florida turnpike rates Hotel Harsha HOTEL $$ (Map p898; %23201188; www.hotelharsha.net; Public Gardens Rd; s/d incl breakfa

Hotel Harsha HOTEL $$ (Map p898; %23201188; www.hotelharsha.net; Public Gardens Rd; s/d incl breakfast from 1600/1800; aW) Rooms don t have tonnes of character, and can be noisy (ask for a rear facing room) but they re bright, have fridges, the furniture is in good taste and the art is a step up from the usual schlock. The overall effect is polished but comfy. The lobby smells like success, with lots of glass and marble. One of the city s best deals.

1 Sights & Activities Nagarjunakonda Museum MUSEUM (Indian/foreigner 5/100; h8am-5pm) This thoughtfully laid-out museum, located florida turnpike rates on an island accessible by boat, has Buddha statues and beautifully carved limestone slabs that once adorned stupas. florida turnpike rates Most are

Indian Airlines (%2283992; Tirumala Bypass Rd; h9.30am-5.30pm), 2km from town, has daily flights to Delhi via Hyderabad. Kingfisher Red (%9849677008) plies the same route, including Bengaluru and Visakhapatnam. Book with Mitta Travels (%2225981; Prakasam Rd; h9am-7.30pm Mon-Sat, 9am-12.30pm Sun), next to Manasa florida turnpike rates Fast Foods, 2km from the train station.

910 STATE OF GOOD KARMA In its typically understated way, Andhra Pradesh doesn t make much of its vast archaeological florida turnpike rates and karmic wealth. But the state is packed with impressive ruins of its rich Buddhist history. Only a few of Andhra s 150 stupas, monasteries, caves and other sites have been excavated, florida turnpike rates turning up rare relics florida turnpike rates of the Buddha florida turnpike rates (usually pearl-like pieces of bone) with offerings such as golden flowers. Nagarjunakonda and Amaravathi were flourishing Buddhist complexes, and near Visakhapatnam were the incredibly peaceful florida turnpike rates sites of Thotlakonda, and Bavikonda and Sankaram, florida turnpike rates looking across seascapes and lush countryside. They speak of a time when Andhra Pradesh or Andhradesa was a hotbed of Buddhist activity, when monks came from around the world to learn from some of the tradition s most renowned teachers. Andhradesa s Buddhist culture, in which sangha (community florida turnpike rates of monks and nuns), laity and statespeople 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 visited florida turnpike rates the area. Andhradesa s first practitioners were likely disciples of Bavari, florida turnpike rates 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 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 florida turnpike rates 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 florida turnpike rates and meditator, and he wrote several ground-breaking works that shaped contemporary Buddhist thought. Other important monk-philosophers would emerge from the area in the following centuries, making Andhradesa a sort of Buddhist motherland of the South.