usa capitals map Most people stay at the ashram (%287390; www.srisathyasai.org.in), a small village with all amenitie

Most people stay at the ashram (%287390; www.srisathyasai.org.in), a small village with all amenities. Lodging is cheap but basic. Advance bookings aren t taken; visitors under 25 must be in a family or group.

Vijayawada is on the main Chenna Kolkata and Chennai Delhi railway lines. The daily Coromandel Express (2841) usa capitals map runs to Chennai (sleeper/3AC/2AC 214/544/732, seven hours) and, the other way, to Kolkata (2842; sleeper/3AC/2AC 395/1054/1440, 20 hours). Speedy Rajdhani (Thursday and Saturday) and Jan Shatabdi (daily except Tuesday) trains also ply the Vijayawada Chennai route. Trains galore run to Hyderabad (sleeper/3AC/2AC 190/478/639, 6 hours) and Tirupathi (sleeper/3AC/2AC 198/502/674, seven hours). The computerised advance-booking offi ce (%enquiry 2577775, reservations 2578955; h8am-8pm Mon-Sat, till 2pm Sun) is in the basement.

910 STATE OF GOOD KARMA In its typically understated way, Andhra Pradesh doesn t make much of its vast archaeological usa capitals map and karmic wealth. But the state is packed with impressive ruins of its rich Buddhist history. usa capitals map Only a few of Andhra usa capitals map s 150 stupas, monasteries, caves and other sites have been excavated, turning up rare relics of the Buddha (usually pearl-like pieces of bone) with offerings such as golden flowers. Nagarjunakonda and Amaravathi were flourishing Buddhist usa capitals map complexes, and near Visakhapatnam were the incredibly peaceful sites of Thotlakonda, and Bavikonda and Sankaram, looking across seascapes and lush countryside. They speak of a time when Andhra Pradesh or Andhradesa was a hotbed of Buddhist usa capitals map activity, when monks came from around the world to learn from some of the tradition s most renowned usa capitals map teachers. Andhradesa usa capitals map s Buddhist culture, in which sangha (community of monks and nuns), laity and statespeople usa capitals map all took part, lasted around 1500 years from the 6th century BC. There s no historical evidence for it, but some even say that the Buddha himself usa capitals map visited the area. Andhradesa s first practitioners were likely disciples of Bavari, usa capitals map an ascetic who lived on the banks of the Godavari River and sent his followers north to bring back the 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 usa capitals map 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 by many to be 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 usa capitals map would emerge from the area in the following centuries, making Andhradesa a sort of Buddhist motherland of the South.