Vijayawada the city on fast track 4.89

There are many tales behind the origin of the name of the city. Legends have it that this was the place where Arjuna was blessed by Shiva, on Indrakiladri Hill. In another legend it is stated that Goddesses Durga killed the demon and relaxed in this place for some time. As she was victorious (Vijaya), the place got the name as Vijayawada (Vijaya- Victory and Wada- city/place/location) which literally means "City of Victory". The Epic of Mahabharata refers to Indrakiladri hills as the place where Arjuna secured “Pasupathastra” from Lord Siva.
In some legends Vijayawada was also known as Vijayavata and Rajendracholapura.
A tale behind its acquiring the name "Bezawada" is that Goddesses Krishnaveni (River Krishna) requested Arjuna to make a passage for her to merge into the Bay of Bengal. Hence Arjuna made a bejjam (hole) through the mountains and the place came to be known as Bejjamwada which later changed to Bezawada.

History


Vijayawada, (then Bezawada) in 1943
The discovery of Stone Age artifacts and remains along the banks of the river from Machilipatnam to Nagarjuna Sagarindicates that this area was inhabited at that time.
The famous Chinese traveler Xuanzang (Hsuan-tsang) visited this place in 639 AD, when Buddhism was at its zenith in the region. Kings Choda Gangadeva and Ananga Bhimadeva of the Eastern Ganga dynasty in the 12th century, whose capital was near modern Bhubaneswar and who built the Lingaraj temple, had re-annexed a considerable part of the modern Andhra region and marched up to Krishna River but could not cross the wide river. He established a town 'Bijaya Bahuda'(Oriya) which means 'return after winning' which became known as Vijayawada.
According to Vishnu Puranam, King Madhava Varma built the kingdom of Vijayawada and he was the ancestor ofPoosapati Kings of Vizianagaram. He also built the Holy Temple of Kanaka Durga in Indrakiladri.
By 1855 AD the town was in the form of small settlement on the eastern side of the Indrakiladri hills. The growth of the town picked up momentum after the construction of a barrage and three irrigation canals namely Eluru, Ryves and Bandar canals in 1855 and, the rail bridge over the river Krishna in 1892. The city experienced a modest growth in the pre-independence era; however, after independence, the construction of Prakasam Barrage over the river Krishna, establishment of South-Central Railway terminal, setting up of divisional headquarters, major government offices including district court, higher education institutions, major commercial and distributive trading activities, wholesale establishments, agricultural marketing centre and Jawahar auto nagar industrial estate have brought a tremendous effect on the city’s growth. The city happened to be the headquarters of the taluk for a long time and acted as a point of centrality to many of the districts of the state.

Geography & Climate

Vijayawada is bounded by the Indrakiladri Hills on the east and west and the Budameru River on the north. The Northern, North-Western, and South-Western parts of the city are covered by a low range of hills, while the Central, South-Western and North-Western parts are covered by rich and fertile agriculture lands with three major irrigation canals. The topography of Vijayawada is flat, with a few 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 have very low elevation compared to the average elevation of the ghats. Three canals originating from the north side of the Prakasham barrage reservoir, Eluru, Bandar and Ryves, run through the city. Buckingham Canal originates from the south side of the reservoir formed by Prakasam Barrage. Due to the presence of the Krishna river the soil around here is very fertile and cultivated intensively.
The climate is tropical, specifically a tropical wet and dry climate, with hot summers and moderate winters. The peak temperature reaches 47 °C (117 °F) in May–June, while the winter temperature is 20-27 C. The average humidity is 78% and the average annual rainfall is 103 cm. Vijayawada gets its rainfall from both the south-west monsoon and north-east monsoon. It's nicknamed "Blazewada" for its scorching summer heat by the Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy.

Kondapalli Forest

About the western outskirts of Vijayawada lies the Kondapalli reserve forest, spread over 121.5 square kilometres (30,000 acres). The forest provides Vijayawada with a "green lung". This pristine forest is home to leopards, wild dogs, jackals, wild boar, wolves etc. The hills produce a soft wood is used for preparing Kondapalli Toys.

Civic Administration

The city of Vijayawada is run by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation. The Municipality of Vijayawada (Jamsheed) was constituted on 1st APR, 1888 and was upgraded as a selection grade municipality in the year 1960. The municipality was upgraded to a corporation in 1981. With the merger of Gunadala, Patamata and Bhavanipuram village panchayats and two villages payakapuram and Kundavari kandrika in the corporation in 1985. More than 200,000 people in metro reside outside corporation limits. Many areas on outskirts or yet to be merged into corporation limits. The total area of the corporation is 61.8 square kilometres (23.9 sq mi) and the population of the whole city (along with Vijayawada Sub-Urban and Vijayawada Rural) is more than 2.5 Million.

The city is divided into 59 political wards. Each ward of the Municipal Corporation is represented by an area corporator. An elected body headed by the Mayor performs the Administration of the Corporation. The Commissioner acts as the executive head, and oversees the day to day functioning of the local body. The commissioner is a (IAS) officer of Joint collector rank appointed by the state government.
It has a dedicated Sub-Collector's office for Administration of State and Central Government Programmes. The staff strength of the corporation is just over 5,000. Vijayawada is one of the three cities in andhra pradesh to be provided with its own police commissionerate.The Vijayawada City Police is headed by a Police Commissioner, who is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of DIG rank.

Economy

The total urban market size of vijayawada for the year 2008 is estimated at Rs 5526 crores.The region around the city has fertile soil and irrigation is supported by the river Krishna and its canals. Major crops include sugarcane, Rice and Mango. Vijayawada is famous for automobile body building, garment, iron and hardware small scale industries. The Jawahar Lal Nehru Auto Nagar Industrial Estate in Vijayawada is one of the largest hubs of automobile industry of the state. There are about 1500 automobile accessory units in the city and near about 1,00,000 workers are employed in these industries. Apart from workers of the city, people from other parts of the state also come to work in the industrial estate. The main markets are situated in the old city (popularly known as One Town) and near Besant Road. It is estimated that nearly INR 10 crores of garment business takes place in the Vastralatha building alone in One Town daily. Garments are mainly sold in Besant Roadand Governor Pet, but most upmarket stores have shifted their shops to Bandar Road. The city has many wholesale businesses. They include garments, iron market, pulses, cereals, and other edible products, fancy markets, fertilizers, mango exports, pharmacy, metal and so on.
The industrial estate in Kondapalli, an industrial suburb of Vijayawada,is spread over 450 acres (1.8 km2) and is base to more than 800 industries. In addition a 1800MW Vijayawada Thermal power project(VTPS) and 368.144 MW gas based LANCO power plant which is under expansion to 768.144 MW are located here. In March 2011 Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) announced that it signed an agreement with APGENCO for setting up a 182 MW plant at Vijayawada as a technology demonstration project.[14] Kondapalli suburb also houses Andhra Pradesh Heavy Machinery & Engineering Limited (APHMEL) factory besides being a hub for storage, bottling and transportation of petroleum products.
Vijayawada is one of the busiest railway junctions in India. The fact that Vijayawada is well connected through rail and road keeps it the main hub of commercial activities.The second largest wagon workshop of Indian railways is present at Rayanapadu near Vijayawada.



Transport

Vijayawada is an important link connecting the three regions of Andhra Pradesh and is a major transit point. Two National Highways, the NH-5 from Chennai to Kolkata and the NH-9 fromMachilipatnam to Mumbai pass through the city connecting it to other parts of the country. Another National highway 221 connects the city to Jagdalpur in Madhya Pradesh state. It is connected to other areas of the state, by state highways and district roads. The APSRTC run city buses and auto rickshaws are the main mode of public transport. A BRTS project is under construction as well.

Air

The domestic airport located at Gannavaram, about 20 km from the city, connects Vijayawada to Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Visakhapatnam. Vijayawada Airport is currently being served byKingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways. Spicejet is also starting their services to Hyderabad Mumbai, Delhi from Vijayawada,June 15th, 2011 onwards.

Rail

Main article: Vijayawada Junction
It is biggest railway station in SCR Situated along the Chennai - Howrah and Chennai - Delhi rail route, Vijayawada Junction is the largest railway junction on the South Central Railway network. Vijayawada junction had been given A-1 status by the central government.[17] Madhuranagar, Gunadala, Rayanapadu, Kondapalli, Nidamanuru,Krishna canal junction and Ramavarappadu are the other railway stations in the city. Vijayawada is one of the busiest railway junctions in India. The railway station has 10 platforms for passenger trains and is the only station to have 5 entrance gates with booking counters.

Road

Vijayawada is well connected to the rest of the country by National Highways: NH-5, NH-9 and NH-221. 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. Private bus operators also provide transport services to various parts of the country.
All major streets are connected with the Local Public Bus Transit (City Buses) operated by APSRTC.It is the first city in the south to introduce CNG buses in its fleet. Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is planning to launch Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) with dedicated bus corridors. The initiative, however, is mired in procedural delays and is expected to be launched by mid 2010.Motor driven (auto) rickshaws and manual driven (cycle) rickshaws are the other alternative means of transport within Vijayawada. Private lorries (trucks), cars and two-wheelers (motorcycles and scooters) abound as well.
Vijayawada also has the third biggest bus terminal in the Asia, next to Chennai and Hyderabad. It was inaugurated on 23 September 1990 and is officially named as Telugu Satavahana Prayana Pranganam.

Education

Vijayawada, also called "Vidyala wada" (Place of Education), occupies a large amount of the educational infrastructure of Andhra Pradesh. The city was named "The Educational Sahara" by a foreign ambassador.
Education in the city is implemented by both the government and the private institutions. Vijayawada Municipal Corporation takes care of the government educational institutions.
Following are statistics of government schools:
High Schools: 28(Including 1 Urdu Medium, 2 Schools both English & Telugu Medium)
Upper Primary Schools: 15 (Including Urdu Medium) ( 3 Urdu Medium)
Elementary Schools: 65+10= 75 (10 Urdu Media, 2 English Media)
Students: 28 ,450 (as on 30-06-2009)
Teachers: 622
There are also “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 Andhra Pradesh State Syllabus for their students. The students, after studying their 10th class, take the Public Examination, which is equivalent of the school-leaving certificate. 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.


NTR Univ. of Health Sciences
The first college built in Vijayawada was SRR & CVR college. Andhra Loyola College was established in the year 1953 with Rev. Francis Theo Mathias, SJ as its first Principal. KBN College is another popular college in Vijayawada. The first private engineering college in Andhra Pradesh, V R Siddhartha Engineering College, is located here. The branch of the premier centre of excellence under the central government - School of Planning and Architecture (SPA, V) has been allocated to Vijayawada and has commenced its courses since 2008.
The NTR University of Health Sciences is the first medical university in India. It is a public university in the city of Vijayawada. It started functioning from 1 November 1986.

Sports

Cricket is the most popular sport, with National level cricket matches played at Indira Gandhi Stadium.[24] A new international stadium is being built in a 20-acre (81,000 m2) site in Mangalagiri which will replace the local stadium as the venue for international and Ranji matches.[25] Only One International Cricket match was played between India and West Indies on November 24, 2002 at Indira Gandhi stadium.It was won by West Indies.On December 12, 1997 Womens Cricket Worldcup only a Group match was played between England Womens Cricket Team and Pakistan Womens Cricket team and it was won by England Womens Cricket team.
Badminton, Volleyball and Chess are also popular.
Famous sports personalities from Vijayawada include:
Weightlifting - Dandamudi Rajagopal - Participated in 1948 and 1956 Olympics, Played Bhima role in various hit movies like Narthanasala.
Chess Grandmaster Koneru Humpy, Harikrishna
Badminton -Chetan Anand
Volleyball-Guttikonda Pradeep

Attractions

Main article: Places of interest in Vijayawada
The city offers many places to see and spend time on. Some famous landmarks and places to visit in Vijayawada are


Prakasam Barrage on river Krishna
Prakasham Barrage: Built across the river Krishna connecting Guntur District, Prakasham Barrage has created a panoramic lake. Its three canals that run through the city give Vijayawada a Venetian (Venice) look.
Kanaka Durga Temple: One of the most popular temples in Andhra Pradesh, it is located on Indrakeeladri hill overlooking the city as well as the River Krishna. It was built after 12th century by Maharaja Poosapati Madhava Varma, the ancestor of Vijayanagaram Poosapati Kings, according to History. He is the builder of Modern Vijayawada kingdom.
Gandhi Hill: The first Gandhi Memorial with seven stupas in the country was constructed on this hill at a height of 500 ft (150 m). The 52 ft (16 m) stupa was unveiled on 6 October 1968 by Dr. Zakir Hussain, the President of India. Gandhi Memorial Library, a Sound and Light Show on Mahatma Gandhi's life and a planetarium are the other attractions.
Mogalarajapuram Caves: These caves are said to be excavated in 5th century A.D. The caves are reputed to be the first of their kind in South India. The idols of Lord Nataraja, Vinayaka & Arthanareeswara are carved here, but none of the statue are available here.
Victoria Museum: A place for archaeology lovers, Victoria Museum has a carefully preserved collection of ancient sculptures, paintings, idols, weapons, cutlery, and inscriptions.
Hazarat Bal Mosque: A holy relic of the Prophet Mohammed is kept here which is displayed once a year. A large number of non-Muslims too join the celebrations.
Rajiv Gandhi Park: Created by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation with great care, this park welcomes the tourists at the entrance of the city with its impressive horticultural network. A mini zoo and a musical water fountain are added to it.
Gunadala Matha Shrine: In 1925, Rf. Arlati, the Rector of St. Joseph's Orphanage at Gunadala, installed a statue of Our Lady and later a church was built and consecrated in 1971, now popularly known as St. Mary's church. Since then the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes became an annual event here, attended by hundreds of people. The church is situated on a hillock on the eastern side of the city.
Bhavani Island: Perhaps one of the largest islands on a river, Bhavani Island is located on Krishna River close to the city. AP Tourism is converting this 133-acre (54 hectare) island into an attractive tourist spot and a River Front Resort. The island currently has some cottages to stay in and some good adventure and fun sports. Journey to the island by boat is very pleasant.


Undavalli Caves


Kondapalli Fort
Vijayawada is well connected to nearby tourist attractions like Amaravati, Kuchipudi, Kondapalli, Gudivada, Chodavaram, Krishna district, Undavalli caves and Machilipatnam.