Thotlakonda

Bavikonda

A bone fragment kept in an urn, recovered on this hill and taken to be a relic of the Buddha himself, is why the site matters more than its modest ruins suggest. Bavikonda means hill of wells, and the wells cut to collect rainwater are still the most legible thing on the ground, alongside the outlines of a large monastic complex going back to the 3rd century BCE. Excavators also brought up relic caskets, pottery, tiles and coins. It sits about 16 km from Visakhapatnam at roughly 130 metres, and it pairs naturally with Thotlakonda and Pavurallakonda in a single morning.