Nagarjunakonda
City Guide
Seventeen
hundred years ago, Vijayapuri served as the capital of the Iakshvaku
kingdom, and was home to a centre of Buddhist learning.
Today,
in its place flourishes Nagarjunasagar, a modern township named after
Acharya Nagarjuna, the founder and father of Mahayana Buddhism.
Relics
of the Buddhist civilization found here, date back to the 3rd century AD.
The excavated remains were reconstructed and have been carefully preserved
at Nagarjunakonda, a unique island-museum in the midst of the man-made
Nagarjunasagar Lake.
The museum has been constructed in the
shape of a Buddhist vihara and houses a stupendous collection of relics of
Buddha, Buddhist art and culture. The main stupa called the Mahachaitya
contains the sacred relics of Buddha.
The center of attraction
is a partly ruined monolithic statue of Buddha in a striking image of
peace and poise.
The cultural remains of ancient man ranging
from the prehistoric to the Neolithic period, a university, vihara,
monasteries, and an 'Aswamedha' sacrificial altar dating back to the early
historic period have been unearthed here.
Most of the
monasteries were built by the Royal Ladies of the Ikshvaku Kingdom. During
the construction of the Nagarjunasagar Dam, the ruins of an ancient
Buddhist University were unearthed here. These have been reconstructed at
Anupu, 4kms.away from the right bank of the reservoir.
What's
more, a 3rd century vihara and an amphitheatre with fine acoustics takes
one back into history.
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