Vizianagaram district

the district

Vizianagaram district is one of the six districts in the Uttarandhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh with its headquarters located at Vizianagaram. The district was once the part of ancient Kalinga. Saripilli Dibbilingeswara temple, Jayathi Mallikarjuna Temple are the finest examples of ancient Eastern Ganga Dynasty built monuments in the district. The district is bounded on the east by the district of Srikakulam, north by Parvathipuram Manyam south by Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, southeast by the Bay of Bengal, and west by Alluri Sitharama Raju district. It was formed on 1 June 1979, with some parts carved from the neighbouring districts of Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam. The district is named after the princely state of Vizianagaram (Vijaya means victory and Nagaram means city in Telugu). In 2011, it was the least populous district in Andhra Pradesh. Vizianagaram district was formed on 1 June 1979, as per G. O. Ms. No.700/Revenue (U) Department, dated 15 May 1979 with some parts carved from the neighbouring districts of Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam. The Taluks of Vizianagaram, Gajapathinagaram, Srungavarapukota and a portion of Bheemunipatnam Taluk were transferred from the Visakhapatnam District. The Salur, Bobbili, Parvathipuram and Cheepurupalli Taluks from Srikakulam district were transferred to the new district.

It is situated within the geographical co ordinates of 17 15’ and 19 – 15’ of the northern latitudes and 83 – 00’ and 83 – 45’ of the eastern longitudes. Vizianagaram district occupies an area of
The principal rivers flowing in the district are River Nagavali, Suvarnamukhi, Vegavathi, River Champavathi, River Gosthani and Kandivalasa. There are no major irrigation projects in the district. The Denkada Anicut, Thatipudi Reservoir, Andra Reservoir Project, Vegavathi Anicut, Surapadu Anicut, Seethanagaram Anicut, Peda Ankalam Anicut, Vottigedda Reservoir Project, Paradi Anikut, Thotapalli Regulator and Vengala Raya Sagaram Project are the medium irrigation projects. The total irrigated area under these projects and the other minor projects are about Jhanjavati Project

According to the 2011 census, Vizianagaram district has a population of 2,344,474. This gives it a ranking of 193rd in India (out of a total of 640). The district had a population of 9,58,778 in 1901. The total population of the district increased to 22,49,254 as per the 2001 census. They consisted of 11,19,541 males and 11,29,713 females. There were 1009 females per 1000 males in the district. The total area is 6,539 square kilometres. The population density was The increase in population during the decennium from 1991 to 2001 is 6.55 percent for the district as against 14.6 percent for the Andhra Pradesh State. The Scheduled Caste population was 2,38,023 and Scheduled Tribe population was 2,14,839 which comes to 10.58% and 9.55% respective to the total population of the district. The rural population of the district is 18.37 lakhs which comes to 82% of the total population and the urban population is 4.12 lakhs which comes to 18% of the total population. Vizianagaram Town with a population of 1,95,801 is the only Class I town in the district. There are twelve towns in the district: Vizianagaram, Cheepurupalli, Gajularega, Kanapaka, Bobbili, Parvathipuram, Salur, Sriramnagar, Nellimarla, Kothavalasa, Chintalavalasa, Jarjapupeta and Gajapathinagaram. All the towns are in plain areas of the district. After bifurcation, the district had a population of 19,30,811, of which 429,764 (22.26%) lived in urban areas. Vizianagaram district had a sex ratio of 1010 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 53.21%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 2,07,333 (10.74%) and 46,884 (2.43%) of the population respectively. Telugu was the predominant language, spoken by 98.76% of the population.

There are seven assembly and two parliamentary constituencies in Vizianagaram district. The parliamentary constituencies includes Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram The assembly constituencies in Vizianagaram district are Bobbili, Cheepurupalli, Rajam, Srungavarapukota, Gajapathinagaram, Nellimarla and Vizianagaram. There are 3 revenue divisions, 26 Mandals, 935 Panchayats and 1,551 revenue villages in Vizianagaram district. The revenue divisions are Parvathipuram and Vizianagaram. Vizianagaram parliamentary constituency is represented by the former Union Civil Aviation Minister Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

The district is divided into three revenue divisions: Bobbili, Cheepurupalli and Vizianagaram, which are further subdivided into a total of 28 mandals, each headed by a sub collector.

The predominant religion is Hinduism. The major festivals are Sankranthi, Ugadi and Rama Navami, Maha Shivaratri, Deepavali, Vinayaka Chavithi, Dasara and Vijayadasami. The nine day festival celebrations during Rama Navami and Ganesh Chaturthi are very popular in many towns and associated with many cultural events including Stage Dramas, Harikathas, Burra kathas etc. Festivals of Gramadevatha are held annually at Vizianagaram, Bobbili, Salur, Parvathipuram and Sambara with much fanfare. The most popular amongst them is Pydithalli Ammavari Jatra, celebrated at Vizianagaram on the next Tuesday of Vijayadasami day. And also Polamma Jatara, at Sambara in Sambara Village of Makkuva Mandal is a Very much state known famous festival being celebrated in every third week of January. This is a very renowned festival for north andhra people. The cuisine is strikingly South Indian style with rice as the staple food accompanied by dals, rasam or sambar, vegetable curries, pickles and curd.

The total road length of state highways in the district is Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation runs bus services to all the major cities and towns of the state from the district. Major railway stations in the district include Amudalavalasa, , etc. Railway network in the entire district comes under Waltair (Vishakapatnam) division of the South Coast Railway zone. Vizianagaram and Kothavalasa are the main railway junctions. There are 28 railway stations in the district. National Highways 5 and 43 passes through the district and covers a distance of 200 kilometres. National Highway 43 (India) runs almost entirely in Vizianagaram district for a distance of 83 kilometres and passes through Odisha to Raipur in Chhattisgarh (total length of 551 kilometres). It passes through Vizianagaram, Gajapathinagaram, Ramabhadrapuram and Salur towns. National Highway 5 passes through coastal mandals of Bhogapuram and Pusapatirega. State Highways covers a distance of 122 kilometres, major district roads 852 kilometres and rural roads 781 kilometres.

Ramatheertham is a village panchayat in Nellimarla mandal of Vizianagaram district. It is located 12 km from Vizianagaram city.

There are eleven temples under the management of Endowments Department. +Trust controlled templesS. noTempleMandalVillage1Sri Yellaramma Ammavari Temple Jami Jami2Sri Ganapathi etc. Temples PusapatiregaKumili3Sri Pydithalli Ammavari Temple Bhoghapuram Polipalle4Sri Kotilingeswara Swamy Temple SrungavarapukotaSrungavarapukota5Sri Mannar Rajagopala Swamy Temple VizianagaramVizianagaram6Sri Sanyaseswara Swamy TempleSrungavarapukotaDharmavaram