Nalgonda district



Nalgonda District is a district in. It has a population of 3,247,982 of which 13.32% is as of 2001. 

Description
Towns in the district include, , , , , , , , , , , ,  and.

The rivers, , , , and  flow through Nalgonda district.

There are 2 major irrigation projects in Nalgonda:
 * 1) and
 * 2) Alimineti Madhava Reddy Project (previously known as Srisailam Left Bank Canal)

The minor irrigation projects in the district are:


 * 1) Moosi Reservoir
 * 2) Dindi Reservoir

Demographics
The district has a population of 3,238,449 and covers an area of 14,240 km² ( census). The literacy rate is 58%.

Yadagirigutta
Main Article:

The town acquired its name and fame from a sage called Yadarishi, son of the great sage Rishyasrunga who did penance inside a cave with the blessings of Anjaneya on this hill between Bhongir and Raigiri in Nalgonda district.Pleased with his deep devotion, Lord Narasimha (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) appeared before him in five different forms as Jwala, Yogananda, Gandabherunda, Ugra and Lakshminarasimha. They later manifested themselves into finely sculpted forms that later came to be worshipped as Panchanarasimha Kshetram. As the legend goes, the Lord appeared first as Jwala Narasimha (Lord as a flame); when Yadarishi was unable to face the intensity of this apparition, he appeared in a peaceful form as Yoganarasimha (Lord in a Yogic Padmasana posture with open palms on the knees). Not satisfied with the Lord appearing alone, Yadarishi sought to see him with his consort, so he is said to have appeared with Lakshmi on his lap, known as Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, and being worshipped by Alwars, his ardent devotees.

To see these three forms one has to go through an entrance that narrows itself into a dark cave (which in fact is surmised as the urga (fiery) form of Narasimha (the fourth form) because it was beyond the strength of a sage to see that form) and gandabherunda ( the garuda pakshi or the eagle) is the fifth form of the Lord which is said to have been found sculpted in rock underneath the Anjaneya, known as 'Kshetrapalaka' (or the one who ruled over that hill). All these forms are known as " swayambhu" or self emanated. Yadarishi is said to have been granted his wish that the place where the Lord appeared will be known by his name as Yadagiri (giri means hill in Sanskrit, and gutta which means a hillock in Telugu seems to have been a latter-day suffix) and that Lord Lakshmi Narasimha will be worshipped for many years to come.

Chaya Somalingeswara Temple
Mystic Doorway "Chaya" (shadow) Somalingeswaraswamy temple. It is an amazing fact that there is an everlasting shadow formed any time of the day on the presiding deity. One has been unable to figure out what or which pillar casts the shadow above the linga placed on the ground, as the temple is surrounded by many pillars. Hence the deity acquired its name from this mysterious shadow. It is a major attraction in Nalgonda and people have been amazed by this mystery since time immemorial. Many devotees throng this temple during Sivarathri.

Ethipothala Waterfalls
Eleven km downstream from the dam are the Ethipothala Waterfalls, set in a beautiful valley. The Chandravankas stream here plunges from a height of 21.3 metres into a lagoon, and flows on through a green valley much frequented by tourists.

These beautiful and refreshing waterfalls, about 60 metres high, originate from the Chandravanka river. They are about 21 km east of Nagarjuna Konda and named after a priest (ethi) who meditated in the caves above "apathalla", meaning "upper place". There are also some cave temples in the area, worshipped in by the locals.

Nandikonda
Nandikonda is a small village on the bank of River Krishna. It is about 64.37 km from Miryalaguda. The most important structure discovered was the Ikshvaku citadel with its great fortification wall, ditch, gates and army barracks inside and a great rectangular stadium.

Kolanupaka
It is located 6 km from Aler and 80 km from Hyderabad, and is a place of much historical importance. It was once a prosperous city covering an area of 93.24 sq.km and the ruins of old fortifications can still be seen. It gained prominence when it was made the alternate capital of the Kalyani Chalukyas in the 11th century AD.

There is a Historical Jain temple situated at boundary which is second popular in India. And also various other historical temples such as Someshwara temple, Veera Narayana Swamy tepmle and more than five religion "Motoms" are located in the village.

Kolanupaka is the place where the Nizam Revolution Fight was concentrated, and most of the people from kolanupaka were paticipated in the Telangana Sayudha Poratam and lost their lives during the fight to get the freedom for telangana from the Nizams.

Sri Arutla Ramchandhra Reddy and Smt. Arutla Kamala Devi were the great persons belongs to the village who were Actively paticipated and leaded Telangana Sayudha Poratam against Nizams.

In conclusion Kolanupaka is the place of all kinds of religions, unity, prosperous.

Bhoodhan Pochampally
Bhoodhan Pochampally, located near the capital city of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, is probably one of the most flourishing center of modern handloom industry and producing ikat saris on a large scale. The weavers in Pochampally are basically Hindus of the Padmashali community who have been residents for long and have thus adopted the local dialect and social norms. These weavers produce ikat textiles withgeometrical designs, and have also recently started experimenting with all-Indian styles.It is believed that ikat technique was brought to Pochampally from Chirala, another town in Andhra Pradesh, a couple of generations ago, perhaps as early as 1915 when the workshops in Chirala are said to have been weaving ikat saris, turbans etc. One of the reasons why Pochampally saris find a better market in India and abroad is, the weavers use modern synthetic colors instead of the expensive vegetable dyes for dying, thereby not only bringing down the cost of production, but also getting a chance to be more creative by trying out complex designs.Since the 1960's Pochampally ikat-weavers were influenced by the paolu designs of Gujarat. The reasonsfor this influence could be many. Migration of the weavers could be one of them. However, there are some experts who feel that more than migration it could be influence of the print media, which could be one of the major reasons. "Weavers have probably seen the Gujarati designs either in a magazine or might have actually seen one of the patola fabrics. It is also possible that weavers came across the designs at a handloom exhibition and copied the design," say some experts.

Pillalamarri
Beautiful paintings, exquisitely carved pillars and several ancient inscriptions may be seen in the Kakatiyas temples here. This historic was the birthplace of the famous Telugu poet Pillalamarri Pina Veerabhadrudu.

Rachakonda
Situated 64 km from Nalgonda it is a place of tourist importance. The 'Dasavatara' sculptures in a cave near Pattabhigutta and the five temples in the town are excellent specimens of Kakatiya art and architecture. Situated among hill ranges, Rachakonda is a place of considerable archaeological interest.

Bhongir Fort
Bhongir fort was built on an isolated rock by the western Chalukya ruler Tribhuvanamalla Vikramaditya VI and was thus named after him as Tribhuvanagiri. This name gradually became Bhuvanagiri and subsequently Bhongir. At the foot of the fortified rocks 609.6 meters above the sea level stands the town of Bhongir. The splendid historical fort with the awe-inspiring rock and the aesthetically fortified courts which have stood the ravages of time stir the imagination of the tourists. The Bala Hisar or citadel on the top of the hill gives a bird's eye view of the neighbouring area. The fort is associated with the herioc queen Rudramadevi and her grandson Prataparudra's rule. The fort is located upon a single hill at an altitude of 500 feet. Built is the 12th century the fort spreads over an area of 40 acres

Wadapally
6000 years ago sage Agasthya Maharshi installed the idols of Sri Meenakshi Agasteswara and Sri Laxmi Narsimha at holy SANGAM of Krishna and Musi rivers in Wadepalli village of Miryalguda Mandal. For thousands of years the temple place remained in dense forest. During the time of excavation the idols of Lord Shiva were found in the temple and reinstalled the same. Once a hunter was chasing a bird, the bird wanted to save its life. So it hid behind the idol of Lord Shiva by covering it with its wings. Lord Shiva appeared to the hunter and asked him not to kill the bird. Lord Shiva assured the hunter that he would offer his brain instead of bird. Then the hunter agreed to him and had the brain of Shiva by inserting his fingers. As he did so, holes were made on his head. Goddess Ganga rose out of the holes, soon after this incident. There are holes on the SIVA LINGAM in which 10 figures can be inserted. Even after taking large quantities of water from the holes, the level of water does not go down. Once Sri Shankaracharya visited the temple along with his diciples.They wanted to find out the reason as to why the water level is not going down therefore they tied a thread to spoon and dropped it into the hole then it went inside deep and stopped. When they pulled up the thread, they found blood stains on that, then realised their mistakes and begged pardon from the God.

Pangal
The shrines of Panagal constitute perhaps the finest examples of the medieval deccan temples. The temple complex consists of the main shrine dedicated to Siva with the Nandi mandapa in front. The architecture of the temple is the finest. It has 66 pillars. The four central pillars of the mandapa are highly ornate at the bottom and, on them, the scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are depicted. The perfected-screen pattern on the flanks in various dancing poses displays the supreme workmanship accomplished during that period. Dancers and hair styles also adorn the outer walls. These are specially noted for their graceful carving. The beauty of their proportion and the vibrant texture of the shapes which enrich the exterior and their impressive clarity testify the architectural genius of their builders. They also reveal the high perfection reached by the sculptors and architects of that age. The Kakatiya Stapati mastered the idioms of the earlier Chalukya style. The Chayala Somesvara temple is yet another temple near Panagal. The temple is known for the Chhaya (shadow) of Siva Linga which is said to be stationary from sunrise to sunset. The technique of the architect is unique. It is regarded as the most imaginative work of the Kakatiya architecture. The temple also contains valuable inscriptions of Rudramba's time. The most conspicuous feature of the Pandya style was the emergence of the monumental gateway or Gopuram which is the dominant point of temple complex. The walls of the temples imposed an ornamental appearance. The gateways are treated with rich plastic decorations

MATTAPALLI
The Temple of Sri Laxmi Narsimha Swamy, a famous pilgrimage is situated here on the banks of rever Krishna. Major celebrations take place during the Vykunta Ekadasi in January & Kalyana Mahotsvam in May.

DEVARAKONDA FORT
The prosperous kingdom of Devaraknoda was established by the “Padma Nayaka Veluma Rajas” choosing the Devaraknoda fortress as the Autonomously ruled palace and they reigned supreme from 1287 to 1482 A.D. with much pomp and Glory. The Second Maada Naidu is the eight kings of these Padma Nayaka lineages.

Buddha Statue
Nagarjuna Sagar in an important Buddhist site located 150 km from Hyderabad. The historic location takes its name from the Buddhist saint and scholar Acharya Nagarjuna who is said to have set up a centre of learning here. Today, Nagarjuna Sagar is home to Nagarjuna Sagar Dam - the world's tallest masonry dam that irrigates over 1000,000 acres (4,000 km²) of land. It was during the building of the dam that the ruins of an ancient Buddhist civilization were excavated here. Some of the relics unearthed have been carefully preserved on a picturesque island called Nagarjuna Konda, located in the centre of a man-made lake. The vestiges of a sacred Buddhist stupa, vihara, monasteries, a university and a sacrificial altar have been carefully reconstructed at Anupu on the east bank of the reservoir.

Problems faced by Nalgonda people
Clean drinking water, water supply for irrigation and educational facilities for all are perhaps the most important problems Nalgonda faces right now.

Nearly 500 villages in Nalgonda district are affected by the high content in water. It is estimated that nearly 1 million people are affected by in Nalgonda district.