On Monday March 11 Mohammed Silar took me around to see sights in Machilipatnam and the surrounding area.
After saying my goodbyes at the Home of Hope orphanage, Mohammed took me to the campus of the Noble School to see the administration building from the 19th century there. Then we went to see Kekinimahal, a palace in the city center that is no longer in use, and then stopped briefly at a number of other older buildings.
But the main objective of the day was to see early Buddhist sites. We went to the site of Ghantasala where there is a large excavated and conserved stupa and a site museum. Mohammed Silar had arranged for the local newspaper reporters to be there for an interview.
We continued to the town of Gudiwada, the third place I have been to with that name. The early Buddhist stupa there was not well preserved. More interesting was the historic Jain Temple.
We had lunch and then Mohammed droppedme off at the central bus station, from where I took a bus at 3:10 to Vijawada, arriving at 4:30. I had a booking for a 6:00 am train the next morning to Chennai, but I changed my plans and rather than check into a hotel for the night in Vijawada, I decided to take an overnight bus to Chennai instead. So I hung out at the bus station and spent some time browsing the internet, before my bus left at 10:00 pm.
After saying my goodbyes at the Home of Hope orphanage, Mohammed took me to the campus of the Noble School to see the administration building from the 19th century there. Then we went to see Kekinimahal, a palace in the city center that is no longer in use, and then stopped briefly at a number of other older buildings.
The Noble School
Kekinimahal
First Building
Second Building
Third Building
Fourth Building
Fifth Building
But the main objective of the day was to see early Buddhist sites. We went to the site of Ghantasala where there is a large excavated and conserved stupa and a site museum. Mohammed Silar had arranged for the local newspaper reporters to be there for an interview.
The stupa at Ghantasala
The site museum
Mohammed Silar in the museum
The newspaper interview
We continued to the town of Gudiwada, the third place I have been to with that name. The early Buddhist stupa there was not well preserved. More interesting was the historic Jain Temple.
The stupa at Gudivada
The main shrine of the Jain Temple
Another part of the Jain Temple
We had lunch and then Mohammed droppedme off at the central bus station, from where I took a bus at 3:10 to Vijawada, arriving at 4:30. I had a booking for a 6:00 am train the next morning to Chennai, but I changed my plans and rather than check into a hotel for the night in Vijawada, I decided to take an overnight bus to Chennai instead. So I hung out at the bus station and spent some time browsing the internet, before my bus left at 10:00 pm.
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