History of Guntur

The earliest known reference to Guntur was from the Idern plates of Ammaraja I, dated
between 922–929 CE. He was a Vengi Chalukyan king. Amaravati Mahachaitya stupa in
Guntur district was built between the 2nd century BCE and the 3rd century CE. The
inscriptions on the stones in the Agastyeshwara temple are in 'Naga Lipi', which is an
ancient script and date back to 1100 CE. It is one of the most famous temples in the
city. The ‘Nagas’ were believed to have ruled the area during that time. The region is
known for Buddhism and the first Kalachakra ceremony is said to have been performed
by Gautama Buddha himself. The town of Sitanagaram and the Guttikonda caves are
referred in the ancient Hindu texts, the Vedic Puranas. In medieval times, the French
shifted their headquarters to Guntur, in 1752, due to abundance of water from two
large tanks. In fact, the Sanskrit name Guntur was ‘Garthapuri’, which means ‘tank
village’. Before the arrival of the British, the area was ruled by the Nizams and Hyder
Ali. The opening of a railway link, in 1890, made it a major market for agriculture
produce. After India’s independence, the city was expanded further.

chaibisket.com

9 Things You Probably Did Not Know About Guntur District!

Bisket Vidya

3 minutes

Guntur for the history, culture and the people that it packs always manages to stay in the news.
The most recent being a part of this district being named the capital city of the new state of
Andhra Pradesh. While it does indeed need to be in focus for that reason, there are a whole
bunch of things about that left us amazed. These were what we found.

1. Amaravathi, that has been in the news for being the capital city of the new Andhra
Pradesh, has more to it. Amaravati has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for
HRIDAY – Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government
of India.
Source: Auro Works

2. Guntur was originally mentioned in the Vedic scriptures around the Treta Yuga by the
name of Sitapuram. Its oldest historic mention was around 500 BC.
Brahmi Script in Guntur
Source: Wikipedia

3. Guntur District is home to the second oldest evidence of human habitation in India, in
the form of Palaeolithic (old stone age) implements.
Source: storyglitz

4. Who doesn’t know Tenali Ramakrishna?! Guess where he’s from? Yep, he’s from
Guntur too. Now you see, where all the vetakaaram comes from?

Source: Wikipedia

5. In India, maximum chillies are produced in Andhra Pradesh, of which Guntur district
stands to be the highest in production. Its chillies are exported all around the world to Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh, Middle East, South Korea, U.K. and USA & Latin America.
Source: Source: Wikipedia

6. The famous battle of Palnadu which is enshrined in legend and literature as Palnati
Yuddham was fought in Guntur district in 1180 CE.

Nayakuralu Nagamma of Palnati Yuddham

Source: andhrabulletin

7. The Undavalli Caves, a monolithic example of Indian rock-cut architecture and one of
the finest testimonials to ancient Vishwakarma Sthapathis, are located in Undavalli of
Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Source: wondermondo

8. Kotappakonda is a holy hill, situated in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is

famous for the temple of Lord Siva which is constructed on it with a stairway of about 1000
steps. Legend says that you won’t find crows in this place.
Source: The Hindu

9. Pierre Jules César Janssen, a French astronomer was partly credited with discovering
the element helium, based on the observations he made when he was in Guntur in 1868.
Source: wired

We’re sure there’s more to this district! Tell us if we missed anything!