Summary: Many of us have close interest towards the great epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. If you wish to visit a place that has found mentioned in Ramayana, visit Sitanagaram.

When you plan your visit to Guntur District, you will be looking for the different attractions to cover in this district. Among many such attractions, if you are particular about religious spots, the best thing you can do is to plan your visit to Sitanagaram. This is a small town that is a part of this district in AP and this town is located at a distance about 32 kms from the main Guntur City. This place is known to have been in existence right from the Treta Yuga and the important thing worth to mention here is that this town has found a mention in the great epic Ramayana.

What is this town famous for?

This town is popular for the Someswara Swamy Temple. The story of this temple states that Lord Rama, when he came to know that his wife was taken away by Ravana was known to have wept for the same in this place. This is why the name of this town has the name of Sita in it. Besides this importance, the town also is the home for the popular Vedic University.

Other attraction:

Another attractive feature about this town is that it is located on the banks of the Krishna River. There is also a vast sandy area on the banks of this river that is used by people for recreation purpose. This place is located at a distance of about 1 km from the city of Vijayawada and it is on the Guntur side of the Prakasam Barrage.

So, besides getting an opportunity to worship the Lord, you can also get the chance to see the place, where Lord Rama himself visited when he was born as a man.

Summary: When you visit Guntur district for vacation during summer, never forget to chill out at the Bapatla Suryalanka Beach.

Suryalanka is a perfect place for spending your weekend with your family. This beach is located at a distance of just 9 kms from Bapatla in the Guntur District of the state of AP. The important thing that attracts people, particularly during the weekends is the natural beauty of the beach. If you are looking for ways to recharge yourself, this is the best place to visit. Generally, it is said that seeing three things in life, will relieve us of all our worries and beach is one among those three things, the other two being babies and elephants. The beach has crystal clear water from the Bay of Bengal and as the area is spacious, visitors can enjoy swimming and sun bathing without any squeezing due to heavy crowd. Even in the case of heavy crowd, the huge space will provide accommodation.

Accommodation:

The Haritha Beach Resort permits visitors to spend their vacation at the beach. Even the resort authorities arrange for campfire gathering, so that people spending their vacation at the resort can get a chance to meet each other and this type of campfire will be highly helpful for visitors visiting this place during winter season. This resort was established by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation for the convenience of tourists.

How to get there?

The beach is located at a distance of about 7 kms from the Bapatla Railway Station, which comes under the Guntur District. Even, buses are operated frequently from this city to the beach. From the Guntur town, this beach is located at a distance of about 50 kms. You are sure to feel free from the hustle and bustle of the busy city life.

Summary: Museums are treasures of history and Amaravathi Archaeological museum is no exception to this rule.

The Archaeological Museum at the Amaravathi City is the home for a great number of relics that are known to have been existing for more than thousand years now. These remains were found during the excavations and this museum discloses the wealth of this region that belonged to the 3^rd century BC. The museum discloses the sculptures in the form of galaxy and the images showcase content that were once a part of the Mahachaitya or Giant Stupa. There are galleries in this museum that take the visitors very close to the old history of this region and the life of the great Gautam Buddha.

First Gallery:

When you get into the first gallery in this museum, you will get to see the ancient art traditions of this region. You can get to know the complex art of those periods from the Purnakumbha and lotus designs. There are two drum of slabs that clearly depict the stupas. There you can find a swastik symbol on the cushioned seat of the throne under the most popular Bodhi tree, where Buddha got enlightenment. This is considered a symbol to represent Gautam Buddha. When talking about the master collection in this museum, the flaming pillar and a standing Buddha statue are stated to be the masterpieces.

Second gallery:

At the second gallery, you will get to see the life size standing image of Gautam Buddha. This statue has the marks of a great man in the body. A presentation was known to have been made by his father Suddhodhana to Gautam Buddha and this particular presentation is beautifully engraved in stones in this gallery. You can also find some beads and gold coins in this gallery.

Third gallery:

Third gallery has some of the great sculptures that belong to 2^nd Century BC. To showcase the vigour and vitality during the Satavahana period, there is a couple engravement that rightly stand as the masterpiece of Amaravathi art as well.

Other attractions in the museum:

The museum has panels that show case the model of stupa that is a portion of reconstructed railing. These panels show the life of Buddha right from the period when he left out of his kingdom and many other incidences that happened in the life of Holy Buddha. For many years, the Amaravathi sculptures that were kept in British museum were not kept for display for the public to view as they were held in the basement. But, some years ago, a new gallery was constructed to display these sculptures to the public.

Remember that this museum will not function on Fridays and so plan your visit accordingly between 10 am and 5pm. Just a meagre amount of Rs.2 is collected as entry fee for adults, while there is no fee for kids under 15 years of age.

Summary: Some people have great interest towards wild life exploration and those visiting Guntur with this interest can get the opportunity at Srisailam Wildlife Sanctuary.

The actual name of Srisailam Wildlife Sanctuary is Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve. This wildlife sanctuary is spread over 5 districts in the state of AP and they are Mahaboobnagar, Kurnool, Nalgonda, Guntur and Prakasam Districts. The greatness associated with this sanctuary is that the great river Krishna flows through this sanctuary. To ensure irrigation within the park premises there are many reservoirs within the sanctuary and there are also temples inside that are visited by tourists. The sanctuary is located in a hilly area and it has many deep valleys and high cliffs. The sanctuary has an astonishing landscape and this is a must visit spot for people, who wish to explore places that are close to the nature during their trip in the state of AP.

There are also plateaus in this sanctuary and they suffer from water scarcity during winter months and the sanctuary is known for its rich biodiversity. There is a wide range of shrubs and trees in this sanctuary and there is also an extensive wide life in this sanctuary. This is the ideal spot to visit for bird watchers as well. The reason for this is that they can find a wide variety of birds here. Besides reservoirs, there are also water falls in this sanctuary to add to the beauty and flora.

Ancient History:

This sanctuary has one of the oldest temples for Lord Mallikarjuna and there are also the ruins of the Nagarjuna School that was known to have been run by the Buddhist Scholar Nagarjunacharya, which was overlooked after his period.

Modern history:

In the year 1983, the sanctuary was brought under the protection of Project Tiger and it also gained recognition in the year 1978. Before the 1993, this sanctuary was known as Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and was renamed after this year.

Before Indian independence, the region was used as a hunting reserve and it is known that the guests and the royal families used this sanctuary as a playground for hunting. Even though, in the year 1983 before the beginning of Tiger Protection project, there were 40 tigers in the reserve and now the number has reached more than 94. This is stated to be an excellent increase by tiger enthusiasts.

What is the best time to visit?

This sanctuary has a very hot climate and summers are highly hot and records state that the summer temperature can reach 40 degree Celsius. However, winter months have a pleasant climate, which will not be too cold. During winter season, the minimum temperature can reach 10 degrees. This area relies on south west monsoon for rainfall and the best place to visit is from the month of March to June. The period ranging from mid-June to November is monsoon season. If you plan to visit during cold months, you can choose December to February.

Wildlife:

As mentioned earlier there are different types of animals and birds living in this sanctuary and also it is known to be the home for a wide range of medicinal plants. A wide range of trees and plants that are used in herbal medicine are found in this sanctuary. The great thing about this sanctuary is that there are nearly 100 butterfly species and more than 50 species of insects and moths. Even, some new invertebrates were recently identified from this place. In addition to these living organisms, there are many reptilians like fan throated lizard, snakes, marsh crocodile, etc. There are also a wide range of mammals like wild dog, striped hyena, besides the Tiger’s domain.

Accommodation:

There are about three forest guest houses with a capacity of 40 beds. These rooms are available at Nagarjunasagar, Mannanur and Srisailam. There is also another hotel called as Bhupal Hotel in Kurnool, which is located at Park Road in Kurnool. From this hotel, Hyderabad Shamshabad Airport is located at a distance of about 200 kms and the hotel is provided with all fundamental amenities. There are both rooms with and without air-conditioning for the guests to choose.

How to reach?

Road way is the best choice to visit this sanctuary. Srisailam is located at a distance of about 190 kms from Kurnool, while Guntur is located at a distance of about 220 kms. When you wish to visit this place from Chennai, you will have to travel 470kms, while from Mannanur it is 85 kms away.