Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam (Also Vishākhapatnam, shortened and Anglicized: Vizag) is a large city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It sits on the shore of the Bay of Bengal, and has the fourth largest port in India, and the country's oldest shipyard. Prime Minister Nehru launched independent India's first ship, the "Jala Usha" from here. It also goes by the name Waltair given during British times. Tourist attractions include beautiful beaches, green-capped hills, breathtaking valleys, dense jungles, ancient cave formations, a 11th century temple, ancient Buddhist sites and a submarine museum.
It is a prominent industrial town, and is home to many heavy industries including
- HPCL – Oil Refinery
- Vishakhapatnam Steel Plant
- Zinc Smelter
- Bharat Heavy Plates and Vessels Ltd.
- Dr Reddy's Laboratories
- Hindustan shipyard
- Coramandel Fertilizers
Visakhapatnam is also the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy.
Brief history
The city is named after the god of valour, Visakha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, who is also the ruler of the planet Mars and the god of war. Local legend has it that an Andhra king (9-11th century AD), on his way to Benares, rested there. So enchanted was he with the sheer beauty of the place that he ordered a temple to be built in honor of his family deity, Visakha. This city was ruled by several dynasties including famous Kalingas during 7th century, Chankyas during 8th century, Rajahmundry Reddy kings, Cholas, Golkonda Nawabs etc. Archaeological sources, however, reveal that the temple was possibly built between the 11th and 12th centuries CE by the Chola king, Kulottunga. A shipping merchant, Sankarayya Chetty, built one of the mandapams, or pillared halls of the temple. Though it no longer exists - it may have been washed away about 100 years ago by a cyclonic storm - elderly residents of Vizag talk of visits to the ancient shrine by their grandparents.
The antiquity of the region is evident in its mention in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The former tells of the forests through which Rama travelled in search of his abducted wife, and where he met his devotee, Shabari, who directed him to the mountains where Hanuman lived. Rama also met Jambavan, a bear man, who helped him in his battle with Ravana. It was here, too, that Bheema defeated the demon Bakasura - the Pandava's huge stone club can be seen in the village of Uppalam, 40 km away.
This region, formerly part of the great Kalinga empire that stretched up to the river Godavari, has also been mentioned in Hindu and Buddhist texts from the 5th and 6th centuries BC, as well as by Sanskrit grammarians, Panini and Katyayana in the 4th century BC.
After independance this was the biggest district in the country, and was subsequently divided into the three districts of Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram and Visakhapatnam.
Timeline of Vizag's history
- 260 BCE: Ashoka conquered the Kalinga empire (of which Vizag was a part).
- 208: Chandra Sri Satakarni was king of this region.
- 14th Century: Simhachalam Temple built.
- 1515: Krishna Deva Raya was ruler of the area comprising Vizag
- Mid-17th Century: A factory was founded in "Vizagapatam" by the British East India Company.
- 1689: This factory was occupied by the forces of Aurangzeb.
- c.1735: Dutch Colony was established.
- 1765: The territory of the Northern Circars, of which Vizag was a part, ceded to the East India Company on dissolution of the Moghul Empire. Following this, a British colony was established.
- 1904: Railway from Madras to Calcutta, passing through Vizagapatam was opened.
- 1926: Andhra University established.
- 1933: Visakhapatnam Port established.
- 1942: Japanese war planes attack Vizag.
- 1947: Eastern Naval Command established its base here. Prior to 1947 the Royal Navy had a base in HMIS Sircars.
- 1949: Scindia Shipyard started. Later nationalised and called Hindustan Shipyard.
- 1957: Refinery started by Caltex.
- 1981: Visakhapatnam Steel Plant commenced operations.
Vizag pictures
