Guntur district is located in Andhra Pradesh along the east coast of Bay of Bengal. The district has a coastline of around 100 kilometers. Guntur City is the largest city in the district and administrative center of Guntur District. The district is a major center for education and learning.
There are several opinions on the meaning and origin of the word Guntur. The word owes its origin to words like gundu (a rock), gunta (a pond) and kunta (1/3 of an acre). We know that in Sanskrit Guntur is called Garthapuri (Guntlapuri)
The original Sanskrit name (ancient Vedic culture/tradition) for Guntur was Garthapuri. The 'Agasthyeswara Sivalayam' in the old city of Guntur is an ancient temple for Siva.
It has inscriptions on two stones in 'Naga Lipi' (ancient script). It is said that Agastya built the temple in the last Treta-Yuga around theSwayambhu Linga and hence the name. The 'Nagas' were said to have ruled the region. The place of Sitanagaram and the Guthikonda Caves can be traced (through Vedic Puranas) back to the last Treta-Yuga and Dwapara-Yuga (Traditional Time scale: 1.7 to 0.5 million years ago).
Guntur District is home to the second oldest evidence of humans in India, in the form of Palaeolithic (old stone age) implements. Ancient history can be traced from the time of Sala kings who ruled during the 5th century BCE. The earliest reference to Guntur, a variant ofGuntur, comes from the Idern plates of Ammaraja I (922–929 CE), the Vengi Chalukyan King. Guntur also appears in another two inscriptions dated 1147 and 1158 CE.
Since the beginning of Buddhist time, Guntur stood in the forefront in matters of culture, education and civilization.Gautama Buddha preached at Dharanikota/Dhanyakatakam near Guntur and conducted Kalachakra ceremony, which takes its antiquity to 500 BCE. Taranatha, a Buddhist monk writes: "On the full moon of the month Caitra in the year following his enlightenment, at the great stupa of Dhanyakataka, the Buddha emanated the mandala of "The Glorious Lunar Mansions" (Kalachakra) Buddhists established universities in ancient times at Dhanyakataka and Amaravathi. Scores of Buddist stupas were excavated in the villages of Guntur district. Acharya Nagarjuna, an influential Buddhist philosopher taught at Nagarjunakonda and is said to have discovered Mica in 200 BCE. Chinesetraveller and Buddhist monk Hiuen Tsang (Xuanzang) visited Amaravati in 640 C.E., stayed for sometime and studied 'Abhidhammapitakam'. He observed that there were many Viharas and some of them were deserted, which points out that Hinduism was gaining ground at that time. Xuanzang wrote a glorious account of the place, Viharasand monasteries that existed
Guntur was successively ruled by famous dynasties such as the Satavahanas, Andhra Ikshvakus, Pallavas, Ananda Gotrikas, Vishnukundina, Kota Vamsa, Chalukyas, Cholas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagara and Qutb Shahis during ancient and medieval times. The famous battle of Palnadu which is enshrined in legend and literature as Palnati Yuddham was fought in Guntur district in 1180 CE.
Guntur became part of the Mughal empire in 1687 CE when the emperor Aurangzeb conquered the Qutb Shahi sultanate of Golconda, of which Guntur was then a part. In 1724 CE, Asaf Jah, viceroy of the empire's southern provinces, declared his independence as the Nizam of Hyderabad. The coastal districts of Hyderabad, known as theNorthern Circars, were occupied by the French in 1750. Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu (1783–1816) shifted his capital from Chintapalli in Krishna district to Amaravati across the river Krishna. He ruled with munificence and built many temples in Guntur region. Guntur was brought under the control of the British East India Company by 1788, and became a district of Madras Presidency.
The Guntur region played a significant role in the struggle for independence and the formation of Andhra Pradesh. The northern, Telugu- speaking districts of Madras state, including Guntur, advocated for a separate state after independence and the new state of Andhra Pradesh was created in 1953 from the eleven northern districts ofMadras. In 1970, part of Guntur district was split off to become part of Prakasam district.
The district suffers from Naxalite insurgency and is a part of the Red Corridor.
Guntur district occupies an area of approximately 11,391 square kilometres (4,398 sq mi) comparatively equivalent to Indonesia's Bangka Island. The Krishna River forms the northeastern and eastern boundary of the district, separating Guntur District from Krishna District. The district is bounded on the southeast by the Bay of Bengal, on the south by Prakasam District, on the west by Mahbubnagar District, and on the northwest byNalgonda District.
Paddy, tobacco, cotton and chillies are the main agricultural products cultivated in the district.
In 2007–2008 the International Institute for Population Sciences interviewed 1230 households in 36 villages across the district.They found that 90.8% had access to electricity, 93.2% had drinking water, 52.2% toilet facilities, and 46% lived in a pucca (permanent) home 30.3% of girls before the legal age of 18 and 74% of interviewees carried a BPL card.
Divisions
It is divided into three revenue divisions (Guntur, Tenali and Narasaraopet) with 58 mandals.
Mandals
Guntur district is divided into 58 mandals for ease of administration and taking the government closer to the people.
Achampeta
Amaravathi
Amruthaluru
Bapatla
Bellamkonda
Bhattiprolu
Bollapalle
Chebrole
Cherukupalle
Chilakaluripet
Dachepalli
Duggirala
Durgi
Edlapadu
Guntur
Gurazala
Ipuru
Kakumanu
Karempudi
Karlapalem
Kollipara
Kolluru
Krosuru
Machavaram
Macherla
Mangalagiri
Medikonduru
Muppalla
Nadendla
Nagaram
Nekarikallu
Narasaraopet
Nizampatnam
Nuzendla
Pedakakani
Pedakurapadu
pedanandipadu
Phirangipuram
Piduguralla
Pittalavanipalem
Ponnur
Prathipadu
Rajupalem
Rentachintala
Repalle
Rompicherla
Sattenapalli
Ashiq Nagar
Savalyapuram
Tadikonda
Tenali
Tadepalli
Thulluru(PEDAPARIMI)
Tsunduru
Vatticherukuru
Veldurthy
Vemuru
Vinukonda.
0 comments:
Post a Comment