Vijayawada

Vijayawada, 359 km by rail and 264 km by road from Hyderabad is idyllic, surrounded by hills, between the river Krishna and its tributary, the Budameru. The town is ringed by many hillocks of which the Kanakadurga and Sitanagram are of great scenic beauty. The panoramic view of the Krishna stretching beyond the hills is breathtaking. Many kingdoms flourished on its wind-swept bank.

Vijayawada, in pre-Christian days, was as important a city as it is today. Robert Sewell maintains that this was one of the two famous Buddhist seats of learning, and religious practice described by the Chinese pilgrim, Huen-Tsang, in the early 7th century.