VIJAYAWADA

Vijayawada literally translated to 'place of victory'.It is also known as Bezawada.It is the thrid largest city in Andhra pradesh,India and is located on the banks of river krishna to the south,bounded by indrakeeladri hill on west and the budemeru stream on north.The fertile delta extends from vijayawada 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 highway 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 Rakshasha (Demon) and since she was victorious (Vijaya), it is called Vijayawada.

History

The discovery of pre historic belongs remain to the stone age man all along the banks ok 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 religious center for Buddists and Hindhus,Vijayawada is also a center of Andhra culture.The chalukya of kalyan and the great king Krishna deva raya once conquered this place, and the famous chinese traveller Xuanzang(Hsuan-tsang) visited this place in 639 when buddishim was at its zenith in the region.

During the British Raj the city experienced the significant growth.In paticular,the completion of prakasham barrage in 1959 and the railway bridge on krishna rive connecting guntur city and its distict helped in expanding the agricultural and commercial base of this region.

Geography

Vijayawada is located at16.52° N 80.62° E . It has an average elevation of 11.88Metres (39 Feet). The topology of Vijayawada is plain lands in between small to medium sized hills.Krishna 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 46°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 . 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.The domestic airport located at Gannavaram, is about 20 km from the city and connects Vijayawada to Hyderabad and Chennai by air.A new deep water port is under construction at machilipatnam about 60 km from city

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.It has many schools like V.P Siddhartha public school,N.S.M,Nalanda public school,Nirmala High school etc

Sports

Cricket is the most popular sport.Badminton and Chess are also popular.State level cricket matches are played in Indira Gandhi Stadium.A new international stadium is coming up in a 20 acre site in mangalagiri which will replace the local stadium as the venue for international and ranji matches.