Kurnool

Kurnool (Telugu: కర్నూలు) is a city in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh state in southern India, about 212 kilometres (132 mi) south of state capital, Hyderabad. It is the administrative seat of the district. Kurnool is the gateway to Rayalaseema and the largest city in the area, with a population around 329122. From 1 October 1953 to 31 October 1956, Kurnool was the capital of Andhra State. It has many educational institutions and is also a major hub for banking and insurance companies.

కర్నూలు Kurnool
—  city  —
కర్నూలు Kurnool Location of కర్నూలు Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh and India
Coordinates	15.83°N 78.05°ECoordinates: 15.83°N 78.05°E
Country	India
State	Andhra Pradesh
District(s)	Kurnool
Population	329,122 (2009)
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	• 274 metres (899 ft)

Name

There are many theories about the origin of the name Kurnool.

According to A Manual of the Kurnool District in the Presidency of Madras, (Narahari Gopalakristnamah Chetty, 1886), the name Kurnool is derived from Kandenavolu or Kandanavolu (a Telugu name by which it is referred to in the inscriptions and literature of the past), pronounced as karnooluu. According to the legend, in the time of the Western Chalukyas of Badami in the 11th century AD, the Vadderas who carted stones for the construction of the temples at Alampur (also known as Dakshina Kasi in Mahaboobnagar District), used the site on which the city now stands as a resting place before crossing the Tungabhadra. Here, they greased their cart-wheels with oil, which was supplied by some of the local oil mongers. They called the place Kandenametta.

The strategic position led to the formation of a small settlement on the spot which subsequently came to be known as Kandenapalli, Kandenolu and Kandenavolu, the city of Kandena or grease. The site which was used as a halting place by the Vadderas in those days is still known as Bandla Metta (Bandla means carts and Metta means headquarters or halting place). Today this is a street in the Old Kurnool city. Now this place name has become to "Bandimetta".

In some of the inscriptions, Kurnool is referred to as Kannadu or Karu Nadu with Karu meaning black and Nadu meaning territory.

Other scholars argue that Kurnool derived its name from Kallu which means stone and Nadu which means territory. Yet others say the name Kurnool has been derived from Skandanavolu, the city ofSkanda or Kumaraswamy. The worship of Skanda in Andhra Pradesh dates back to ancient times. The cities were also named after Skanda, the chief God of War of the Devas.

History

Villages have existed at this site for more than 2,000 years.

The Chinese traveller Xuanzang, on his way to Kanchi, came through Kurnool.

Aurangazeb, the last Mogul King to rule India, conquered the Deccan in 1687 and left his governors, the Nizams, to rule the Andhra centres of Hyderabad and Kurnool. Both the Nizam of Hyderabad and Nawab of Kurnool declared independence and became sole rulers of their territories. Nawab Alaf Khan Bahadur was the first ruler of Kurnool and his descendants ruled it for over 200 years. In the early 18th century, the Nawabs merged with the sultan of Mysore and fought the British Empire.

Konda Reddy Buruju

There is a bastian named Konda Reddy Buruju, constructed as a strategic watch tower by the rulers of the Vijayanagara Empire.

There is an underground passage (tunnel) from this buruju to Gadwal which is 52 km away. The speciality of this tunnel is it crosses under the river Tungabhadra. Stories tell that the ruler of Gadwal Kingdom utilised this tunnel to escape from the Muslim conquerors in 17th century. The Govt of A.P. closed the tunnel somewhere around 1950's.

Political administration

It is the headquarters of the mandal, the revenue division and the district of the same name. From 1 October 1953 to 31 October 1956, Kurnool was also the capital of Andhra State (not Andhra Pradesh), which was carved out of Madras State in 1953. Tangutoori Prakasam Pantulu was the chief minister of Andhra pradesh during this time. The present day District court buildings were the premisses of state Assembly.

Geography and climate

Kurnool Period - 1951-2000
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D   0   29 18   1   33 20   4   36 23     25   38 25     41   39 25     86   34 23     145   31 22     140   31 22     170   31 22     115   31 22     13   29 19     7   28 17 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: [1] IMD
[show]Imperial conversion

Kurnool is located at 15.8333°N 78.05°E.^[1] It has an average elevation of 273 metres (898 feet).

Kurnool lies on the banks of the Tungabhadra River. The Handry and Neeva rivers also flow through the city. The K.C. Canal (Kurnool–Kadapa) was built by the Dutch for trasportation, and later sold and converted to irrigational purpose.

The climate is tropical with temperatures ranging from 26°C to 45°C in the summer and 12°C to 31°C in the winter. The average annual rainfall is about 30 inches (762 mm).

Education

Permission to setup Rayalaseema University was granted by the University Grants Commission (UGC). G Pulla Reddy College of Engineering & Technology established in 1985 is one of the oldest private engineering colleges in the region.^{[citation needed]} In addition, Kurnool has a dental College, two Polytechnics, Sri Krishnadevaraya University Post Graduate Center, Govt. Pharmacy College, degree colleges for men and women, M.B.A. college, M.C.A. colleges, four colleges of Education (B.Ed) and a law college. Government of Andhra Pradesh established the first residential degree college "Silver Jubilee College" in 1972 at Kurnool In addition to G Pulla Reddy Engineering College and Brindavan Institute of Technology and Science, Kurnool had 10 more new engineering colleges.

Transportation

Kurnool is considered as the Gateway of Rayalaseema as one must pass through Kurnool to reach Kadapa or Chittor or Anantapur districts while travelling from Hyderabad. Kurnool is connected to most cities and towns in Andhra Pradesh as well as to Bangalore and Chennai by the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) and the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). National Highway 7 connects Kurnool toHyderabad (210 km, 4.5 hours), Anantapur (140 km, three hours), Hindupur {245 km, 5.5 hours} and Bangalore (360 km).The National Highway 18 Kurnool-Chittore connects the city to Panem,Nanydal,Ahobilam,Mahanandi(nearest to the highway),Maidukuru,Cuddapah,Rayachoty and Pileru,Chittore.

Kurnool lies on the Hyderabad – Guntakal/ Gooty railway line. There are also frequent passenger trains to Hyderabad, Delhi, Chennai, Tirupati, Guntur, Jaipur, Madurai, Shirdi and Bangaluru. The four railway stations in Kurnool District are Kurnool Town, Adoni, Nandyala and Dhone junction. Adoni is on the Chennai-Mumbai Railway Line and several trains run daily to these cities and New Delhi. Nandyal is on the Guntakal -Vijayawada Line and has daily trains to Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bengaluru, Vishakhapatnam and Howrah. Dhone junction is situated on the Gooty -Secunderabad Line as well as the Hubli-Vijayawada Line. All the trains which pass through Nandyal and Kurnool pass through this junction.

The nearest airport is Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, at Hyderabad, three and half hours drive from Kurnool City.