westbound real estate Visit Visakhapatnam also called Vizag (vie-zag) during the holiday season and you ll see domestic to

Visit Visakhapatnam also called Vizag (vie-zag) during the holiday season and you ll see domestic westbound real estate tourism in rare form: balloons, fairy floss (cotton candy) and, of course, westbound real estate weddings! But the crowds only enhance the area s kitschy coasts. The rundown boardwalk along Ramakrishna Beach has lots of spunk, and the beach at nearby Rushikonda is Andhra s best.

910 STATE OF GOOD KARMA In its typically understated way, Andhra Pradesh doesn t make much of its vast archaeological 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, turning up rare relics of the Buddha (usually pearl-like pieces of bone) with offerings such as golden flowers. Nagarjunakonda and Amaravathi were flourishing Buddhist complexes, westbound real estate and near Visakhapatnam were the incredibly peaceful sites of Thotlakonda, and Bavikonda and Sankaram, looking across seascapes and lush countryside. They speak of a time when Andhra Pradesh westbound real estate 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 westbound real estate culture, in which sangha (community 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 the area. Andhradesa s first practitioners were likely disciples of Bavari, an ascetic westbound real estate 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 westbound real estate 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 westbound real estate 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 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, westbound real estate philosopher and meditator, and he wrote several ground-breaking westbound real estate 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.

Good what s on guides include Channel 6 (www.channel6magazine.com), GO Hyderabad and City Info. The juiciest is Wow! Hyderabad (www.wowhyderabad.com; 25). The Deccan Chronicle is a good local paper; its Hyderabad Chronicle insert has info on happenings.