Nagarjunakonda Mahayana Buddhist Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Address

Nagarjunakonda Mahayana Buddhist Temple, Nagarjunakonda Macherla mandal, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh 522426

Diety

Mahayana Buddha

Introduction

Is a historical town, now an island located near Nagarjuna Sagar in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, near the state border with Telangana. It is 160 km west of another important historic site Amaravati Stupa. The ruins of several Mahayana Buddhist and Hindu shrines are located at Nagarjunakonda. It is one of India’s richest Buddhist sites, and now lies almost entirely under the Nagarjunasagar Dam. It is named after Nagarjuna, a southern Indian master of Mahayana Buddhism who lived in the 2nd century, who is believed to have been responsible for the Buddhist activity in the area. The site was once the location of many Buddhist universities and monasteries, attracting students from as far as China, Gandhara, Bengal and Sri Lanka. Because of the construction of the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, the archaeological relics at Nagarjunakonda were submerged, and had to be excavated and transferred to higher land on the hill, which has become an island.