"VIJAYAWADA"the city on fast track

According to legend,Arjuna, one of the Pandava brothers, prayed to Lord Shiva at the top of Indrakila Hill for victory. He was blessed with the victory and thus the place came to be known as Vijayawada. According to another legend, the goddess Durga rested here after killing a demon and since she was victorious (vijaya), it is called Vijaywada. Kanakdurga, also locally known as Vijaya is the presi

ding deity of the town. The Chalukyas of Kalyan and the great king Krishna Deva Raya once conquered this place. The city was visited by the great Chinese traveler Hieun Tsang and he has described about the town in glowing terms. Some of the remains of its past, preserved in its cave temple reminds of the importance of Vijaywada. After the fall of the Mauryan empire, Amaravati became the principal center of Buddhism in South India under the Satavahanas. Adi Shankara blessed the city by installing a ‘Sri-Chakra’ at the temple here. Two Jain temples recall 1000-year old heritage of Vijaywada. During the British Raj, the city experienced significant growth. In particular, the completion of the Prakasham Barrage in 1959, and railway bridge on the Krishna River have helped the region expand its agricultural and commercial base.