Bhimavaram

Bhimavaram భీమవరం
—  city  —
Bhimavaram భీమవరం Location of Bhimavaram భీమవరం in Andhra Pradesh and India
Coordinates	16°32′00″N 81°32′00″E
Country	India
State	Andhra Pradesh
District(s)	West Godavari
Population	2,00,000 (2011)
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 7 metres (23 ft)
Codes • Vehicle • AP 37

Bhimavaram (Telugu: భీమవరం; also called as Bheemavaramu) is a city and mandal in the West Godavari District in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located 395 kilometres (245 mi) east of state capital, Hyderabad.

Bhimavaram is also called the "Second Bardoli", Mahatma Gandhi coined the name when he visited the town during the freedom movement in India. It is one of the Pancharamas(Somaramam) in AP state, as it has Someswara Swami temple.Statewide popular "Mavullamma temple" is located in the middle of the town. It is considered one of the prominent educational as well as financial hubs of Coastal Andhra region . Owing to the good water resources it has grown to be the Aqua culture capital of the coastal area. Bhimavaram Town is a shopping hub in the district for products like Jewelry, Clothing, Seafood, etc. It is famous during the festive season of Sankranthi because of culturally rich and traditional activities which include cock fighting. Cosmopolitan club is famous for organizing national level tennis championship.

History

Along with much of present-day Andhra Pradesh, Bhimavaram was controlled by the Chola Empire. Under Kulothunga Chola I, Bhimavaram was ruled by his sons who served as viceroys. Various stone inscriptions have been found in the city dating from his reign (c. 1096 C.E.).^{[citation needed]} Bhimavaram was the site of several protests during the Salt Satyagraha Movement. It played a major role in the freedom movement, during the rule of British empire in India. The taluka office in the bhimavaram is a witness of freedom movement since 1887. The famous freedom fighter Alluri Sita Rama Raju belongs to Mogallu, a nearby village. Potti Sriramulu started the movement to separate the Andhra State from the Madras Presidency.

Geography

Bhimavaram is located 384 km from Hyderabad by road and 430 km by train, 270 km from Visakhapatnam and 103 km from Vijayawada. National Highway NH 214 (Kathipudi to Pamarru) passes through this town.State Highway towards Juvvalapalem is from this town.

Economy

Bhimavaram,a notable place for many wealthy individuals and serves as a centre of trade for 300 surrounding villages and is one of the important commercial towns in the West Godavari District. Theatres and other commercial centers are the major entertainment and shopping locations for the people who live in the nearby villages. A Multiplex is located close to the town Railway station.also somany branded companies like reliance,more,spencer,m&m corporate institutions established their outlets here. Its been heard that H&A and other brands are also coming soon in Bhimavaram. Major sources of income are through farm fields, real estate, sales, education, etc.

Bhimavaram is also commonly known as "Las Vegas of India" due to cosmopolitan life style and richness of the people. Bhimavaram is an internationally renowned city for betting, gambling, shopping, and fine dining. Bhimavaram is called as entertainment capital of Andhra Pradesh. Bhimavaram Town is rated to have the highest per capital income in Andhra Pradesh.

Government and politics

Bhimavaram's urban population is 1,43,000(urban + sub-urban 2,00,000 total), as per the 2011 census, and is divided into 39 wards. It is a selection grade municipality.

Bhimavaram Municipality

The Bhimavaram Municipality(Bhimavaram Municipality website) was established in the year 1948.

Since the formation of the Bhimavaram Municipality, it has had various municipal chairpersons:

1. Sri Bhupathiraju Bangaraju
2. Sri Nachu Venkata Ramayya
3. Sri Kuriseti Naga Bhusanam
4. Sri Gadiraju Jagannadha Raju
5. Sri G. Venkataswami Naidu
6. Sri Tatavarthi Narasimha Rao
7. Sri Kotikalapudi Govinda Rao
8. Sri Bommidi Narayana Rao
9. Sri Grandhi Venkateswara Rao
10. Smt Meragani Narayanamma
11. Smt Thota Sita Rama Lakshmi

Assembly Constituency

Bhimavaram is an assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh. There were 1,77,470 registered voters in the Bhimavaram constituency in the 1999 elections. The Bhimavaram legislative assembly constituency has been the centre of politics in the West Godavari District since its formation in 1952. Mr. Pulaparthy Ramanjaneyulu is the newly elected MLA for Bhimavaram.

Year	Name	Party
1952	Bhupathiraju Subba Tata Raju	Praja party
1962	Natchu Venkataramayya	Congress
1967	Bhupathiraju Vijaya Kumar Raju	Independent
1972	Bhupathiraju Vijaya Kumar Raju	Congress
1978	Kalidindi Vijay Narasimha Raju	Congress
1983	PV Narasimha Raju	TDP
1985	Subba Raju CHV	TDP
1989	Alluri Subhash Chandra Bose	Congress
1994	PV Narasimha Raju	TDP
1999	PV Narasimha Raju	TDP
2004	Grandhi Srinivas	Congress
2009	Pulaparthy Ramanjaneyulu	Congress

Panchayats

There are 25 village panchayats in the Bhimavaram mandal.

• Anakoderu (village and panchayat)
• Annavaram (village and panchayat)
• Bethapudi (village and panchayat)
• Chinaamiram [1](village and panchayat)
• Deyyalatippa (village and panchayat)
• Dirusumarru (village and panchayat)
• Dongapindi (village and panchayat)
• Gollavanitippa (village and panchayat)
• Gutlapadu (village and panchayat)
• Jonnalagaruvu (village and panchayat)
• Komarada (village and panchayat)
• Komatitippa (village and panchayat)
• Kothapusalamarru (village and panchayat)
• Losari (village and panchayat)
• L.V.N.Puram (village and panchayat)
• Nagidipalem (village and panchayat)
• Narasimhapuram (village and panchayat)
• Pedagaruvu (village and panchayat)
• Pennada (village and panchayat)
• Rayalam (village and panchayat)
• Sriramapuram (Gunduvari Pet) (village and panchayat)
• Srungavruksham [2] (village and major panchayat)
• Taderu (village and panchayat)
• Thokatippa (village and panchayat)
• Tundurru (village and panchayat)
• Vempa
• Yenamadurru (village and panchayat)

Transport

Bhimavaram is an important commercial centre in the West Godavari District. It is connected to all the nearby rural villages with a convenient road transportation. It is located 384 km from Hyderabad by road,430 km from Hyderabad by train route via Guntur, 270 km from Visakhapatnam and 103 km from Vijayawada. National Highway NH 214 (Kathipudi to Pamarru) passes through this town. Buses to this town are operated by Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation and private operators. Most frequent long distant bus services are usually ran in-between Bhimavaram and Hyderabad, Chennai, Vizag, Bangalore, Eluru & Vijayawada. Bhimavaram is well connected to major cities like Puri, Bangalore, Mumbai, Howrah, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Nagarsol, Aurangabad, Shirdi, Tirupathi, Bilaspur & Bhubaneswar by direct trains.

The Narsapur-Nidadavole and Narsapur-Vijayawada are few notable rail lines that passes through Bhimavaram. The town is well connected to different places around it with a convenient bus service to two bus stands (Old Bus Stand in Two Town area and New Bus Stand in One Town area) and train routes to two railway stations(Town Railway Station in Two Town area and Junction Railway Station in One Town area). Buses, autos, taxis and rickshaws are the means of transport to travel within the town. Nearest domestic airport to Bhimavaram is in Vijayawada/Rajahmundry. Whereas, nearest International airports to Bhimavaram are Hyderabad and Chennai. The nearest domestic airports to Bhimavaram are Rajahmundry and Vijayawada

Demographics

According to the 2011 Indian census, Bhimavaram has a population of 142,280 with 32,685 households. 70,066 are male and 72,214 are female. Average literacy rate of Bhimavaram city is 83.41 percent of which male and female literacy was 86.87 and 80.07 percent.

Culture

The city's culture is mostly rural, and moderately modern.

Religion

Some famous temples located here are:

• Gunupudi Sri Uma Someshwara Janardhana Swamy Temple - One of the five Pancharamas. Built during the 3rd century A.D., the Shivalinga in the temple is believed to assume a black-cum-brown colour on no-moon day and becomes whitish on full-moon day. The prathista of the Shivalinga is by the Moon God.
• Sri Mavullamma Temple - Mavullamma's (Goddess of Bhimavaram) Festival starts on 14 January of every year and runs for more than 30 days.
• Sri Bhimeshwara Swamy Temple - The name of the Bhimavaram town is derived from it.
• Sri Aadhi Lakshmi Ammavaru Temple - The village deity of Gunupudi.
• Sri Subrahmanyeswaraswamy Temple - The temple of Lord Subrahmanyeswara, Lord Siva and Lord Rama
• Sri Panchamukhi Anjaneya Swamy Temple located in Undi Road Near Railway gate
• Jain Temple - Located at Pedda Amiram.
• Sri Shakteswara Swamy temple - Located in Ennamadurru from 5 km to Bhimavaram.
• Sri Venkateswaraswamy temple Kallakuru, 10 km to Bvrm
• Sai Baba Swarnamandir located in Pedda Amiram
• Ayyappa Swamy temple - Located near adda vanthena, Bhimavaram-2.
• Transfiguration Lutheran Church ( Roopanthara Devalayam) which completes 116 years was constructed in 1895 was the ancient church
• Moyer Memorial Church
• Bethany Pet Church
• Roman Catholic Church at Chinarangani palem
• LEF in D.N.R.College road
• A Mosque Sunni Jamia mosque - located at the center of Bhimavaram....another 9 Mosque's are located in various parts of bhimavaram...

External links

• Bhimavaram Municipality website