Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c15.s2.1

c15.s2.1

The last great Stūpa in the Veṅgi country was raised at Nagarjunikoda, literally Nāgārjuna's Hill, a place on the right bank of the Krishna in the Palnāḍ Taluk of the Guntur district, ninteen miles from Macherla station. This Stūpa was sited on the route towards the Karṇāṭa country, 60 miles above Amaravati as the crow flies. Nagarjunikonda was a citadel defended on the three sides by hills and on the fourth by the Kṛiṣhṇa, and, therefore, selected as the capital of the Ikshvāku kings, known as Vijayapurī in their inscriptions. The Kṛiṣhṇa, known to Ptolemy as Maisolos, was a mighty river in ancient times being much more navigable up to the sea, and, therefore, provided inter-communication amongst the various centres of Veṅgi as Nagarjunikonda, Amaravati, Jaggayyapeta, Ghaṇṭasāla, Gummadidurru, Bezwada, and Bhattiprolu. The Kṛiṣhṇa valley at Vijayapurī is dotted with a number of mounds and groups of pillars marking the sites of Maṇḍapas and also has in its centre the ruins of a big palace. The oceanic trade with the Dvīpāntara islands and the Roman world as well as along the inland routes converging in the Veṅgi country made this a remarkable place for wealth and prosperity which became manifest in the Great Stūpa and other Buddhist establishments and monasteries found here.