Macherla is a town in

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 List of districts of Andhra Pradesh ...

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 the headquarters of Macherla mandal in

Gurazala revenue division Gurazala revenue division is an administrative division in the Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the three revenue divisions in the district, along with Sattenapalli and Narasaraopet formed in 2013 with nine m ...

History

Macherla is capital of the region

Palnadu Palnadu is a region located in Palnadu district and covering a portion of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is spread over the revenue divisions of Gurazala in Palnadu district and Markapur in Prakasam district. History The ...

. The name ''Macherla'' originated from ''Mahadevi Cherla''. This town is in the heart of

, and has a history of over a thousand years. The famous battle Palnati Yudhdham (War of Palnadu) took place between Macherla and Gurazala between 1176 AD – 1182 AD. The Palnadu Battle is also called the Andhra Mahabharatam because of several similarities. The town is renowned for the Chennakesava Swamy temple built here during the reign of the Haihaya Kings. Palanati Brahmanaidu is from velama community and the minister to

Haihaya The Heheya Kingdom (also known as Haihaya, Haiheya, Heiheya _sa.html" ;"title="nowiki/> sa">हैहय was a kingdom ruled by the Yadava people, who claimed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. One of the mo ...

kings, who tried to abolish the caste system by "Chapa Koodu" or "Sahapankthi Bhojanalu" in the 12th century.

Geography

Macherla is located at . It has an average elevation of 136

metre The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...

s (446

feet The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

). It is located 23 kilometers from

Nagarjuna Sagar Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is a masonry dam across the Krishna River at Nagarjuna Sagar which straddles the border between Nalgonda district in Telangana and Palnadu district in Andhra Pradesh. The dam provides irrigation water to the Nalgonda, Surya ...

. Jerri Vagu is the source of water for the town and the surrounding villages.

Demographics

census of India, the city had a population of 1,06,289. The average literacy rate stands at 71.13% with 86,176 literates, significantly higher than the state average of 67.41%.

Governance and politics

Civic administration

Macherla Municipality is the civic body of the town and constituted in the year 1983. The municipality is classified as ''second grade'' and has a jurisdictional area of the municipality is present area of the corporation is .

Culture and tourism

Lakshmi Chennakesava Swami temple, Macherla

''Nagarjunakonda Museum''

Nagarjunakonda Nagarjunakonda (IAST: Nāgārjunikoṇḍa, meaning Nagarjuna Hill) is a historical town, now an island located near Nagarjuna Sagar in Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, near the state border with Telangana. It is one o ...

, meaning the hill of

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...

, was named after the Buddhist scholar and savant Acharya Nagarjuna. It was a great religious centre promoting Brahmanism and Buddhist faiths, moulding the early phases of art and architecture affiliated with them. The

Ethipothala Falls Ethipothala Falls is a high river cascade, situated in Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Located on the Chandravanka river, which is a tributary of River Krishna joining on its right bank. The waterfall is a combination of three stream ...

lies 8 km from Macherla, is a mountain stream cascading down the hills as Chandravanka and Suryavanka streams. The Suryavanka falls from a height of 21 meters into a lagoon and joins River Krishna. The Sri Lakshmi Chennakesava swami temple hosts a yearly local festival, Tirunalla.

Transport

The town has a total road length of .

Education

As per the school information report for the academic year 2018–19, the village has a total of 21 schools. These include 1

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 ...

, 1 KGBV and 19 private schools.

References

External links

* {{Mandal headquarters in Guntur district Towns in Guntur district Mandal headquarters in Guntur district