On 16 January, during the observation of Kanuma Day, which is celebrated as part of the Makar Sankranti festival in the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, representatives of the Indian Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) requested the local authorities to provide protection against vandalism for the Buddhist archaeological sites of Bojjannakonda and Lingalakonda, which date to the third century BCE.

According to The Hindu newspaper, the villagers practice an annual traditional “stone pelting” ritual on Kanuma Day, typically attended by hundreds of worshippers who visit the site to throw stones at at a “belly-shaped object” at Bojjannakonda, believed by many to be part of a demon. The ritual has begun to cause damage to ancient Buddhist caves and the natural features of the site. INTACH, a nationwide body dedicated to heritage awareness and conservation in India, has made a sustained campaign to stop the stone-pelting ritual.

“Every year, a jatara [village festival] is held wherein thousands of people descend on these two Buddhist sites on Kanuma, most of them in high spirits,” said INTACH’s Visakhapatnam chapter convener Mayank Kumari Deo. “They pull out the bricks and throw them into the caves as well as throw stones onto the stupas. The people also litter these sites with liquor bottles and vast amounts of trash. The stupas have been damaged in the past due to a superstitious ritual of the Vajrayana period that has no relevance anymore.” (The Times of India)

“With the support of the police and the district administration, we have been able to stop it for the past few years,” Deo told The Hindu. “This time also we have [also] sought the support of the district officials.”

In a letter to district collector V. Vinay Chand, INTACH stated: “Vandalism, or defacing of any order like removing bricks and throwing stones at the heritage site is highly condemnable. We want the administration to provide enough security on the Kanuma day to prevent damage to the archaeologically significant site.” (The Hindu)

Bojjannakonda and Lingalakonda are Buddhist monasteries on adjacent hillocks in Sankaram, in Vishakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh. Both heritage sites are composed of many monolithic stupas, rock-cut caves, ruins of prayer halls, meditation halls, brick-built structural edifices, and resting places. Many Buddha statues are also carved into the rock faces of the caves.