Anakapalli is a city in 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 is the headquarters of

Anakapalli district Anakapalli district is a district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It was formed on 4 April 2022 from Anakapalli and Narsipatnam revenue divisions of the old Visakhapatnam district. The administrative headquarters are at Anakapalli. Ety ...

. The

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

was merged with the

Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is the civic body that governs the city of Visakhapatnam, largest city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Its jurisdiction encompasses an area of . It is also part of the planning body o ...

. It has the second largest jaggery market of the country. The city is around 41 km from Visakhapatnam.

History

The town was originally under the rule of the Kalinga Empire (ancient

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

), different dynasties ruled this region i.e. Chedi Kingdom of Kalinga (Orissa),

Eastern Ganga dynasty The Eastern Ganga dynasty also known as Purba Gangas, Rudhi Gangas or Prachya Gangas were a large medieval era Indian royal dynasty that reigned from Kalinga from as early as the 5th century to the mid 20th century. Eastern Gangas ruled much of ...

of Orissa,

Gajapati Kingdom The Gajapati Empire or the Suryavamsa (IAST: Sūryavaṃśa, "Solar dynasty") dynasty was a medieval dynasty from the Indian subcontinent, it originated in the region of Trikalinga (most of the present-day Odisha and North coastal Andhra) a ...

of Orissa,

Kakatiya The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. Th ...

, and Qutub Shahi empires. Around 1755, Kakarlapudi Appala Raju Payakarao took over the rule of the region under the

Nawab of Arcot The Carnatic Sultanate was a kingdom in South India between about 1690 and 1855, and was under the legal purview of the Nizam of Hyderabad, until their demise. They initially had their capital at Arcot in the present-day Indian state of Tamil N ...

, with Anakapalli as his fortified headquarters. The saga of Anakapalli starts with a historian named "Tallapragada" place and found that Anakapalli. This was proved from the historical evidence found on Bojjana Konda.

Satavahana The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the la ...

Vishnukundina The Vishnukundina dynasty (IAST: Viṣṇukundina) was an Indian dynasty based in Deccan, which ruled modern Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and parts of South India during the 5th and 6th centuries, carving land out from the Vakataka Empire. ...

, Gajapathi's,

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () was the capital city of the historic Vijayanagara Empire. Located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, it spread over a large area and included the modern era Group of Monuments at Hampi site in Vijayanagara district, Bell ...

Samrats, Golkonda Samanta Rajulu ruled the area. Its alias names are Aniankapalli, Anekaphalle, Vijaypuri, Veniapalii, Kanakapuri, Bellampatnam, Anakapally, and Anakapalli. It is located by the side of a holy Sarada River. During the Independence struggle of India, many prominent leaders like

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and Dr.

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served ...

visited Anakapalli. It is around 41 km km from

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museu ...

Buddhist area

One of the most significant

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

sites in

, Sankaram is located some 3.5 km away from Anakapalli and 41 km away from

on the Sabbavaram by-pass road. The name Sankaram derives from the term Sangharama. Sankaram is famous for its many votive stupas, rock-cut caves, brick-built structural edifices, early historic pottery, and

coins that date back to the 1st century AD. The main stupa here was initially carved out of rock and then covered with bricks. There you can see a number of images of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

carved on the rock face of the caves. At Lingalametta, there are hundreds of rock-cut monolithic

stupas A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

in rows, spread all over the hill. Among other

attractions here are relic casket, three chaitya halls, votive platforms, stupas, and Vajrayana sculptures. The Vihara was functional for around a millennium and saw the development of the not only

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

form of Buddhism but also

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing br ...

and Vajrayana Buddhism. Later Anakapalli went to the estate of Vavilavalasa Inuganty kings and ruled a long time.

Geography

Anakapalli is located at , on the banks of River Sarada and at an altitude of . It is spread over an area of .

Demographics

According to

Imperial Gazetteer of India ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...

, Anakapalli had an area of containing 143 villages. As of the

2001 Indian census The 2001 Census of India was the 14th in a series of censuses held in India every decade since 1871. The population of India was counted as 1,028,737,436 consisting of 532,223,090 males and 496,514,346 females. Total population increased by 182, ...

, Anakapalli had a population of 84,523. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Anakapalli has an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%, with 54% of the males and 46% of females literate. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Governance

The municipal council was established in 1878. MLA of this municipality is Y.Mark Vishal

Economy

Agriculture mainly consists of the production of Rice, Corn, Sugarcane, and all types of vegetables. The chief crop cultivated in this region is sugarcane and Anakapalli is well known for its jaggery market, which is the second-largest in India. Velagapudi Steels own a steel mill near Anakapalli.

Notable temples

* Kotilingam *

Bojjannakonda Bojjannakonda and Lingalakonda are two Buddhism rock-cut caves on adjacent hillocks, situated near a village called Sankaram, Anakapalle of ancient Kalinga. in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The sites are believed to date between 4th and 9 ...

* Nookambika Temple

Transport

National Highway 16 Route 16, or Highway 16, can refer to: International * Asian Highway 16 * European route E16 * European route E016 Australia - Thompsons Road (Victoria) - South Australia Canada ;Parts of the Trans-Canada Highway: *Yellowhead H ...

, a part of

Golden Quadrilateral The Golden Quadrilateral ( hi, स्वर्णिम चतुर्भुज, Svarnim Chaturbhuj; abbreviated GQ) is a national highway network connecting several major industrial, agricultural and cultural centres of India. It forms a ...

highway network, bypasses the town. Anakapalli railway station is on Howrah-Chennai mainline. It is under the Vijayawada division of the South Central Railway zone. APSRTC runs the buses all overstate. Vizag city buses run from

Maddilapalem Maddilapalem is an area of Visakhapatnam, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Maddilapalem was initially a small suburb outside of Visakhapatnam. Economy Maddilapalem is one of the major commercial and residential suburbs of Visakhapat ...

, Dwaraka Bus Station, Gajuwaka, Yelamanchili etc.

References

{{Authority control * Cities and towns in Anakapalli district