Owk is a
mandal
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
in
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 ...
of
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 t ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
.
Geography
Owk is located at . It has an average elevation of 194 meters (639 feet).
Owk is known for the nearby
Belum Caves
The Belum Caves, located in Nandyala district of Andhra Pradesh's Rayalaseema region, is the second largest cave system on the Indian subcontinent, known for its speleothems, such as stalactite and stalagmite formations. The Belum Caves ...
. The temple of Lord
Chennakeshava was built during Krishna Deva Raya's reign by Nalla Thimmaraju, founder of Owk. An avatar of Adisakti worshiped as ''Mulama'' here. There is a big reservoir which was built by the then kings of Owk, namely "Thimmaraju Cheruvu".
History
The former
zamindar
A zamindar (Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...
s trace their origins back to the 15th century when
Bukka
Bukka Raya I (reigned 1356–1377 CE) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Sangama Dynasty.Phrof A V Narasimha MurthyRare Royal Brothers: Hakka and Bukka He was a son of Bhavana Sangama(Unofficial).
Background
The early life of B ...
obtained the
zamindari
A zamindar (Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...
estate from the
Raja of Vijayanagar. Avuku State was founded in 1463 AD the same Thimmaraju who built the Owk tank, the son in law of great emperor Sri Krishna Devaraya, Aliya Rama Rayalu was younger co-brother of Thimmaraju who constructed Owk tank which was known well as Thimmaraju cheruvu at present the same tank was converted as reservoir by raising its bund to 220 feet height the reservoir has internal area of more than 1000 acres and it is main source of irrigation in Ryalasema region and also providing drinking water facility to nearby villages and towns. The descendants of the Thimmaraju by name Nandyala Ramakrishna Raju aged 57, Nandyala Trivikrama Varma aged 55 and he has one son by name Nandyala Avinash Prashanth Varma aged 26 are residing at owk, it has one long street there is a Lord Vishnu Temple constructed by Nandyala Chinna Krishnama Raju in 17th century, There is a Temple by deity name Mullama she is treated as incarnation of Adhiparashakthi and treated as Grama Devatha of Owk Village. There are two water falls namely, Gollaleru and Paleru respectively. Owk princely state was annexed in 1805 to the
Hyderabad State
Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and ...
.
Princely states of India
/ref>
References
{{reflist
Princely states of India
Mandals in Nandyal district