History
Mangalagiri means 'The holy hill'. Near the foot of the stone flight of steps is a stone pillar with a Telugu inscription, recording grants of villages. It is dated AD 1520 and mentions the capture of Kondavidu by Timmarasu, general of Krishna Deva Raya, in 1515 from the Gajapati rulers of Kalinga(ancient Orissa). Another stone near the temple of Garudalvar has inscriptions on four sides recording grants in the reign of Sadasiva Raya of Vijayanagara Empire AD 1538. The lofty gopuram in the temple at the foot of the hill was erected by Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu in 1807-1809,and in terms of sculpture and architecture this temple stands to be an ultimate testimant for the ancient vishwakarma sthapathis in planning and sculpting these temples.
Mangalagiri was under the control of Golkonda Nawabs for a long period. It was plundered by in 1780 by Hyder Ali but could not be conquered. In 1816, a gang of Pindaris again looted the place. It slowly recovered from these two attacks during the time of Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu who ruled the place from Amaravati. There is a big koneru (tank) in the center of the place which went to dry in 1882. As many as 9,840 guns and 44 bullets which might have been related to pindaris have been found here after the pindaris looted this place.
The picturesque hill was visited by the great Sri Krishna Deva Raya.
In 1970's there was a huge water scarcity in Mangalagiri. Goli Gopala Rao, the then Municipal Chairman of Mangalagiri has brought water supply to the Town through water pipelines and he was called as "Apara Baghiratha" due to his best services to the public.
Read more about this topic: Mangalagiri
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“If you look at the 150 years of modern China’s history since the Opium Wars, then you can’t avoid the conclusion that the last 15 years are the best 15 years in China’s modern history.”
—J. Stapleton Roy (b. 1935)
“No one can understand Paris and its history who does not understand that its fierceness is the balance and justification of its frivolity. It is called a city of pleasure; but it may also very specially be called a city of pain. The crown of roses is also a crown of thorns. Its people are too prone to hurt others, but quite ready also to hurt themselves. They are martyrs for religion, they are martyrs for irreligion; they are even martyrs for immorality.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)