Markapuram is a town in

Prakasam district Prakasam district is one of the thirteen districts in the coastal Andhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It was formed in 1970 and reorganised in 2022 on April 4. The headquarters of the district is Ongole. It is located on the weste ...

of the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

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 a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and is the headquarters of Markapuram

mandal A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

in Markapuram revenue division. Markapuram is notable for the Chennakesava Swamy Temple, built by King Sri

Krishnadevaraya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Empire, reigning from 1509 to 1529. He was the third monarch of the Tuluva dynasty, and is considered to be one of the g ...

. During

Ratha Yatra Ratha Yatra (), or Chariot festival, is any public procession in a chariot. The term particularly refers to the annual Ratha Yatra in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and other East Indian states, particularly the Odia festival that involve a ...

(''Tirunalla'' in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

) there occurs a popular carnival; the town is also famous for Chenna Kesavaswamy (''Saptavahana Seva'') on the day of Rathsapthami, which is attended by thousands of people coming from different parts of the state. It is the second-largest town in Prakasam district after

Ongole Ongole is a city in Prakasam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Prakasam district and also the mandal headquarters of Ongole mandal in Ongole revenue division. Ongole cattle, an indigenous breed of oxen, d ...

and it is the main place within West Prakasam district to avail all facilities. Markapur was formerly a part of

Kurnool District Kurnool district is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in the North western part of the state and is bounded by Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana in the north, Raich ...

, serving as the east gate of

Rayalaseema Rayalaseema () is a geographic region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It comprises eight south western districts of the State namely, Kurnool, Nandyal, Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai, YSR, Annamayya, Tirupati and Chittoor districts ...

. The town is close to the

Nallamala Hills The Nallamalas (also called the Nallamalla Range) are a section of the Eastern Ghats which forms the eastern boundary of Rayalaseema region of the state of Andhra Pradesh and Nagarkurnool district of the state of Telangana, in India. They run i ...

and currently has a population of approximately 75,000. Markapuram is known for

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

manufacturing industries. On 3 September 2020, Markapuram received a historically heavy rainfall measuring 227mm. Due to this weather event, the partially-depleted ground water level increased significantly, leading to a marked decrease in local drought conditions.

History

The town's name comes from a story of a milk maid by the name of Marika who was graced with a son by Swamy Chennakesava. The milk maid, in commemoration of this event, constructed a small temple. Soon afterwards a village grew round and about this temple and was known as Marikapuram. By afflux of time this name evolved into Markapuram. The temple, originally constructed by Marika, underwent numerous additions and renovations, the later large and prominent temple being dedicated to Sri Chennakesava. This town was a part of Kurnool District until 1971. Yerragondapalem, Markapuram, and Giddalur

mandas Mandas is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of South Sardinia in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,401 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: It ...

were in Kurnool district until 1971, when a carve-out made a new district (along with Kanigiri, Podili, Darsi, Kandukur from Nellore District and Ongole and Chirala from Guntur district).

Geography

Markapuram is situated about east of

Kurnool Kurnool is a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It formerly served as the capital of Andhra State (1953–1956). The city is often referred to as "The Gateway of Rayalaseema".Kurnool is also known as The City of Gem Stones. It also se ...

and about three miles north-east of the

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 ...

Guntakal Guntakal is a City in Anantapur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Guntakal mandal and Guntakal revenue division.It is also the headquarters of the Guntakal Railway Division in South Central Railway. Geo ...

railway line. Markapuram is located at at an average elevation of and is surrounded by Nallamala Forest. An important industry in Markapuram is slate manufacturing. It exported slate to other countries in the late 1980s. It is one of the revenue divisions in Prakasam district.

Transport

Markapuram is located on the

Ananthapur Anantapur, officially Anantapuramu, is a city in Anantapur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Anantapuru mandal and also the divisional headquarters of Anantapur revenue division. The city is locat ...

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 Uddandar ...

Express Highway, a section of the Expressway Project. It is away from Ongole, away from Podili, and

Nandyal Nandyal is a city and District headquarters of Nandyal district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Nandyal mandal in Nandyal revenue division. Demographics In the 2011 census of India, Nandyal ...

is away on the other side of Nallamala hills. It is a part of the Guntur division of

South Central Railway 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 ...

division. The railway line from

passes through this station. Markapuram is near

Srisailam Srisailam is a census town in Nandyal district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Srisailam mandal in Atmakur revenue division. It is located about from the district headquarters Nandyal, from Kurnool, an ...

. People visiting Srisailam take the train route through Markapuram railway station. Donakonda Airport was used by the British during World War 2 and is also close to Markapuram.

Education

The primary and secondary school education is imparted by government in conjunction with private schools, under the ''School Education Department'' of the state. Instruction is given in both English and Telugu. N.S. Agricultural College is located in Markapur, along with other degree colleges, including engineering. Various coaching institutes are there which help for competitive exams.

References

{{Prakasam district Towns in Prakasam district