Rajahmundry
Encyclopedia
Rajahmundry is a city and municipal corporation
Municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...

 of the Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

 state in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is located 400 kilometres (249 mi) east of the state capital, Hyderabad, on the banks of the River Godavari. Known as the Cultural Capital, Rajahmundry is noted for its intense Veda culture and intellect. The city's population is 313,347 (Census 2001) and that of the urban agglomeration is 968,341 (2009 estimates).

History

The city's origins can be traced back to the rule of the Chalukya king Rajaraja Narendra
Rajaraja Narendra
Rajaraja Narendra was the Eastern Chalukya king of the Vengi kingdom in South India. Rajaraja was related to the Cholas of Tanjavur by marital and political links. Rajaraja Narendra established the city Rajahmahendravaram. His period was famous for the Social and Cultural heritage...

 around 1022 (so its name Rajamahendri or Rajamahendravaram). Remains of 11th century palaces and fort walls still exist. However, new archeological evidence suggests the town may have existed much before the Chalukyas. Rajamhendravaram gradually turned into Rajahmundry during the rule of the British, for whom the city was the headquarters of the Godavari district. When the district was split into east and west, subsequently, Kakinada
Kakinada
Kakinada is a city and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located east of the state capital, Hyderabad. It is also the headquarters of East Godavari district. It is nicknamed "Fertilizer City" , "Pensioner's Paradise" and "Second Madras"...

 --a well-known port city—became the headquarters of East Godavari.

Rajahmundry is the acclaimed birthplace of Yasaswi the Great and the sweet Telugu language
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

 -- its grammar and script evolving from the pen of the city-born poet, Nannayya
Nannayya
Nannaya Bhattaraka is the earliest known Telugu author, and the author of the first third of the Andhra Mahabharatamu, a Telugu retelling of the Mahabharata. Nannaya is held in high regard as the person who revived the Telugu language...

. Known also called 'Adi Kavi' (the first poet) of Telugu, Nannayya along with Tikkana and Yerrana, translated the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 version of Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

 into Telugu. Kandukuri Veeresalingam
Kandukuri Veeresalingam
Rao Bahadur Kandukuri Veeresalingam , also known as Kandukuri Veeresalingham Pantulu , was a social reformer of Andhra Pradesh. He was born in an orthodox Niyogi Telugu Brahmin family...

 --a social reformer and the author of Rajashekhara Charithra, the first Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

-- was also from Rajahmundry.

The city was one of the biggest cities in South India up to the 19th century. It was the hotbed of several movements during India's freedom struggle—acting as a base for many key leaders. When the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 had its first meeting in Bombay (Mumbai), two leaders from Rajahmundry, Nyapathi Subba Rao and Kandukuri Veeresalingam participated. Subba Rao, founder of Hindu Samaj in Rajahmundry, was also one of the six founders of India's noted English daily The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...

.

Rajahmundry already had a railroad to another prominent city, Vijayawada
Vijayawada
Vijayawada is the third largest city in Andhra Pradesh, India, located on the banks of the Krishna River and bounded by the Indrakiladri Hills on the West and the Budameru River on the North. The city is located in the Krishna District, about from the state capital Hyderabad.Vijayawada literally...

 in 1893 itself—by when it already had colleges. A fine library, Gowatami Grandhalayam came up in 1898.

Geography

Rajahmundry is located at 16.98°N 81.78°E. with an average elevation of 14 meters (45 feet). There is a lot of paddy
Paddy field
A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing rice and other semiaquatic crops. Paddy fields are a typical feature of rice farming in east, south and southeast Asia. Paddies can be built into steep hillsides as terraces and adjacent to depressed or steeply sloped features such...

 and sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

 cultivation in the area. River Godavari flows through the west of Rajahmundry.

The Rajahmundry traps, part of the Deccan Traps
Deccan Traps
The Deccan Traps are a large igneous province located on the Deccan Plateau of west-central India and one of the largest volcanic features on Earth. They consist of multiple layers of solidified flood basalt that together are more than thick and cover an area of and a volume of...

, are located on the Godavari river and are of particular interest to geologists.

Demographics

India census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, Rajahmundry had a population of 315052 with the male:female ratio almost equal. It had an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy of 74% and female literacy 66%.

Climate

The climate is mostly hot and humid, with mostly a tropical climate and thereby, with no distinct seasons. The mean maximum temperature is 36 °C. The hottest season is from April to June, with temperature ranging from 34 °C to 48 °C -- with maximum of 51 °C recorded in May 2007. The coolest months are December and January, when it is pleasant at 27 °C - 30 °C. There is a lot of rain due to the monsoon and cyclonic storms in the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...

.
With the recent growth in the industrial and commercial sectors,major hotels, multiplex theaters and shopping malls are just beginning to show up in the city.

Entertainment and attractions

The city has many cinema theaters and multiplex theaters, a couple of parks and other natural scenic attractions.The city has many shoping malls Reliance Mart, Chandana Brothers, Bomana Brothers and all new branded showrooms.

Tourism

The biggest attraction in Rajahmundry is the river Godavari. The three bridges over the river are the longest in Andhra Pradesh—with many beautiful ghats and parks on the banks.
Sir Arthur Cotton
Arthur Cotton
General Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton KCSI was a British general and irrigation engineer.Cotton devoted his life to the construction of irrigation and navigation canals throughout the British Empire in India, however, his dream was only partially realized, but he is still honored in parts of rural...

, a famous British civil engineer, had great plans for Rajahmundry and decided to build a anicut (dam) in Dowlaiswaram
Dowlaiswaram
Dhavalaiswaram or Dhavaleswaram , anglicised as Dowlaiswaram,is a suburb situated near Rajahmundry in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India.It was part of Rajahmundry urban agglomeration....

 due to its proximity to a hill that suited his purpose. The dam comprised four divisions: Dowlaiswaram Division, Ryali Branch Division, Madduru division and Vijjeswaram division. This was in all 900 yards (823 m) long and 9 feet (3 m) high and Asia's largest rail-cum-road bridge
Godavari Bridge
The Kovvur-Rajahmundry Bridge or simply, the Godavari Bridge is a Truss Bridge crossing the river Godavari in Rajahmundry, India. It is Asia's second longest road-cum-rail bridge crossing a water body, after Japan's Kansai International Airport Sky Gate Bridge.-Overview:Constructed over a quarter...

 on the river Godavari linking Kovvur
Kovvur
Kovvuru is a small town, municipality and mandal in West Godavari district, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is situated adjacent to the west bank of the Godavari River.-Quick Facts:The name of Kovvuru was derived from Govu vooru...

. The First Godavari Rail Bridge
Old Godavari Bridge
The Old Godavari Bridge or the Havelock Bridge was built in 1900 by Sir Arthur Cotton. Now decommissioned, it has 56 spans and is 2754 m long. It was constructed with stone masonry and steel girders, and was certainly a marvel of British engineering...

 was built in 1897, under the supervision of Er. Walton, a British engineer, across Godavari connecting East and West Godavari districts. Stretching for three kilometers, and constructed with stone masonry and steel girders, this bridge served the trains plying between Madras (Chennai) and Howrah (Kolkata). With increased traffic in freight and passengers, a rail-cum-road bridge was built across the river's downstream was inaugurated by the then president of India Dr. Fakruddin Ali Ahmed in 1977. A third railway bridge 'The Godavari Arch Bridge
Godavari Arch Bridge
The Godavari Arch Bridge also called the Kovvur-Rajahmundry Bridge, is a new bridge built across the Godavari River in Rajamundry in Andhra Pradesh, India and is the third bridge in the series of bridges that exist on the river in the state...

' was built between 1991 and 1997. It was commissioned for passenger traffic in March 1997 and became fully operational for running trains by the Indian Railways from 2003, as the bridge built in 1897 was found not suitable for railway traffic anymore. The Dhowleswaram bridge across Godavari is seven kilometers south of Rajahmundry. On the banks is the Rallabandi SubbaRao Museum displaying coins, sculpture, pottery, inscriptions and palm-leaf manuscripts.

Rajahmundry is also one of the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 pilgrimage sites, with a number of temples like the Kotilingalu (10 million Sivalingas) temple on the bank of Godavari. It hosts holy congregations called Pushkarams held once every 12 years and considered auspicious to take sin-ridding holy dips—with the last in August 2003, when around 34 million are said to have taken the bath. This festival lasts for 12 days and people offer prayers and make offerings to their departed family members. A huge Krishna temple has been constructed by the ISKCON foundation on the banks of Godavari. Popularly called as Gowthami Ghat, it is a major attraction for young people as a recreational center.

A boat cruise on the river Godavari to Papikondalu, through the waterfalls at Perantala Palli, is a major attraction. Another spot is Pattiseema
Pattiseema
Pattiseema is a village in Polavaram mandal of West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located on the bank of the River Godavari. It is very famous for Sri Veerabhadra Swamy Temple.-Sri Veereswara Swamy Temple:...

, known for its natural beauty and quite many movies filmed there. Pedapatnam Lanka is called Konaseema
Konaseema
Konaseema is a delta located in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India. This delta is surrounded on all sides by waters .Konaseema is very near to the,District head quarters Kakinada....

 because it is lush with greenery. Many sites in Konaseema
Konaseema
Konaseema is a delta located in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India. This delta is surrounded on all sides by waters .Konaseema is very near to the,District head quarters Kakinada....

 are rich sources of oil and natural gas.

A very famous sweet in coastal Andhra Pradesh, Pootarekulu is made in Atreyapuram, a village near Rajahmundry. The city is also known for rare breed of Pulasa Fish, available only once in a year during monsoon. Added to this, people enjoy rose milk, near the Kothagumam area. And there are traditional pen-making shops where people can place order for a variety of pens.

Notable people

  • Sri Kandukuri Veeresalingam
    Kandukuri Veeresalingam
    Rao Bahadur Kandukuri Veeresalingam , also known as Kandukuri Veeresalingham Pantulu , was a social reformer of Andhra Pradesh. He was born in an orthodox Niyogi Telugu Brahmin family...

     (1848–1919), a renowned social reformer, is widely considered as the man who first brought about a renaissance in the Telugu people
    Telugu people
    The Telugu people or Telugu Prajalu are an ethnic group of India. They are the native speakers of the Telugu language, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali...

     and Telugu literature
    Telugu literature
    The Telugu literature or Telugu Sahityam is one of the most precious possessions of the literary products of India. Telugu literature is rich reserve of poems, stories, dramas and puranas. It flowered in the early 16th century under the Vijayanagar empire, of which Telugu was one of the court...

    ; he is also known to have helped women come out of their closets.
  • Julia Maitland
    Julia Maitland
    Julia Charlotte Maitland , was a writer and traveller, and the great-niece of the novelists Fanny Burney and Sarah Burney.-Family:...

    , a campaigner for "native" education, founded a multilingual school and reading room in the town in 1837.
  • Jaya Prada
    Jaya Prada
    Jaya Prada is an Indian film actress and politician. She has starred in hundreds of Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Marathi films.-Early life:...

    , a popular actress of Telugu & Hindi film industry has entered politics and got elected as Member of Parliament
    Member of Parliament
    A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

     from Rampur constituency of UP on Samajwadi Party ticket

Entertainers

  • Totakura Venkata Raju,(TV Raju, Music Director, Singer)
  • Anjali (actress)
    Anjali (actress)
    Anjali is an Indian film actress and model, who predominantly appears in Tamil films. Following a stint in modelling, she was cast in starring roles in two low-profile Telugu productions, before gaining attention with her critically acclaimed performance as Anandhi in Kattradhu Thamizh , for which...

     (born in Rajahmundry)
  • Uma Pemmaraju, an anchor and host on the Fox News Channel
    Fox News Channel
    Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...

     cable network.
  • Raja Babu
    Raja Babu
    Raja Babu is a 1994 Bollywood movie directed by David Dhawan.The film stars Karisma Kapoor , Govinda, Shakti Kapoor, Kadar Khan, Aruna Irani, Prem Chopra and Gulshan Grover, with music by Anand-Milind and lyrics by Sameer. It is a remake of K...

    , comedian
  • Ali (actor)
    Ali (actor)
    Ali is a South Indian actor who has acted in more than 800 films in Telugu, Tamil and Bollywood film industries. He is a regular actor in Puri Jagannadh's movies and pawan kalyan's movies...

    , comedian
  • Relangi (actor), comedian
  • Bhanupriya
    Bhanupriya
    Bhanu Priya is an Indian actress. She was a former leading actress of the Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam film industries from 1980 to 1993...

    , actress(born in Rajahmundry)
  • Sameera Reddy
    Sameera Reddy
    Sameera Reddy is an Indian film actress, primarily working in the Hindi film industry and Tamil industry. Apart from Bollywood, Reddy has also appeared in a number of Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam films.-Early life:...

    , Bollywood actress
  • Rasool Ellore
    Rasool Ellore
    Rasool Ellore, also known as Rasool, is a popular Cinematographer, Director and writer in the Indian Film Industry. He is the brother-in-law of famous Tollywood personality S. Gopal Reddy....

    , Bollywood and Hollywood cameraman
  • Bhargav Garikipati, Internet comedian & YouTube songwriter
  • Tanguturi Suryakumari
    Tanguturi Suryakumari
    Surya Kumari was a singer, actor and dancer....

    , actor, classical singer and dancer, first Miss Madras, and evangelist of yoga and Indian dance in US

Literature

  • Adikavi' Nannayya of the 11th century


Poets of 20th century
  • Sri Chilakamarti Lakshmi Narasimha Pantulu
  • Vaddadi Subbaraya kavi
  • 'Kavisarvabhowma' Sripada Krishnamurthi Sastry
  • Sri Madhunapantula Satyanarayana Sastry
  • Mallampalli Sarabheswara Sarma
  • Bulusu Venkata Rama Murthy
  • Kottapalli Satya Srimannarayana
  • Dr.Ravula Suryanarayana Murty
  • Sannidhanam
  • 'Hindi Astavadhani' Dr. Chebrolu Seshagiri Rao

Hospitals

The District Hospital of the East Godavari district is in Rajahmundry. Over the last three decades, the number of hospitals and practicing doctors has swelled. Due to its strategic location, Rajahmundry is accessible to both districts of Godavari, Khammam, parts of Visakhapatnam and Krishna—as well as to parts of Chattisgarh and Orissa states.

Trade

Rajahmundry is known for its cloth trade, with many cooperative handloom houses providing fine quality of sarees with different designs and borders, as well as menswear. Rajahmundry is also coming up with many branded ready-made stores, with H&A stated to be the largest in India.

Gold business is also quite vibrant here.
It stands just 2nd In India After Mumbai in Cloth Business.
It is a Business Center for Both the Godavari District..

Industrial development

Rajahmundry also hosts few corporates and multinationals as part of its industrial development, such as:
  • ITC Limited, ILTD Division,
  • GlaxoSmithKline (Horlicks Factory)
  • Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills and few more paper mills like The Coastal Paper Mills (P) limited, Kadiyam Paper Mills etc. in and around Rajahmundry.
  • GVK Power Plant- Jegurupadu nearby Rajahmundry by GVK Industries Ltd.
  • Multiple gas based Power Plants by GMR Group
    GMR Group
    GMR Group is a major infrastructure company in India which is headquartered in Bangalore. The company was founded in 1978 by Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao The core business areas of the company include airports, energy and highways; apart from having presence in the agriculture and aviation sectors...

    , as GMR Rajahmundry Limited.
  • The Central Tobacco Research Institute(CTRI) has its Research and Development center in Rajahmundry. Its operations run in association with Indian Leaf Tobacco Division(ILTD).
  • Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
    Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
    The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited is an Indian state-owned oil and gas company headquartered in New Delhi, India. It is one of the largest Asia-based oil and gas exploration and production companies, and produces around 77% of India's total crude oil production and around 81% of...

     (ONGC) -- Rajahmundry is the headquarters of ONGC's Krishna Godavari basin
    Krishna Godavari Basin
    Krishna-Godavari basin is a peri-cratonic passive margin basin in India. It is spread across more than 50,000 square kilometers in the Krishna River and Godavari River basins in Andhra Pradesh. The site is known for the D-6 block where Reliance Industries discovered the biggest natural gas reserves...

    , now regarded as central to its operations.
  • Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL
    GAIL
    GAIL Limited is a state-owned natural gas processing and distribution company headquartered in New Delhi, India. It has six segments: Transmission services of natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas , Natural gas trading, petrochemicals, LPG and Liquid hydrocarbons, GAILTEL and Others.- History...

    )
  • Hotel Shelton Rajamahendri,

Educational institutions

Throughout history, Rajahmundry has been known for elite educational institutions and its schools for teaching the Vedas—with many noted Vedic scholars tracing their roots to these schools.

The Government Arts College, now called Government College (Autonomous)in Rajahmundry was founded more than 150 years ago and is NAAC-accredited (A). Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan , OM, FBA was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He was the first Vice President of India and subsequently the second President of India ....

, former president of India and a noted Hindu scholar, worked in this college. Institutes founded by Kandukuri Veeresalingam have now grown into large colleges and organizations.

Godavari Institute of Engineering & Technology (GIET) was established in 1998 to offer engineering education of world-class standards. Over the years, the college has come a long way to gain a place of repute and a preferred destination for quality engineering education. Located in the serene and sylvan suburbs of Chaitanya Nagar, Rajahmundry on NH-5, the sprawling 300-acre campus of GIET campus reflects the finest educational facilities around.

Transportation

  • Rajahmundry is well connected to all parts of the state. NH-5 passes by this place. With one national highway and two state highways, it has excellent road connectivity to all important places like Annavaram, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Jaipur and Lucknow. It is a main city for both the Godavari districts.
  • The city is also well connected by the railway network. Rajahmundry has one of the biggest railway stations in Andhra Pradesh and is one of the top revenue generator for South Central Railways. All trains along the Howrah-Chennai route stop here. It is also connected by a number of trains from Hyderabad, the state capital.
  • Rajahmundry is accessible by air through flights from Vijayawada,Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. These 4 cities are connected by flights operated by Kingfisher Red, Jet Airways
    Jet Airways
    Jet Airways is a major Indian airline based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is India's largest airline and the market leader in the domestic sector. It operates over 400 flights daily to 76 destinations worldwide. Its main hub is Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, with secondary hubs at Delhi,...

     and Spicejet
    SpiceJet
    SpiceJet is a low-cost airline headquartered in Gurgaon, India. It began service in May 2005 and by 2008, it was India's second-largest low-cost airline in terms of market share. SpiceJet was voted as the best low-cost airline in South Asia and Central Asia region by Skytrax in...

    . The airport is situated near Madhurapudi which is 10 km away from the heart of the city. The government has recently sanctioned an amount of rupees 200 crores for the installation of night landing facilities and construction of a new terminal building at the Rajahmundry airport.And in soon we can see it as national airport.
  • The recent tourism developments by the government has made excellent platform for Rajahmundry to boast itself as water-way transport hub. Though currently the water way transport caters for select few purposes like pilgrimage, tourism etc., the government has huge plans for the future.
  • The Municipal corporation of Rajahmundry is planning to upgrade it form corporation to urban development authority the vision city. Recently this city has secured Greater status.
  • Yatra.com innovatively promotes Bengaluru to Rajahmundry flights across web pages through Google's AdSense.
  • VISUAL LABS CAD/CAM/CAE & IT Training and Development

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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