Etymology
- A legend narrated that during Dwapara Yuga Arjuna performed penance for Lord Shiva's Darshan, to gain Pasupathashtra in this location,. Lord Shiva, along with Goddess Parvathi, appeared in the form of tribal people and blessed Arjuna with the weapon, after a small fiasco.
- Another legend stated that Goddess Durga rested here after killing a Rakshasa (Demon) and since she was victorious (Vijaya), the place got its name as Vijayawada.
- One another legend stated that this place was earlier known as Vijaya-vatica, which translates to "Land of Victory" but this became "Vijayawada" over the ages.
- One another legend stated "Goddess Krishnaveni" (River Krishna) has request Arjuna to make a passage in order to merge into Bay of Bengal. Arjuna made a hole (Bezam) through mountains. Hence the name Bejjamwada has come into existence. Later on bejjamwada become Bezawada over a peroid of time. In 19th century Bezawada was renamed to Vijayawada. Vijayawada was once part of Vijayanagar dynasty (Sri Krishna Devaraya).
[edit] Geography
The topology of Vijayawada is plain lands in between small to medium sized hills. The Krishna River runs through the city. These hills are part of the eastern ghats cut through by the Krishna river. They also have very low elevation compared to the average elevation of the ghats. Three canals originating from the north side of the Prakasham barrage reservoir namely Eluru, Bandar and Ryves run through the city. Vijayawada is the only city in the world with two rivers, Krishna,Budameru, and three canals. Another canal Buckingham canal originates from the south side of the reservoir. Due to the presence of the Krishna river the soil around here is very fertile and cultivated intensively.
The climate is hot to hottest in summers ranging from 17°C to 47°C with lot of humidity. Winters are mild and pleasant with temperatures from 10°C to 30°C. Vijayawada gets its rainfall from both the south-west monsoon and north-east monsoon. It's nicknamed "Blazewada" for its scorching summer heat.
[edit] Economy
The region around the city has fertile soil and irrigation is supported by river Krishna and its canals. Major crops include sugarcane, paddy and Mango. Vijayawada is famous for automobile body building, garment, iron and hardware small scale industries. Small scale automotive industries 'Jawahar Autonagar', was the largest automobile township in Asia for sometime. The main markets are situated in the old city, formerly called One Town and Kaleswara Rao Market area. It is estimated that nearly INR 10 crores of garment business takes place in the Vastralatha building alone in the One Town on a daily basis. Garments are mainly sold in Besant Road and Governor Pet, but now this activity is also happening in the malls that have come up in Labbipet and M.G. Road areas. The city is also famous for different kinds of wholesale business. They include garments, iron market, pulses, cereals, and other edible products, fancy markets, fertilizers, mango exports, pharma, metal and so on. The city is one of busiest and crowded places due to its strong commercial hold in the entire state. Vijaywada is called the 'Commerce Hub' of the state, for it provides the right environ for all the agricultural and industrial goods to be transported in/out and traded in one single place.
Vijayawada is the busiest railway junction in South India, and is second biggest junction in India and only railway station to have escalators after New Delhi. The fact that Vijayawada is well connected through railways keeps it the main hub of commercial activities.
[edit] Civic administration
The city of Vijayawada is run by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation [1]. It is run by elected representatives and a commissioner. The city is divided into 59 wards and each ward elects a corporator. A mayor is elected for the entire city. The commissioner who is a (IAS) officer is appointed by the state government. It has a dedicated Sub-Collector's office for Administration of State and Central Government Programmes. The Vijayawada City Police is headed by a Police Commissioner, who is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
[edit] Transport
Vijayawada is an important link in connecting the three regions of Andhra Pradesh and is a major transit point. Two National Highways, the National Highway 5 from Chennai to Calcutta and the National Highway 9 from Machilipatnam to Mumbai pass through the city connecting it to other parts of the country.Another National highway 221 connects the city to jagdalpur in madhyapradesh state. It is connected to other areas of the state, by state highways and district roads.
Air - The domestic airport located at Gannavaram, about 16-km, from the city connects Vijayawada to Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore. Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines are the two airlines flying to and from Vijayawada.
Rail - Situated along the Chennai- Howrah and Chennai-Delhi rail route, Vijayawada is the largest railway junction of the South Central Railway. There are a number of express and super fast trains that connect Vijayawada with almost all the important places of the country.
Road - Good motorable roads connect Vijayawada with all the places within the state and also with the major cities in India. Transport by road from Vijayawada to all the places of interest is available in the form of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) buses. There are huge number of buses that run between Vijayawada and Hyderabad 24 hours-a-day and 365 days-a-year, unlike the rest of transportation in the state.
State run city buses (APSRTC), motor driven auto(rickshaw)s and manual driven (cycle)rickshaws are the major means of transport in Vijayawada. Private lorries (trucks), cars and two-wheelers (motorcycles and scooters) abound as well. Public and private bus operators provide transport services to various parts of the country. Vijayawada also has one of the biggest bus terminals in the country, Pandit Nehru Bus Terminal in Vijayawada is an important link in connecting the three regions of Andhra Pradesh, biggest in Asia and is a major transit point. Two National Highways, No. 5 from Chennai to Kolkata and the No. 9 from Machilipatnam to Pune pass through the City connecting it to other parts of the country. It is connected to other areas of the state by State highways and district roads. Vijayawada is also one of the busiest railway junctions in India and the biggest in South India. It is also called the "City that never sleeps" with reference to railways.[2] The domestic airport[3] located at Gannavaram, connects Vijayawada to Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Chennai and Bangalore by air.[4]A new deep water port is under construction at machilipatnam replacing historical anchorage port which is about 65 km from city.[5]
[edit] Demographics
Vijayawada is the third largest city in Andhra Pradesh after Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, .According to 2001 census, the population of the city is 16,57,083 and it is spread around 110 km2 and population of agglomeration is 18,39,518 and spread in an area of 210.14 km2.
[edit] Culture
[edit] Education
Vijayawada occupies a prominent place in the educational map of Andhra Pradesh. Vijayawada is a hot destination for students aspiring to reach great heights in their careers.
Vijayawada, also called as "Vidyalawada" (Place of Education) occupies a prominent place in the educational map of Andhra Pradesh. NTR University of Health Sciences is located in Vijayawada. The city was named as "The Educational Sahara" by a foreign ambassador.
[edit] Media
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Vijayawada being an important commerce and cultural centre of the Andhra's the city is busy with all most all the media Print & electronic present here.
[edit] Radio
The FM radio channels broadcast in the city include AIR Rainbow Krishnaveni FM (102.2 MHz), Radio Mirchi FM (98.3 MHz) and SFM (93.5 MHz)
[edit] Politics
Vijayawada is known as the political capital of Andhra Pradesh. Politically very active, voters show a high degree of maturity. The major political parties here are Telugu Desam Party, Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Earlier it was a strong centre for Congress (I) and Communist Part of India (Marxist). With the entry of TDP, the scenario has changed. As per political view, Vijayawada East and West, Kankipadu are the main constituencies. Vijayawada has one Lok Sabha seat.
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[edit] Information technology
The city has a very good educational infrastructure but is still lagging behind in the IT sector. There are about 20 IT firms in Vijayawada, which generated revenues of approximately Rs.42 crores (Rs 42,00,00,000) in 2006-2007 fiscal year. The APIIC is setting up an IT park/SEZ at Gannavaram, 20km from the city, next to the airport to facilitate the growth of IT sector in this region. Construction major L&T was awarded the contract for developing this IT park with a budget of Rs 300 crores. The IT park can facilitate employment for 10,000 IT professionals. Another IT park is being set up by VGTM-UDA in Mangalagiri in an area of 40 acres.
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