Kurnool
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.
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 Ska
