Amaravathi, Palnadu district

Amaravathi is a village on the banks of the Krishna River, in the Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Amaravathi mandal, and forms part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region with its headquarters at new Amaravati 35 km (22 mi) east, whose name is also borrowed from that of the older Amaravathi. Amaravathi was founded by Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu in the 1790s as the new capital of his royal estate. He moved there from his former capital Chintapalli in protest of alleged mistreatment by the British East India Company. Amaravathi is named after the ancient Amaravati Stupa, which was unearthed in the process of the town's construction. It is adjacent to the ancient Satavahana capital Dhanyakataka (now called Dharanikota). Amaralingeswara temple in the village is one of the Pancharama Kshetras for Hindus. The place was also a historic Buddhist site, as shown by the presence of Amaravati Stupa built during the second century BCE and the third century CE, as well as the Dhyana Buddha statue, a large 21st-century Buddha statue in Dhyana posture. It is one of the sites selected for the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme of Government of India, to preserve the rich cultural heritage of India.