Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu

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Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu (1783–1816) was the last king of the Vasireddy clan that ruled parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh from 1413 until the advent of the British. The original seat of power was Chintapalli in present-day Krishna district. Venkatadri Nayudu shifted his capital to Dharanikota/Amaravati across the Krishna river in Guntur district. He was most famous for his benign rule, patronage of the arts and literature, and as a builder of numerous temples in the Krishna river delta. He renovated the ancient temples at Amaravati, Chebrolu, Mangalagiri, and Ponnuru.

Legend has it that during his reign, Chenchus (forest tribe) were raiding villages around Amaravathi. Venkatadri invited about 600 of the Chenchu men to a luncheon and ordered them to be killed. The village where this incident took place is today called Narukulapadu ('Naruku' in Telugu language means 'to axe' or 'to chop'). After this incident the Rajah became repentant and came to Amaravati and devoted his entire life, time and revenues to building temples to Lord Siva. He renovated the Amareswaraswamy temple here, got nine learned archakas to be brought for the daily archana of the Lord, and provided them with all the needs of livelihood, including 12 acres of land to each. The temple as it stands owes much to him.