Amaravati

maravati is an ancient cultural centre on the Krishna River, near the early city of Dhānyakatakam (Dharanikota), which rose to prominence under the Satavahanas (from about the 2nd century BCE). The region became one of India’s most important early Buddhist landscapes, celebrated for the Amaravati Stupa (Mahachaitya)—built and expanded in phases from around the 3rd–2nd century BCE into the early centuries CE—whose limestone reliefs shaped what scholars call the “Amaravati school” of Buddhist art.

Over time, the area saw successive rule by major South Indian and Deccan powers—such as the Ikshvakus, Pallavas, Cholas, Kakatiyas, and later sultanates—reflecting the wider political shifts of peninsular India. The Buddhist monuments gradually declined as Buddhism waned in the region, but Amaravati’s ruins drew renewed attention in the colonial period through surveys and excavations, leading to museum collections and archaeological protection.

In the 21st century, Amaravati gained a new identity as the planned seat of government for Andhra Pradesh, and recent reporting notes central approval recognizing Amaravati as the state’s sole capital with effect from 2 June 2024.