AMARAVATHI (ANDHRA PRADESH)

Amaravathi is a village in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Located on the banks of Krishna River, it is a part of the Amaravati mandal of Guntur revenue division.

Although now it is officially designated as a village administered by a gram panchayat, it is an important historic town, and served as the capital of the Satavahana kingdom in ancient days. Sri Amaralingeswara Swamy temple is located at theAmararama Pancharama Kshetra site in this village, which makes it a holy town for the Hindus. It is also a historic Buddhist site, and the Amaravati Mahachaitya stupa was built here between the 2nd century BCE and the 3rd century CE. Designated as a historic site by the Government of India, Amaravati has been chosen as one of the sites for Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme of Government of India.

Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, is named after this historic site. The Amaravathi village is one of the several villages covered under the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region. The foundation stone of the new capital city was laid atUddandarayunipalem, which is located around 23 km from the Amaravathi village.

History

The recorded history of Amaravati and nearby Dharanikota dates to 5th century BCE. It was the capital of Satavahanas who ruled from 3rd century BCE to 3rd century CE. After the decline of Satavahanas, Andhra Ikshvakus and later Pallava kings ruled Krishna river valley. Subsequently, Eastern Chalukyas and Telugu Cholas held sway over the region. Kota Kings were in control of Amaravati during the medieval times. Kota kings were subdued by Kakatiyas in 11th century CE and Amaravati became part of the unified Telugu empire. The Skanda Purana gives a picture of the place and the Siva temple located here.^[14]

Amaravati was part of Delhi Sultanate, Musunuri Nayaks, Bahmani Sultanate, Vijayanagara Empire, Sultanate of Golconda andMughal Empire successively before the founding of the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1724. It was ceded to France in 1750 but was captured by England in 1759. Guntur returned to the Nizamate in 1768 but was ceded to England again in 1788. It was briefly occupied by Hyder Ali. It was part of Madras Presidency during the British colonial period.