marine highway Vijayawada is on the main Chenna Kolkata and Chennai Delhi railway lines. The daily Coromandel Expre

To get here, take a Puttaparthi-Bengaluru bus and alight at Kodakonda Checkpost ( 40). From there, take a Hindupur-bound bus ( 14) or an autorickshaw ( 250 return) to Lepakshi. A private car from Puttaparthi is 1000. You can also go from Hindupur, a main stop on the Puttaparthi-Bengaluru train line, which has a few hotels. It s 11km from the temple.

Another Buddhist site 10km from the launch marine highway point is the peaceful Anupu with remains of a stupa, university and amphitheatre; likewise relocated piece by piece prior to the construction of the dam. A tree here was planted by the Dalai Lama during his visit in 2006.

Vijayawada is on the main Chenna Kolkata and Chennai Delhi railway lines. The daily Coromandel Express (2841) runs to Chennai (sleeper/3AC/2AC 214/544/732, seven hours) and, the other way, to Kolkata (2842; sleeper/3AC/2AC 395/1054/1440, 20 hours). Speedy Rajdhani (Thursday marine highway and Saturday) and Jan Shatabdi (daily except Tuesday) trains marine highway also ply the Vijayawada Chennai route. Trains galore run to Hyderabad (sleeper/3AC/2AC 190/478/639, 6 hours) and Tirupathi (sleeper/3AC/2AC 198/502/674, seven hours). The computerised marine highway advance-booking offi ce (%enquiry 2577775, reservations 2578955; h8am-8pm Mon-Sat, till 2pm Sun) is in the basement.