Proddatur
Proddatur (Telugu: ప్రొద్దుటూరు) is the second largest town and an urban agglomeration in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh state in India. The urban agglomeration (metropolitan area) includes Proddatur town, Bollavaram, Gopavaram, Modameedipalle and Rameswaram. The town is referred to as the “Second Bombay” because of the volume of gold and cotton business that happens there and as "Second Mysore" because of the grand Dasara festival celebrations.[4]
According to 2011 census, it has a population of more than 150,000 in the town and more than 200,000 in the metropolitan area.[5] The town is a Grade I municipal corporation[6] and is located 51 kilometres (32 mi) away from the district capital, Kadapa.
Geography
Proddatur is on the banks of river Penna. Its neighbouring towns include Mydukur, Jammalamadugu, Yerraguntla and Korrapadu.
Demographics
According to provisional reports of 2011 census, Proddatur town has a population of 162,816 of which 115,011 are literates and the metropolitan area has a population of 217,895 of which 147,156 are literates.[5]
According to the official census ten years back (2001), the metropolitan area had a population of 164,932 with 12% of population under 6 years of age.[1] According to this census, males constituted 50.2% of the population and females constituted 49.8% and proddatur had a literacy rate of 63.8%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy was 73.2% and female literacy was 54.3%.[1]
Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) [7][8]
| MLA |
Year elected |
Representation |
Voters in favor (%) |
Total voters (in 1000) |
Voter turn out (% of electors) |
| Mallela Linga Reddy |
2009 |
Telugu Desam Party |
46.44 |
157.24 |
76.99 |
| Nandyala Varadarajulu Reddy |
2004 |
Indian National Congress |
39.62 |
137.36 |
70.00 |
| Nandyala Varadarajulu Reddy |
1999 |
Indian National Congress |
38.45 |
125.54 |
63.77 |
| Nandyala Varadarajulu Reddy |
1994 |
Indian National Congress |
39.24 |
118.33 |
64.09 |
| Nandyala Varadarajulu Reddy |
1989 |
Indian National Congress |
61.75 |
127.71 |
73.54 |
| Nandyala Varadarajulu Reddy |
1985 |
Telugu Desam Party |
49.53 |
96.46 |
66.56 |
| Dr. Mallela Venkata Ramana Reddy |
1983 |
Independent |
56.71 |
101.73 |
75.88 |
| Chandra Obulreddy Rami Reddy |
1978 |
Indian National Congress (I) |
42.34 |
81.83 |
74.39 |
| K. Subba Rao |
1972 |
Indian National Congress |
| R. Ramasubba Reddy |
1967 |
Indian National Congress |
| P. Yerramuni Reddy |
1962 |
Independent |
| R. C. Obul Reddy |
1957 |
Independent |
| K. Balanarayana Reddy |
1955 |
Indian National Congress |
| K. Balanarayana Reddy |
1952 |
Indian National Congress |
Transportation
The town is well connected by rail and road.
The nearest railway station is Yerraguntla, located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from the town and on the Mumbai-Chennai railway line. A new railway station is under construction in Proddatur on the bypass road in Dorasani Palli area near Jammalamadugu Road. Shortly this railway line would be commenced. Indian Railways accepted a proposal for Cumbum(Prakasam district) - Proddatur railway line in 2010 and started a survey.
Govt-owned A.P.S.R.T.C runs buses to many cities and town of the state and also to other states of India.
There are private travels like K.M.R Travels, Diwakar Travels, Sri Kaleswari Travels, AR & BCVR Tavels, BBVR travels and Lakshmi Travels which provide bus services to all major cities in the state.
There are numerous auto-rickshaws in the town with an affordable fixed rate of 7 rupees per head on some routes.
Places of worship
Temples[9]
- Sivalayam: Located at the centre of the town. The shiva linga in this temple may have been worshipped by sage Agasthya, so this temple is also called Agastheshwaralayam. This temple is Maha-Kavi Saraswati Putra Putta Parthi Narayanacharya wrote his famous work "Shiva Tanadavam" in this temple. The main festival celebrated is Vijayadashami (Dasara). There is another smaller Sivalayam temple located in the outskirts of Narasimhapuram and Pedda Settipalli villages.
- Kanyaka Parameswari Aalayam (Ammavari Shala): Located on Yerraguntla Road.
- Rameshwaram Temple: Possibly the oldest temple in Proddatur and is also called "Dakshina Kasi". There is a saying that the people who visit Kasi should visit Rameswaram in Proddatur, to complete their holy journey.
- Ayyappa Swamy Temple: Beautiful Temple located on the bank of Penna river near Palakendhram Milk Factory (PMF) Quarters.
- Chenna Kesava Swamy Temple: Ancient temple located in Rajabata Veedhi near Old Market.
- Datta Peetham a.k.a Satyanarayana Swamy Temple: Located in Y.M.R colony. Temple has also the dieties of YogiRaja Vallabha Datta, Siva Panchayatana, Goddess Chamundeswari, Lord Hanuman and newly installed Yoga Naarasimha and Sudarshana idols. The Sudarshana idol is first of its kind in Andhra Pradesh. Avadhoota Datta Peetham (Mysore) took over the temple responsibilities in late 1980s.
- Sai Baba Temples: One located in Rameswaram road and another in Y.M.R colony.
- Lord Venkateshwara Temple: Located in Bollavaram on the way to Jammalamadugu. This temple got its recognition after reconstruction. During Pongal, many cultural activities take place at this temple.
- Nookalola Gudi: Located in Sastry Nagar on the way to Jammalamadugu. Rajarajeswari devi and Lord Venkateswara are the deities in this temple. Nookalola is the family name of the key devotee involved.
- Sri Ramalayam Temple: Located in Dwaraka Nagar (Acharla colony) on the way to Saraswathi Vidyamandir road.
- Sri Chowdeswari Temple: Located in Sri Venkateswarla peta in between Subbareddy road and Gita asramam road.
- Pandu Ranga Swamy Temple: Located on Mydukur road.
- Kodanda Ramaswamy Temples: One located in Vasanthapeta and another in Dwarakanagar (Acharla colony).
- Narasimha Swami Temple: Historical temple located in Narasimhapuram village, 5 km from Proddatur. During every Sankranthi festival and Narasimha Jayanthi, bhajans and events take place at this temple. It got its recognition after renovation in 2001. This village is also famous for Silk sarees.
- Veera Brahmendra swamy temple: Located in Achari colony.
Mosques
- Mecca Masjid: Possibly the oldest mosque in Proddatur and located on Power house road
- Noorani Masjid
- Siddique Masjid
- Nazurullah Math Masjid
- Khadar Hussain Masjid
- Mohammadiya Masjid
- Islampur Masjid
- Line Masjid
- Modempalli Masjid
- Ahale Hadees Masjid
- Jamiya Masjid
- Matti Masjid
- Dastagiri peta Masjid
Churches
- The Penthe kostu machine church, Auto nagar
- Shalom church, Gandhi Road
Higher Education Institutions
- Yogi Vemana University College of Engineering
- Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology
- Vignana Bharathi Institute of Technology
- Vaagdevi Institute of Technology and Science
- Gowthami Institute of Technology & Management for Women
- Balaji Institute of Technology & Science
Hospitals
- Priya Bhavana hospitals, Medinova Complex,Nehru Street,
- Prasad Reddy nursing home (Surgeon) at junction of Gandhi Road and Sreeramula Pet
- Naga Dastagiri Reddy hospital (Surgeon) in Holmespet
- Ramalinga Reddy Hospital (Pediatrician) in Holmespet
- Lakshmi Narasaiah Hospital (Surgeon) in Holmespet
- Sailaja nursinghome (Dr. N. Ranga Reddy - Pediatrician) in Subbareddy Nagar
- Swarup Eye Hospital and Laser Center (Dr. Ramamuni Reddy - Opthalmology, Dr. Swarup Reddy - Ophthalmologist, Dr. Dhana Lakshmi - Gynecology) on T.B Road
- Kathya nursing home (Dr. Lakshmi Pratap Reddy - Gynecologist) on Gandhi Road
- Govt General Hospital with 300 bed facility and Emergency Care on Yerraguntla Road
- Government Maternity Hospital (Kaanpula asupathri) in Sreeramula Pet
- Govt Hospital near S.C.N.R. Govt College for Arts in Devanga Pet
- Thyagaraja Reddy Hospital located on Jammalamadugu Road
- Abhilash Nethra Vaidyashala (Ophthalmologist) on Gandhi road
- Mahesh Hospital in Godown street (Giddangi Veedhi), Gandhi Road
- Sreekanth Children's Hospital in Vijayanagaram Street, Gandhi Road
- Padma Nursing Home (Dr. Koduru Prabhakar Reddy - Pediatrician) in Vedurla Bazaar
- The Dental Clinic (Dr. Sundarrami Reddy, Dr. Varun Reddy) in Sreeramula Pet
- Mahir Dental Hospital in Sreeramula Pet
- Latha Nursing Home
- Gautam Hospital in Gandhi Road near Nanda Medicals
- Sai Krupa Hospital(Dr. Ravi Chandra Reddy, General Med and Cardilogist on Geeta Ashram Road
- Ravi Nursing Home (Dr. Rajaram Mohan Reddy), Opp. SBI on Gandhi Road
Notable residents
- Santha Kumari- South Indian drama and movie actress
- Puttaparthi Narayanacharya- Poet, also known as Saraswati Putra
- Padmanabham - Famous Telugu comedian
- Gouru Tirupati Reddy - Vastu Shastra exponent, titled as Vastu Ratnakaram
- Rangapuram Mallesudu - Famous Poet. Wrote the books "The System of Education in Mahabharata" in English and "Harivamsam" in Telugu.
- Gurivi Reddy - 2nd highest blood donor in Asia. Donated his blood 128 times before being advised to stop it when he reached the age of 65. Also motivated about 5,000 persons to donate blood.[10]
Trivia
- This is the second largest town in Kadapa District.
- Legend states that Lord Rama installed Lord Shiva's Linga form of deity from the sand in the bank of Penna River. A temple was built over it and that area was named Rameswaram. Even today, the hand prints on the Shiva Linga is believed to be of Lord Rama.
- Dasara (Vijayadashami) is a special festival here with over a lakh of people visiting the town to witness the celebrations. It comes as the second city in South India to celebrate Dasara so grandly while Mysore comes first.
- It has the biggest Kanyaka Parameswari Temple in India.
- It is well known for its gold business and is also known as second Mumbai for this reason.
- It is also known for faction groups and grenades.
- It is known for Shukur Biryani, Irani Tea, Tanged Palley sweets (made using a special ghee)http://tangedupallisweets.yolasite.com/, variety of dosas and cold drink called sharbath (made from the roots of a tree).
- The veterinary college here happens to be the second one in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
- This is an industrial town with chemical and cement industries (Bharathi, Zuari, Dalmia, ICL).
- A major thermal power station, Rayalaseema Thermal Power Project (RTPP), is located close by.
- Both Proddatur town and metropolitan area have a near-perfect sex ratio of 1001 and 999 respectively.[5]
- Origin of the town's name: The origins of the town’s name is not definitely known, but there are 4 possible origins:
- Sanskrit origin – The belief is that Sankara sent down a small flow of water from his rounded plaits (Jatas) where he stored the Holy Ganga, to this town of “Bhradhnapuri” which later was named Proddatur meaning almost the same in Telugu. Bradhna is Sanskrit for proddu in Telugu, which means Surya.
- Lord Rama’s stopping place – According to one legend, the origin of this town’s name is related to the great Indian epic Ramayana. The legend states that Lord Rama was on his way back to his homeland Ayodhya from Lanka after killing the demon Ravana. At the onset of dusk, Lord Rama decides to halt on the river bed of the river Penna. At sunset (which translates to poddu in Telugu, the local language) he asked his wife Sita to find a place for them to rest for the night. It is believed that this placed was henceforth called Podduturu or Proddatur.
- ”Bush Town” – Another possible origin of the town’s name is from the large bushes which used to cover the land. In Telugu, these are known as podalu. It was, hence, named 'podalu ooru' (podalu town), which became ‘Podalakuru’, and later ‘Proddaturu’.
- Sunflowers facing the sun – Yet another possible origin relates to the sunflowers which used to be quite common in the area. Sunflowers turn to face the sun during the day and poddu thirugudu in means tuning the face around in day time. This morphed into "Proddatur".
References
External links