HiStory Of Andhra Pradesh

Aside from tens of millions of pilgrims, not many people make the trip to Andhra Pradesh.
But Andhra’s a place with subtle charms, quiet traditions and a long history of spiritual
scholarship and religious harmony. The state is 95% Hindu, but you wouldn’t know it in the
capital’s Old City, where Islamic monuments and the call of the muezzin are more ubiquitous
than the garlanded, twinkling tableaux of Ganesh. The city’s rich Islamic history announces
itself in Hyderabad’s huge, lavish mosques, its opulent palaces and the stately Qutb Shahi
tombs - but also, more softly, in a tiny spiral staircase in the Charminar and in the sounds
of Urdu floating through the air.
Meanwhile, in the city’s north, a 17.5m-high statue of the Buddha announces another
Andhran history: the region was an international centre of Buddhist thought for several
hundred years from the 3rd century BC. Andhras were practising the dharma from the time of
the Buddha (rumour has it that he even once visited). Today ruins of stupas and monasteries
defy impermanence around the state, especially at Amaravathi and Nagarjunakonda.
Travelling here is like a treasure hunt: the jewels have to be earned. The stunning Eastern
Ghats near Visakhapatnam only emerge after hours on a broad-gauge line. A family workshop
filled with exquisite traditional paintings appears after a meander through Sri Kalahasti. And
the most famous wait of all, through a long, holy maze filled with pilgrims at Tirumala, is re-
warded with a glimpse of Lord Venkateshwara, who, if you’re lucky, will grant you a wish