Tanuku
| Tanuku Tarakapura industrial capital of west godavari | |
|---|---|
| city | |
 | |
| Nickname(s): city of egg bowl | |
  Tanuku | |
| Coordinates: 16°45′N 81°42′E / 16.75°N 81.7°ECoordinates: 16°45′N 81°42′E / 16.75°N 81.7°E | |
| Country | India |
| State | Andhra Pradesh |
| District | West Godavari |
| Government | |
| • Body | Municipality |
| • Member of Legislative Assembly | Dr. Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao |
| Area | |
| • Total | 132.08 km2 (51.00 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 140,000 |
| • Density | 1,100/km2 (2,700/sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Telugu, English |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| PIN | 534211 |
| Telephone code | Land Line = 08819 , Mobile = +91 |
| Vehicle registration | AP 37 XX XXXX |
| Avg. annual temperature | 26.0 °C (78.8 °F) |
| Avg. summer temperature | 35.9 °C (96.6 °F) |
| Avg. winter temperature | 25.3 °C (77.5 °F) |
| Website | www.tanukuonline.com |
Tanuku is a city in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the political capital of West Godavari district.
Etymology and history
Tanuku’s history goes back to ancient Vedic times. According to mythology, the Tarakapuri kingdom, ruled by the Asura king Tarakasena, often referred to as Tarakasura ("Taraka" "Asura"), had his capital in Tanuku. It was named after him and used to be called Tarakapura. Tarkasena was made a demon after his defeat in a great war between him and Lord Kumara Swamy (Subramania Swamy), the son of Lord Shiva and Parvathi and the son-in-law of Indra, who was invaded by Tarakasura over an insult meted out to him.
Many of the surrounding villages have some historical connection to this war and quite a few ancient monuments can be seen here. The place where Lord Kumara Swamy landed on earth is now called Komara. Illindra Parru is the place where Indra stayed, and the place where all the angels stayed is now known as Velpuru (Place of Angels). The place where Uraga Raju resided is known as Undrajavaram. The place where the goddess Vijaya Lakshmi resided is known as Mahalakshmi Cheruvu, and the place where the holy priests resided is today called Vipparru. The present day Palangi was known as "Poolangi" (Stall of Flowers) and Chivatam was known as "Srivatam" (the financial centre). Paidiparru was known as "Swarnagaram" (place of gold), and the stall of gems once called "Ratnala Angi" is Relangi today. The paddy repository of the kingdom is now Vadlooru. Near to Tanuku, one famous and traditional temple is there named as "Sri Daneswari temple" here the goddess Dhaneswari resided.it is in between two villages "Duvva & Varighedu". The town of Tanuku is also termed as Town of Egg Bowl by its numerous poultry farms.
Tanuku and surrounding villages never have the water crisis, since surrounded by Gosthani Canal and other canals routed from river Godavari. Also having plenty of ground water.
Geography
Tanuku is a Mandal and a municipality located at 16°45′N 81°42′E / 16.75°N 81.7°E. It is around 80 km away from Eluru, the West Godavari district headquarters. NH-5 passes through Tanuku, hence it is well connected to all major towns and cities in the state. Tanuku lies in delta of Godavari region. The soil is mostly black soil which is much fertile.
Demographics
As of 2011 census India,[1] Tanuku had a population of 1,40,000 of which 77,340 are males and 66,651 are females.
- Avg. literacy rate of 91.4%, higher than the national average of 74.04%
- Male literacy is 94%
- Female literacy is 86%
- 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Education
The oldest educational institutions are Z.P. High School, SMVM Polytechnic (Mullapudi fame), SCIM Govt.Arts & Science College ( Chitturi fame) and Vimala Convent. St. Francis De Sales (SFS) is the only missionary school in this region. Subsequently the following have come up and emerged as leading institutions.
- Akula Sreeramulu College of Engineering
- Akula Sreeramulu College of Engineering for Women
- Sasi Educational Institutions (Burugupalli Sasi memorial college)
- Sri Vasavi Institute of Engineering and Technology
- B.Ed. Colleges
- Andhra Bharati Institute of Fashion Technology
- Sasi Junior college
- Pragati Junior College
- Many Corporate Schools and MCA colleges are present there.
- There are lot of computer institutes also which provides valuable education following the demand of the software industry.[2]
Health
Tanuku is medical hub of East and West Godavari districts. It has many hospitals and doctors located. Sri Mullapudi Venkataramanamma Memorial Hospital (Medical Trust), Apple hospitals,Sri Janaki Hospitals, Vamsi Hitech Hospital, and many others are providing their best medical benefits for the surrounding areas.[citation needed]
Krishna Reddy's orthopedic hospital is very famous, daily people come from different districts and get the world class treatment there.[citation needed]
The government general hospital in Tanuku is widely famous for its excellent maintenance, treatment of patients, sanitation and overall environment which is at par with private hospitals. Many people in the town and from surrounding villages who can't afford much can get the best treatment there.[citation needed]
Infrastructure
The Rashtrapathi road is the only main road in the town connecting the NH5, old town to the bus station which extends again to NH5. All the commerce in the town mostly takes place on both sides of this long stretch of road. Velpur road and Railway station road are the other roads. Roads are well maintained. The Tanuku bus station has been losing its charm as people prefer to board buses from other locations. Shifting the main bus stand or arranging satellite bus stations may solve the problem.
Tanuku is considered mostly as posh and high profile location in the West Godavari district. Due to its vast all round development one can see lot of vertical growth in the town in terms of high rise buildings and apartments.
Rapid rise in population density is also one of the problems which could hinder infrastructure growth like expansion of roads, quality electricity supply, water distribution. [citation needed]
Entertainment
Before 1970 itself there used to be six movie theaters in the then Tanuku Town namely Padmasri, Venkateswara, Narendra, Royal, Venkatakrishna and Veeranarayana entertaining the public of Tanuku town and all surrounding villages. The present famous theaters are Prathyusha & Lakshmi.
Apart from cinema, people used to enjoy the other forms of entertainments like games, dramas, musical nights, recording dances of ANR & NTR fame etc.,.
The ZP highschool used to be a place where State Level games and sports were conducted.
Referring to dramas, both forms of Mythological and Social used to be staged for general public freely. To name two well known personalities of drama from Tanuku are Shanmukha Anjaneaya Raju (famous for his Lord Srikrishna character)& Dr.Tetali Narasimha Rao (for social characters).
Economy
Tanuku's high literacy rate and a couple of geographic advantages have helped its economic growth. It is a part of the Godavari River basin, which is one of the most fertile regions in the country and forms part of the rice bowl of India. Other crops grown are sugar cane, bananas, coconuts and many different types of vegetables, especially brinjal.
Retail giants like Bombay Dyeing, Raymond and recently Peter England in textiles and Reliance, More in FMCGs have made their way to this town trying to tap the quick growing middle class income. IT enabled companies like ITON Corp, Canada based and Vectramind Technologies, Dubai based companies are among the few Corporate companies in Tanuku serving International clients.
Tanuku is one of the few places in the country that has an abundance of UDMH-MMH (monomethylhydrazine),[3] an important liquid rocket fuel very commonly used in the orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engines of NASA’s Space Shuttle. The largest industry in Tanuku is Andhra Sugars. There are seven medium scale and several small scale industries in and around Tanuku.
Major sources of employment are agriculture, Health, Pharmacy, Industries, real estate, etc.
Literature and culture
Adikavi Nannayya is reputed to have conducted a large Yagna (sacrifice) under a Jammi tree. He also translated first three Parvas (Cantos) of the Mahabaratha from Sanskrit into Telugu.
Butta Bommalu is a typical folk dance, popular in Tanuku region. In this particular dance, the dancers wear masks of different characters and entertain people with their delicate movements, accompanied by non verbal music.
The proud legacy of Telugu language and culture is well preserved in the town through Nannayya Bhattaraka Peetham. This organisation conducts different events for school children, elders, prose poets and Avadhanis during festivals and other important days.
Places of worship
There are many temples in and around Tanuku like Yellaramma temple in Mandapaka, Subrahmanya swamy temple in Attili 12 km far, Mantalamba temple in Relangi and Suryalayam in Tanuku itself. There are 4 mosques around Tanuku, and the main mosque Masjid-E-Hanfipet is located in the heart of the Town.
Siddheswara Swamy Temple, Venkateswara Swamy Temple, Shirdi Sai Baba Temple, Kesava Swamy Temple, Ganesh Temple, Muthyalamma Temple (Village Devatha); Palangi Sivalayam (lingam immersed in the water); Kanaka Durga Temple (on the banks of gosthanadhi).
Beside Tanuku there is a village Velpur which is famous for Sri Ramana Ashram. People go there to stay in peace and get the blessing of bhagavan ji whom the devotees believe to be a living god.
Umavasuki ravi someswarara temple in Juttiga and Natta rameswara swami temple in Nattarameswaram are known to installed and worshiped by Lord Rama. These villages are 10km away from Tanuku
Yellaramma temple - Mandapaka
Yellaramma Gudi (Temple) is situated in Mandapaka village which is 3.6 km from Tanuku. This is one of the greatly patronised temple of ancient Kakatiya kings. They also built tanks adjacent to temples where habitations too came up sustaining on the tank.
A temple for peace & solace who is Devi, Maha-Maya, Prakriti, the progenitress of all - is especially a sacred and powerful one, which attracts a large number of pilgrims even now.
The small but ancient temple of Goddess Durga, on the banks of the Sacred Gosthani River (Telugu: గోస్థాణి నది)(originated in the Ananthagiri Hills of Eastern Ghats) in Tanuku abounds with legends of historical interest,
Transport
Tanuku is situated at a distance of 32 km from Narsapur, 75 km from Eluru, 36 km from Bhimavaram, and 19 km from Tadepalligudem. The Town is accessible by train and bus and there are frequent buses from Narsapur, Palakollu, Tadepalligudem,Nidadavolu, Vijayawada and Eluru. Private transport is also available from Palakollu and Eluru. It also has frequent trains to several cities such as Chennai, Mumbai, Bhubaneswar, Tirupathi, Shirdi, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. NH5, part of the Golden Quadrilateral (i.e., Kolkata to Chennai), passes through Tanuku.
Politics
Dr. Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao is the current MLA who belongs to the Congress party. TDP used to have a strong hold in the region beginning from NTR's regime to Chandrababu Naidu's regime. Though Chiranjeevi's Prajarajyam party won a seat in the nearby Tadepalligudem constituency in 2009 elections, it couldn't influence the voters in Tanuku much.
Loksatta is one other party which has high profile members like doctors and lawyers from the town. It is trying to gain influence by encouraging youth to understand politics and governance from a different perspective and getting them motivated to utilise their right to vote.
References
- ↑ [http://censusindia.gov.in/PopulationFinder/View_Village_Population.aspx?pcaid=7097&category=U.A.]
- ↑ http://hindu.com/2001/03/16/stories/04162012.htm
- ↑ http://www.andhrapradesh.co.in/tanuku/