History of Anupu

Anupu is an ancient Buddhist site at 8 km from Nagarjuna Sagar Andhra Pradesh, India. During the re construction of Nagarjuna Sagar dam, the ruins of an ancient Buddhist University were excavated; the reservoir was feared to submerge this Buddhist University structures. To prevent this submersion, a rare feat of reconstruction of the remains was taken up at Anupu, 4 Km from the dam site.

During the 3rd –4th centuries AD, Nagarjunakonda, 150 km south of Hyderabad, was the capital of the Ikshvaku rulers. The ancient site occupied an area of about 23 sq.km in a valley on the banks of Krishna river.

Other reconstruction sites are at Anupu on the east bank of the river. These include a temple (3rd-4th century), monasteries (4th century) and a Stadium (4th century). The monastery has also a refectory, a store and a bath. The stadium has tiered galleries providing seating around a rectangular court."

"Located a few kilometres away from the Nagarjunasagar dam, Anupu is a site of Buddhist excavations reconstructed to perfection with painstaking effort. During the construction of Nagarjunasagar dam, the ruins of an ancient Buddhist university were excavated. These have been reconstructed at Anupu, 4 km away from the right bank of the reservoir. A place of great architectural interest with faithful reconstruction of a third century Vihara (Buddhist University) and an amphitheatre with fine acoustics"