Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
following protests from Andhra's coastal and northeastern regions. The issue is still being
viciously debated.
STATE OF GOOD KARMA
In its typically understated way, Andhra Pradesh doesn't make much of its vast archaeological - and karmic -
wealth. But the state is packed with impressive ruins of its rich Buddhist history. Only a few of Andhra's 150 stu-
pas, monasteries, caves and other sites have been excavated, turning up rare relics of Buddha with offerings such
as golden flowers.
They speak of a time when Andhra Pradesh - or Andhradesa - was a hotbed of Buddhist activity, when monks
came from around the world to learn from some of the tradition's most renowned teachers, and when Indian
monks set off for Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia via the Krishna and Godavari Rivers to spread Buddha's teach-
ings.
Andhradesa's Buddhist culture, in which
sangha
(the community of monks and nuns), laity and statespeople all
took part, lasted around 1500 years from the 6th century BC. There's no historical evidence for it, but some even
say Buddha himself visited the area.
Andhradesa's first practitioners were likely disciples of Bavari, an ascetic who lived on the banks of the Go-
davari River and sent his followers north to bring back Buddha's teachings. But the dharma really took off in the
3rd century BC under Ashoka, who dispatched monks across his empire to teach and construct stupas enshrined
with relics of the Buddha. (Being near these was thought to help progress on the path to enlightenment.)
Succeeding Ashoka, the Satavahanas and then Ikshvakus were also supportive. At their capital at Amaravathi,
the Satavahanas adorned Ashoka's modest stupa with elegant decoration. They built monasteries across the
Krishna Valley and exported the dharma through their sophisticated maritime network.
It was also during the Satavahana reign that Nagarjuna lived. Considered the progenitor of Mahayana
Buddhism, the monk was equal parts logician, philosopher and meditator, and he wrote several ground-breaking
works that shaped contemporary Buddhist thought. Other important monk-philosophers would emerge from the
area in the following centuries, making Andhradesa a sort of Buddhist motherland of the South.
Today, the state's many sites are ripe for exploring; even in ruins, you can get a sense of how large some of the
stupas were, how expansive the monastic complexes, and how the monks lived, sleeping in caves and fetching
rainwater from stone-cut cisterns. Most of the sites have stunning views across seascapes and countryside.
The once-flourishing Buddhist complexes of Nagarjunakonda (
Click here
)
and Amaravathi (
Click here
) have
good infrastructure and helpful museums on-site. For more ambience and adventure, head to the area around Vi-
jayawada for Guntupalli (
Click here
) or Bhattiprolu, and near Visakhapatnam for Thotlakonda (
Click here
) and
Bavikonda (
Click here
), Sankaram (
Click here
), and Ramatheertham.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Hyderabad
040 / POP 6.81 MILLION
Hyderabad, City of Pearls, is like an elderly, impeccably dressed princess with really
faded, really expensive jewellery. Once the seat of the powerful and wealthy Qutb Shahi
and Asaf Jahi dynasties, the city has seen centuries of great prosperity and innovation.
Today, the 'Old City' is full of centuries-old Islamic monuments and even older charms.
