Tadpatri

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Tadpatri
Tadpatri
State - District(s)	Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur
Coordinates	14.92° N 78.02° E
Area - Elevation	- 223 m
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Population (2001) - Density	86,641 -

Tadpatri is a city and a municipality in Anantapur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

[edit] Geography

Tadpatri is located at 14.92° N 78.02° E^[1]. It has an average elevation of 223 metres (731 feet).

[edit] Demographics

As of 2001 India census^GRIndia, Tadpatri had a population of 86,641. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Tadpatri has an average literacy rate of 56%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 67%, and female literacy is 44%. In Tadpatri, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Tadpatri got it's name from Tatipatri which means garden of palm trees. Another version is that Tataki (demon lady who tried to kill Sreeram on his way to save the yaga of Viswamitra) was killed by Sreeram at this very place and hence the name.

Tadpatri has 2 very famous temples within the town. Chintala Venkata Ramana Swamy temple and Bugga Rama Lingeswara Swamy temple. The sthala puranam (Local History) says that these two temples were built in a one day by two brothers. One of them was completed by the next morning but the other one (Bugga Rama Lingeswara Swamy temple) was in complete. The belief is that if this temple was complete it would have been Dakshina Kaashi.

The architecture of these two temples to Dravidian and reflects the Vijayanagara style of architecute.

Chintala Venkata Ramana Swamy temple is located in the heart of the town and it is situated in about 5 acres. It is very well maintained and the Vimana (Main Gopuram) is recently rebuilt (which was damaged in one of the earth quakes). Ramayana, Bhagavata and Mahabharata epics are carved around the Garbha Griha. The epics are sculptured so nicely that when we see these sculptors it is as good as reading the story. There is a belief that there is a secret tunnel (sorangam) from this temple to Gooty Fort. The face of the tunnel is still seen though it is blocked by a stone by Archeological Survey of India (I have seen this tunnel myself in my childhood).

Bugga Rama Lingeswara swamy temple is located on the northern end of the town (Riven Pennar marks the the northern end). Pennar changes the direction of it's flow from North towards east when it reaches the temple. Water oozes all the time from the pedastal of the Siva Lingam here and people treat this as holy water. Unlike other temples, this temple has main entrances on South and West.

World famous Belum caves are located about 20 KM (13 miles) from Tadpatri.