Kadapa district
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Kadapa (previously Cuddapah) is one of the districts of Rayalaseema in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is named after its headquarters, the city of Kadapa. It had a population of 2,601,797 of which 22.59% were urban as of 2001. [1]
The famous devotional singer Annamacharya hails from this district. Kadapa is also famous for its Barytes mines and Kadapa Slabs.
Kadapa had historical importance since BC era. It was connected with Mouryans in BC era and Sathavahanas in the third century AD. It was part of the area ceded to the British by Nizam. The District was formed in the early nineteenth century during the British rule, thus it is one of the four ceded districts (Kadapa, Anantapuram, Kurnool and Chittoor), otherwise known as Rayalaseema, commemorating the name of Rayala, who ruled the area in 16th century. Gandikota fort located on the bank of Penna river was the citadel of Pemmasani Nayaks, commanders of Vijayanagar army and who won the battles of Raichur and Gulbarga for the Vijayanagar kings.
The old records of the district reveal that Kadapa previously called Gadapa which means in Telugu language threshold. The ancient village of Kadapa with its large tank and temple of Lord Venkateswara at Devuni Kadapa was convenient camping place for the pilgrims traveling to the holy shrine of Tirupathi. There was a belief that the pilgrims have to first visit Devuni Kadapa, before going to Tirupathi to pray of Saint Annamacharya and Saint Potluri Veera Brahmam who foretold about the future and advocated a classless society. The ancient temple at Vontimitta which inspired Pothana to compose Andhra Maha Bhagavatham is also in the district.
The main rivers in this district are Penna, Chitravathi, Kunderu, Papaghni, Sagileru and Cheyeru
Besides its historical importance, the district has occupied an important place in the industrial map of Andhra Pradesh with its highly valued rich mineral resources.
Black corson soil lands are 24%, black soil 19%, sandy soil lands 4%, red soil lands 25%. The first variety lands are very fertile. Sand soil lands are not so fertile. ‘Korra’, orange, lime and betel leaf are the special crops. They are cultivated near river beds. Starting at Sunkesula Dam on Tungabadra river Cuddapah-Kurnool (K.C) Canal flows through Cuddapah and Kurnool districts providing water to 40 km² of cultivable land. The main source of drinking water to this district is Galer-Nagari-Sujalasravanthi Canal.
This district is the repository of mineral wealth. As per the 1983 survey of geological survey of India 30lakh tons of lead, 74,000,000 tons of barytes, 27000tons asbestos deposits are there. It is estimated that 700lakh tons of barytes deposits might be there in Mangampet. There are clay deposits in Rajampet. This is used to make stone implements. Limestone is available in Yerraguntla, M/s. Coramandal Fertilizers established a cement factory with an annual yield of 10lakh tons. Bharat cement corporation increases its capacity to 10lakh tons. National mineral development corporation is extracting asbestos in Brahman palli and barieties in Mangampet. Kadapa is also famous for its stone called as "cuddapah stone" used in building construction and for slabs especially in the south India.
The forest area is 5,050 km². It is 32.87% of the district area. It is learnt that elephants required for Golconda army were supplied from here. In the northeast part of the district rainfall is high. Red sandalwood is available in plenty. This is the only area in India where red sandalwood is available. A National park is set up in Seshachalam hills for prospecting wild animals. 181 are employed in the only one paper industry in the district and its capital investment is Rs.227lakhs. There are mineral related industries and electrical instruments industries. Zuari Cements, India Cement Ltd, Corus India Ltd are the other industries.
Kadapa hosts the present chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Shri Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy
[edit] External links
- http://www.kadapa.in/
- http://www.kadapa.info/
- http://cuddapah.ap.nic.in/
- Profile from AP Govt. website
- http://www.rayalaseema.in
Andhra Pradesh Topics | History | Politics | Telugu people |
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Capital | Hyderabad |
Districts | Adilabad • Anantapur • Chittoor • East Godavari • Guntur • Hyderabad • Kadapa • Karimnagar • Khammam • Krishna • Kurnool • Mahbubnagar • Medak • Nalgonda • Nellore • Nizamabad • Prakasam • Rangareddi • Srikakulam • Visakhapatnam • Vizianagaram • Warangal • West Godavari |
Major cities | Anantapur • Adoni • Chittoor • Kadapa • Eluru • Guntur • Kakinada • Karimnagar • Khammam • Kurnool • Machilipatnam • Nandyal • Nalgonda • Nellore • Nizamabad • Ongole • Proddatur • Ramagundam • Rajahmundry • Sangareddi • Secunderabad • Srikakulam • Tirupati • Vijayawada • Vizianagaram • Visakhapatnam • Warangal |
the district administration has recently launched a web site http://kadapa.ap.nic.in . This is an interesting web site which gives a lot information about Kadapa district.