Krishna district

Krishna district, with its district headquarters at Machilipatnam was formerly called Machilipatnam district. Later it was renamed as Krishna district, by adding certain taluks of the Guntur district of united Andhra Pradesh in 1859. It was named after the Krishna River (also known as Krishnaveni in literature) the third longest river in India. The river flows through the district before it empties itself into Bay of Bengal, near Hamsaladevi village.[6]

A view of the famous Jaggayyapeta Buddhist stupa

The history of this region dates back to the 2nd century BCE. The area was ruled by the Satavahanas (230 BC – AD 227); Pallavas (AD 340 – AD 500), Chalukyas (AD 615 – 1070 AD) and later by Cholas, Kakatiyas, Musunuri Nayaks, Reddy dynasty and Gajapati kings of Odisha.[7]

Satavahana period (230 BC – AD 227): The Satavahanas ruled this region with headquarters at Srikakulam, at present a village in Ghantasala mandal of the district. Prominent rulers during this period were Srimukha (founder), Gotamiputra Satakarni and Yajnasri Satakarni (last Satavahana king). The Satavahanas imparted more stability and security to the life of the people of the region for more than four centuries.

Pallava Kingdom (AD 340 – AD 500), spread over from Krishna river to Tungabhadra, including Amaravati in the East, Bellary in the West and Kancheepuram in the South with capital cities at Venginagar near Eluru and Pithapuram, both in Vengidesa. Bruhitpalayanas, the contemporaries of Pallavas ruled the district with Koduru as their capital. Vishnukundinas (AD 6th century) rulers created cave temples at Mogalrajapuram (now in Vijayawada) and Undavalli.

Eastern chalukyas (AD 615 – AD 1070), the entire Andhra country was under the control of a single ruler under their reign. The Eastern Chalukyas were credited with the excavations of the cave temple at Undavalli and rock cut shrines and Shiva temples.[7]

Cholas ruled this region with capital at Rajamahendri. It was during Rajaraja Narendra's reign that Nannayya Bhattu translated the Mahabharata into Telugu. Kakatiyas ruled this region up to the early 14th century with Orugallu as their capital. They are followed by Musunuri Nayaks who rebelled against Delhi sultanate and won. Musunuri Nayaks constructed various forts in South India including Hampi and ruled many states of India independently. Reddy dynasty a subordinate of Musunuri Kapaya Naidu established himself in the hill fort of Kondaveedu. The Kondaveedu Reddis were great patrons of Telugu literature. The poet Srinadha and his brother-in-law Bammera Pothana flourished at his court. [7]

Gajapathis of Odisha: Kapileswarapuram named in honour of Kapileswara Gajapathi now in Pamidimukkala mandal exists to this day. He was succeeded by Vidyadhara Gajapathi who built Vidyadharapuram (now in Vijayawada) and constructed a reservoir at Kondapalli. Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara empire conquered this region in the early 16th century. Then this region became part of the Kingdom of Golconda which was founded by Sultan Quli Qutub Shah as part of the Qutb Shahis in 1512. Abu-l-Hussain Shah known as Tanisha was the last ruler of Qutab Shahi dynasty.[7]

Krishna district is surrounded on the east by Bay of Bengal, west by Guntur and Bapatla districts and north by Eluru and NTR districts and south by Bay of Bengal. The Krishna district occupies an area of 3,775 square kilometres (1,458 sq mi).[1] It has a total coastline of 88 km (55 mi).[12]

After reorganization the district had a population of 17,35,079, of which 482,513 (27.81%) live in urban areas. Krishna district has a sex ratio of 996 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 73.75%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 346,989 (20.00%) and 37,716 (2.17%) of the population respectively.[1]

Based on the 2011 census, 93.30% of the population spoke Telugu and 5.97% Urdu as their first language.[16]

The parliamentary constituency is Machilipatnam Lok Sabha constituency

It comprises the following legislative assembly segments:[17]

The district is divided into 3 revenue divisions: Gudivada, Machilipatnam and Vuyyuru, which are further subdivided into a total of 26 mandals, each headed by a sub-collector.[18]

There are one municipal corporation and four municipalities in the district.[20][21]

Source: Assembly segments of Parliamentary constituencies[17]

• Gurazada[22]
• Vadali[23]

Agriculture is the main stay of economy. paddy, is the main food crop cutivated. Based on 2019–20 data, the gross cropped area of the district was 3.76 Lakh Hectares of which gross irrigated area was 2.42 lakh Hectares.[24] Other products produced include sugarcane, mango, tomato, milk, meat and fisheries.

Dr.Gururaju Government Homoeo Medical college and Regional Research Institute for Homoeopathy are located in Gudivada. Krishna University is located in Machilipatnam.

A Kuchipudi dancer performing on stage

The culture of Krishna district is mostly traditional in rural places and moderately modern in Gudivada and Machilipatnam. It is also famous as the birthplace for Indian classical dance named Kuchipudi. The dialect of Telugu spoken in Krishna is widely considered to be the standard form of Telugu.[29]

Kabbadi is the most popular sport, followed by cricket, volleyball, badminton, basketball and tennis.

NTR Stadium is the main sports venue in Gudivada. It is used for several sports, like athletics, volleyball, cricket practice, kho kho, kabaddi, badminton, tennis and basketball.[30] It is also the stadium for Krishna District Cricket Association.

There are several places of tourist interest in the district. Some of them are given below.[31]

Srikakulandhra Maha Vishnu Temple

• Kolleru lake (Kaikaluru Mandal): largest freshwater lake
• Manginapudi beach: Natural beach
• Movva: Sri Movva Venugopala Swamy temple. Kshetrayya is said to have composed his famous lyrics here.
• Kuchipudi:the birth place of Siddhendra Yogi, the originator of the Kuchpudi dance
• Ghantasala: once upon a time, a port and a halting place for Buddhist pilgrims and merchants travelling from Kalinga to Ceylone. Hindu and Buddhist Sculptures can be seen here
• Srikakulam (Ghantasala Mandal): the historical capital of Andhra Empire of Goutamiputra Satakarni (AD 102–123). This is famous for the temple of Andhra Mahavishnu
• Hamsaladeevi(Koduru Mandal): river Krishna drains into the Bay of Bengal at this place.
• Gudivada: famous for Jain temple of Parswandha Swamy

• Kakarla Subba Rao was born in Pedamuttevi of Movva mandal and became the first director of Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad.
• Tripuraneni Ramaswamy born in Angaluru of Gudlavalleru mandal was a poet and social reformer.
• Kasinadhuni Nageswara Rao was born in Pesaramilli village of Gudlavalleu mandal, was the founder of (Andhra Patrika, first telugu newspaper and also company which manufactures ayurvedic pain balm called Amrutanjan. [
• [Pingali Venkayya]] was born in Bhatlapenumarru,near Machilipatnam, was a freedom fighter and was known as designer of Indian National Flag.
• Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu was born in Machilipatnam. He served as the first-ever captain of the Indian national cricket team.
• N. T. Rama Rao popularly referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and a Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He was born in Nimmakuru of Gudivada mandal.
• Narla Venkateswara Rao was a Telugu language writer, journalist and politician from Andhra Pradesh in India. He was Rajya Sabha member twice from 3 April 1958 to 2 April 1970, and wrote a satakam in Telugu along with several other books.
• Narla Tata Rao was a prominent person in the power sector of India and a former chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board. He was born in Kavutaram
• Patcha Ramachandra Rao was a distinguished metallurgist and administrator. He was born in Kavutaram in Krishna District

• Coastal Andhra

• Official website
• Mandals of Krishna district – Overpass turbo interactive map