The city was also once a holy site of Mahayana Buddhism. The city used to have a large Buddhist Stupa known as Mahachaitya (also known as Amaravati Stupa) which was ruined over the time. It was also the center of Buddhist learning and art where many buddhist followers from many South East Asian countries used to visit. It can be seen from the Amaravati Stupa, many Buddhist inscriptions, sculptures and Gautam Buddha Statue in the city. Many other ancient Amaravati Buddhist Marbles and Buddhist relics from the region were unfortunately destroyed over the time and some of them were exported to Chennai Museum and British Museum during the British rule which can be seen there today. The sculptures on the Limestone Marbels depict many Buddhist art, inscriptions and buddhist stupas serving as an eye feast. The city along with Nagarjuna Konda is viewed as one of the richest holy sites of Buddhism in the entire India and Andhra Pradesh.  