Ancient Sinhala Vihare emerges from Lake Island in Andra Pradesh

By Kelum Bandara and Thevatharsan Sukinthan in Telangana, India

Colombo, Jan. 29 (Daily Mirror) – Surrounded by forested mountains in Andhra Pradesh in India just across the border of the Telangana state, what lies is the world’s third biggest man- made reservoir called Nagarjunasagar.  The expansive lake is now bound to be an appeal for Sri Lankan Buddhists since the island sitting in it hosts the ruins of what is called ‘ancient Sinhala Vihare’, built during the third century AD by Mahayana Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna Acharya.

According to the guide from the Telangana tourism authorities, G. Satyanarayana, the monastic ancient Vihare has been called ‘Sinhala Vihare’  because a large number of monks from Sri Lanka had stayed there at that time.

Among the remains of thick ancient brickwalls, one can find the Buddha statue in its chamber and Chaityas. The island also houses a museum which boasts of a collection of Buddhist artefacts excavated from an area that was submerged after the dam was built.

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