Bhimavaram is a city and headquarters of West Godavari district of the Andhra Pradesh state of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It is the administrative headquarters of

Bhimavaram mandal Bhimavaram mandal is one of the 19 mandals in West Godavari district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It has headquarters at Bhimavaram town. The mandal is bounded by Undi mandal, Palcoderu mandal, Veeravasaram mandal, Narasapuram ma ...

in Bhimavaram revenue division. It is a part of

Bhimavaram Urban Development Authority Bhimavaram is a city and headquarters of West Godavari district of the Andhra Pradesh state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bhimavaram mandal in Bhimavaram revenue division. It is a part of Bhimavaram Urban Development A ...

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, it is the most populous urban area in the district with a population of 210,000. It is one of the major pilgrimage centers in the state, which is home to

Somarama Somarama is one of the five Pancharama Kshetras that are sacred to the Hindu god Shiva. The temple is located in Bhimavaram of West Godavari district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the centrally protected monuments of nat ...

m, one of the five great

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 ...

History

Along with much of present-day coastal Andhra Pradesh, Bhimavaram was controlled by the

Chola dynasty The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BC ...

. Under

Kulothunga Chola I Kulottunga I (;1025 CE - 1122 CE) also spelt Kulothunga (), was a Chola Emperor who reigned from 1070 CE to 1122 CE succeeding his cousin Athirajendra Chola. He also served as the Eastern Chalukya king from 1061 CE to 1118 CE, succeeding his f ...

, Bhimavaram was ruled by his sons who served as viceroys. Stone inscriptions have been found in the town dating from his reign (c. 1096 C.E.).

Etymology

The name Bhimavaram literally means "the gift of Bhima". According to a legend, in around 890–918 AD, an

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 beca ...

king named Chalukya Bheema built a Siva temple and laid the foundation to this town. It was originally called "Bhimapuram", but the name gradually changed to "Bhimavaram"; "puram" refers to a dwelling place while "varam" means an endowment in Telugu.

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 142,184. The total population constitutes 70,066 males and 72,214 females—a sex ratio of 1031 females per 1000 males. 12,157 children are in the age group of 0–6 years, of which 6,149 are boys and 6,008 are girls—a ratio of 977 girls per 1000 boys. The average literacy rate stands at 83.41% with 1,08,535 literates, significantly higher than the state average of 73.00%. Its

urban agglomeration An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

population was 146,961.

Economy

Bhimavaram is in the epicentre of the

Godavari delta The Godavari (IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakesh ...

region. It is one of the principal trade centres of paddy in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Agriculture-based businesses like food processing, aqua culture, rice mills etc., are the chief sources of the town's revenue. It serves as a distribution centre as well as commercial centre to its hinterland. The town is the regional centre for higher education and is known for its specialized health services.It has many major Retail brand shops like KLM, DMart, Coastal city centre etc..,

Governance

Civic administration

Its urban agglomeration covers Bhimavaram Municipal Corporation, partly out growths of Rayalam (rural) and Chinamiram. It has an area of . Trace of Bhimavaram Municipality Evolution: # April 1948:

Bhimavaram Municipal Corporation Bhimavaram is a city and headquarters of West Godavari district of the Andhra Pradesh state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bhimavaram mandal in Bhimavaram revenue division. It is a part of Bhimavaram Urban Development A ...

was established as a third grade Municipal Corporation. # August 1963: Upgraded to a second grade municipality in August 1963. # August 1967: Upgraded to a first grade municipality in August 1967. # September 1980: Upgraded to a Special Grade Municipality in September 1980. # September 2011: It was upgraded to 'Selection Grade municipality' in 2011. # 1 January 2019:

created. Bhimavaram became a part of EUDA along with places in West Godavari District.

Politics

Bhimavaram assembly constituency is a legislative assembly constituency in

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 ...

. Grandhi Srinivas is the current MLA.

Transport

The town has a total road length of . It is well connected with other places in the country by

national highways National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards used by all f ...

NH 216 National Highway 153 (NH 153), formerly NH-216, is a national highway in India. It is a spur road of National Highway 53. NH-153 traverses the state of Chhattisgarh in India. Route NH-53 at Saraipali, Sarangarh, NH-49 at Raigarh. Junc ...

passes through the town. The

Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation 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 bus services from Bhimavaram bus station. Bhimavaram Junction railway station is classified as 'NSG-4' in

South Central Railway zone The South Central Railway (abbreviated SCR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways. The jurisdiction of the zone is spread over the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh. It has three divisions under its administrati ...

. The Gudivada–Bhimavaram section connects it with Howrah-Chennai main line. Bhimavaram Town railway station is well-connected with daily trains to major cities like Hyderabad,Vizag,Tirupathi,Mumbai,Chennai and Bangalore. There are as many as 2,69,137 vehicle owners are licensed according to transport officials in the town. Out of this, about 13,064 are autos, 1236 school buses, 9908 lorries, 11,129 cars, 2,04,728 motorbikes, 2,833 three-wheelers, 15 car travels, and 5 bus travel vehicles. The nearest airport to Bhimavaram is

Rajahmundry Airport Rajahmundry Airport is a domestic airport located at Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located on National Highway 516E. During 1985–1994, it was used by Vayudoot. It is heavily used by the helicopters of Oil and Natural Gas Corpo ...

, which is 80 km away. Bhimavaram is located at distance of 120km from Vijayawada - Wikipedia, 265 km from Visakhapatnam - Wikipedia and 400 km from Hyderabad - Wikipedia

Culture

Bhimavaram is famous for the Gunupudi Someswara (

) temple, which is one of the five holy Pancharamas and the temple of the local deity Mavullamma. The

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...

lingam A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary '' murti'' or devoti ...

is known for changing its color according to the lunar month: Black during

amavasya Amāvásyā () is the lunar phase of the new moon in Sanskrit. Indian calendars use 30 lunar phases, called tithi in India. The dark moon tithi is when the Moon is within 12 degrees of the angular distance between the Sun and Moon before conjun ...

and white during pournami. The local deity Mavullamma is believed to have manifested here in the year 1200 CE with the temple being built around 1880 CE. According to local folklore the goddess manifested between a mango farm earning her the name Mamillamma (arising from mangoes) which was later adapted to Mavullamma. Many people from the city have become notable in the

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, ...

industry such as,

Trivikram Srinivas Trivikram Srinivas (born Akella Naga Srinivasa Sarma; 7 November 1971), often credited as Trivikram, is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema. In 2021, he became one of the highest-paid directors in South Indian ...

, Sivaji Raja,

Penmatsa Subbaraju Penmetsa Subbaraju is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Telugu cinema,as well as Tamil cinema.Subbaraju has played a variety of roles, from negative to supporting characters. His most notable works include '' Amma Nanna O' Tamil Ammay ...

Sunil Sunil (सुनील) is a first name for males, often found in the South Asian community. The Sanskrit word ' means "dark", "very blue", and is also an epithet of Krishna. Notable people * Sunil (actor), Indian Telugu film actor * Sunil (d ...

, Prabhas and

Raja Ravindra Raja Ravindra is an Indian actor predominantly appears in Telugu films and TV serials. Apart from Telugu films, he has acted in several Tamil films and a few Kannada and Malayalam movies. He started his career with TV serials and entered into fi ...

. Other notable personalities include Krishnam Raju Gadiraju, K. V. K. Raju,

Yellapragada Subbarao Yellapragada Subba Rao (12 January 1895 – 8 August 1948) was a pioneering Indian biochemist who discovered the function of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as an energy source in the cell, developed methotrexate for the treatment of cancer a ...

in science, mystic Swami Jnanananda, Industrialists B. V. Raju, Byrraju Ramalinga Raju and freedom fighter

Alluri Sitarama Raju Alluri Sitarama Raju (4 July 1897 or 1898 – 7 May 1924) was an Indian revolutionary, who waged an armed campaign against the British colonial rule in India. Born in present-day Andhra Pradesh, he was involved in opposing the British in res ...

Education

Primary and secondary school education is imparted by government, aided, and private schools of the School Education Department of the state. The mediums of instruction followed by schools are English and Telugu. There are numerous higher educational institutions in and around Bhimavaram. Some of the renowned institutions are S.R.K.R Engineering College, D.N.R Educational Institutions, K.G.R.L Group of Educational Institutions, Sri Vishnu Educational Society, Bhimavaram Institute of Engineering & Technology, Grandhi Varalakshmi Venkatarao Institute of Technology (GVIT), Dr. C.S.N. degree and P.G college.

Other schools

* Sarada Residential School

References

External links

Bhimavaram Municipality website
{{Authority control Cities in Andhra Pradesh Mandal headquarters in West Godavari district