Vijayawada
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (April 2007) |
Vijayawada
Vijayawada Bezawada | |
|---|---|
city | |
| Population (2001) | |
| • city | 825,436 |
| • Metro | 1,112,219 |
Vijayawada () (విజయవాడ) literally translates to "The Place of Victory". It is also known as Bezawada. It is the third largest city in Andhra Pradesh, India and is located on the banks of the Krishna River to the south, bounded by the lndrakeeladri Hills on the west and the budameru stream on the north. The fertile Krishna delta extends from Vijayawada towards Bay of Bengal to the east. There are numerous canal originating from Vijayawada which irrigate the farm land throughout the delta. It is situated along the Madras-Howrah, and Madras-Delhi rail route, the largest railway junction of the South Central Railways. National highways 5 and 9 pass through the city.
Etymology
- A legend narrates that Vijayawada was established by Arjuna around the Malleswara temple and Indrakiladri hills in commemoration of Lord Shiva's Darshan that he had, and thus named it after him as Vijayawada.
- Another legend states that Goddess Durga rested here after killing a Rakshasa (Demon) and since she was victorious (Vijaya), it is called Vijayawada.
History
The discovery of pre-historic remains belonging to the stone-age man all along the banks of the Krishna River from Machilipatnam to Nagarjuna Sagar provides evidence that this part of the river valley was inhabited by the stone age man. Besides being an important religious centre for Buddhists and Hindus, Vijayawada is also a centre of Andhra culture. The Chalukyas of Kalyan and the great king Krishna Deva Raya once conquered this place, and the famous Chinese traveler Xuanzang (Hsuan-tsang) visited this place in 639 when Buddhism was at its zenith in the region.
During the British Raj the city experienced significant growth. In particular, the completion of the Prakasam Barrage in 1959, and railway bridge on the Krishna River connecting Guntur City and its District helped in expanding the agricultural and commercial base of this region.
Geography
Vijayawada is located at 16°31′N 80°37′E / 16.52°N 80.62°E. It has an average elevation of 11.88 metres (39 feet).[1] The topology of Vijayawada is plain lands in between small to medium sized hills. Krishna River runs through the city. This hills are part of the eastern ghats chain cut through by the mighty Krishna river. They also have very low elevation compared to the average elevation of the ghats. Three canals originating from the north side of the Prakasham barrage reservior namely Eluru, Bandar and Ryves run through the city. Another canal Buckingham canal originates from the south side of the reservior. Due to the presence of the mighty Krishna river the soil around here is very fertile and cultivated intensively.
The climate is hot to hottest in summers ranging from 17°C to 49°C with lot of humidity. Winters are mild and pleasent with temperatures from 10°C to 30°C. Vijayawada gets it rainfall from both the south-west monsoon and north-east monsoon. It is also prone to many cyclones that originate in Bay of Bengal. Its nick named "blazewada" for its scorching summer heat.
Economy
The regions around the city have fertile soil and are irrigated by the Krishna river and its canals. Major crops include sugarcane, paddy and Mango.Vijayawada is famous for automobile, garments, iron and hardware industries. The Automobile industry runs in a region called "Autonagar" which is the largest of its kind in the entire state. The main markets are situated in the old city, formerly called One Town and Kaleswara Rao Market area. It is estimated that nearly 10 crores of garment business takes place in the Vastralatha building alone in the One Town on a daily basis. Garments are mainly sold in Besant Road and Governor Pet, but now the onus has shifted to the malls that have come up in Labbipet and M.G. Road areas. The city is also famous for different kinds of wholesale business'. They include Garments, Iron market, Pulses,cereals,and other edible products, Fancy markets, Fertilisers, Mango exports, Pharma market, Metal market, etc... The city is one of busiest and crowded places due to its strong commercial hold in the entire state.
Civic administration
The city of Vijayawada is run by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation [1]. It is run by elected representatives and a commissioner. The city is divided into 59 wards and each ward elects a corporator. A mayor is elected for the entire city. The commissioner who is a (IAS) officer is appointed by the state government. The Vijayawada City Police is headed by a Police Commissioner, who is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
Transport
State run city buses, motor driven auto(rickshaw)s and manual driven (cycle)rickshaws are the major means of transport in Vijayawada. Private lorries (trucks), cars and two-wheelers (motorcycles and scooters) abound as well. Public and private bus operators provide transport services to various parts of the country. Vijayawada also has one of the biggest bus terminals in the country, Pandit Nehru Bus Terminal.Vijayawada is an important link in connecting the three regions of Andhra Pradesh and is a major transit point. Two National Highways, No. 5 from Chennai to Kolkata and the No. 9 from Machilipatnam to Pune pass through the City connecting it to other parts of the country. It is connected to other areas of the state by state highways and district roads. Vijayawada is also one of the busiest railway junctions in India and the biggest in South India.[2] The domestic airport[3] located at Gannavaram, is about 20 km from the city and connects Vijayawada to Hyderabad and Chennai by air.
Demographics
According to 2001 India census,Template:GR Vijayawada had a population of 825,436. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Vijayawada has an average literacy rate of 71%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 71%, and female literacy is 71%. In Vijayawada, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age. The estimated population of urban agglomeration in 2007 is 1,112,219. [4]
Culture
Education
Vijayawada, along with the neighboring Guntur, occupies a prominent place in the educational map of Andhra Pradesh. The N.T.R. University of Health Sciences is also located in Vijayawada.Vijayawada also has many coaching institutes,to cater to the needs of higher secondary students aspiring to get into the top-notch engineering institutes such as the IITs and the NITs.The institutes that have started out here, have rapidly expanded their operations by opening coaching centres in Guntur, Hyderabad, Kurnool, Ananthapur, Tirupathi and other major towns of AP.
Media
Sports
Cricket is the most popular sport. Badminton and Chess are also popular. State level cricket matches are played in Indira Gandhi Stadium.[5]
Politics
Vijayawada is known as political capital of andhra pradesh. Major political parties here are Telugu Desam Party, Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Earlier it was a strong centre for Congress (I) and Communist Part of India (Marxist). With the entry of TDP, the scenario has changed. It is also a center for cpi(ML) groups politics. As per political View Vijayawada East and West, Kankipadu are the main Constituencies. Kankipadu is the biggest one among them.Vijayawada has one Loksabha seat.The current Member of Parliament of Vijayawada is Lagadapati Rajagopal.
Information technology
The city has a very good educational background and historical importance but still is not really up to expectations in the IT and Internet fields. There are 16 units of IT in Vijayawada, generating revenues of approximately Rs.32 crores (Rs 32,00,00,000). The APIIC is also setting up an IT park SEZ at Gannavaram, 20km from the city, to facilitate the growth of IT in this region. construction major L&t got the contract for developing this IT park with a budget of Rs 300 crores and employement for 10,000 IT professionals. Recently a site has been launched with all the business telephone number listings in the city and its neighbouring towns. Some of the IT companies in Vijayawada are The UX Group [2] , GSR Technologies, GSR Consultancy Services Private Limited, COMTEC (India) Limited, ACE SOLUTIONS Private Limited, Extranet Software Solutions, Effetroncis, Essel Software, Ramses Informatics, Gayatri Technologies, Global soft IT Solutions.
See also
Notes
- ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Vijayawada
- ^ Murali Sankar, K.N. "Simulator training for train drivers from July 15 in Vijayawada". The Hindu. Retrieved 2006-08-20.
- ^ "(Gannavaram-Vijayawada) aerodrome". Retrieved 2006-08-20.
- ^ India: metropolitan areas
- ^ Vijayawada cricket stadium
