Guntur district



Guntur is a in the n state of  on the east coast of Bay of Bengal. The district has a coastline of around 100 kilo meters. is the largest city in the district and administrative center of Guntur District. The district is a major center for learning, it has one of the largest universities of India,.

Guntur district
Guntur district covers an area of 11,391 km²., and has a population of 4,465,144 of which 28.80% is urban as of 2001. The forms the northeastern and eastern boundary of the district, separating Guntur District from. The district is bounded on the southeast by the, on the south by , on the west by , and on the northwest by.

It is divided into 57 mandals as listed below for the ease of administration and taking governance closer to the people.

,, and es are the main agricultural products cultivated in the district.

Places of historical importance in Guntur District are, , , , , ,  and the archeological museum in Guntur.

History
Guntur District is home to the second oldest evidence of humans in India, in the form of (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 of Guntur, comes from the Idern plates of Ammaraja I (-), the n King. Guntur also appears in another two inscriptions dated and.

The original name (ancient  culture/tradition) for Guntur was Garthapuri. The 'Agasthyeswara Sivalayam' in the old city of Guntur is an ancient temple for Lord. It has inscriptions on two stones in 'Naga Lipi' (ancient script)   dating back to about 1100 CE. The backyard of the temple hosts a very old tree. It is said that built the temple in the last - around the  Linga and hence the name. The 'Nagals' were said to have ruled the region. The place of and the Guthikonda Caves can be traced (through Vedic ) back to the last - and - (Traditional Time scale: 1.7 to 0.5 million years ago, ).
 * Garthapuri

Since the beginning of epoch, Guntur stood foremost in matters of education. Buddhists established universities in ancient times at and. , an influential, is thought to have been from the district, and is said to have discovered  in this area around. Guntur district roughly straddles the /Kammakaratham, the region in the valley, where  prevailed, got the name from  Buddhist concept of Kamma (Pali) or.

The Kingdom of Pratipalapura (5th century BCE), identified with Bhattiprolu, appears to be the earliest known kingdom in Guntur District. Inscriptional evidence shows that king Kubera was ruling over Bhattiprolu around, followed by the Sala Kings. Guntur was successively ruled by famous dynasties such as the s, s, s,, , s, s, s, , and s during ancient and medieval times. Later, several subordinate kingdoms ruled the region. These subordinate dynasties also indulged in mutual wars, one of which culminated in the famous battle of which is enshrined in legend and literature as "Palnati Yuddham"" (Andhra Kurukshetra) in.

Guntur became part of the in  when the emperor  conquered the  sultanate of, of which Guntur was then a part. In, , viceroy of the empire's southern provinces, declared his independence as the of. The coastal districts of Hyderabad, known as the, were occupied by the in. Raja (1783-1816 CE) shifted his capital from Chintapalli in  district to  across the river. He ruled with munificience and bulit many temples in Guntur region. Guntur was brought under the control of the by, and became a district of.

The Guntur region played a significant role in the struggle for independence and the formation of. India's independence came in, and Madras Presidency became. The northern, - speaking districts of Madras state, including Guntur, advocated for a separate state, and the new state of was created in  from the eleven northern districts of.

Mandals
district is divided into 57 mandals for ease of administration and taking the government closer to the people.

Temples
Kotappakonda:

Kulothunga Chola's inscription date 1172 A.D. reveals the history of this temple.  After that Raja Mallaraju renovated it in 1763. Wherever we see the temple we can see three places at a time. They are called Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra peaks. That’s why this temple is called as ‘Trikotadrai’. Sivaratri festival is celebrated on a grand scale here. Gods on the three peaks are known by different names Brahma Sikharamu (Trikoteswarudu), Rudra Sikharamu (Papa Koteswarudu) and Vishnu Sikharamu (Papa Vishnu Saneswarudu). Kotappakonda is short of 12 KM from Narasaraopet.

Bhavanarayanaswamy temples at Bapatla and Ponnuru are famous among the devotees from in around the state.

Number of temples were constructed during the reign of Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu. Tall towers (Gaali Gopuram) of these temples in many villages and towns of Guntur district stand testimony to his devotion and munificience.

Amaravati:

Amaravati is famous for the temple dedicated to the god Shiva. The Amareswara (Shiva) temple walls have lot of inscriptions that give information about the kings who ruled over the area. The present holy shrine of Amaralingeswara (Lord Shiva) temple is associated with the reign of Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu who ruled the region before the advent of the British rule (See Amararama). He was well-known for his benevolence, munificience and construction of a large number of temples in the Krishna river delta.