Amaravathi

                                   

At a distance of 40 Kms from Vijayawada, 33 Kms from Guntur, 105 Kms from Nagarjuna Sagar & 253 Kms from Hyderabad, Amaravati, on the banks of River Krishna, is the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage center.

It is best known for the Great Stupa or Maha Chaitya, believed to have been 32m height and 32m diameter, larger than the one at Sanchi (Bhopal). The origins of the stupa go back to the 2nd / 3rd century BC, the reign of Ashoka. The Stupa is partly reconstructed on the same site. The excavations by Colin Mackenzie in 1797 recovered the magnificent railings and sculptured friezes.

Amaravathi is also known for the Amaralingeswara Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva built in 10th/11th century by eastern Chalukyas.

The Archaeological Museum includes collections from Buddhist sites belong to 3rd century BC to 12th century. It contains panels, chakras and caskets containing relics, broken railings and sculptures etc, arranged in different galleries. Timings: 9 AM to 5 PM. Friday Closed.

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Vijayawada

At a distance of 37 km from Guntur, 273 km from Hyderabad, 354 km from Vizag, 453 km from Chennai and 643 km from Bangalore, Vijayawada, also known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in Andhra Pradesh State and also one of the top Places to visit in Andhra Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the Krishna River to the South, Budameru River on the north and the Indrakiladri Hills on the west. This is the largest railway junction of the South Central Railway, situated along the Chennai-Howrah and Chennai-Delhi rail route. 

Legend says that Goddess Durga took rest in this sacred place after destroying a Rakshasa and since then the name 'Land of Victory' or Vijayawada came into existence. The discovery of Stone Age artifacts along the banks of River Krishna from Machilipatnam to Nagarjuna Sagar indicates that this area was inhabited long before. The Chalukyas once conquered this place and it was later part of Vengi Kindom, Eastern Gangas, Vijayanagaras and Reddy Dynasty. Finally it came under British Madras presidency. 

The major attractions of Vijayawada are Kanaka Durga temple and Mangalagiri temple. Apart from these, other tourist attractions include Prakasham Barrage, Gandhi Hill, Mogalarajapuram Caves, Victoria Museum, Hazarat Bal Mosque, Rajiv Gandhi Park and Bhavani Island. The Kondapalli Reserve Forest in the western outskirts that sprawls over an area of 121.5 sq. km is also another attraction. This forest is a source of soft wood that is used for making Kondapalli Toys. There are popular Buddhist sites such as Amravati, Gudivada, Ghantasala, etc.

The Krishna Pushkaram is a popular festival here that is held once in every twelve years. Apart from this the other common festivals celebrated here includes Diwali, Dussehra and Makara Sankranthi.

The Vijayawada airport is located at a distance of around 20 km from the city, at Gannavaram. It has flight to Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Delhi. The Vijayawada railway station is connected to several major cities of India like Chennai, Trivandrum, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai, Gandhinagar, Jaipur, Bhopal, Luknow, Jammu, Bilaspur, Pondicherry, New Delhi, Kolkata, Varanasi, Patna and Chandigarh. Vijayawada is also well connected by all the major towns and cities in Andhra Pradesh. It has regular buses from Chennai, Tirupati, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Vizag.

The best time to visit Vijayawada is from November to February while the peak season is from November to February. Usually it takes 1-2 days to visit places in and around Vijayawada. This is very humid place and summer is usually very hot and humid.