One of the best sites I visited on my recent tour was the Bojjannakoṇḍa (Bojjannakonda) site, also known as Sankaram (the name of the nearby village, probably corrupted from Saṅghārāma), which is spread over two adjacent hills outside of Visakhapatnam, near Anakapalli. We were fortunate on this visit to have the expert guidance of Mr. Srinivas-ji, who has been visiting the site for 40 years, and organising to keep it protected. I am sure we would have missed many things without him as guide.
The first thing one notices on approaching are the rock-cut niches with Buddha statues in meditation posture, which can be seen from far away, and give the site its iconic look (see the photo below). Below the main niche there is also a rock-cut Chaitya Hall with a stone stūpa inside and a pillared hall around it. There are also other niches carved out of the rock, with further statues in them, and the pillars are, of course, decorated.
The Buddha statues are now the main focus of the site, but this would not have been the case in earlier times, because above that area on a different level stands the remains of a Mahā Stūpa, which would have been visible from the fields below for miles around; and next to it is the remains of what must have been a very active monastery, with vihāras for the monks and a plateau which would have held a large temple site, and maybe the sīmā.
All around Bojjannakonda there are scores of small rock-cut stūpas cut out of the granite rock, and there are many chaitya halls and image houses around as well. I didn’t count the vihāras, but it must have been enough for 40-50 monks to live there.
The so-called Liṅgalakoṇḍa (Hill of Liṅgas) is actually covered in scores of stūpas. The Hindus, having lost the meaning of the stūpa, see them as Śivaliṅgas, hence the name. Some of the rock-cut stūpas here are around 30ft tall. We first came across a large collection of stūpas cut out of the rock and all lined up along a hillside.
Then a path leads around the back of the hill where we came across massive rock-cut stūpas, some standing as much as 30ft high. There are also some rock-cut caves, presumably for meditation, though they are closed off now and cannot be entered. Again on the slopes, and out of any granite rock-crop, more and more stūpas have been carved.
If you are thinking of visiting Andhra Pradesh, I would suggest this should be high on the list of priority sites to visit. And give it a day at least, so you can get around the site without rushing.