, Volume 10 of Studies in South Asian Culture, The "Pala-Sena" Schools of Sculpture, Susan L. Huntington Brill Archive, 1984, p. 141] The village of Kurkihar is situated about 5 km. north-east of Wazirganj, and 27 km east from Gaya. The inscriptions found suggest that Kurkihar was once a well known international pilgrimage center.[ जिद धरोहर बचाने की : गया के कुर्किहार के घर-घर में है धरोहर, विदेशों से था संबंध, Bhaskar News, 13 June 2017]
These include a gilded Avalokiteshvara image from 12th century, referred to as being resplendent.[ Resplendent Sculpture of Avalokiteshvara from Kurkihar (Bihar, India) from 12th Century, 10 January 2017, Ellen Kaufman]
The monastery where the bronzes were found was named Apanakain in an Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita manuscript now in LACM.[A Forgotten Monastery of Ancient Bihar, Pal, Pratapaditya, South Asian studies, Vol:4 No:1 Date: 1988 Pages:83-88]
Discovery
Major Markham Kittoe visited Kurkihar twice in 1847 and on the second visit to the village, spent four days collecting "ten cart-loads of images; all Buddhist and the Tamrika period". A great portion of this collection is preserved in the
Indian Museum, Kolkata.
Some of Kittoe's collection can also be found in the
British Museum, London.
[ British Museum collection] Cunningham visited Kurkihar in 1861-62 and again in 1879-80. He mentions that the site was about 600 feet square and about 25 feet high. He mentioned having seen here not only numerous Buddhist images, large and small, but a large number of votive stupas. He says there were in his time "row after row of Chaityas extending north to south for several hundred feet".
In 1930 a hoard of 226 bronzes and five other objects was found at Kurkihar, which were unearthed from the main mound. These included Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Stupas, Bells and ritual objects. Today, these objects are displayed in special room in the Patna Museum.
Of the 87 images, 81 were Buddhist and 6 Hindu. They were all found in one spot, with the smaller images enclosed in earthen jars.[S.K. Sarasvati and K.C. Sarkar, Kurkihar, Gaya and Bodh-Gaya, Rajshahi, 1936, p. 5] They were found about 25 feet below the surface of the main mound, when someone was digging for bricks.
A number of stone images have also been found from the Pala period, some of which are still in active worship at the local Devi temple.
Major images
In 2005, for an exhibition in Australia, two of the three statues representing India were from Kurkihar, they were valued at US $30 million.
[ उपेक्षित है कुर्किहार बौद्ध स्थल, बढ़ में छिपी है बेशकीमती मूर्तियां, Live Hindustan, 4 जनवरी, 2017]
Inscriptions
Cunningham has written: "I procured several short but interesting inscriptions at Kurkihar. The name of Sakala is mentioned in several of them, and also Kerala in Dakshinades. The age of these inscriptions, judging from the shapes of the letters, must be about A.D. 800 to 1000"
[ An ancient legendary site yet to be fully explored and understood, 28 September 2013, Vikas Vaibhav]
Ninety three inscriptions have been found on the bronzes.[Banerji-Sastri, "Ninety-three Inscriptions on the Kurkihar Bronzes", Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, XXVI, 3 (1940), 236-251.] The Kurkihar inscriptions refer to Devapala (810–c. 850), Rajyapala (908–940), Mahipala (988–c. 1036) and Vigrahapala III (1054–1072), ranging from 9th century to 1074 AD. The name of the monastery was apparently named Apanaka, which is mentioned in several inscriptions. The monastery was apparently very popular among the visitors from Kanchi in South India.
The names, places of origin and ranks of the donors for 9-12th century have been analyzed.[ The socieo-economic dimensions of dedicatory inscriptions, B.N. Prasad, JOBS.2074(7):116-152] The distribution is 9th century:14, 10th: 21, 11th: 25, and 12th: 10.
Manuscript
A circa 1100–1125 manuscript of Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita now in
LACM.
[A Forgotten Monastery of Ancient Bihar, Pal, Pratapaditya, South Asian studies, Vol:4 No:1 Date: 1988 Pages:83-88] was copied in this monastery during the rule of
Ramapala.
Significance
Kurkihar was apparently a major pilgrimage center located midway between Gaya and
Rajgriha and as well an artistic center of brass and stone sculpting. The inscriptions found refer to donors not only from distant place in India like Sakala in Punjab, and Kerala, Conjeevaram or Kanchi in the south, but also from Bali Islands, Malaya as well as other countries. The inscriptions refer to a number of kings, mostly of the Pala dynasty.
Comparison with Nalanda bronzes
Kurkihar bronzes have been compared with the bronzes from nearby Nalanda.
[ The Bronzes of Nalanda and Hindu-javanese Art, A.J. Bernet Kampers, Brill Archive, 1933, p. 19-64] It has been suggested that Nalanda sculptors may have settled in Kurkihar
[ The "Påala-Sena" Schools of Sculpture, Volume 10 of The "Pala-Sena" Schools of Sculpture, Susan L. Huntington, Brill Archive, 1984 p. 5-153] Kurkihar bronzes data from 10th to 12th cent while Nalanda bronzes cover the period from 7th to 9th cent. nalanda bronzes are reddish whereas Kurkihar bronzes are more yellow.
Museums
Most of the Kurkihar bronzes are in the
Patna Museum. The Hindu temple situated in the north-eastern portion of the village was visited by Cunningham in 1861 where a number of images, both Buddhist and Hindu images, dated to the 10th–11th Century AD, have been preserved here.
Patna Museum theft
On Sept 26, 2006, 18 bronze images from Kurkihar were stolen from the Patna Museum. The thieves entered through a window by cutting the cutting bars.
[ 18 statues, figurines of Pala period stolen from Patna museum, Outlook, Sept 26, 2006] The images were later recovered from a gang including a Vinod Yadav in Nalanda district, and Shahid Warsi of Kolkata. A
Manjushri image was not recovered.
[ Priceless Indian statue recovered, BBC, 10 October 2006]
Recovery of Bodhisatva Padmapani image in Italy
In 2022, an image of Bodhisatva Padmapani, stolen from the Kundalpur Devisthan Temple at Kurkiar was surrendered by the owner and is in the process of being returned to India.
[ Stolen Buddha Statue That Resurfaced in Italy Will Return to India, New York Times, Zachary Small, Feb. 11, 2022]
Buddhist images in worship at the Modern Hindu Temple
In the modern Devistahan Kundalpur Hindu temple at
[ 庫基哈爾-被遺忘的帕拉造像寶庫, Zheng Moumou, KK News, 2019-05-17] there are a number of Buddhist images still in active worship.
[ Kurkihar, Gaya and Bodh-Gaya, Saraswati and Sarkar, 1946]
== Gallery ==
Sculpture - Buddha Descending from Heaven]]
at Toledo Museum of Art, inscribed]]
See also
External links
