Jammikunta

Jammikunta is a city located in the Karimnagar District in the Indian state of Telangana. As a major industrial hub, business centre, municipality and Mandal headquarters, Jammikunta serves as the centre for trade and education for approximately 60 villages that surround it.

History

Jammikunta was an ancient town, home to the first inscription of western Chalukya dynasty. Ahomallapa Deva (known as Thailapa Deva II) laid the town's foundation on 5 April 995 AD. The name "Jammikunta" was derived from the word "Dammekunte". "Damme", a Sanskrit word deriving from Buddhist culture, which means Lotus and "kunte". A Kannada word means pond, thus giving the meaning Lotus Pond.

Location and transport

Jammikunta is located in the northern part of Telangana in Karimnagar district. Despite being away from major cities, Jammikunta is well connected to major cities by railways. Jammikunta railway station is along one of busiest rail routes in India, namely the Grand Trunk Railway line. It connects the southern metropolis Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore to India's northern cities.

The nearest airports to Jammikunta are Warangal Airport - (44.19 km / 27.46 Miles) and Ramagundam Airport - (53.75 km / 33.4 Miles)

Economy

Primary occupations include agriculture and business. The economy at the local level, depends mainly on agriculture; the most common produce is cotton, followed by rice and other crops. Farmers from the surrounding villages come to the city to sell their products to the enterprises running in and around the city, such as oil mills, rice mills, cotton mills, dairy farms, a leather factory, weavers' societies, Food Corporation of India (FCI), handicraft industries, and Swetha Jardoshi Works. These industries significantly contribute to the city's economy. It's hailed as the second largest market yard after Warangal's Enamamula Market yard of entire northern Telangana.

The Agricultural Farm Science Centre

There is an agricultural farm science centre in the outskirts of the city, namely Prakasham Krushi Vignan Kendra. It helps the farmers of the surrounding villages to produce higher crop yields. It has a land area of over 20 acres in which they grow various crops.

Tourism spots

The village of Vavilala is famous for its Vavilal Khadi Gramoduyog Prathistan, which was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi, in support of making Khadi Cloth. In 2005 Sri Chaganti Rajaiah administration period Podishetty Bondamma, a worker at Vavilal Khadi was awarded the President's Medal from the then President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, for her contribution to the development of the organisation. The village was the first in the Mandal to have a bus service to the state capital Hyderabad, because of its contribution to the cloth business. However, this service was cancelled due to low passenger numbers in the 1990s.

Illanthakunta, a village nearby, is famous for the temple of Lord Rama. It is said that Lord Rama came here, on his way back home after killing Raavan. Attracting a number of tourists in the recent past, this holy pilgrimage site is cited for development to serve the increasing number of devotees. Every year, the festival of Sri Ramanavami is celebrated with more than 100,000 devotees attending the festival.

Bijigiri Shareef, a famous Muslim pilgrimage that has devotees coming from not only the state, but also from the neighboring states of Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. People come here irrespective of religion. The Narasimha Swamy temple located on the hillock next to the Darga Shareef is famous for its spring of water, where water flows throughout the year.

River Manair

The river Manair, which flows through the centre of the Mandal serves the needs of the people during the rainy season, and there are tanks and lakes which serve the agricultural needs of the area. The Ramabhadra bridge built over this river in 90's during the rule of N.T. Rama Rao, 980m length in approx, connects the Mandal with other towns, cutting the journey time by 2 hrs and the increase in the transportation facility to neighboring villages led to the development of villages in the vicinity. The bridge is named Ramabhadra, as it is believed that Lord Rama stopped here on the banks of River Manair, before going to Illanthakunta, where his temple is located. Footmarks of the lord can be seen here on the rocks nearby. Two small temples can be seen on the riverbanks, which were constructed hundreds of years ago. Now only remains of the statues of gods can be seen here, due to the lack of care.

Education

Catering to the educational needs of the 60 odd villages and small towns around the city, Jammikunta is growing in stature as one of the major educational centres in the Karimnagar district. Now with more than 50 Government Schools, 20 Private Schools, and Colleges in and around the town, the literacy rate is on the rise. In SSC results, mostly the district top G.P.A.'s would be scored only in Jammikunta city.

Some of the major educational schools and colleges in the city are

Links

Coordinates: 18°17′11″N 79°28′34″E / 18.286408°N 79.47607°E