Kurnool
Place:
Kurnool (Telugu: కర్నూలు Urdu: کرنول) is a city in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh state in southern India, about 212 kilometres (132 mi) south of state capital, Hyderabad. It is the administrative seat of the district. Kurnool is the gateway to Rayalaseema and the largest city in the area, with a population around 329122. From 1 October 1953 to 31 October 1956, Kurnool was the capital of Andhra State. It has many educational institutions and is also a major hub for banking and insurance companies.
Name:
There are many theories about the origin of the name Kurnool.
According to A Manual of the Kurnool District in the Presidency of Madras, (Narahari Gopalakristnamah Chetty, 1886), the name Kurnool is derived from Kandenavolu or Kandanavolu (a Telugu name by which it is referred to in the inscriptions and literature of the past), pronounced as karnooluu. According to the legend, in the time of the Western Chalukyas of Badami in the 11th century AD, the Vadderas who carted stones for the construction of the temples at Alampur (also known as Dakshina Kasi in Mahaboobnagar District), used the site on which the city now stands as a resting place before crossing the Tungabhadra. Here, they greased their cart-wheels with oil, which was supplied by some of the local oil mongers. They called the place Kandenametta.
History:
The strategic position led to the formation of a small settlement on the spot which subsequently came to be known as Kandenapalli, Kandenolu and Kandenavolu, the city of Kandena or grease. The site which was used as a halting place by the Vadderas in those days is still known as Bandla Metta (Bandla means carts and Metta means headquarters or halting place). Today this is a street in the Old Kurnool city. Now this place name has become to "Bandimetta".
In some of the inscriptions, Kurnool is referred to as Kannadu or Karu Nadu with Karu meaning black and Nadu meaning territory.
Other scholars argue that Kurnool derived its name from Kallu which means stone and Nadu which means territory. Yet others say the name Kurnool has been derived from Skandanavolu, the city of Skanda or Kumaraswamy. The worship of Skanda in Andhra Pradesh dates back to ancient times. The cities were also named after Skanda, the chief God of War of the Devas.
Surroundings:
Villages have existed at this site for more than 2,000 years.
The Chinese traveller Xuanzang, on his way to Kanchi, came through Kurnool.
Aurangazeb, the last Mogul King to rule India, conquered the Deccan in 1687 and left his governors, the Nizams, to rule the Andhra centres of Hyderabad and Kurnool. Both the Nizam of Hyderabad and Nawab of Kurnool declared independence and became sole rulers of their territories. Nawab Alaf Khan Bahadur was the first ruler of Kurnool and his descendants ruled it for over 200 years. In the early 18th century, the Nawabs merged with the sultan of Mysore and fought the British Empire.
There is a bastian named Konda Reddy Buruju, constructed as a strategic watch tower by the rulers of the Vijayanagara Empire. There is an underground passage (tunnel) from this buruju to Gadwal which is 52 km away. The speciality of this tunnel is it crosses under the river Tungabhadra. Stories tell that the ruler of Gadwal Kingdom utilised this tunnel to escape from the Muslim conquerors in 17th century. The government of Andhra Pradesh closed the tunnel somewhere around the 1950s.
It is the headquarters of the mandal, the revenue division and the district of the same name. From 1 October 1953 to 31 October 1956, Kurnool was also the capital of Andhra State (not Andhra Pradesh), which was carved out of Madras State in 1953. Tangutoori Prakasam Pantulu was the chief minister of Andhra State during this time. The present day District court buildings were the premisses of state Assemblym.
Geography:
Kurnool is located at 15.8333°N 78.05°E.[1] It has an average elevation of 273 metres (898 feet).
Kurnool lies on the banks of the Tungabhadra River. The Handry and Neeva rivers also flow through the city. The K.C. Canal (Kurnool–Kadapa) was built by the Dutch for trasportation, and later sold and converted to irrigational purpose.
Kurnool is the largest of the 4 districts of Rayalaseema the backward region of Andhra Pradesh. The other 3 are Anantapur, Kadapa and Chittore. This region flourished in the past under the Hindu King Sri Krishnadevaraya. Hence the name Rayalaseema.
These 4 districts, when under Nizams rule, were ceded to British by Nizam as a tribute. Therefore they are also known as ceded districts.
Kurnool was the erstwhile capital of Andhra When the Nizams princely state was merged to form Andhra Pradesh State the capital was shifted to Hyderabad.
The climate is tropical with temperatures ranging from 26°C to 45°C in the summer and 12°C to 31°C in the winter. The average annual rainfall is about 30 inches (762 mm).
[edit] Education
Kurnool town is a very good educational center. It has :
Medical College (Kurnool Medical College)
Thirteen Engg. Colleges
Two Polytechnics
One Dental College
One Physiotherapy College
Six B.Ed Colleges
One Law College
Four Colleges of Nursing
Rayalaseema University
Ten Degree Colleges for Men and Women
Twenty Junior Colleges
One College of Physical Education
Three schools for blind and physically challenged
Many Computer Coaching Centers
When Andhra State was formed in October 1953, the Government of Andhra decided to start a medical college in the Rayalaseema region of the state. In Government Order Ms. No. 1835, Health, dated 29 November 1955, the government of Andhra passed orders to establish a medical college, the third one in the state at Kurnool. As the building was not ready for the college the government decided to admit 50 students intended for Kurnool Medical College at Kurnool City in July 1956. When Andhra Pradesh was formed and the capital was shifted to Hyderabad from Kurnool the erstwhile secretariat building were handed over to the medical college.
The college was opened on 21 July 1956 by Sri T.T. Krishnamachari, the then Finance Minister of India. Fifty students were admitted to the M.B.B.S. Course.
Laboratories for subjects of the non-clinical course were established in due course. The construction of a "clinical lecture h[2] all-cum-clinical pathology laboratory" in the hospital and the construction of an air-conditioned mortuary for 24 dead bodies were undertaken latter and these buildings were ready by the summer of 1958.
New out-patient block of the Government General Hospital, Kurnool which is the associated teaching hospital was constructed at a cost of Rs 9,00,000 and the inauguration of this and the clinical courses was performed on 28 January 1958 by Sri. D. K. Karmankar, the Health Minister of India. The first batch of second M.B.B.S. students from the batch of 50 students originally admitted to Guntur Medical college in July 1956 now joined this college for their clinical course. The first units in the major subjects of Medicine, Surgery and Midwifery were created in July 1957.
The Kurnool Medical College was first affiliated to Sri Venkateswara University, from January 1957 and permanently affiliated from January 1959.
The NCC unit attached to the college was started in January, 1958. Laboratory technician's courses and laboratory attender's courses were started in October 1959. In the same year, the Government also established at this college, a Regional Laboratory to serve the needs of Raayalaseema districts.
A well-planned Animal House with separate units for different laboratory animals was built and commissioned for use in 1961. A Central Work Shop started functioning from 1964.
The legislators' hostel, which was very close to, the college was given for locating the men's hostel during 1958 and it accommodated 175 students. Further expansion of this hostel was made to accommodate 350 students in all.
The then state guest house was also handed over by the government during 1958, and it is used as women's hostel. Additional accommodation is shown in the hospital premises in improved sheds as sub hostel for women. A new extension at
