Madanapalle

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Madanapalle
Madanapalle
Location of Madanapalle
in Andhra Pradesh and India
Coordinates 13°33′N 78°30′E / 13.55°N 78.5°E / 13.55; 78.5
Country  India
State Andhra Pradesh
District(s) Chittoor
Population 190,512 (2001)
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Area
• Elevation
• 695 m (2,280 ft)

Madanapalle (Telugu: మదనపల్లె), is a town and a Municipality located in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh state, India - population 190,512 (2001 census).

It is situated at a distance of 123 kilometres from the temple city of Tirupati and 122 kilometres from Bangalore and is 91 km north-west of Chittoor. The nearest airports are Tirupati (150 km), Bangalore (122 km) & Chennai (240 km).

Contents

[edit] Overview

It is a big Revenue Division in India, it covers almost half of the Chittoor district.

It is a fast-growing city at the center of an agricultural region noted for its fruits and vegetables, especially tomatoes.

It also has a railway station and is the gateway to Horsley Hills, a small hill station and summer resort.

It is the birth place of the famous Indian philosopher J. Krishnamurti who founded the Krishnamurti Foundation of America[1] and the Krishnamurti Foundation of India[2], among others.

It is also known for its high quality silks, which are spun into exquisite sarees and other types of clothing. Neeruguttu palle is a place in town where silk sarees are available at the production cost.

It was also the site of a major flood in the year 1996 caused by the monsoon rains. 20 people died and there was wide spread damage.

The famous poet Rabindranath Tagore translated Jana Gana Mana, India's national anthem from Bengali to English and also set it to music in Madanapalle.

Madanapalle is famous for the Besant Theosophical College named after Dr. Annie Besant

Since Madanapalle is situated at a higher altitude, it has a relatively cooler and pleasant climate than the surrounding places, making it an attractive place for people to build their houses and settle down after retirement.

The climate is pleasant throughout the year. The old house of Shri Jiddu Krishnamurthy, the great philosopher and the founder of Rishi valley public school is also worth seeing here. The said house is now renovated and proposed for housing the Public Library. Horsley Hills is situated near Madanpalle in Chittoor District at an altitude of 4400 feet (1314 m) above sea level. Mr. W.D. Horsley, a British member of the civil service and the then District Collector of Cuddapah, who found the climate very hot, selected this part as his summer resort on the top of the hills. He constructed two houses, the Kachari Room and the Milk Bungalow and developed it as a summer resort.

[edit] Religious

Madanapalle is a cosmopolitical centre. Here Hindu, Muslims and Christian live together with harmony as the communities are educated and cosmopolice. The important religious places are Sri Lord Venkateswara temple,Shiridi Saibaba temple (One of the oldest temples of saibaba in India), Swamy Ayyappa Temple, Yoga Bogeswara (Madikayalu) Temple, Sivalayam, Rajarajeswari Temple, Saptha Kanyakalu Temple, Basinikonda Temple, Sri Anjaneya Temple, Chowdeswari Temple, Gangamma Temple (Court), CSI Church, Arogyamatha Church, Jama Masjid, Indiranagar Masjid and Chamberlain Church, Boyakonda Gangamma Temple (10 km from Town).

[edit] Culture

Madanapalle is a centre of vernacular culture. The literary languages are Telugu and Urdu. Many organisations are serving the literary fields of both Telugu and Urdu. Telugu Rachayitala Sangham (Telugu Poets' Association), Telugu Nataka Kala Parishad and Anjuman Taraqui Urdu are important. Madanapalli is familiar in films also.

[edit] Climate

Madanapalle has pleasantly mild, to warm summers with average high temperatures of 30 to 35 degrees Celsius (86 F to 95 F).Temperatures could sometimes exceed 40 degree celsius (104 F)and Winters are cold with temperatures between 7 to 15 degrees Celsius ( 44.6 F to 59 F). Usually summer lasts from March to June, with the advent of rainy season in July, followed by winter which lasts till the end of February. It has an extreme type of climate. Rainy Season remains pleasant. Temperatures have tended to be higher in recent years.

[edit] Products

Madanapalle is famous for agricultural products such as tomato, mango, groundnut, tamarind etc., Famous for Silk and silk products like sarees and other casuals. The quality of silk product is recognisable. Madanapalle surroundings have enormous reserves of Granite.

[edit] Statistics

Distances by road from Madanapalle to Major destinations: Tirupati 115 km, Bangalore 125 km, Puttaparthi 120 km, Kadapa 122 km, Chennai 250 km, Hyderabad 533 km.

[edit] Historical

Rabindranath Tagore translated Jana Gana Mana from Bengali to English and also set it to music in Madanapalle, a town in Andhra Pradesh.

Though the Bengali song had been written in 1911 itself, it had remained largely confined to the pages of the Brahmo Samaj journal, "Tatva Bodha Prakasika", of which Tagore was the editor.

During 1918-19, Tagore accepted an invitation from a friend and controversial Irish poet James H. Cousins, to spend a few days at the Besant Theosophical College, of which Cousins was the principal. On the evening of February 28, he joined a gathering of students and upon Cousins' request, sang the Jana Gana Mana in Bengali. In the days that followed, enchanted by the dreamy hills of Madanapalle, Tagore wrote down the English translation of the song and along with Cousins' wife, Margaret (an expert in western music), set down the notation which is followed till this day.[3]

Today, in the library of the Besant Theosophical College in Madanapalle, the framed original English translation is displayed. The other historical places include the Chennakesava Swamy Temple at a distance of 40 km from Madanapalle which was build in the 14th century by Krishna Devarayalu. The other place to visit is the Mallaya Konda temple built by Chola raja in the 14th century. The Kolabailu water falls is just 15 kms from the town.

[edit] Trivia

  • The Indian National Anthem was translated from Bengali to English at Besant Theosophical College Madanapalle by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, the famous writer of GEETANJALI for which he got Nobel Prize in Literature in the year 1913.
  • The political party, Congress(I)'s symbol of an assuring hand was coincidentally announced at Madanapalle by Indira Gandhi during one of her campaigns in the town. She won the election with authority.
  • Madanapalle is a lead producer of tomato and tamarind in Asia.
  • Madanapalle is also well known for Hospitals, the famous ones being the SANITORIUM T.B. HOSPITAL and Mary Lot Lyles Hospital (Ghosha Hospital).
  • It is slowly becoming a hub for educational institutions with many colleges and schools coming up, like the famous RISHI VALLEY SCHOOL founded by the renowned philosopher J.Krishnamurthy.
  • Zilla Parishad High School founded in the year 1939, was regarded as the biggest school in the district in those days.
  • Many famous politicians of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, like the ex Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy are the alumni of B.T.College.
  • Madanapalle Institute of Technology & Science (MITS) is located at Angallu (13°37′48″N 78°29′06″E / 13.63°N 78.485°E / 13.63; 78.485), about 10 km from Madanapalle.

[edit] Assembly Constituency

Madanapalle is an assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.kfa.org/
  2. ^ http://www.kfionline.org/
  3. ^ Vani Doraisamy. "India beats: A Song for the Nation". The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/03/19/stories/2006031900120400.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
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