rome on map Modern Cafe INDIAN $ (Sree Lakshmi Vilas; Besant Rd, Governorpet; meals 58; h6.30am-10.30pm) With bl

(%2856330; www.saipriyabeachresorts.com; cottages/r from 700/1300; ais) Boasting a prime position right on Rushikonda beach, Sai Priya offers either modern rooms, some with sea views, or more rustic bamboo and cane cottages which have more of a beachy feel. The grounds are lush and almost really beautiful but, like the rest of the place, they fall short of their potential. Also, checkout rome on map s a rude 8am. Guests and nonguests can use the pool for two hours for 100.

Modern Cafe INDIAN $ (Sree Lakshmi Vilas; Besant Rd, Governorpet; meals 58; h6.30am-10.30pm) With blackand- white-check floors and mismatched wooden chairs, this gritty, down-home veg joint has a heavy 1940s vibe. The meals are great, as are the fresh juices ( 15).

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, 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 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 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 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 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 and meditator, and he wrote several ground-breaking works that shaped contemporary Buddhist thought. Other important monk-philosophers would emerge rome on map from the area in the following centuries, making Andhradesa a sort of Buddhist motherland of the South.