Anantapur


Anantapur is a city in Anantapur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Anantapuramu mandal and also the divisional headquarters of Anantapur revenue division. The city is located on National Highway. It was also the headquarters of the Datta Mandalam in 1799. It was also a position of strategic importance for the British Indian Army during the Second World War.

Geography

Anantapuram is located at. It has an average elevation of. It is located at a distance of 356 km from Hyderabad, 484 km from Vijayawada, and 210 km from Bangalore which is the closest international airport.

Climate

Anantapuram has a semi-arid climate, with hot and dry conditions for most of the year. Summer start in late February and peak in May with average high temperatures around the range. Anantapuramu gets pre-monsoon showers starting as early as March, mainly through north-easterly winds blowing in from Kerala. Monsoon arrives in September and lasts until early November with about of precipitation. A dry and mild winter starts in late November and lasts until early February; with little humidity and average temperatures in the range. Total annual rainfall is about.

Demographics

census, Anantapuram city has a population of 261,004. The sex ratio was 995 females per 1000 males and 9% of the population was under 6 years old. Effective literacy is 82%, male literacy is 89% and female literacy is 75%. Telugu is the official and widely spoken language.

Governance

Civic administration
Anantapuramu Municipal Corporation is the civic body of Anantapuramu.
Public utilities
Anantapuramu Drinking Water Supply Project and Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust have also step forward in supplying clean water and concentrated mainly on eradicating fluorosis. The corporation supplies chlorinated water to the city from the summer storage tank located in the town.

Transport

Anantapuram is well connected to the nearby major cities with National Highway 7 and National Highway 205 of National Highway network of India. The NH–7 connects it to Bangalore and NH–205 connects it to Chennai via Renigunta. The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation operates bus services from Anantapuram bus station. The city has a total road length of 298.12 km.
provides rail connectivity for the city and is classified as an A–category station in Guntakal railway division of South Central Railway zone.
The nearest International airport is Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru which is 190 kilometers away.

Culture

There are a few notable people from the town with their contributions to various fields such as politics, film industry and other areas. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the former President of India and the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Paidi Lakshmayya was the first member of Parliament from Anantapur's Lok Sabha Constituency. Kallur Subba Rao was an Indian freedom activist and was the first speaker of Andhra Assembly; Kadiri Venkata Reddy was an Indian film director, writer and also a producer, Sathya Sai Baba, a Hindu spiritual leader; Bellary Raghava was an Indian playwright, thespian and film actor.

Cuisine

such as, Jowar, Bajra, Ragi are the food grains which are mostly used in food items.

Cityscape

Neighbourhoods and landmarks in and around the city are - Clock tower, Sapthagiri circle, ISKCON temple, the railway station area, bus station, Srikantam circle,
Government Hospital, Court Road etc.

Education

The primary and secondary school education is imparted by government, aided and private schools of the School Education Department of the state. The mediums of instruction that are followed by different schools are English mediums and Telugu mediums.
Anantapuramu is an important education centre of the district which has many schools, colleges and universities. Prominent institutions and universities include, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, JNTU Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai University, central University of Andhra Pradesh, Government Medical College, Arts College, Srinivasa Ramanujan Institute of Technology, PVKK Institute of Technology etc.

Sports

Anantapuramu has many sports facilities and hosted the Irani Cup in 1963–64 when Rest of India scored their lowest total of 83 against the then Ranji trophy winners Bombay, played at the Sanjeeva Reddy stadium. Several Ranji trophy matches and other regional tournaments for basketball, badminton, etc. have been hosted in Anantapur.
The Anantapuramu Sports Village, located alongside the National Highway 7. The Anantapuramu Cricket Ground sits within a complex which is managed by the Rural Development Trust. In October 2010, Rafael Nadal opened the Rafael Nadal Tennis School, which hosts district, state and national-level tournaments, as well as laying equal emphasis on the children's education and tennis training.
There are several Indoor Stadiums for Basketball and Badminton under local bodies which conducts District, State and National Competitions. There are many coaching class for taekwondo and Karate. There are also coaching centers for swimming which conducts district competitions.

Temples

There are four temples under the management of Endowments Department.
  1. Sri Kasivisweswara & Kodanda Rama Swamy Temples
  2. Sri Virupakeshwara & Obuleswara Swamy Temple
  3. Sri Peta Basaveswara Swamy Temple
  4. Sri Rama Swamy temple
And there are several important Temples which became good landmarks such as
  1. ISKCON temple
  2. Sri Mounagiri Kshetram
  3. Shivakoti temple
  4. Harihara Temple
  5. Sri Anjanayaswamy Temple