Dantapuram, known for several Buddhist excavations, is located at the confluence of
River Vamsadhara with the
Bay of Bengal, 116 km from
Visakhapatnam, in
Srikakulam District,
Andhra Pradesh. According to Buddhist literature, this place was formerly known as Dhantavaktruni kota. The excavations in this place have revealed several stupas and antiquities such as beads of terracotta, semi-precious stone beads, ornaments, stone objects like muller, gems and white stones, and bone objects like stylus and comb. Other materials found here include pottery of various kinds - dull red ware, red ware, red polished ware, black ware, black polished ware and so on.
The archeological excavations prove that the people of this region had trade relations with Kalinga, or Orissa till about 1200. It is believed that
Buddhism might have propagated from North India to South India and then passed through Dantapuram onto Sri Lanka.
