Tel: నాగార్జునకొండ nāgārjunakoṇḍa
‘Nagarjuna’s Hill’ [Vijayapuri] Ancient Site, Andhra Pradesh
Nagarjuna was a 2-3rdC Mahayana Buddhist philosopher and founder of the Madhyamaka School, famous for its doctrine of ‘emptiness’.
Some say he was an advisor to the Satavahana dynasty in the 2ndC when they ruled the Deccan Plateau.
Archaeologists have uncovered Buddhist monasteries, stupas, roads, baths and monuments here dating from the 3-4thC Ikshvaku Dynasty but no direct links to Nagarjuna: the city was their capital and was called Vijayapuri and it is likely that it was renamed by disciples at a much later date.
Ther Vijayanagar rulers built a fort around the Buddhist ruins and the area was abandones ehen thar empire went into decline,
When thye Nagajuna Sagar Dam was being built in the early 1960s this ancient site was threatened with submersion until the Archaeological Society of India intervened, rescuing and reconstructing settlements on top of the citadel hill.
When the rest of the site was flooded the hill became an island.
For related place names see Indian Place names and Andhra Pradesh place names.
