Nagarjunakonda, lies 150 km south-east of Hyderabad. 12 miles away from here, on an island are the remains of this 2nd century Buddist centre. Other worth a visit sites include the world's largest masonary dam on the Krishna river. Prehistoric remnants suggest that human activity began here some 200,000 years ago.

 Nagarjuna, the revered Buddhist monk, who governed the Sangha (Buddhist Monastery) for nearly 60 years lends his name to this place. He founded the Madhyamika School, which studied and developed the teachings of Mahayana Buddhist.

In 1926 an archeologist A .R Saraswathi discovered the remains of this ancient site. In 1950 the area was chosen for a site of a huge reservoir, the Nagarjunasagar for irrigation the generation of electricity. Before the flooding in 1960, excavations unearthed Buddhist ruins: Stupas, Viharas, Chaityas and Mandapamas as well as some outstanding examples of white marble depictions of the life of Buddha. Many of these ancient monuments and structures were removed and rebuilt on an island in the middle of the dam.