GUNTUR

Location: Northeastern Part of State Andhra Pradesh
Founded By: French
Founded In: Mid-Eighth Century

Located in the northeastern part of the Andhra Pradesh State, in the Krishna River delta, Guntur lies on the Vijayawada-Madras trunk road, about 9-km to the east of the picturesque Kondaveedu range of hills. It is the headquarters of the district of its name, Revenue division and Taluk. It is one of the oldest municipalities having been constituted in AD 1866. The French founded the city in the mid-eighth century, but in 1788 it was ceded permanently to the British.
The village of 'Ramachandrapuram Agraharam', which is now part of Guntur city, is considered much older than Guntur as it is testified by an inscription dated AD 1296 on a pillar of Mantapam in three temple of Lakshminarayana Swamis. It is an important railway junction and is connected by rail with Macherla, Vijayawada, Machilipatnam, Hubli, Tenali and Repalle. This city is an important commercial center, with tobacco curing barns, rice mills, cotton and oil mills. There are many places of tourist importance around this city.

Bhavanarayanaswami Temple at Bapatla: Bhavanarayanaswami temple, 49-km from Guntur is the most ancient and famous of all the temples in Guntur district. It is said to have been named after Bhavanarayanaswami, the presiding deity and was called Bapatla gradually. Lying on the Madras-Calcutta line it is well connected by buses and rail. The temple is of historical and architectural importance.

Nidubrole: There are three old temples, dedicated to 'Chodeswaraswami', 'Chennakesavaswami' and 'Vinayaka', 21-km to the north of Bapatla town and is adjacent to Ponnur on the road from Guntur to China Ganjam.

Buddhist Relics and Lord Amareswara Temple at Amaravati: Amaravati is situated in Sattenapalli Taluk, 35-km away from Guntur. It is famous as the seat of a temple to Lord Shiva worshipped here as Lord Amareswara and also for the Buddhist sculptures, which are world famous. Amareswaram is considered sacred because of three things, the Krishna River, an important 'Kshetra' with a 'Sthalamahatyam' and the 'Sri Mahalinga Murthy', which are three sacred principles embodied in one.

Undavalli caves: The Undavalli caves, in the village of Undavalli, are at a distance of 8-km from Vijayawada and nearly 32-km from Guntur. The high hill overlooking the Krishna River hosts fine specimens of cut-in architectural and sculptural models.

Lam: It is a village situated on the Guntur-Amaravati road, at a distance of over 8-km to the north of Guntur. Lam, is well known for the Agricultural Research Station, the Government livestock Farm and the Chillies Research Station. It is also known by a tank called `Bhairavakunta', with a small stone by its side containing nine idols, an image of Vinayaka and a brass image of Anjaneya besides and an inscription in Sanskrit in archaic characters engraved on a boulder.

Lord Narasimha Temple At Mangalagiri: The renowned temple of Lord Narasimha, one of the Nine 'Avatars' of Vishnu, is located on the Hillock at Mangalagiri, 12-km south of Vijayawada and 19-km from Guntur. The Unique feature of this temple, according to the devout is the fact that the deity accepts only half of the quantity of the 'Panakam' (jaggery dissolved in water) offered by the devotees, irrespective of the quantity offered.

Nallapadu: It is situated at a distance of 5-km southwest of Guntur and is referred to as Narasingapuram, after the temple of Narasimhaswami, on a hillock about 1.6-km away. Nallapadu is a place known for some ancient temples. The Agastheswaraswami temple, with its decorated 'Dhvajastambham' and carvings of five hooded `nagas' (Serpents), enshrining Siva and Bramaramba and with the temple of Sankaracharya situated in the same compound is known for its antiquity.

Vangipuram: Situated 21-km southwest of Guntur and over 7-km to the east of the Guntur-Parchur road, this village is originally called "Achichchatrapuram". The most important temples at the place are those of Agastheswaraswami and Vallabharajaswami. The deity Vallabharajaswami is believed to have been installed by Anantadandapale, the commander of Narasimhadeva of Cuttack.

Dachepaalle: This village on the Guntur-Macherla highway lies 11-km to the northeast of Gurajala town, the headquarters of Palnad Taluk and 90-km to the west of Guntur. The remains of the old fort can be seen in the neighboring villages, especially at Ubbepalle near Gamalapadu where there is a small `Sambhunigudi', containing a great deal of carved stone and four of five inscriptions ranging from AD 1300 to AD 1537. The temple of Ranganayakaswami, which is an ancient one of the place, is noted for its architectural beauty.

Pondugala: Pondugala is situated north of Gurazala on the bank of the Krishna River and is 11-km from Guntur, on the Guntur-Macherla highway. Of the temples at the place, the one dedicated to Gantala Ramalingesvara Swami is considered important and it contains some inscriptions on its pillars in Pali. The temple of 'Bobbanagi' in Iyyagaripalem, a hamlet of 'Pondagala', on the bank of the 'Dandivagu', which was declared a protected monument, contains two inscriptions in Sanskrit.

Aminabad: It is an upland village situated 18-kms southeasts of Sattenapalle and about a kilometer from the Guntoor-Narasaraopet highway. There are several temples around Aminabad, two of which are conspicuously placed on rocky eminencies and from a distance look like, Grecial fanes. These may be of Jain origin. Of the many inscriptions found in this village, a large number are not yet deciphered. It was the headquarters of Aminul-Mulk, a Governor, who changed the name of the village after his name as, Aminabad.
Bellamkonda: The village is situated 19-km west of Sattenapalle, by the side of the Guntoor Pondugala road, near Bellakonda railway station. There is a hill fortress here. It consists of a single stonewall, connecting the principal elevated points of the hill and having tower bastions at the southwest and northwest angles, which terminate the principal front. It is believed to have been constructed by the Reddi kings of Kondavidu.

Chebrolu: Chebrolu, a very ancient village with many historical remains, is situated on the Guntur-Bapatla road within a distance of 10-km from Guntur. The high mound, on which the village is situated, has yielded some terracotta figurines, as well as some old coins, which reveal the existence of ancient civilization at this place. Two gold coins pertaining to the period of the Roman Emperor Constantine were unearthed at this place. A number of lead coins containing the figures of ships, animals and mosques were also unearthed.