Home Home Town - Vijayawada
History | Sightseeing Places | Places around the City |
Festivals | How to Reach | Tourist Information |
Temperature & Rainfall |Altitude | Population | Best Season |
State|STD Code |Distance Chart.
Scroll down
Description/ History
VIJAYAWADA is often considered the true gateway to the south. Lying in the midst of the Telugu heartland, the city today remains true to its age old character.
Vijayawada or the "City of Victory" as it literally translates is called
so as it was here or so it is believed that Arjuna, the Pandava Prince
was rewarded for his penance, which he did on Indrakiladri Hill. Today,
with excellent communications, perhaps the best in the South where railways are concerned, Vijayawada is looking forward to an exciting future.
The most business city of the Coastal Andhra, Vijayawada on the
banks of the holy river krishna attracts many piligrims as well for its
temple dedicated to Durge. The city is also a base for visiting the
Buddhist excavations at Amaravati, which is less than 70 km away. Also accessible from Vijayawada are the towns of Kuchipudi, Mangalagiri and Kondapalli which are famous for dance, temple and handicrafts respectively.So altogether Vijayawada presents a colourful and varied picture and can be termed as a business cum pilgrim cum tourist centre.
Vijayawada has a BusStand which stands SECOND in its size & flow in the ASIA.The country's most important railway junction, it has a tradition for hospitality that was lent to it as early as the time of VIJAYANAGAR empire, and later reinforced under the QUTUB SHAHI rulers, when it was an important inland port.
The birth of VIJAYAWADA is traced in Hindu mythology. According to legend,ARJUN, third of the PANDAVA brothers, prayed on top of INDRAKILA HILL here to LORD SHIVA, and was blessed victorious. His victory (Vijay) gave the settlement its name. The presiding deity of of the city, KANAKDURGA, is also locally called VIJAYA.
The city was visited by HIEUN TSANG, the indefatigable Chinese
traveller-chronicler on his journey through INDIA. Remains of its past,
preserved in the cave temples, are reminders of the importance of
VIJAYAWADA over the ages. Many religions have flourished in its environs.AMARAVATI, after the fall of the MAURAN empire, became the largest centreof Buddhism in south INDIA under the SATVAHANAS. ADI SHANKARA blessed the city by installing a SRICHAKRA at the temple.
Sightseeing Places
KANAKADURGA TEMPLE :
This temple is synonymous with VIJAYAWADA. ADI SHANKARA is believed to have installed the "SRI CHAKRA" here.
AKKANA AND MADANNA CAVES :
On the way to the KANAKA DURGA TEMPLE are the rock-cut caves dedicated to AKKANA and MADANNA, who were ministers in the court of ABDUL HASAN TANASHAH in the 17th century.
PRAKASAM BARRAGE :
Named after the first chief minister of the state, the 1223 mt long
modern regulator & road bridge across river KRISHNA was completed in 1957.
GANDHI HILL :
The tallest structure on the VIJAYAWADA skyline is 15.8 mt high
GANDHI STUPA is located on GANDHI HILL. Unveiled in 1968, the STUPA was erected in memory of MAHATMA GANDHI.
UNDAVALLI CAVES :
Situated 8km from VIJAYAWADA, these caves were built in the 7th century A.D.The main attraction of these cave temples is the 5mt long reclining statue of LORD VISHNU sculpted from a single block of granite.
MOGALARAJAPURAM CAVES :
Of the 3 cave temples dating back to 5th century, only 1 is intact
containing the idols of NATRAJA & VINAYAK KONDAPALLY (12 km) famous for its handcrafted wood & MANGALAGIRI (12 km) famous for the temple of LORD NARSIMHA are interesting excursions.
MUSEUMS & ART GALLERIES: Victoria Jubilee Regional Museum, Bunder Road.
Parks
Places Around the City
KONDAPALLI :
16 kms, a small village famous for its handcrafted wooden toys.
There is also a 7th century fort originally built by the founder
of the KONDAVEETI REDDY dynasty.
MANGALAGIRI :
12 kms, is famous for the temple of NARASIMHA, one of the incarnation of LORD VISHNU.
ITEM :-
Kondapalli wooden toys, Kamalkari printed textiles, Hand printed silk
and cotton sarees, bags and upholstery etc.
Festivals
KRISHNA PUSHKARAM takes place every 12 year, when thousands of devotees come to bathe in the holy waters of the KRISHNA RIVER.
DUSHERRA celebrated at LORD MALLESHWARA TEMPLE.
TOURIST INFORMATION OFFICES :
APTTDC Tourist Information Centre, Krishnaveni Motel,Sitanagaram,TEL:75382.
Andhra Pradesh Tourism Counter, APSRTC Bus Stand,Machilipatnam Road,TEL:61220
Foreigner's Regional Registration Office, Supdt.of Police,Bandar Road,TEL:77772
Altitude : 125 metres.
Temparature (deg C): Summer- Max 45, Min 28; Winter- Max 32, Min 18.
STATE & STD CODE
ANDHRA PRADESH && 011- 91 - 866 - xx "International Calling"
0866 - xxxxxx "Std calling"
Best Season
September To February.
HOW TO GET THERE:
Air : Vijayawada is connected to Hyderabad & Rajamundary by Vayudoot services. Fare: Vijaywada - Hyderabad Rs.965/-
Rail: Vijayawada is connected by rail with most parts of the Country.
Road: Good motorable roads connects Vijaywada with major cities in India. Some distances are Amaravati (66 km), Bhubaneswar (792 km),
Bombay (1010 km), Calcutta (1245 km), Delhi (1724 km),
Hyderabad (271km), Madras (433 km), Rajahmundhry (167 km),
Tirupati (380 km), Vishakapatnam (366 km), Warangal (253 km) etc.
Bus Services: Regular bus services from Amaravati, Annavaram, Guntur,Kodad, Hyderabad, Kakinada, Machilipatnam, Madras, Nellore, Suryapet,Rajahmundhry, Tirupati, Tuni, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Warangal amongst other places connect Vijayawada.
Local Transport
Coaches: Contact the Transport Unit, Andhra Pradesh Travel and Tourism Development Corporation, Motel Krishnaveni, Guntur Road, Near Prakasam Barrage, Sitanagaram, Tel: 63270. Tourist Taxis, Metered Taxis, Autorickshaws, Cycle Rickshaws available.
City Bus Services: The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) operates point to point bus services which connect importantplaces within the city with each other.
EXCURSIONS
Agripalli (40 km.) Amaravati (66km.), Chilkalapudi (71 km.),
Gudivada (45 km.) Hamsala Deevi (85 km.) Kandapalli (16 km.),
Kuchipudi (60 km.) Mangalagiri (12 km.) Manginapuri (83 km.).
Distance Chart from Vijayawada
to over Hundreds of Cities & Towns (Highways in Kms)
CITY DISTANCE CITY DISTANCE CITY DISTANCE
Agartala 2928 Guntur 32 Nellore 224
Agra 1563 Gurgaon 1759 Panaji 873
Ahmedabad 1475 Guwahati 2290 Paradwip 931
Aizawl 2554 Gwalior 1372 Pathankot 1830
Ajmer 1829 Haldia 1232 Patna 1626
Akola 766 Hasan 740 Pondicherry 593
Aligarh 1646 Hissar 1862 Porbandar 1869
Allahabad 1423 Hubli 586 Pune 815
Ambala 1957 Hyderabad 267 Purulia 1274
Amritsar 2212 Imphal 2774 Raipur 965
Asansol 1380 Indore 1127 Rajkot 1691
Aurangabad 821 Jabalpur 951 Rameswaram 1020
Bhaktiyarpur 1593 Jaipur 1623 Ranchi 1363
Bangalore 633 Jaisalmer 2002 Ranipettai 540
Barauni 1704 Jalandhar 2129 Raurkela 1140
Barddhaman 1295 Jammu 2348 Rohtak 1760
Bareilly 1775 Jamnagar 1777 Sagar 1077
Belgaum 780 Jhamshedpur 1201 Saharanpur 1896
Bellary 476 Jhansi 1275 Salem 754
Bhagalpur 1608 Jodhpur 1782 Sambalpuri 992
Bhavnagar 1662 Jorhat 2593 Shahjahanpur 1734
Bhopal 1039 Kakinada 223 Siliguri 1815
Bhubaneshwar 807 Kandla 1840 Shillong 2390
Bikaner 2062 Kanniyakumari 1111 Shimla 2108
Bilaspur 1031 Kanpur 1489 Shivpuri 1350
Calcutta 1248 Kochi 1112 Silchar 2616
Chandigarh 2003 Kohima 2629 Solapur 572
Chennai 396 Kohlapur 819 Srinagar 2641
Chittardurga 604 Kota 1381 Surat 1184
Coimbatore 919 Kozhikode 988 Thane 957
Cuttack 832 Krishnagiri 690 Thanjavur 770
Dehru Dun 1944 Kurnool 319 Thiruvananthapuram 1136
Delhi 1766 Lucknow 1566 Thrissur 1033
Dhanbad 1357 Ludhiana 2070 Trichchirappalli 744
Dhule 964 Madurai 872 Tirunelveli 1026
Dibrugarh 2729 Mangalore 980 Tirupati 409
Dimapur 2564 Meerut 1701 Tuticorin 1007
Dindigul 823 Moradabad 1763 Udaipur 1659
Durgapur 1420 Motihari 1792 Ujjain 1225
Ganganagar 2027 Mumbai 978 Ulhasnagar 951
Gangtok 1929 Muzaffarnagar 1752 Vadodara 1303
Gaya 1581 Muzaffarpur 1807 Varanasi 1417
Ghaziabad 1784 Mysore 772 Vishakhapatnam 382
Ghazipur 1489 Nagpur 687 Warangal 237
Gorakhpur 1657 Nanded 551
Gulbarga 481 Nashik 1017