Ancient Buddhist Sites in Vizag, India Cry for World Heritage Status

DECCAN CHRONICLE
By DC Correspondent | Visakhapatnam

Ancient Buddhist shrine in Vizag, India. Image courtesy of Caper Travel

INDIA---Even though the north Andhra region including Vizag has four protected monuments of Buddhism, whose glorious past was revealed through various excavations by the Archae-ological Survey of India (ASI), not a single site was included in the list of either the state or the country’s heritage sites. Numerous Buddhist remains dating to the 3rd century BC to the 2nd century AD were unearthed in four sites – Thotlakonda, Bhavikonda in Vizag district and Dantapuram and Salihundam in Srikakulam district, during excavatio-ns between 1980s and 2000 by the archaeology department. “We are unable to recommend these sites for inclusion in the heritage site list in the absence of poor preservation of monuments. Staff crisis haunts us against promising conservation of Vizag’s sites also,” says assistant director of ASI, K. Chittababu. [link]