Vijayawada
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| ?Bezawada Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh • India |
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| Coordinates: | |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| Area • Metro • Elevation |
61.8 km² (24 sq mi) (3) • 110.14 km² (43 sq mi) • 11.88 m (39 ft) |
| Climate • Precipitation Temperature • Summer • Winter |
Tropical climate (Köppen) • 1,050 mm (41.3 in) 27 °C (81 °F) • 43.3 °C (110 °F) • 24 °C (75 °F) |
| Region | Coastal Andhra |
| District(s) | Krishna |
| Subdistrict | Vijayawada (Urban),Vijayawada (rural),Penamaluru |
| Population • Density • Metro • Literacy rate |
1,851,282 (3) (2001) • 14,231 /km² (36,858 /sq mi) • 1,039,598 (34) (2001) • 71 |
| Language(s) | Telugu |
| Mayor | Mallika Begum |
| Member of Parliament | L Rajagopal |
| Member of Legistlative Assembly | V Radha Krishna, S Nasar Vali, D Rajasekhar |
| Parliamentary constituency | Vijayawada |
| Assembly constituency | Vijayawada (East), Vijayawada (West), Kankipadu |
| Planning Agency | VMC,VGTMUDA |
| Codes • Pincode • Telephone • Vehicle |
• 520 0xx • +866 • AP16 |
| Website: [http://Vijayawada Municipal Corporation website Vijayawada Municipal Corporation website] | |
Coordinates: Vijayawada (pronunciation ) (విజయవాడ) literally translates to "The Place of Victory". It is also known as Bezawada. It is the third largest city in Andhra Pradesh, India and is located on the banks of the Krishna River to the south, bounded by the Indrakeeladri Hills on the west and the budameru stream on the north. The fertile Krishna delta extends from Vijayawada towards Bay of Bengal to the east. There are plenty of canals that go through Vijayawada and irrigate the farm land throughout the delta. Vijayawada is situated along the Madras-Howrah, and Madras-Delhi rail route, and is famous as being both the largest railway junction in South India and the most important station of the South Central Railways. National highways 5 and 9 pass through the city.
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[edit] Etymology
- A legend narrates that during Dwapara Yuga Arjuna performed penance for Lord Shiva's Darshan, to gain Pasupathashtra in this location,. Lord Shiva, along with Goddess Parvathi, appeared in the form of tribal people and blessed Arjuna with the weapon, after a small fiasco.
- Another legend states that Goddess Durga rested here after killing a Rakshasa (Demon) and since she was victorious (Vijaya), the place got its name as Vijayawada.
- One another legend states that this place was earlier known as Vijaya-vatica, which translates to "Land of Victory" but this became "Vijayawada" over the ages.
- One another legend states that "Goddess Krishnaveni" (River Krishna) has requested Arjuna to make a passage in order to merge into Bay of Bengal. Arjuna made a hole (Bezam) through mountains. Hence the name Bejjamwada has come into existence. Later on bejjamwada become Bezawada over a peroid of time. In 19th century Bezawada was renamed to Vijayawada. Vijayawada was once part of Vijayanagar dynasty (Sri Krishna Devaraya).
[edit] Geography
The topography of Vijayawada is plain lands in between small to medium sized hills. The Krishna River runs through the city. These hills are part of the Eastern Ghats cut through by the Krishna river. They also have very low elevation compared to the average elevation of the ghats. Three canals originating from the north side of the Prakasham barrage reservoir namely Eluru, Bandar and Ryves run through the city. Vijayawada is the only city in the world with two rivers, Krishna,Budameru, and three canals. Another canal Buckingham Canal originates from the south side of the reservoir. Due to the presence of the Krishna river the soil around here is very fertile and cultivated intensively.
The climate is hot to hottest in summers ranging from 22°C to 46°C with lot of humidity. Winters are mild and pleasant with temperatures from 10°C to 30°C. Vijayawada gets its rainfall from both the south-west monsoon and north-east monsoon. It's nicknamed "Blazewada" for its scorching summer heat.
[edit] Economy
The region around the city has fertile soil and irrigation is supported by river Krishna and its canals. Major crops include sugarcane, paddy and Mango. Vijayawada is famous for automobile body building, garment, iron and hardware small scale industries. Small scale automotive industries 'Jawahar Autonagar', was the largest automobile township in Asia for sometime. The main markets are situated in the old city, formerly called One Town and Kaleswara Rao Market area. It is estimated that nearly INR 10 crores of garment business takes place in the Vastralatha building alone in the One Town on a daily basis. Garments are mainly sold in Besant Road and Governor Pet, but now this activity is also happening in the malls that have come up in Labbipet and M.G. Road areas. The city is also famous for different kinds of wholesale business. They include garments, iron market,pulses, cereals, and other edible products, fancy markets, fertilizers, mango exports, pharma, metal and so on. The city is one of busiest and crowded places due to its strong commercial hold in the entire state. Vijaywada is called the 'Commerce Hub' of the Andhra state, for it provides the right environ for all the agricultural and industrial goods to be transported in/out and traded in one single place.
Vijayawada is the busiest railway junction in South India, and is second biggest junction in India and only railway station to have escalators after New Delhi. The fact that Vijayawada is well connected through railways keeps it the main hub of commercial activities.
[edit] Civic administration
The city of Vijayawada is run by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation [1]. It is run by elected representatives and a commissioner. The city is divided into 59 wards and each ward elects a corporator. A mayor is elected for the entire city. The commissioner who is a (IAS) officer of Joint collector rank is appointed by the state government. It has a dedicated Sub-Collector's office for Administration of State and Central Government Programmes. The Vijayawada City Police is headed by a Police Commissioner, who is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of DIG rank. Vijayawada is the only city in the country which is not a district headquarters.
[edit] Transport
Vijayawada is an important link in connecting the three regions of Andhra Pradesh and is a major transit point. Two National Highways, the National Highway 5 from Chennai to Calcutta and the National Highway 9 from Machilipatnam to Mumbai pass through the city connecting it to other parts of the country.Another National highway 221 connects the city to jagdalpur in madhyapradesh state. It is connected to other areas of the state, by state highways and district roads.
Air - The domestic airport located at Gannavaram, about 16-km, from the city connects Vijayawada to Hyderabad, Chennai, Rajahmundry and Bangalore. Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines are the two airlines flying to and from Vijayawada.
Rail - Situated along the Chennai- Howrah and Chennai-Delhi rail route, Vijayawada is the biggest railway junction of the South Central Railway.Vijayawada junction had been given A-1 status by the central government[1].Krishna canal junction,Madhuranagar,Gunadala and Ramavarappadu are the other railway stations in the city.
Road - Good motorable roads connect Vijayawada with all the places within the state and also with the major cities in India. Transport by road from Vijayawada to all the places of interest is available in the form of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) buses. There are huge number of buses that run between Vijayawada and Hyderabad 24 hours-a-day and 365 days-a-year, unlike the rest of transportation in the state.
State run city buses (APSRTC), motor driven auto(rickshaw)s and manual driven (cycle)rickshaws are the major means of transport in Vijayawada. Private lorries (trucks), cars and two-wheelers (motorcycles and scooters) abound as well. Public and private bus operators provide transport services to various parts of the country. Vijayawada also has one of the biggest bus terminals in the country, Pandit Nehru Bus Terminal in Vijayawada is an important link in connecting the three regions of Andhra Pradesh, biggest in Asia and is a major transit point. Vijayawada is also one of the busiest railway junctions in India and the biggest in South India. It is also called the "City that never sleeps" with reference to railways.[2] The domestic airport[3] located at Gannavaram, connects Vijayawada to Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Chennai and Bangalore by air.[4]A new deep water port is under construction at Machilipatnam replacing historical anchorage port which is about 65 km from city.[5]
[edit] Demographics
Vijayawada is the third largest city in Andhra Pradesh after Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. According to 2001 census, the population of the city is 851,282 (agglomeration 1,039,518) (2001 census) and 1,025,436 (agglomeration 1,411,152) (2006 census).
[edit] Culture
There are business groups like the Sindhi and the Rajasthani making city their home.They are concentrated in One-Town,the old town-nucleus. Tamils and Malayalis are also noticeable groups. There is a Tamil association operating here. A few students of Tibetan and Nepalese origin come to the city for studying here.
[edit] Education
Vijayawada, also called as "Vidyalawada" (Place of Education), occupies a large amount of the educational infrastructure of Andhra Pradesh.
School Education in the city is implemented by both the government and the private firms. While the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation takes care of the former, the latter is achieved by a large number of schools, including day-care, nursery and primary-only ones.
There are “aided” schools in Vijayawada, meaning schools with both government and private partnerships as well, such as the Gollapudi high-school.
Government schools are located at different places like the Jammichettu center, the Patamata high-school and Suryarao Peta, to name a few. Private schools are scattered all over the city. A majority of them implement the State Syllabus for their students.The students, after studying their 10th class,take the Public Examination, which is equivalent of the school-leaving certificate.
Most of these schools are now English medium schools, though there are also telugu medium ones.
There are only a few schools accredited to the Central Board of Secondary Education in the city-meaning their class Ten students have to take the All India Secondary School Examination(AISSE) for their school-leaving certificate.
The city was named as "The Educational Sahara" by a foreign ambassador earlier during the century.
However with the opening up of Private colleges,after the 1950s,the scene changed vastly.
The first college built in Vijayawada is the Andhra Loyola College. Andhra Loyola College was established on a 110-acre plot in the year 1953 (classes commenced on July 22, 1954) with Rev. Francis Theo Mathias, SJ, (now, Emeritus Professor, Xavier Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur) as its first Principal. The college was affiliated to Andhra University till December 1976 and to Nagarjuna University thereafter. The NTR University of Health Sciences is located in Vijayawada, which is premier institution in the field of medical and dental sciences. The South Indian branch of the School of Architecture and Planning is planning to allocate to Vijayawada.[2]
[edit] Sports
- Cricket is the most popular sport, with National level cricket matches played at Indira Gandhi Stadium.[6]. A new international stadium is being built in a 20 acre site in Mangalagiri which will replace the local stadium as the venue for international and Ranji matches.[7] Badminton, Chess and Volleyball are also popular. The latest fad seems to be Archery.
- Famous sports personalities from Vijayawada include - Chess Grand master Koneru Humpy - Badminton -Chetan Anand - Volleyball-Guttikonda pradeep
[edit] Media
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Vijayawada is an important commercial, political, and cultural center in Andhra Pradesh. The print & electronic media industries have a major presence here. Prominent journalists from this city include Mutnuri Krishna Rao, C Raghavachari, Moturi Hanumantha Rao, Turlapati Kutumba Rao, Nanduri Rammohana Rao, Garapati Upendra Babu, Syed Akbar, AM Khan Yazdani, Kasinaduni Nageswara Rao Pantulu, Khadar Mohiuddin, Muhammad Vazeeruddin, R Ramprasad, K Sriramulu and Kuchi Gopalakrishna.
[edit] Radio
The FM radio channels broadcasted in the city include AIR Rainbow Krishnaveni FM (102.2 MHz), Radio Mirchi FM (98.3 MHz) and SFM (93.5 MHz).
[edit] Television
Television broadcasting in the city is carried out by two means: The Cable TV and the Direct-To-Home Satellite TV.
[edit] Print
Vijayawada is one of the earliest and still continuing publishing centers in Andhra Pradesh.Vague estimates say about 90 % of the total volume of books in the state are printed or published from here. The annual book festival has been quite popular with publishers from around the country participating here.
The Vijayawada Book Festival is celebrated once every year and is second largest book festival in the country after Kolkata. This book exhibition starts on every new year day (Jan 1st), and lasts for 10 days.
[edit] Kondapalli Forest
11 km from the western outskirts of Vijayawada lies the Kondapalli reserve forest, spread over 121.5 km² (30,000 acres). The forest provides Vijayawada with a "green lung". This pristine forest is home to leopards, wild dogs, jackals, wild boar, wolfs etc.[3] Kondapalli hills produce special and soft wood, which is used for prearing "KONDAPALLI BOMALLU". These toys are world famous. They are of varied designs dancing toys, playing toys, etc.
[edit] Politics
Vijayawada is known as the political capital of Andhra Pradesh. Politically very active, voters show a high degree of maturity. The major political parties here are Telugu Desam Party, Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Earlier it was a strong centre for Congress (I) and Communist Part of India (Marxist). With the entry of TDP, the scenario has changed. As per political view, vijayawada has three main assembly constituencies namely Vijayawada west,Vijayawada central and Vijayawada east.Parts of the city are also present in Penamaluru,Mylavaram and Gannavaram assembly constituencies.Vijayawada has one Lok Sabha seat.
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Information technology
The city has a strong educational infrastructure but lacks in the IT industry. There are about 32 IT firms in Vijayawada, which generated revenues of approximately Rs.56 crores (Rs 56,00,00,000) in 2007-2008 fiscal year. The APIIC is setting up an IT park/SEZ at Gannavaram, 20km from the city, next to the airport, to facilitate the growth of the IT industry in this region. The major construction firm, L&T, was awarded the contract for developing this IT park with a budget of Rs 300 crores. The IT park can facilitate employment of up to 10,000 IT professionals. Another IT park with an area of 40 acres is being set up by VGTM-UDA in Mangalagiri.
[edit] See also
Places of interest in Vijayawada
[edit] References
- ^ VMC
- ^ Murali Sankar, K.N.. Simulator training for train drivers from July 15 in Vijayawada. The Hindu. Retrieved on 2006-08-20.
- ^ (Gannavaram-Vijayawada) aerodrome. Retrieved on 2006-08-20.
- ^ Air Deccan to launch Bangalore-Vijayawada service - India Airline News, Airport developments, Aviation, A380, B787, Kingfisher, Deccan, Jet Airways, Air India, Indian Airlines, Spicejet
- ^ The Hindu Business Line : Maytas consortium to develop Machilipatnam port at new site
- ^ Vijayawada cricket stadium
- ^ The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Vijayawada News : Keeping home turf in top shape
[edit] External links
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