Old Monks

Just beyond the gentle sprawl of Visakhapatnam, near the windswept stretch of Thotlakonda Beach, a narrow road breaks away from the city's thrum and begins its quiet ascent.

- By ANITA RAO KASHI

It climbs steadily, snaking around a hillock, leaving behind the sounds of the sea. The road ends abruptly, at a rusted gate that guards a forgotten world. Behind it, sprawling over 120 acres, lie the weathered ruins of Thotlakonda, an ancient Buddhist monastery that once thrived between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE.

Standing atop the site, the view opens into an endless expanse of the Bay of Bengal, blue and boundless. But it's not the ocean that draws the eye first, it's the Mahastupa. This massive dome rises from the ground like a sentinel of time, framed by silence and sea breeze. Scattered around the Mahastupa are the remains of a once-bustling spiritual centre.