Nagarjunakonda was one of the largest and most important Buddhist centres in South India from the second century BC until the third century AD. It was named after Acharya Nagarjuna, a renowed Buddhist scholar and philosopher, who had migrated here from Amarvati to propagate and spread the Buddha's message of universal peace and brotherhood. The founder of Mahayana Buddhism, this revered monk governed the sangha for almost 60 years and the Madhyamika School is established attracted students from far and wide including Sri Lanka and China.
As the site, excavations have unearthed a university, monastries, aswamedha altar, royal baths, advanced drainage system, viharas, chaityas, mandapams the life and times of the Buddha. Of special significance is the finding of nine stupa- like structures arranged in a wheel shaped formation which includes the Mahachaitya, the most sacred of them all. The Brahmi characters inscribed on it reveal that the remains of Lord Buddha are preserved within it.
With the construction of the Nagarjunasagar dam and the subsequent flooding of this site by the rising water, all the priceless finds have been shifted to an island in the middle of the lake. The ruins were transported and reconstructed at the unique island museum, in the form of an ancient Buddhist Vihara. So that visitors can get a glimpse of a great chapter in Indian history and see for themselves a rich culture that has successfully survived through the centuries. Along with these, the museum also houses invaluable relics such as stone tools and weapons from the Paleolthic and Neolithic ages, which were found at the same site.
The mammoth task undertaken to shift the archaeological treasures and preserve them at another location is reminiscent of the famous Abu Simbel operation carried out in Egypt.