page_title: Nagarjunakonda
section_title: Buddhist ruins
hierarchical_section_title: Nagarjunakonda / History / Excavated ruins / Buddhist ruins
caption_attribution_description: English: Nagarjunakonda Dionysus Palace site
context_page_description: Nagarjunakonda 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.
  This Nāgārjunakoṇḍa site in Andhra Pradesh is not to be confused with the Nāgārjunikoṇḍa caves near the Barabar Caves in Bihar.
context_section_description: Archaeological inscriptions at the site show that the Andhra Ikshvaku kings Virapurusadatta, Ehuvula and family members patronized Buddhism. The inscriptions also show state-sponsorship of construction of temples and monasteries, through the funding of the Ikshvaku queens. Camtisiri in particular, is recorded as having funded the building of the main stupa for ten consecutive years. The support also spread beyond the noble classes, many non-royal names being inscribed in the relics. At its peak, there were more than thirty monasteries and it was the largest Buddhist centre in South India. Inscriptions showed that there were monasteries belonging to the Bahuśrutīya and Aparamahavinaseliya sub-schools of the Mahāsāṃghika, the Mahisasaka, and the Mahaviharavasin, from Sri Lanka. The architecture of the area reflects that of these traditions. There were other monasteries for Buddhist scholars originating from the Tamil kingdoms, Orissa, Kalinga, Gandhara, Bengal, Ceylon (the Culadhammagiri) and China. There is also a footprint at the site of the Mahaviharavasin monastery, which is believed to be a reproduction of that of Gautama Buddha.
  The great stupa at Nagarjunakonda belongs to the class of uncased stupas, its brickwork being plastered over and the stupa decorated by a large garland-ornament. The original stupa was renovated by the Ikshvaku princess Chamtisiri in the 3rd century, when ayaka-pillars of stone were erected. The outer railing, if any, was of wood, its uprights erected over a brick plinth. The stupa, 32.3 m in diameter, rose to a height of 18 m with a 4 m wide circumambulatory. The medhi stood 1.5 m and the ayaka-platforms were rectangular offsets measuring 6.7 by 1.5 m.
caption: Relief of Dionysus, Nagarjunakonda Palace site. He has a light beard, is semi-nude and carries a drinking horn. There is a barrel of wine next to him.[14][15]
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