fort Gate
Seshaiah Metta (Metta - An elevated area)
Paul Chowk
Subrahmanya Maidanam (Maidanam - Ground)
Merakaveedhi
Nagula Cheruvu
Sraddanand Ghat
Kambham Choultry
The temple of Lord Markandeya
Ramdasu peta
AryaPuram
VeerabhadraPuram
Sri Gowtami Grandhalayam
Innispet
Alcot Gardens
Danavaipet
Sitampet
@fort Gate (Kotagummam):Rangreeju pet
Fortgate is the Rajahmundry's one of the well known place . But there is no gate. The area which is covered by the old-Godavari railway station, Statue of Mrityunjaya, Statue of Mr.Potti Sriramulu and Hotel Ajanta is called Fortgate.Now a wall, covering the main street ( which elephants, horses etc were taken for a bath) is still found. This wall is slant on both sides. We can also see the tomb/Samadhi of daughter of Sir Arthur Cotton.
During the construction of the Railway bridge(Havelock Bridge - named after the then Madras Governer) in 1900 one of the Fort walls was demolished. The fort was constructed between 8th and 11th centuries during the reign of Chalukyas. Today also we can find Kandakam Street(Kandakam - A big canal dug around the fort filled with water to stop the enemy forces from coming into the fort - generally 20ft depth and 50ft width).
The present Municipal water works department(Formerly Municipal High School) was famous as Ratnangi and Chitrangi palaces. A undergroundway(Sorangamu - The way to escape when enemy forces attack the palace from all the sides - Generally for queens, princes and princesses) recently came into light which was said to have the other end of it at Pandavula Metta(Near Peddapuram).
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paul chowk:
This area was named after Mr.Bipin Chandra Paul who came to Rajahmundry in April 1907 during the Vandemataram movement. The present Kotipalli Bus Stand was his stage of speeches then. He gave speeches for 5 days continuously at this place. The area covering the petrol bunk, Jetty Towers, Bus stand and the three parks comes under Paul Chowk
.
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Seshaiah Metta (Metta - An elevated area):
The area behind the District court is known as Seshaiahmetta. It is said that Rajahmundry was on Panchagiris(Five hills) and one of them was Sesha Giri(A hill named Sesha) and the place was named after it.
But the story according to the historians is quite different. According to them the name of this place took it's transformation from "Sher Sahib Metta" to "Seshaiah metta". Sher Sahib was one of the ruler of Rajahmundry during the Muhammadan rule and the present old-Post Office building was his residence.
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Subrahmanya Maidanam (Maidanam - Ground):
Subramanya maidanam was known as Police Parade Grounds till 1947 15th August. On the independence day Col. D S Raju named it as Subrahmanya maidanam after the name of Dr.Brahmajosyula Subrahmanyam , who was a freedom fighter from Rajahmundry.
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Merakaveedhi :
In 1565, the Vijayanagara empire came to an end. Many people(most of them being soldiers of the defeated Vijayanagara army) shifted from Chandragiri to this area (near the present Townhall) and settled there. These people belong to Telaga caste. Some of the Surnames/First names of these families are Surabathula, Kandaala, Potula, Kattula, Muttangi, Yarra, Narra, Neelam, Kanchumarthi, Nadipalli, Bayapunida. Most of the people from these families had served as Senapathi’s (Captains) in Vijayanagara army. Even now also we can find some armors and some other weapons with some of these families. The deity of these families is Sri Venugopala swami and the procession of the diety used to go through this street. All these people are Vaishnavas.
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Nagula Cheruvu (Cheruvu - pond):
The present Municipal stadium was Nagula Cheruvu. Nearly more than a century ago a man called Nagulu got this pond dug for the use of general public. Mr.Potula Veerabhadrarao who was an athlete became Municipal chairman in the year 1955. In 1956, he got the Stadium constructed. The stadium was inaugurated by the central minister Mr. Surjit Singh Majigya for a Football Tourney. The market here is named after the same pond as Nagula Cheruvu Bazaar.
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Sraddanand Ghat (Ghat - a place on the bank of a river used for bathing):
Sraddanand Ghat was formed in the year 1920 near the Old Samacharam office. This ghat was named after Saint Sraddananda, the head of Aryasamaj-Delhi. He lost his breath in the freedom movement. There was a bust size statue of Mr.Bose. People used to believe that Rajahmundry will get floods if the statue sinks in the river water upto its top. This statue was removed during the Godavari Pushkarams in 1991. (Pushkaram - The festival celebrated once in 12years for the rivers in India.) Many people including Acharya Kripalani, Mr.Prakasam, Mr.Tenneti Viswanadham, Mr.Kalavenkatrao etc. used to address the public here. Footsteps were the gallery for the people who used to listen to them.
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Kambham Choultry and Kambal Tank:
This is the only choultry in the country where death ceremonies only take place. It was constructed by Mr.Kambham Narasingarao Pantulu between 1845-1850 with his own resources. Kambala tank(Kambhala cheruvu - Kambham vari cheruvu) was also the dug during this time. The soil that came after digging this pond was used for making bricks to construct the choultry. Even in Varanasi(Kasi) also we can't find a separate choultry that undertakes the death ceremonies. People come different parts of the country to conduct ceremonies to this choultry. This choultry is in ruins now.
The water from different villages and other places join this pond. We can find water in this pond in all the seasons. The Government thought of constructing a Stadium in this place. But the public opposed the government and now it is converted into boating club & amusement park.
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Rangreeju pet:
Some people from Rajasthan and Maharashtra came to Rajahmundry in 1870 and settled near Fortgate. They used to paint colors to clothes and pots etc. They belong to Bondhili religion. Ratnam pen works which is famous all over India has its head office in this area.
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The temple of Lord Markandeya:
This temple is on the Godavari bund. The actual place of this temple was a ruined Mosque near Chanda Satram(Satram - Choultry). After examining this old-ruined mosque the archeological experts confirmed it to be a Shiva temple. This temple was constructed by a rich person Mr. Gundu Sobhanadriswara Rao in the year 1818. The street in which he lived is named as Gundu vari Street. The main entrance of this temple was in this street. But now this gate is being used as secondary. The present Vysya hostel was the residence of Mr.Gundu Sobhanadriswara Rao.
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Ramdasu peta:
This area was named after Mr.Yedla Ramadasu, a singer. He used to propagate vedanta, non-violence, truth etc. among the public with his folk songs. It is on the way to Korukonda Road, between Sanitarium and Quarry colony. He died in 1917. We can find his tomb here. He used to work in the Sanitarium TAB center. The TB patients used to stay in this area.
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AryaPuram :
The sub collector Mr.Lister divided the government land into 130 plots with 3 streets in 1895. Nearly 90% of priests got the places for minimum prices. This area was named after him as Lister Pet. Later it was renamed as Aryapuram as maximum residents of this area are Brahmins. This area was annexed into Municipality in 1890. The school in this area was also named after the sub collector as Listerpet Municipal highschool. It was also renamed after some period as Sri Nannayya Municipal Highschool. The "Aryapuram Library" was established in 1910 in Dr.A.B.NageswaraRao Street. In later days the name was changed to "Sri Rama Bala Bhakta Pustak Bhandagaram" and shifted to Vankayalavari street. The temple of Lord Sri Satyanarayana was built in 1935. These days also the majority of residents in Aryapuram are Brahmins.
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VeerabhadraPuram:
In 1910 Mr.Duvvuri Veerabhadra Rao divided his 100 Acres land into plots and sold them to Brahmins at very low prices and gave lands for free of cost to Washermen, ViswaBramins and others. It is in the mid of Kambala tank, Subashnagar, Lalithanagar. Till 1930 the residents of this area refused to annex this area into Rajahmundry Municipality. He also gave a very big landscape near Kambalatank to Sri RamaKrishna Mission and Math for free of cost. The authorities of this Mission sold this area. The place in which the present Income tax Office(AAYAKAR BHAVAN) was built was also the part of the same Sri RamaKrishna Math. The present place where RamaKrishna Math is situated was also given by Mr.Duvvuri RamaKrishnarao.
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Sri Gowtami Grandhalayam(Grandhalayam means Library) :
The Gowtami Grandhalayam is a combination of Vasuraya Grandhalayam(established by Vasudeva Subbarayadu) and Ratnakavi Grandhalayam(established by Kokkonda Venkatratnam). Later many small libraries came and merged into this big Library. It was named in 1898 and was registered in 1920.
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Innispet :
This colony was formed due to the efforts of the then Sub collector Mr.Innis in 1865. In its earlier stage the Innispet area covered from Kumari Talkies to Government Junior college. After 1910 till now Innespet has Veeresalingam Theistic Junior College and (Govt. Comprehensive College) Training College and Kumari Talkies as its borders.
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Alcot Gardens :
The gardens in which the meetings of DivyaGjyanSamaj were conducted by their leader Mr.Alcot are named after him as Alcot Gardens.
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Danavaipet :
The history of this place is yet to be known. Till now two theories exist in naming this area. The first theory states that this place was named after the leader of washer men, "Danavai", who dug a pond called "Danavaigunta". This name was famous till 1950. The second theory is different. According to that theory this place was the place of one of the Army officials, "Dalavai" and hence it is named as Danavaipet.
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Sitampet :
The area which was given to pundits, Scientists and priests by a rich man from Kandregula family in memory of his mother "Sitamma" is known as Sitampet. There was also one pond "Sitammacheruvu". It was converted into a park recently.
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