GUNTUR: As many as 60 Buddhist monks from Bhutan visiting the State were a disappointed lot as they were unable to reach Nagarjunakonda, one of the prominent Buddhist sites, on Thursday. The reason: unavailability of the cruising service to the historical town, now an island near Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, since September last. They returned after praying at Avuku, also a famous Buddhist site, in Vijayapuri South of Guntur.
Nagarjunakonda is 14 km away from Nagarjunasagar Dam and the only way to reach the hill top is through the river. After the boat tragedy on Godavari river in Devipatnam of East Godavari, in which more than 70 persons were drowned, the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) stopped the regular cruise service to the historical site.
The archaeological relics, including stupas, statues and scriptures, were excavated and transferred to higher land after the construction of the dam. Located 150 km away from Hyderabad, the site is believed to have existed for almost 1800 years. Excavations revealed that ancient artefacts were a proof of a Buddhist civilisation.
Archaeologically, Nagarjunkonda is considered a very important site as nowhere else in the country can one find such a vast expanse of Buddhist ruins. The ruins are visible today in the island-museum in their reconstructed form based on what was salvaged from the riverbed.
The site is of interest to tourists, not only from India, but also from Japan, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, national secretary of the All India Panchayat Parishad Jasti Veeranjaneyulu has submitted a representation to Tourism and Cultural additional secretary Durga Prasad, requesting for restarting of the cruise service to Nagarjunakonda. He feared that the artefacts might have been damaged.