During the Ikshvahu period (3 rd century CE) the site of Nagarjunakonda rose to prominence. The Ikshvakus came to power when their first king, Vasisthiputra Santamula, seized control from the weakened Satavahanas in the second quarter of the third century and established a new capital at Vijayapuri in the Nagarjunakonda Valley. “Although Nagarjunakonda (Hill of Nagarjuna) was not the original name for this region, the great acarya Nagarjuna, the founder of the Madhyamika school of Buddhism and a proponent of the Mahayana doctrine, is believed to have lived there in the first or second century CE, thus accounting for the popular name. Certainly, the site of Nagajunakonda, which housed more than thirty Buddhist monasteries from the second to fourth centuries CE, was the seat of much innovation in Buddhist practices, beliefs, and art forms. From a historical and archaeological viewpoint, it is a tragedy that this remarkable site had to be submerged recently during the construction of the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, though the government of India must be commended for its efforts to excavate the site and erect reconstructions of the monuments for later study.” Read More