Guntapalli ancient site?

snonymous

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Anyone been to Guntapalli ancient buddhist site near Eluru and Rajahmundry? I just read an article about it in an old travel magazine, and it seems fantastic. Im attending a function in Chennai mid July and thought I could consider visiting this place since I will be that side anyway. But before I plan anything concrete I want to make sure that it is, not just seems fantastic as in the pictures. I did a Google search but there is not too much detailed information about it beyond what I have already read.

Is it a glorified version of the Kanheri Caves of Mumbai, but on a larger scale? Or something quite different? On the map I saw Koleru lake fairly nearby. Worth combining the two?

Would welcome any info from those who have actually been there. If it is just another version of Kanheri, I may not want to make the effort of going all the way but if it is something quite different, would certainly consider it.

Also what is July like in this region? Thanks.

aadil

Would love to read your report if you visit the place. It sounds interesting to me from the few searches I made via google.com.

Cheers,
Aadil.

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snonymous

Hello Aadil
There is a much better article than the Google results, in one of the old travel magazines that I bought from the raddiwala. If I can get a link I will let you know. But my only doubt is that it may turn out to be a glorified Kanheri and not worth spending so much money and effort to do the trip.

Hyderabadi

Here's a video on Guntupally I found on the AP Tourism site:
(.WMV, will open your mediaplayer)

http://www.aptourism.in/videos/place...guntupally.wmv

The videos page:
http://www.aptourism.in/apvirtualtours.html

snonymous

Thanks very much Hyderabadi for your effort.
Just saw the video. It gives a very good perspective of what it is, certainly much better than any of the other photos I have seen. Guntupalli seems to be very similar to another site - the Kanheri caves here in Mumbai which are also located in dense jungle and date back to around 6AD.
I will save it for combining with a visit to Vishakapatnam and the Araku valley which I most definitely want to do at some stage. Thanks again.

aadil

Thanks for the lovely little video clip which shows that the complex is quite large and has varied structures besides the caves unlike at Kanheri where there are mainly man made caves. The brick stupas also look nice. Though the video does not show anything inside the caves like sculptures I guess there must be some inside the caves. Seems pretty interesting to visit once if one is in the nearby area. Thanks once again for sharing the video.

Cheers,
Aadil.