Guntur city, India

A city of southeast India east-southeast of Hyderabad. Founded by the

French in the 18th century, it was officially ceded to the British in 1823. Population: 514,000. (census 2001)

Guntur (gūntūr') , city (1991 population-471,051), Andhra Pradesh state, SE India. Located in the Krishna River delta, the city is a railroad

junction and agricultural market for jute, tobacco, and rice. Founded by

the French in the 18th cent., Guntur was ceded to Great Britain in 1823.

Coordinates : 16°′N 80°′E / 16.3, 80.45

Time zone : IST ([[UTC+5:30]])

District : Guntur Mayor : Sri Kanna Nagaraju

Codes

Pin Code : 5220XX Telephone : +91 (863)

Nickname : City of Spices

Guntur is a city and a Municipal Corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located around 1000 miles to the south of capital New

Delhi. The city has an estimated population of around 800,000 (514,707

per 2001 census), one of the larger (tier-2) cities in the country. It is a centre for learning and is the administrative centre and capital of Guntur

District. It is the home of the famous Amaravati and Ancient

Sitanagaram rich in history, culture and heritage. It is a major centre in India for business, commerce, agriculture. The region is also identified as

a transportation and textile hub in India.

History The earliest reference to Guntur, a variant of Guntur, comes from the Idern plates of Ammaraja I (922-929), the Vengi Chalukyan King. The

Kingdom of Pratipalapura of 500 BCE (current Bhattiprolu), appears to be

the earliest known kingdom in the region. Guntur also appears in another two inscriptions dated 1147 and 1158. The original Sanskrit name

(ancient Vedic culture/tradition) for Guntur is Garthapuri.

An old temple at Garthapuri

The 'Agasthyeswara Sivalayam' at the old city

is an ancient temple of Lord Siva. It has

inscriptions written on two stones in 'Naga Lipi' (ancient script) dating back to 1100AD.

The back of the temple hosts very old tree It is said that Agastya has built the temple in the

last Treta-Yuga around the Swayambhu Linga

and hence it got its name. It is said that 'Nagals' have ruled the region at that time.

The place of Sitanagaram and Guthikonda Caves [1] can be traced

(through Vedic Puranas) back to the last Treta-Yuga and Dwapara-Yuga (Traditional Time scale: 1.7 to 0.5 million years ago, Ref). The region

also has been historically known for Buddhism.

More recently, the region was under Nizam's rule prior to the colonial

period. During the colonial rule, Guntur was under the control of French and then to British till India's independence.

Modern Guntur The original Guntur used to be located where the current 'Old Guntur' exists. Over the last

50-100 years, the city has expanded specifically to north, called New Guntur. The current size of

the city can be put at an inner radius of 6

miles. The City-region comprises the surrounding sub-urban and rural areas

spanning in all the directions. New townships are sprawling in its

Suburban region.

Geography

Guntur Plains : Guntur is located at 16.3° N

80.45° E[5]. It has an average elevation of 33 metres (108 feet), situated on the plains.

There are few hills in the surrounding suburban areas. The city is located around

40 miles north of Bay of Bengal on the east

coast of India. Guntur Region and district are surrounded by the Krishna Delta (of

River Krishna). There are other smaller

rivers and channels in the region such as Guntur Channel, Chandravanka, Naagileru,

Guntur Branch Canal.

As quoted in NASA's website "It is typical of the wider deltas along the

southeast coast of India (also known as the Coromandel Coast). The braided stream channels, broad floodplain, and extensive sandbars

suggest that this part of the Krishna River flows through relatively flat terrain and carries substantial amounts of sediment, especially during

the monsoon season." Image Website of NASA on the Guntur City and

District/Region of India. With the ocean on the top portion of the image, the actual location of the city should be on the bottom right side portion

of the image.

Rain storms and hurricanes are common in the region during the rainy

season. It starts with monsoons sometime early June. The hurricanes could occur any time of the year, but commonly between May and

November.

Demographics

As of 2001 Census India, Guntur had a population of 514,707. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Guntur has an

average literacy rate of 68%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 74%, and female literacy is 62%. In Guntur,

11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Culture and diversity

With the foundation of Ancient Vedic Civilization/Sanatana Dharma (known as Hinduism) and its principles (Sarvē Janā Sukhinō Bhavantu),

the Guntur Region has a place for all religions, castes, sects and creeds. One of the lost tribes of Israel called Bene Ephraim, can be traced in

Guntur, having a Jewish temple (synagogue). Religious faiths such as Islam and Christianity have nice presence in harmony.

Telugu is the main language of communication in the city. One of the earliest/purest forms of Telugu language can be noticed in this region.

Other languages such as Hindi and English are also used with in the city to some extent. Indian Culture is vibrant with many festivals (that are

being celebrated for thousands of years), here are some of the festivals

that are observed in Guntur to a great detail: Deepavali, Krishna-Ashtami, Rama Navami, Sankranti, Sivaratri, Ugadi, Vijaya Dasami,

Vinayaka-Chaviti. Also notice festivals that are introduced in last few centuries include Christmas, Eid ul-Fitr, Muharram, Ramadan. The 30th

International Kalachakra festival was held at Amaravati near Guntur.

Telugu is the main language of communication in the city. One of the

earliest/purest forms of Telugu language can be noticed in this region. Other languages such as Hindi and English are also used with in the city

to some extent. Indian Culture is vibrant with many festivals (that are being celebrated for thousands of years), here are some of the festivals

that are observed in Guntur to a great detail: Deepavali, Krishna-

Ashtami, Rama Navami, Sankranti, Sivaratri, Ugadi, Vijaya Dasami, Vinayaka-Chaviti. Also notice festivals that are introduced in last few

centuries include Christmas, Eid ul-Fitr, Muharram, Ramadan. The 30th International Kalachakra festival was held at Amaravati near Guntur.

Street Fireworks Language and Festivals

Kala Chakra-2006

City lifestyle

The Guntur City life style has a mixture of both urban and rural with a touch of cosmopolitan life style. Like any typical Indian city, the majority

of the population is of middle and lower middle Class families. With reasonable cost of living and with the basic amenities available the city is

attracting people from other parts. The residents of the city and region

are referred to as Gunturians. The residents wear Indian style and Western style clothing(includes jean pants and shirts). The common

traditional clothing for women is a Saree, Salwar and for men a

Dhovathi/Lungi

Economy Cotton-Tobacco-Chilli city

Guntur City and its region is a major commercial center in India. Guntur

has the largest Asian market for Red Chillies. Cotton, tobacco and chilli are some of the major commodities that are exported from here to

various parts of the world. The corporate headquarters of Tobacco Board

India, a Government of India enterprise, is located in Guntur. The chillies that are grown in this region are some of the hottest in the world, and

are in constant competition with the chillies grown in Mexico to be in the

first place. A 'Spice Park' is proposed to be setup in the area. The cotton that grows in the region is used in making some of the finest sarees in

India, (Guntur & Managalagiri sarees)

Textile Hub and Industries

The industrial development in the Guntur Region is of medium scale. On the positive note the region has minimal industrial and related pollution

as compared to major cities in the country. Here are some of the

industries in the area: textile mills/handloom, silk, Sangam Dairy, cement factories, Andhra Fertilizers, jute mills, granite industries,

diamond and other ore processing (Hindustan Zinc Limited), Auto-Nagar

and Software/IT Companies. A textile hub is being developed on the south-west side of the city, and the government is encouraging setting

up of new industries. Possible future plans: Bio-Tech Park, Knowledge Park.

Farming outside city Farm lands

Plantation

The Guntur Region (Krishna Delta) is one of

the most fertile lands in India. With the River Krishna flowing around the district, it has

many farm lands and paddy fields growing varieties of rice and other food grains. The

Guntur Branch Canal (GBC) and other

smaller rivers serve water to the farm lands in the region.

Green Motto The Social Forestry of Guntur is on the works to make the region

greener; Guntur (otherwise as per stats only 35% of the forests in the

district has survived, a common issue throughout India). It is taking many initiatives and working closely with other parties like ITC Limited in

meeting the goals. As part of the Green Guntur project they have planted 1 Crore plants in the Guntur City. The city's UDA is also

developing many medium and small size parks throughout the city.

Ports and Shore points

Port City Complex in Guntur District/Nizampatnam Harbour

Located 40 miles from the City's urban area, the region has enough

shore line helping its economy either through tourism or trade. Though

the exports from Guntur region mainly depend on Chennai harbor, there is push to bring back one of its shore points as a harbor and also a

Chemical park is under consideration.

A Port City to be built near Nizampatnam in Guntur District. This is part

of a major renovation of the Nizampatnam Harbour, to be undertaken by the SKODA Export Company Ltd, a Prague-Czech based company. The

development of this harbour will enable the Guntur region to be a major port city, with direct access for exports and imports around the world.

Suryalanka is a tourist shore point 40 miles south of Guntur City, with all desirable features of a sea shore. It has all the facilities for stay and

entertainment of visitors.

Forestation, Green Guntur

Transportation

Main Bus Station The city is the regional head quarters of State

Road Transport System. It is connected to all the

major cities across the country through various major and local highways. There are couple of

major highways such as Madras-Guntur-Kolkata

HighWay, Guntur-Hyderabad-Mumbai Highway. Within the city the traffic primarily flows using the

so-called ring-roads, inner and outer ring-roads. Common modes of road transport within the city are city buses and auto-rikshaws; antique

manual rikshaws can still be seen. The city is also part of the Golden

Quadrilateral system, a major transportation project under progress.

New Guntur Station Guntur City is the host of one of the Divisional

headquarters and a major transit point in the Indian

Railways System. Almost all the 4 metro cities and state capitals can be accessed through this transit

point. It composed of few Stations: the Central/Main Station (near Arundel Pet and Railpet) and the

others at Nallapadu, University-Center(Namburu),

New Guntur(Reddipalem). Two other major transit points closer to Guntur are: Tenali and Vijayawada

with a future plan of running suburban trains in the suburban region. The Indian Railways is one of the

most convenient and efficient system of commute

for the people throughout India.

Air travel

The closest Airport is located at Hyderabad(4.5 hours travel) with limited

international connections. A major International Airport is located at Chennai (8.5 hour travel from Guntur) operating various airlines across

the world. The local airport at Gannavaram is mid sized airport with daily flights to Hyderabad and Chennai. There is a request to build a more

practical airport to the South-West of Guntur City near Chilkaluripeta.

Academics/education and research

Railway Station

College Transport

Guntur is one of the early cities to provide higher education and graduate programs in India. The

Acharya Nagarjuna University is one of the largest

universities in the country, covers various

institutes from 3 districts. There are a number of

graduate schools, colleges, and high schools providing basic and higher education (agricultural,

arts, bio-med, engineering, management, medical, nursing, pharmaceutical, sciences, technology) in the region.

The Guntur Institute of Medical Sciences is one of many premier

institutes in the city region. The Vedic University near Guntur specializes in the teaching of Vedic Sciences, related philosophies and the Eternal

Knowledge (Vedanta).

Sunny day The weather in Guntur City is more tropical in nature, but gets bit dry during winter season, Current Temperature@City. The average whether

is warmer throughout the year, with temperatures ranging from 60F to

110F. The summer season (especially during May) could see the highest temperatures. Winter season is the most enjoyable with decent

temperatures. Summer clothing should be good enough for throughout

the year. Local Time at Guntur

Main Market The city offers star hotels, inns and motels for the stay and accommodation. It has many Restaurants and Hotels offering varieties of

food items (of various regions of India). It is famous for the food items

such as mirchi bajji, Gongura pickle, with traditional Andhra style meal and common

breakfast items such as Idli , Pesara-Ravva-

Attu/Dosa, Puri etc [15]. The common masala, jilebi bandlu (vehicles), fruit juice/sugar cane

juice sellers can be noticed in every corner of the city. There are also fast food and pizza corners.

Locally available famous fruits and vegetables

include oval shaped-(unique of honey taste)-sapota, mango, seethaphalam, dosakai.

News and media The city's infrastructure utilitzes state-of-the-art technologies such as

high-speed Internet and multimedia for applications such as news, education, etc. Telugu news sources include English are in heavy usage.

Their corporate offices located within the city, and cable TV news has

become another common mode of news exchange.

Stay & Eatery

eService Both the Indian administrative staff and elected officials manage the city and its issues in

general. The commissioner and district collector

are from the Indian Administrative Service

(IAS). The MP's, mayor, councilmen constitute

the local elected officials. Corruption has been a commonplace in all parts of the country/world,

and Guntur is no exception. But various latest

initiatives such as E-Governance are being put in place to reduce bureaucracy, enabling transparency and reducing corruption. The Guntur

Municipal Corporation is among the selected four cities across the world

where an ‘eco-budget’ is under implementation. And recently it started conducting Job Fairs.

City Court

Guntur Range (Guntur Police Department) is the

regional headquarters of state police with its own Inspector General rank covering three nearby

districts. Guntur had the original High Court under

Madras state, which was later moved to the current state capital after the formation of AP. There is a

pending plan to bring back (or make another) High

Court bench to Guntur, covering many AP coastal districts.

E Seva Centre

Court Complex

Tourism & Places of Interest

Title Type Location Distance

Brief Description

Uppalapadu Nature Conservation

Bird Sanctuary Guntur City Rural 4 Miles S Bird Refuge, endangered Spot-Billed Pelicans, Painted Storks [22], [23].

Viswa Nagar/Viswamandiram

Spiritual Guntur City (Rural Chowdavaram)

8 Miles S-W

Sri Viswayogi Viswamji, the Univ. Integration Pillar.

Downtown, City Centers Urban, Parks Guntur City City

Parks(M.Sarovar), Archeo.Museum, Brodi-Arundel, Jinnah-Naaz Center and more.

Prakasam Barrage Bridge Guntur District 18 Miles E

Bridge built on River Krishna connecting GNT and VIJ/Krishna.

Undavalli caves Ancient caves Guntur Urban/District

15 Miles E

Excavated in 4th to 5th centuries A.D., a huge reclining statue of Lord Vishnu.

Amaravathi Ancient, Archaeological, Spiritual

Guntur Rural/District

15 Miles N-W

Ancient Amareswara temple with swayambhu linga, Mahachaitya stupa of Buddha(200B.C) [24].

Bhattiprolu Ancient Guntur Rural/District

20 Miles S-W

Prati Palaputra, earliest known kingdom in the District [25].

Kotappakonda Trikutaparvatam

Ancient, Spiritual

Guntur District/Narasaraopeta

25 Miles S-W

Three-peaked hill surrounded by other hills named after Trimurti: Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara.

Nagarjuna Sagar Dam & Ethipothala Falls

Irrigation Dam, Water Falls

Guntur District 100 Miles N-W

Natural Falls and Nagarjuna Sagar massive irrigation project. Place of Acharya Nagarjuna

Sitanagaram Ancient, Spiritual

Guntur District 16 Miles N-E

On the banks of river Krishna. Rel. to ancient history of Ramayana of last Treta Yuga.

Chebrole Ancient, Spiritual

Guntur Rural/District

10 Miles S

Famous for chaturmukha Brahma and Lord Nageswara Swamy. Has a beautiful red stone Nandi.

Sports and stadiums

The city hosts primarily national sporting events for various games. It is

one of the places in India to host the International Grandmaster Chess tournaments. With cricket being the common and well followed sporting

event, there are other sports such as kabbadi, volleyball, basketball,

tennis, badminton, table tennis. The following are the Major sports complexes/clubs in Guntur City.

Sports Complex Brahmananda Reddy Stadium Tennis clubs Gunta Ground Police Parade Ground Prakasam Stadium Public Works Department Ground NTR Stadium, Brindavan Gardens

Parade Ground

Countryside

Chilakaluripet is a countryside of Guntur City. The present prosperous

place that is developing in education, arts and business was once called "chilakala thota, Rajagari Kota and Purushothama patnam", a big

outskirts village of Chilakaluripeta. The British called the area “Chick

pet”. Due to the orchards, a number of parrots used to come here and live on the trees. So that this place was once called “Chilakaluri” in the

time of the Chilakaluripeta jameendars.

Namburu, PiduguRalla, Ponnuru, Vadlamudi, Chebrole is a major

panchayat comprising three villages Chebrole, patha reddy palem and

kotha reddy palem. It is a mandal head-quarters. Buckingham canal

passes by which is used for inland transport and irrigation. It was a

regional fort for pallavas, chalukyas and kakatiyas. Its ancient name was sambhole (from which 'chebrole' is derived). There are famous Chalukya

inscriptions. Chebrole is mentioned in yuddamalluni Vijayawada inscriptions. It became famous in the rule of Kakatiyas as a great general

Jayapa ruled the Chebrole fort. Jayapa also wrote a famous book on

Indian dance, 'Nrutyaratnavali'.

Medical and Health care

The region of Guntur is one of the best in providing excellent medical

and health care facilities on the east coast of India. It boasts of major medical facilities (super specialty hospitals) and related research

institutions. The General Hospital provides free health care to people

across the coastal districts. The Sankar Eye Hospital, Kugler Hospital (more than a century old), St. Joseph Hospital are few of many premier

hospitals in the region. A new medical facility VIMS is currently being

setup at Viswanagar to serve the people in the rural areas south-west of

the city.

Guntur trivia

Mica (Aubrakam in Telugu/Sanskrit) was first discovered

2200 years ago in Guntur region, happened to be by the Great Philosopher Acharya Nagarjuna.

Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen (1824-1907) discovered the existence of Helium in Guntur, in 1868, while

watching a complete solar eclipse. The unusual length of the eclipse, about ten minutes, had attracted many

scientists to view it.

The only Indian family on the Titanic was from Guntur.

Jinnah tower, a commemorative tower for Pakistan's founder

Muhammed Ali Jinnah is unique to Guntur in the whole of South Asia,

The article on The Hindu talks about the uniqueness.

The 30th Kalachakra International Festival took place at Amaravathi

of Guntur with the presence of Dalai Lama during January 2006.

Guntur is one of the textile hubs and a business districts of India.

The name of a dormant volcano near Guntur City is MangalaGiri,

which seems to have been kept under control through traditional means.

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