Amaravathi is a village on the banks of the
Krishna River, in the
Palnadu district
Palnadu district is a district in coastal Andhra Region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. With Narasaraopet as its administrative headquarters, it was formed on 04 April 2022 to become one of the resultant twenty-six districts The district ...
of the Indian state of
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
.
It is the headquarters of
Amaravathi mandal,
and forms part of the
Andhra Pradesh Capital Region
Andhra Pradesh Capital Region is the metropolitan region area of Andhra Pradesh state capital, the defacto capital city of Andhra Pradesh. Vijayawada is the headquarters and the largest city of the region. It includes the major ancient cities o ...
with its headquarters at new
Amaravati
Amaravati () is the capital of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the river Krishna in Guntur district.
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone at a ceremonial event in Uddandara ...
east, whose name is also borrowed from that of the older Amaravathi.
Amaravathi was founded by Raja
Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu
Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu () was a hereditary zamindar of Chintapalli, later Amaravathi, in the Guntur district of India, under the Nizam of Hyderabad and the British East India Company. He had under his control 552 villages and towns loc ...
in the 1790s as the new capital of his
Zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
i estate. He moved there from his former capital
Chintapalli in protest of alleged mistreatment by the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
. Amaravathi is named after the ancient
Amaravati Stupa
The Amarāvati ''Stupa'', is a ruined Buddhist '' stūpa'' at the village of Amaravathi, Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh, India, probably built in phases between the third century BCE and about 250 CE. It was enlarged and new sculptures repla ...
, which was unearthed in the process of the town's construction.
It is adjacent to the ancient
Satavahana
The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the late ...
capital
Dhanyakataka
Dharanikota is a village in Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Amaravathi mandal of Guntur revenue division. The village forms a part of Andhra Pradesh Capital Region, under the jurisdiction of APCRDA.
Hi ...
(now called Dharanikota).
Amaralingeswara temple in the village is one of the
Pancharama Kshetras
The Pancharama Kshetras (or the Pancharamas) are five ancient Hindu temples of Shiva in Andhra Pradesh. The Sivalingas at these temples are made from a single Sivalinga.
Legend
As per the legend, a Shiva Lingam was owned by the Rakshasa ki ...
for
Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
. The place was also a historic Buddhist site, as shown by the presence of Amaravati Stupa built during the second century BCE and the third century CE, as well as the
Dhyana Buddha statue
The ''Dhyana Buddha'' is a statue of Gautama Buddha seated in a meditative posture located in Amaravathi of Andhra Pradesh, India. Completed in 2015, the statue is tall and is situated on a 4.5-acre site on the banks of the Krishna river. I ...
, a large 21st-century
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
statue in Dhyana posture. It is one of the sites selected for the
Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana
National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) was launched on 21 January 2015 with the aim of bringing together urban planning, economic growth and heritage conservation in an inclusive manner to preserve the heritage chara ...
(HRIDAY) scheme of
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
, to preserve the rich cultural heritage of India.
Etymology
The word Amaravathi translates as ''the place for immortals''. It was also known as ''Dhanyakataka'' and ''Andhranagari''.
History
The recorded history of Amaravathi and nearby
Dharanikota
Dharanikota is a village in Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Amaravathi mandal of Guntur revenue division. The village forms a part of Andhra Pradesh Capital Region, under the jurisdiction of APCRDA.
H ...
dates to the fifth century BCE. It is a town said " a continuous history of at least 2,300 years." It was the capital of
Satavahana
The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the late ...
s who ruled from the third century BCE to the third century CE. After the decline of Satavahanas,
Andhra Ikshvaku
The Ikshvaku ( IAST: Ikṣvāku) dynasty ruled in the eastern Krishna River valley of India, from their capital at Vijayapuri (modern Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh) during approximately 3rd and 4th centuries CE. The Ikshvakus are also kn ...
s and later
Pallava
The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as fe ...
kings ruled
Krishna river valley. Subsequently,
Eastern Chalukya
Eastern Chalukyas, also known as the Chalukyas of Vengi, were a dynasty that ruled parts of South India between the 7th and 12th centuries. They started out as governors of the Chalukyas of Badami in the Deccan region. Subsequently, they became ...
s and
Telugu Cholas
The Telugu Cholas or Telugu Chodas ruled parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh between the sixth and the thirteenth century.
Velanati Chodas
Telugu Chodas of Velanadu (Velanati Chola) were one of the Telugu Choda families. Velanadu is locate ...
held sway over the region, and it also became the third capital of the
Vishnukundina empire.
Kota Kings were in control of Amaravathi during the medieval times. Kota kings were subdued by
Kakatiya
The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. Th ...
s in the 11th century CE and Amaravathi became part of the unified Telugu empire. The
Skanda Purana
The ''Skanda Purana'' (IAST: Skanda Purāṇa) is the largest ''Puranas#Mahapuranas, Mukyapurana'', a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is of Kaumaram, Kaumara literature, titled after Kartikeya ...
gives a picture of the place and the
Siva temple located here.
Amaravathi was part of
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526). ,
Musunuri Nayaks
The Musunuri Nayakas were warrior kings of 14th-century South India who were briefly significant in the region of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Musunuri Kapaya Nayaka is said to have taken a leadership role among the Andhra chieftains and driv ...
,
Bahmani Sultanate
The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan, ,
Vijayanagara Empire
The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana an ...
, Sultanate of
Golconda
Fort (Telugu: గోల్కొండ, romanized: ''Gōlkōnḍa'') is a historic fortress and ruined city located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It was originally called Mankal. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparu ...
and
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
successively before the founding of the
Nizam of Hyderabad
The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...
in 1724. It was ceded to France in 1750 but was captured by England in 1759. Guntur returned to the Nizamate in 1768 but was ceded to England again in 1788. It was briefly occupied by
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...
. It was part of the
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...
during the British colonial period.
The Great Stūpa or Mahācaitya
The most important historic monument in Amaravathi village is the
Mahachaitya. It is protected by the
Archaeological Survey of India
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...
which maintains a site museum beside the ruins. In 2006 the
Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...
visited and performed Kalachakra Mahasamalanam during the
Kalachakra
''Kālacakra'' () is a polysemic term in Vajrayana Buddhism that means " wheel of time" or "time cycles". "''Kālacakra''" is also the name of a series of Buddhist texts and a major practice lineage in Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The ...
festival.
Geography
Amaravathi is situated at . It is spread over an area of .
Demographics
Census of India
The decennial Census of India has been conducted 16 times, as of 2021. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881. Post 1949, it has been conducted by ...
, the town had a population of 13,400 with 3,316 households. The total population constitute, 6,432 males and 6,958 females —a sex ratio of 1,082 females per 1,000 males. 1,321 children are in the age group of 0–6 years, of which 647 are boys and 674 are girls —a ratio of 1,042 per 1,000. The average literacy rate stands at 71.34% with 8,617 literates, higher than the state average of 67.41%.
Government and politics
Amaravathi
gram panchayat
Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...
is the
local self-government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...
of the village.
It is divided into wards and each ward is represented by a ward member. The village as a part of Amaravathi mandal, represents the
Pedakurapadu assembly constituency. The present
MLA representing the constituency is Sankara Rao Namburu of
YSRCP
The Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP or YCP; ) is an Indian regional political party based in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Its president Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy serves as the state's chief minister. It is currently the fifth la ...
.
Culture
The town is a centre of pilgrimage for both
Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and
Buddhists
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
. The inscriptions on the walls of the Amareswara temple depicts the reign of
Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu
Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu () was a hereditary zamindar of Chintapalli, later Amaravathi, in the Guntur district of India, under the Nizam of Hyderabad and the British East India Company. He had under his control 552 villages and towns loc ...
who ruled before the advent of
British rule
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was hims ...
. He was well known for his benevolence, munificence and for the construction of a large number of temples and education centres in the
Krishna river delta. It also hosts a 125-foot tall statue of the Buddha, known as the
Dhyana Buddha. The ancient structures and replicas can be found at Kalachakra museum, which was renamed the Amaravathi Heritage Centre and Museum. The ancient Buddhist stupa and other ruins make up one of the centrally protected
Monuments of National Importance
This article contains lists of Monuments of National Importance in India.
An Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 defines an "Ancient Monument" as follows:
A "Monument of National Importance" is designated by the Archaeological Survey o ...
. The main Hindu festivals celebrated are
Mahasivaratri and the
Navaratri
Navaratri is an annual Hindu festival observed in the honour of the goddess Durga. It spans over nine nights (and ten days), first in the month of Chaitra (March/April of the Gregorian calendar), and again in the month of Sharada. It is ob ...
. The 30th
Kalachakra
''Kālacakra'' () is a polysemic term in Vajrayana Buddhism that means " wheel of time" or "time cycles". "''Kālacakra''" is also the name of a series of Buddhist texts and a major practice lineage in Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The ...
festival, a popular Buddhist ritual, was held at Amaravathi in the first week of January 2006. It is one of the oldest tourist places for Buddhists.
Transport
![Amaravathi Bus Station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Amaravathi_Bus_Station.jpg)
The only means of connectivity for the village is by road. The Vijayawada–Amaravathi Road connects the village with cities of
Vijayawada
Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...
,
Tenali
Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama and hence, it is called ''Andhra ...
,
Guntur
Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...
, and with the
Andhra Pradesh Capital Region
Andhra Pradesh Capital Region is the metropolitan region area of Andhra Pradesh state capital, the defacto capital city of Andhra Pradesh. Vijayawada is the headquarters and the largest city of the region. It includes the major ancient cities o ...
areas of
Undavalli,
Penumaka,
Rayapudi. The ''Guntur–Amaravathi Road'' connects it with the district headquarters,
Guntur
Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...
.
It also has road connectivity from
Sattenapalle
Sattenapalle is a town in Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Sattenapalle mandal under Sattenapalle revenue division.
History
The region is an important region of the ancient Ka ...
,
Mangalagiri
Mangalagiri is a South Suburb of Vijayawada in Guntur district of Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The town is a part of Mangalagiri Tadepalle Municipal Corporation and part of Tenali revenue division. It is a major sub urban of Vijayawada and ...
and
Krosuru
Krosuru is a village in Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Krosuru mandal in Sattenapalli revenue division.
Geography
Krosuru is situated at . It is spread over an area of .
Demographi ...
.
APSRTC
Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) is the state-owned road transport corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Its headquarters is located at NTR Administrative Block of RTC House in Pandit Nehru bus station of ...
operates buses from major bus stations like
NTR bus station
NTR bus station is a bus station in Guntur and owned by Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation. The bus station serves both the city and district services in Andhra Pradesh as well buses from neighboring states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu ...
in Guntur,
Pandit Nehru bus station
Pandit Nehru Bus Station (PNBS), also known as Telugu Satavahana Prayana Pranganam, is a bus station in Vijayawada, situated on the southern side of the main city and adjacent to the Krishna River. It is owned by the Andhra Pradesh State Road ...
in Vijayawada and the Tenali bus station.
The village has no rail connectivity.
A waterway categorised as class–III is planned from
Pulichintala
The Pulichintala Project is a multi-purpose water management project for irrigation, hydropower generation, and flood control in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is a crucial irrigation facility for farmers in four coastal districts: W ...
to
Prakasam Barrage
The Prakasam Barrage stretches 1223.5 m across the Krishna River connecting Vijayawada, NTR and Mangalagiri Tadepalle Municipal Corporation, Guntur districts in Andhra Pradesh, India. The barrage serves also as a road bridge and spans over a l ...
, which connects the nearby villages of
Harishchandrapuram and
Vykuntapuram
Vykuntapuram, also spelled as Vaikuntapuram, is a village in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Amaravathi mandal of Guntur revenue division. The village forms a part of Andhra Pradesh Capital Region, unde ...
.
Education
As per the school information report for the academic year 2018–19, the village has a total of 17 schools. These schools include 4
MPP
MPP or M.P.P. may refer to:
* Marginal physical product
* Master of Public Policy, an academic degree
* Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), Canada
* Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape), South Africa
* ''Merriweather Post Pavilio ...
, one
KGBV and 12 private schools.
See also
*
List of villages in Guntur district
census of India, the following villages are recognized in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. This list is organized alphabetically by mandal. Settlements not counted in the 2011 census are not included.
A
B
C
D
E
...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
{{Commons category, Amaravathi (village)
Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India
Villages in Guntur district
Mandal headquarters in Guntur district
Tourist attractions in Guntur district
Archaeological sites in Andhra Pradesh
Ancient Indian cities
Hindu holy cities
Former capital cities in India
Villages in Palnadu district