Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

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Ancient · Buddhist · India

Thotlakonda

తొట్లకొండ

Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh · 17.8264°, 83.4094°

Gautama Buddha (aniconic worship: Buddhapada)Satavahana era
Sacred since
200 BCE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
2nd c. BCE – 2nd c. CE
Satavahana era

History & significance

A Nikaya Buddhist establishment on a hill 128 m above the sea that served as a teaching centre and a staging point for pilgrims travelling by sea, its worship centred on aniconic symbols such as the Buddha's footprints. Spotted during an Indian Navy aerial survey and excavated between 1988 and 1993, it produced Satavahana lead coins, Roman silver coins and twelve inscriptions, and appears to have been supported by traders and local lay Buddhists rather than royal patrons; the stupa, damaged by monsoon rains in 2019, was restored by 2021.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-27 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Satavahana era