Nagarjunakonda (meaning Nagarjuna Hill) is a historical Buddhist
town, now an island located near Nagarjuna Sagar
in Guntur district
, near the Indian
state
of Telangana
border. It is 180 km west side of the state capital, Vijayawada
. It is one of India's richest Buddhist sites, known in the ancient times as Sri Parvata. It 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 AD, 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
. The Buddhist archaeological sites there were submerged, and had to later be dug up and transferred to higher land on the hill, which had become an island.
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