Proddatur, natively known as Proddaturu, is a city in the

YSR Kadapa District YSR Kadapa district is one of the twenty six districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. In the 2022 reorganisation of Andhra Pradesh districts, the district boundary was largely restricted to the Kadapa parliamentary constituency area. ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

, located on the banks of the

Penna River Penna (also known as Pinakini, Penneru, Penner, Pennar, Pennai) is a river of southern India. After originating from Nandi hills, it flows as two different streams, one in North and South directions. The Penna rises in the Nandi Hills, India, ...

. The city is a

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

, and also the mandal headquarters of Proddatur

mandal A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative c ...

. It is the second-largest town in former

Kadapa District YSR Kadapa district is one of the twenty six districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. In the 2022 reorganisation of Andhra Pradesh districts, the district boundary was largely restricted to the Kadapa parliamentary constituency area. ...

. It is the oldest municipality which formed before

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

. Proddatur got its name from the history of

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

, where

Lord Ram Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Ramanandi Sampradaya, Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the id ...

a resided. Many old temples are located in the city. The temple where Lord Rama resided is located on the banks of

, known as Rameshwaram. It is known as Second Bombay for Gold business. Thousands of gold and clothing shops are located in Proddutur. It is also known as the Second Mysore for its grandeur in Dussehra celebrations. It is 13th largest urban agglomeration in Andhrapradesh. It became a municipality in 1915, later it was upgraded from 3rd, to 2nd, to 1st. In 1998, it became a Special Grade Municipality. Proddatur–to–Cumbum railway section was sanctioned in 2010 which is strategically important for the town. National Highway 67 passes through this town. Multiple schools, colleges and a wide range of hospitals are located here along with a 350 bed government hospital. The town is near the centre for small towns like Jammalamadugu,

Mydukur Mydukur, natively known as Mydukuru, is a Municipality in YSR Kadapa district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Mydukur mandal of Badvel revenue division. Mydukur is located on Main Junction of NH-40 and NH-67. It is a junct ...

, Chagalamarri, Yerraguntla and a major center nearby other small towns in the Kadapa District. A large number of people from these small towns commute to Proddatur for their livelihoods. It also has a forest division—Proddatur Forest Division.

Demographics

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Proddatur urban agglomeration has population of 217,895. The city had a population of 162,816. Proddatur is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Andhra Pradesh. There are 81,368 males and 81,448 females in the total population; a sex ratio of 1001 females per 1000 males, higher than the national average of 940 per 1000. 15,516 children are in the age group of 0–6 years, of which 7,999 are boys and 7,517 are girls; a ratio of 940 per 1000. The average literacy rate stands at 78.08% (male 86.02%; female 70.20%) with 115,011 literates, significantly higher than the national average of 73.00%. Its urban agglomeration had a population of 217,895, of which males constitute 108,986, females represent 108,900; a sex ratio of 999 females per 1000 men; 21,616 are in the age group of 0–6 years. There are a total of 147,156 literates, with an average literacy rate of 75.97%.

Governance

Kadapa and Proddatur are the only municipalities which were formed before independence in the district. The Proddatur municipality was formed in 1915. It was upgraded to a ''Special Grade Municipality'' in 1998. The jurisdiction of the municipality is spread over an area of . The city is one of the 31 cities in the state to be a part of water supply and sewerage services mission known as the

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) is a development mission launched by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in June 2015 with the focus to establish infrastructure that could ensure adequate robust sewage networks a ...

, or AMRUT. Per the National Urban Sanitation Policy, the city was ranked 327th in the country in 2009–10, with a total of 27.450 points.

Economy

Its economy is mainly driven by gold and cotton businesses, book manufacturing, and financing.

Transport

* Proddatur is located on Highway 67. Daily bus services are available to Bangalore, Hyderabad,

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...

; non-stop bus service is available to Kadapa and Tirupati . * Proddatur railway station is situated on the

Nandyal–Yerraguntla section Nandyal–Yerraguntla section connects of Nandyal district and Yerraguntla of Kadapa district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Further, this section converges with Nallapadu–Nandyal section at Nandyal. It is administered under Guntak ...

. It falls under the jurisdiction of the

Guntakal railway division Guntakal railway division is one of the six Zones and divisions of Indian Railways, divisions of South Central Railway zone (SCR) of the Indian Railways. The headquarters of the division is at Guntakal. This division is second in terms of route ...

. * 60 km from Kadapa Airport.

Education

The primary and secondary education consists of government-funded and government-aided public schools, and private schools, under the School Education Department of the state. Instruction in provided in either English or Telugu. * Sri Ravindra High School * Vaagdevi Institute of Technology and Science * Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology * Vignana Bharathi Institute of Technology * Gouthami Institute of Technology and Management for Women * Lepakshi Degree College * Sri Venkateswara Veterinary College * Yogivemana Govt Engineering college

Notable people

* Santha Kumari – South Indian drama and movie actress * Puttaparthi Narayanacharyulu – Poet, also known as "Saraswati Putra" * Padmanabham – Telugu comedian

References

{{Municipalities of Andhra Pradesh Cities in Andhra Pradesh