Srikakulam

: "For the Srikakulam village in krishna district, see Ghantasala (town)" Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Srikakulam
type = city
latd = 18.3 | longd = 83.9
locator_position = left
state_name = Andhra Pradesh
district = Srikakulam
leader_title =
leader_name =
altitude = 10
population_as_of = 2001
population_total = 109,666
population_density =
area_magnitude= sq. km
area_total =
area_telephone =
postal_code = 532 001
vehicle_code_range =
sex_ratio =
unlocode =
website =
footnotes =

Srikakulam (Telugu - శ్రీకాకుళం) is a town, municipality and headquarters of Srikakulam district in the north-eastern Andhra Pradesh, India. With the same name there is a "Srikakulam Assembly constituency" and a "Srikakulam Parliament Constituency'". Srikakulam-municipality. Srikakulam was formerly called as Gulshanabad (Garden city) during muslim rule and was headquarter of muslim fauzdars. It was renamed as Chicacole by British colonial rulers and after independence, it was renamed as Srikakulam.

There are two places with the same name in the state. A district and town by the same name on the north east corner of the state as well as a small village on the bank of river Krishna in Ghantasala (Mandal) of Krishna district. The village Srikakulam houses the Andhra MahaVishnu temple. Legend says that this temple was constructed by the great Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Kingdom.

History

This region of Andhra Pradesh was part of Kalinga region at fist and later a part of Gajapati kingdom of Orissa up to mediaeval period.It was in the 'Kutubshahi' ruling in 1687 Srikakulam (Gulshanabad) was a village and formed as fauzdhari-center for their money transactions for the areas of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Vishakhapatnam, and some parts of Orissa. The word Gulshanabad derives from Persian words GulistanGulshan that means Rose garden and abad (creation). It was developed as town in the Muslim ruling, even today you can find more than 10,000 muslims living in this town following their culture,tradition and values. Srikakulam has also been head quarter for revenue collection under Nizam state of Hyderabad since 1707. Nizams of Hyderabad assigned Gulshanabad (Srikakulam), Rajahmundry, Eluru and Mustafanagar (Kondapalli) districts to French India in 1953. French imperialists were driven out from these districts by British imperialists in 1756 during Anglo-French wars. In 1759 the Fauzdhari ruling was ended and British ruling started, and Srikakulam town has been made part of Ganjam district and Palakonda and Rajam areas were included in Vizag district in the undivided Madras province. In 1936 the combined Madras-Orissa state was divided to Madras and Orissa and Parlakimidi Taluk was separated from combined Madras state, hence the Srikakulam was remained as Srikaklam taluk, Srikakulam town as Srikakulam municipality since 1857 under British rule. In 1947 after Indian independence, many including Potti Sriramulu fought for separate Andhra State. In 1948 many demanded for Srikakulam district as it was in combined vizag district. First 'chintada' village was proposed as district head-quarter by some central leaders. It was on 17 July 1950, a representation was given by Challa Narasimhu naidu, Pullela Vemkataramanayya (P.V. Ramanayya) to the then Revenue Minister H. Sitaramareddy on his visit to this area, and requested to select Srikakulam as District head-quarters at his camp office in Vizianagaram. Minister H. Sitaramareddy personally saw some places in srikakulam for selection. Then MLA of this area Garemalla Kumaraswami gave a speech on the dias of the meeting arranged on honour of the minister indicating that many important towns and capitals in the world were situated on the banks of rivers like England (Thames River), Srirangam (Kaveri), Agra (Yamuna), Kashi (Ganga), Rajamundry (Godavari), Vijayawada (Krishan) etc., and for Srikakulam it is Nagavali and convinced the minister Sitaramareddy. Along with Rokkam Ramamurty, Pullela Venkataramanyya (P.V. Ramanayya), Pasagada Suryanarayana, Baratam Venkataramanayya, Mangu Raghavarao followed Garemella Kumaraswami as group to convince and represent the request memorandum. The minister decided and selected Srikakulam as head-quarters after reaching Madras then state capital. Kimidi Kalavenkatarao ex-revenue minister in the combined Madras state had done a lot for formation of this District, who was the grandfather of present Vunukuru MLA Kalavenkatarao. On 15 August 1950, at about 4.00 p.m. the district was announced with Srikakulam town as headquarters and with three revenue divisions Palakonda, Srikakulam and Tekkali. At first, Parvatipuram revenue division was part of Srikakulam district and later transferred to Vizianagaram district. Mr. Night was the then collector in the combined Vizag Srikakulam and Mr. Janab Shek Ahammadh appointed as first district collector for separated Srikakulam. On 3 January 1951, the first District Board was formed and Rokkam Laxmi Narasimha Dora was elected as president.

Important temples and places of worship

*Suryanarayana Swamy Alayam (Arasavilli) [http://www.arasavallisungod.org/] [ http://www.greattemples.com/arasavalli.php ]
*Koteswara swamy Alayam (Gudiveedi)
*Santhosimata Alayam (Patha Srikakulam)
*Venkateswara swami Alayam (Gujaratipeta)
*Kodanda ramaswami Alayam (Krishna park)
*Ayyappa swami Alayam (Aidvaaram peta)
*Ragavendra Swami alayam (Aidvaaram peta)
*Jamma Masjid (G.T road)
*Ilyaspur Mosque (Near irrigation office)
*Roshansha vali Dargah(Chouk bazaar)
*Kaling Madeena baba ki dargah(Kalingapatnam)

rikakulam Municipality

Srikakulam municipality Town has a population of 109,666 (agglomeration 117,066) (2006 census).

River Nagavali flows through Srikakulam town. There is also a historical old bridge on river Nagavaly in the town that was constructed by British colonial rulers in 1854 and still in use but restricted for light vehicles.There are another Two bridges one at Day & Night Junction and other for one-way traffic at Kottaroad junction. Srikakulam town is surrounded by many villages and people daily come for work from different sides by walk or by cycling, and it needs another walking bridge at Collector's Bunglow to facilitate good traffic for the walkers. Srikakulam town is located at (lat: $18^mathrm\{o\}$18' N, lon: $83^mathrm\{o\}$54' E). Srikakulam was also capital of Muslim kings. Ruined tombs of Muslim kings are still seen in Srikakulam town. This is the biggest municipality of the four municipalities of the district. It has the history of 150 years . At present it has 36 wards

Population

Medical

*The district headquarters hospital is the biggest hospital with 400 bed strength.
*A medical college for this district is under construction in this town.
*There is a dental college for the district is in this town at Chaparam NH5 road.
*There is a homeo medical hospital and an Ayurvedic hospital
*Five maternity/community health centers: one under municipality & four under voluntary organizations
*Many private hospitals, clinics and nursing homes are present.
*one Blood Bank in the Town and 3 extension all over the district.

Judicial

Of 19 courts in the District, only two are present in the town: a District court and a Municipal Bench court. About 75 lawyers and one law college are present in the municipal area.

Police

There are three police stations in the town: 1-Town, 2-Town, and Mahila Police Station. There is one rural police-station at Peddapadu, which serves rural mandalam. All the district police officers reside in the town.

Transport

RTC bus complex has two depots that provide service to almost all villages around Srikakulam Town. Every 20 minutes there are non-stop buses to Visakhapatnam from 5.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. and every 15 minutes there are express buses from 5.30 a.m. to 10.15 p.m.

For Vizianagaram there buses for every 30 minutes from 5.00 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. For Palakonda there are buses for every 30 minutes from 6.00 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. To Narasannapeta there are buses every 10 minutes round the clock up to Icchapuram and to some parts of Orissa.

Srikakulam town is proximate to railway station. Srikakulam Road station located at Amadalavalasa railhead of Srikakulam town. In 2006 a reservation counter at municipal office was opened. Many trains to the north (Palasa, Howrah, and Bhubaneswar) and south (Vijayawada, Secundearabad, and Chennai) leave from here. Many taxis and autorickshaws are available from Srikakulam to reach the railway station. RTC and private busses are also available for every 5 minutes from Srikakulam Road railway station to Srikakulam RTC Complex and old bus stand. There is a railway overpass at Amadalavalasa to facilitate the land vehicles movements.

Parks

*1.Gandhi park .. Palakonda road opposite DM&HO office
*2.Santhinagar park .. Santhinagar
*3.River view Park .. Gudiveedhi
*4.Indira Gandhi Park .. Gunapalem
*5.HousingBoard colony Park .. Oldsrikakulam.
*6.Chinnabaratam veedhi park
*7.PSN colony park
*8.Hudco colony park

ports

*Stadium.. Near Arts college road.
*Swimming pool(maintained by sports authority).. Santhinagar, Behind arts college.

References

*Book : Discover District series(A.P) / Om Art Print - Vijayawada-520002._A.P(India)
*Personal Collection / Dr.Seshagirirao-MBBS,Srikakulam Town.

Gallery

[http://picasaweb.google.com/seshagiriraovandana/SrikakulamPhotoGallery Srikakulam Photo Gallery]

ee also

* Srikakulam District
* Srikakulam (Assembly Constituency)

External links

* [http://dr.seshagirirao.tripod.com/id2.html Telugu Festivals]
* [http://srikakulam.ap.nic.in Srikakulam District Collectorate]
* [http://srikakulammedical.info Srikakulam Medical information]
* [http://picasaweb.google.com/seshagiriraovandana/SrikakulamPhotoGallery Srikakulam Photo Gallery]
* [http://www.srikakulam.org Srikakulam.org]
* [http://www.srikakulamonline.com/blog SrikakulamOnline.com Blog]
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/2/Srikakulam.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Srikakulam]
* [http://www.srikakulamtoday.com SrikakulamToday.com]
* [http://www.arasavallisungod.org/ Website of Arasavalli temple]
* [http://www.hotelnagavali.com/ Website of Hotel Nagavali]