History
The Kingdom of (Bhattiprolu) in Guntur district circa 500 BC, appears to be the earliest known kingdom in south India. The earliest recorded reference of Guntur comes from the Idern plates of Ammaraja I (922-929 CE), the Vengi Chalukyan king. Guntur also appears in two other inscriptions dated 1147 CE and 1158 CE. The original Sanskrit (ancient Vedic culture/tradition) name for Guntur was Garthapuri (a place surrounded by water ponds ('garta'/'gunta')).
The 'Agasthyeswara Sivalayam' in the old city is an ancient temple of Lord Siva. There are inscriptions in the temple on stones in 'Naga Lipi' (an ancient script) dating back to about 1100 CE. It is considered one of the famous temples in the city. It is said that Agastya built the temple in the last Treta yuga around the Swayambhu Linga and hence it has this name. The 'Nagals' were said to have ruled the region at that time. The region has been historically known for Buddhism and the first Kalachakra ceremony performed by Buddha himself.
The place of Sitanagaram and the Guthikonda Caves are referred in the ancient texts (Vedic puranas) going back to the Treta yuga and Dwapara yuga (traditional time scale). Also check Timeline of Guntur.
Read more about this topic: Guntur
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“What you don’t understand is that it is possible to be an atheist, it is possible not to know if God exists or why He should, and yet to believe that man does not live in a state of nature but in history, and that history as we know it now began with Christ, it was founded by Him on the Gospels.”
—Boris Pasternak (1890–1960)
“Those who weep for the happy periods which they encounter in history acknowledge what they want; not the alleviation but the silencing of misery.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)