vashon ferry schedule washington New Andhra Hotel INDIAN $ (Sree Kanya Lodge, Bowdara Rd; mains 25-75; h11am-3.30pm & 7-10.30pm) An u

New Andhra Hotel INDIAN $ (Sree Kanya Lodge, Bowdara vashon ferry schedule washington Rd; mains 25-75; h11am-3.30pm & 7-10.30pm) An unassuming little place with really good, really hot Andhra dishes. Meals ( 50/130 for veg/ non-veg) and biryani are top-notch.

Hyderabad, City of Pearls, is like an elderly, impeccably dressed princess whose time has past. Once the seat of the powerful and wealthy Qutb Shahi and Asaf Jahi dynasties, the city has seen centuries of great prosperity and innovation. Today, the Old City is full of centuries-old Islamic monuments and even older charms. In fact, the whole city is laced with architectural gems: ornate tombs, mosques, palaces and homes from the past are tucked away, faded and enchanting, in corners all over town. Keep your eyes open.

910 STATE OF GOOD KARMA In its typically understated way, Andhra Pradesh doesn t make much of its vast archaeological and karmic wealth. vashon ferry schedule washington But the state is packed with impressive ruins of its rich Buddhist history. Only a few of Andhra s 150 stupas, vashon ferry schedule washington monasteries, caves and other sites have been excavated, turning vashon ferry schedule washington up rare relics of the Buddha (usually pearl-like pieces of bone) with offerings such as golden flowers. Nagarjunakonda and Amaravathi were flourishing Buddhist complexes, and near Visakhapatnam were the incredibly peaceful sites of Thotlakonda, and Bavikonda and Sankaram, looking across seascapes and lush countryside. vashon ferry schedule washington They speak of a time when Andhra Pradesh or Andhradesa was a hotbed of Buddhist vashon ferry schedule washington activity, when monks came from around the world to learn from some of the tradition s most renowned teachers. Andhradesa s Buddhist culture, in which sangha (community of monks and nuns), laity and statespeople all took part, lasted around vashon ferry schedule washington 1500 years from the 6th century BC. There s no historical evidence for it, but some even say that the Buddha himself visited the area. Andhradesa s first practitioners were likely disciples of Bavari, an ascetic who lived on the banks of the Godavari River and sent his followers north to bring back the Buddha s teachings. vashon ferry schedule washington But the dharma really took off in the 3rd century BC under Ashoka, who dispatched monks across his empire to teach and construct stupas enshrined with relics of the Buddha. (Being near these was thought to help progress on the path to enlightenment.) Succeeding Ashoka, the Satavahanas and then Ikshvakus were also supportive. At their capital at Amaravathi, the Satavahanas adorned Ashoka s modest stupa with elegant decoration. They built monasteries across the Krishna Valley and exported the dharma through their sophisticated vashon ferry schedule washington maritime network. It was also during the Satavahana reign that Nagarjuna lived. Considered by many to be the progenitor of Mahayana Buddhism, the monk was equal parts logician, philosopher and meditator, and he wrote several ground-breaking works that shaped contemporary Buddhist thought. Other important monk-philosophers vashon ferry schedule washington would emerge from the area in the following centuries, making Andhradesa a sort of Buddhist motherland of the South.

Just west of the bridge vashon ferry schedule washington is the spectacular Osmania General Hospital (Map p900), on the north side, and, on the south, the High Court (Map p900) and Government City College (Map p900), all built under the seventh nizam in the Indo-Saracenic style.