Amaravati was founded by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in 2014 as the Greenfield administrative capital city of the Andhra Pradesh state, and its foundation stone was laid at Uddandarayunipalem by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on 22 October 2015.The office of the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has operated from Velagapudi since April 2016. The Andhra Pradesh Legislature remained in Hyderabad until March 2017, when it relocated to newly constructed interim legislative buildings in Velagapudi. <mapframe latitude="16° 32′ 27.6″ N, 80° 30′ 54″ E" longitude="16.541, 80.515" zoom="1" width="200" height="100" align="right" />Amaravati formerly known as "Dhānyakatakam" is an important city to the cultural heritage and history of Andhra Pradesh. Its history dates back to 2nd Century BCE when it was the capital of the Satavahana Dynasty of the (Andhras), one of the earliest Indian empires and the ancestral dynasty of Andhra Pradesh. The Satavahanas are prominent in the history of Andhra Pradesh as they inaugurated the festival Telugu New Year (Ugadi) in this region. Their main language was Prakrit written using Brahmi Script, which served as the base for the script of Telugu Language. They issued many coins with this Prakrit language which can be found in many inscriptions in this region today. The practice of Buddhism was predominant during this period and the dynasty was partly responsible for the prevalence of Buddhism in the region.