ABOUT RAJAHMUNDRY YOU NEED TO KNOW !!

                                HISTORY

Rajahmundry, is now officially known as Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh located on the banks of the Godavari River. Raja Raja Narendra, who reigned around 1022 AD, after whom it is named  Rajamahendravaram.  it was called Rajamahendravaram which is a localized version of the Sanskrit name, Rajamahendrapuram. During the British colonial era it was referred to as Rajahmundry.

On 10 October 2015, the government Andhrapradesh officially renamed the city with its original name, Rajamahendravaram. Godavari river Flows by sperating  two districts East and West godavari.  As of 2011 census, it is the seventh most populous city in the state, with a population of 341,831.

In the Madras Presidency, the district of Rajahmundry was created in 1823. The Rajahmundry district was reorganised in 1859, bifurcated into the Godavari and Krishna districts. During British rule, Rajahmundry was the headquarters of Godavari district. Godavari district was further bifurcated into East and West Godavari districts in 1925. Rajamahendravaram was renamed Rajahmundry during the rule of the British.The city is known for its historic traditional, cultural, agricultural and economic backgrounds and hence, it is known as the Cultural Capital of Andhra Pradesh.

BRIDGES

Road cum Railway bridge at rajahmundry

Rajahmundry is famous for bridges and barrages. One of them is  Road cum Rail bridge. it connects Rajahmundry and kovvur.It is Asia's third longest road-cum-rail bridge crossing a water body.The bridge is 4.1 kilometers (2.8 km Rail part & 4.1 km Road part) long consisting of 27 spans of 91.5 m and 7 spans of 45.72 m of which 6 spans of 45.72 m are in 6 deg. curve at long Rajahmundry end to make up for the built up area. The bridge has a road deck over the single track rail deck.


The Godavari Arch Bridge is a bowstring-girder bridge that spans the Godavari river in Rajahmundry, India. It is the latest of the three bridges that span the Godavari river at Rajahmundry.The bridge is one of the longest span prestressed concrete arch bridge in Asia.The Indian Railways who built this bridge have stated that "It is perhaps for the first time anywhere in the world that a bowstring arch girder using concrete has been constructed for such a long span of 97.55 metres (320.0 ft), and that too for the Railway loading." It has been widely used to represent Rajahmundry in arts, media, and culture. It is one of the recognised symbols of Rajahmundry.

 Right Arch Bridge
 Left Havelock bridge 

The The Havelock Bridge construction commenced on 11 November 1897 and opened for traffic on 30 August 1900. The Bridge was named after Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, the then Governor of Madras. The bridge was constructed with stone masonry and steel girders. It has 56 spans each of 45.7 metres (150 ft)and is 3,480 metres (11,420 ft) long. Havelock Bridge served its full life span of 100 years and decommissioned in 1997.

Dowleswaram Barrage

Dowleswaram Barrage was built by a British irrigation engineer, Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton. To store Godavari River before it empties into the Bay of Bengal. It is also called Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage /Godavari Barrage.  Before this barrage was constructed many hectares of land has been flooded with water . The water would be worthlessly going into Bay of bengal.the barrage was constructed in four sections, which allowed flood passage during the construction period. Its construction was completed in 1850. The Dowleswaram Barrage is 15 feet high and 3.5 km long, with 175 crest gates to pass the floods. The full reservoir level of the barrage is 45.7 feet (14 m) MSL with 3.12 Tmcft gross storage capacity and dead storage of 2.02 Tmcft at 40 feet (12 m) MSL.

SOCIAL REFORMER 

 Kandukuri Veeresalingam Pantulu is known as the father of reforms in Andhra Pradesh. He started a monthly magazine, Vivekavardhini, a school for girls at Dowleswaram in 1874. The first widow remarriage took place on 11 December 1881. A society with 16 members was started on 22 June 1884, which used to look after widow remarriages in Rajahmundry. The town hall in Rajahmundry was established in 1890 by Veeresalingam. and still his house remains in rajahmundry, government turned this house into museum.

CENTRAL JAIL

 Central jail is also having importance in Rajahmundry In 1602, the Dutch constructed a fort here. In 1857, the British conquered the Dutch. They converted it into a jail in 1864 and, then, elevated it to a central jail in 1870. The jail is spread over 196 acres (79 ha) out of which the buildings occupy 37.24 acres (15.07 ha).

After recent remodelling

At pushkar ghat today evening  !!