Prakasam district is one of the thirteen districts in the

coastal Andhra Coastal Andhra (South costal Andhra) also known as Kostha Andhra is a region in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Vijayawada is the largest city in this region. It was part of Madras State before 1953 and Andhra State from 1953 to 1956. ...

region of the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. It was formed in 1970 and reorganised in 2022 on April 4. The headquarters of the district is Ongole. It is located on the western shore of

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line bet ...

and is bounded by

Bapatla district Bapatla district is a district in coastal Andhra in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh established on 4 April 2022. The administrative headquarter is Bapatla. The district is formed from part of erstwhile Prakasam district and part of erstwhile ...

and Palnadu districts on the north,

Nandyal district Nandyal district is a district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.Nandyal as its administrative headquarters, it was formed on 4 April 2022 to become one of the resultant twenty-six districts and one of the district in Rayalaseema region. ...

on the west, Kadapa and Nellore districts on the south. A part of north west region also borders with Nagarkurnool district of

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...

. It is the largest district in the state with an

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an op ...

of and had a population of 2,288,026 as per

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Informatio ...

Etymology

The district was named after the patriot and first Chief Minister of Andhra State Tanguturi Prakasam, also known as Andhra Kesari, who was born in the village of Vinodarayunipalem. It was accordingly renamed as Prakasam District in the year 1972.

History

Prakasam district was originally constituted on 2 February 1970, carved out of

Guntur Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. ...

Nellore Nellore is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of the district, as well as Nellore mandal and Nellore revenue division. It is the fourth most p ...

and

Kurnool Kurnool is a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It formerly served as the capital of Andhra State (1953–1956). The city is often referred to as "The Gateway of Rayalaseema".Kurnool is also known as The City of Gem Stones. It also s ...

districts of

. It was carved out of three taluks of Guntur district, i.e. Addanki, Chirala, and Ongole, four taluks of Nellore district, i.e.

Kandukur Kandukur or Kandukuru is a town in SPSR Nellore district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Kandukur mandal as well as Kandukur revenue division. Kandukur Mandal is located at the south-east s ...

, Kanigiri, Darsi and Podili and three taluks of Kurnool district i.e.

Markapur Markapur is a town in Prakasam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a Municipality and the headquarters of Markapur mandal in Markapur revenue division. Markapur is known for the Chennakesava Swamy Temple built by King Sri Kri ...

, Yarragondapalem and

Giddaluru Giddaluru is a town in the Prakasam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of the Giddaluru mandal in Markapur revenue division. It was part of kurnool district till 1969 later it was merged into Prakasam ...

. It is one of the nine districts in the

Coastal Andhra Coastal Andhra (South costal Andhra) also known as Kostha Andhra is a region in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Vijayawada is the largest city in this region. It was part of Madras State before 1953 and Andhra State from 1953 to 1956. ...

region of

. Prakasam district used to be a part of the Red Corridor.

Geography

Prakasam district occupies an area of , comparatively equivalent to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

Seram Island Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent is ...

. This district is bounded by Nagarkurnool district in

state at North.And surrounded by South of SPSR Nellore district , West of

,East of

Palnadu district Palnadu district is a district in coastal Andhra Region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. With Narasaraopet as its administrative headquarters, it was formed on 04 April 2022 to become one of the resultant twenty-six districts The district ...

and

.And The

held on Southeast of this district. The only Municipal Corporation in Prakasam is Ongole. Some of the main towns in Prakasam district are

Singarayakonda Singarayakonda is a town in Prakasam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Singarayakonda mandal. Singarayakonda is located at sea level. It is spread across 10 Grama panchayats. It is under Kandukur ...

, Addanki, Inkollu,

, Yerragondapalem, Podili, Darsi, Donakonda, Chirala,

, Pamuru, Parchur,

Dornala Dornala is a village in Prakasam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Dornala mandal in Markapur revenue division Markapur revenue division (or Markapur division) is an administrative division in th ...

, Cumbum, Kanigiri, Chimakurthy and

Martur Martur is a mandal panchayat in Bapatla district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Martur mandal in chirala revenue division. As of 2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian C ...

is India's main slate-manufacturing town and the home of the historic temple of Lord Chennakesava. Chimakurthi is known for its

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

reserves.

is also known as Diguva Srisailam, since it is very near the historic pilgrimage centre of Srisailam. Cumbum lake also known as Gundalakamma lake built on Gundalakamma rivulet upon Nallamala hills is one of the oldest man made lakes of Asia. The anicut was built by the Vijayanagar princess Varadharaj Amma. The lake in its present form is about long and on average, about wide. As per the Imperial gazette of India at the turn of the 20th century, the height of the dam was and the drainage area was . The direct irrigation land was about in all. Cumbum lake is accessible both by the rail

Nandyal Nandyal is a city and District headquarters of Nandyal district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Nandyal mandal in Nandyal revenue division. Demographics In the 2011 census of India, Nandya ...

railway line and is situated about from Ongole. Although classified under the

region, the district's western half has

Rayalaseema Rayalaseema () is a geographic region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It comprises eight south western districts of the State namely, Kurnool, Nandyal, Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai, YSR, Annamayya, Tirupati and Chittoor districts ...

like geography and climate, being somewhat arid.

Demographics

As of the 2011

census of India The decennial Census of India has been conducted 16 times, as of 2021. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881. Post 1949, it has been conducted by ...

, the district had a population of 3,397,448 with a density of 193 persons per sq.km. The total population constitute, 17,14,764 males and 16,82,684 females –a ratio of 981 females per 1000 males. The total urban population is 664,582 (19.56%). There are 19,04,435 literates with a literacy rate of 63.08%. After bifurcation the district had a population of 22,88,026, of which 444,865 (19.44%) lived in urban areas. Prakasam district had a sex ratio of 971 females per 1000 males. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 537,159 (23.48%) and 88,209 (3.86%) of the population respectively. At the time of the 2011 census, 93.88% of the population spoke

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

and 5.05%

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Economy

The Gross District Domestic Product (GDDP) of the district is and it contributes 6.9% to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). For the FY 2013–14, the

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

at current prices was . The

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works ...

, secondary and tertiary sectors of the district contribute , and , respectively. The major products contributing to the GVA of the district from agriculture and allied services are,

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

paddy Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname *An ethnic slur for an Irishman Birds *Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon * Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird species *Black-faced s ...

chillies Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for t ...

, batavia,

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...

, meat and

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...

. The GVA to the industrial and service sector is contributed from

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

, minor minerals, unorganised trade and ownership of

dwelling In law, a dwelling (also known as a residence or an abode) is a self-contained unit of accommodation used by one or more households as a home - such as a house, apartment, mobile home, houseboat, vehicle, or other "substantial" structure. The ...

Industries

The district has many service industries such as industrial testing, electrical appliance repair, clinical laboratories, servicing of computer hardware, tourism, and hospitality. Major exports from the district include seafood, processed tobacco, granite blocks, granite monuments and yarn. There are many industries of food and agriculture, mineral, chemical, leather, plastic and rubber, engineering, cotton and textiles, electronic products. All these industries deal with prawn and fish processing and canning, dairy products, the granite industry, pharmaceuticals, tanning, fishing nets, surgical cotton, etc. Forest-based industries produce Ayurvedic medicines, essential oil (Palm Rose Oil), wooden furniture, wooden toys, bamboo products, etc.

Mining

The district leads in granite mining in the state with discovery of ''Galaxy Granite'' in the Chimakurthy area of the district. Good deposits of coloured granites are located occur around Uppumaguluru and Kodidena. The minerals found in the district are Baryte,

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical f ...

, and silica sand. In 2010-11, 4,300 tonnes of Baryte, 22,722 tonnes of quartz, 2,24,075 tonnes of silica sand and 400 tonnes of iron ore were produced. Granite barons in Prakasam district sold ahead of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 as the natural stone material was widely used in the construction of the sports village. The famous Black Galaxy granite, Black pearl, Steal Grey and English Grey processed in the SEZ make it to, among other countries, the U.S., Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria. Processing of granite was insignificant in the district before 2010. But now after the setting up of 13 export oriented units within the SEZ and five elsewhere in the district, at least 60% of the decorative stone material is processed here. Over 500 to 600 containers of the material are shipped from the SEZ every month to other countries, the U.S. alone accounting for 20%.

Tourism

Bhairava Kona, Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh

The Bhairava Kona cave temples are 8th-century single rock-cut cave temples (similar to

Mahabalipuram Mamallapuram, also known as Mahabalipuram, is a town in Chengalpattu district in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, best known for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of 7th- and 8th-century Hindu Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram. It ...

) for Lord

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...

. Cumbum Tank is one of the oldest man-made lakes in Asia. The anicut was built by the Vijayanagar Princess Varadharajamma (also known as Ruchidevi), wife of Sri Krishna Devaraya. The length of this tank is and width is . It has received World Heritage Irrigation Structure (WHIS) tag in the year 2020 by UNESCO.

Administrative divisions

The District comprises three Revenue divisions viz., Ongole, Kanigiri and Markapur. 38 Mandals. ‘1’ Municipal Corporation i.e., Ongole, ‘1’ Municipality i.e., Markapur and ‘5’ Nagarapanchayats Chimakurthy, Giddalur, Podili, Darsi and Kanigiri in the District. Ongole division consists of ‘12’ mandals, Kanigiri division with ‘13’ mandals and Markapur division with ‘13’ mandals. Thus, a total of 38 mandals besides 1 Municipal Corporation, 1 Municipality, 5 Nagara Panchayats and 715 Gram Panchayats are existing in the district. ‘750’ Inhabited Revenue villages are existing in the district. They have been constituted into 734 Gram Panchayats.

Mandals

The list of 38 mandals in Prakasam district under three revenue divisions are listed in the following table:

Parliament segments

Ongole (Lok Sabha constituency) Ongole Lok Sabha constituency is one of the twenty-five lok sabha constituencies of Andhra Pradesh in India. It comprises seven assembly segments and belongs to Prakasam district. Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy(Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Part ...

, Bapatla (Lok Sabha constituency)

Assembly segments

Ongole and Bapatla Lok Sabha constituency presently comprises the following Legislative Assembly segments:

Erstwhile Talukas in Prakasam district

In 1978, the number of talukas in Prakasam was increased from 9 to 17. Later in 1985, 17 Talukas were divided into 56 mandals.

Towns in Prakasam District

* Vetapalem is included in Chirala town's population.

Transport

The total road length of

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

s in the district is . The district is well connected by National highways, state highways and district roads as well. The NH 16 passes through Ongole which is the major highway connecting

Howrah Howrah (, , alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively it lies within Howrah district, and is ...

–

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, a part of

Asian Highway Network The Asian Highway Network (AH), also known as the Great Asian Highway, is a cooperative project among countries in Asia and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to improve their connectivity via hi ...

AH45 AH45 is a route of the National Highway Network of India, running from in Kolkata to Krishnagiri. This route is composed of NH 16 and part of NH 48 from Chennai to Krishnagiri. Route The route shares a large portion of various Indian Natio ...

. APSRTC, a state government public bus transport operates services. The district has a rail network of . The entire rail network is under South Central Railway zone. is one of the main stations of this district and most of the stations are under Vijayawada railway division. Minister of State for Civil Aviation, has granted site clearance for setting up of a Greenfield Airport at Ongole.

Notable personalities

There are many noted people from the district including Tanguturi Prakasam, a freedom fighter who was also the Chief Minister of Andhra State and Chief Minister of Madras Presidency. Mirza Ghouse Baig, M.A.LL.B Retired District Judge a second world war veteran who led the mutiny against the Britishers at Ambala Cantt. U. Aswathanarayana who was a Director of the Mahadevan International Centre for Water Resources Management in India. From the film industry personalities include

Bhanumathi Ramakrishna P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna (7 September 1925 – 24 December 2005) was an Indian actress, singer, film producer, director, music composer, and novelist. She is regarded as the first female super star of Telugu cinema. She is also considered the ...

was a film actress who was also a producer, director and singer.

D. Ramanaidu Daggubati Ramanaidu (6 June 1936 – 18 February 2015) was an Indian film producer known for his work in Telugu cinema. He founded Suresh Productions in 1964 which became of one of the largest film production companies in India. He was placed ...

, film producer; Tottempudi Krishna, film director and editor;

Giri Babu Yerra Seshagiri Rao, popularly known as Giri Babu, is an Indian actor, producer, and director who primarily woks in Telugu films. His son, Raghu Babu, is a notable actor-director. Career Giri Babu hails from a middle class agricultural fami ...

, film actor;

Raghu Babu Yerra Raghu, known professionally as Raghu Babu, is a Telugu comedian well known for his comic expressions and timing. He has worked in many successful films in Telugu industry. He is the eldest son of famous comedian and character actor Giri B ...

, film actor and comedian in Telugu cinema;

Dharmavarapu Subramanyam Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam (20 September 1954 – 7 December 2013) was a popular Indian actor, comedian and film director who worked in Telugu cinema. He was established as one of the highly paid and top most leading comedians in Telugu film i ...

, comedian in Telugu cinema. Pullela Gopichand, an all-england champion and national badminton coach;

Yarlagadda Nayudamma Yarlagadda Nayudamma (born 1 June 1947) is a consultant paediatric surgeon from Guntur, India. Previously, he operated at the Guntur General Hospital where he was the head of the paediatric surgery department. He is the only Indian surgeon to ...

is a consultant paediatric surgeon. He is the only Indian surgeon to have successfully separated three sets of Conjoined Twins fused at three different locations – head, thorax-abdomen and pelvis; Former HRD Minister in the UPA 2 government

Daggubati Purandeswari Nandamuri Purandareswari (born 22 April 1959) is an Indian politician from the state of Andhra Pradesh. She represented the Visakhapatnam constituency of Andhra Pradesh as a Member of Parliament in the 15th Lok Sabha of India. She had previous ...

daughter of N. T. Rama Rao and is married to Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, GVL Narsimha Rao are nationally visible faces from the villages in the district. Artists family of Thimmiri Narasimharao,( Thimmiri naresh babu, (tollywood art director) thimmiri raveendra(secretary of srusti art academy) thimmiri bhanuchandar (artist), battula vani ( drawing teacher).

Education

The primary and secondary school education is imparted by government, aided and private schools, under the state's School Education Department. As per the school information report for the academic year 2015–16, there are a total of 4,311 schools. They include, 33 government, 2,949 mandal and zilla parishads, 1 residential, 1079 private, 10 model, 37 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), 50 municipal and 152 other types of schools. The total number of students enrolled in primary, upper primary and high schools of the district are 562,510. The total number of students enrolled in primary, upper primary and high schools of the district are 461,065.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Districts of Andhra Pradesh 1970 establishments in Andhra Pradesh