Visakhapatnam

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Coordinates: 17°43′20″N 83°17′25″E / 17.7221, 83.2902

Visakhapatnam pronunciation (help·info)(telugu - విశాఖపట్నం) (also Viśākhapattanamu, shortened and anglicized: Vizag or Vizagapatnam) is a coastal, port city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located on the eastern shore of India, nestled among the hills of the Eastern Ghats and facing the Bay of Bengal to the east. The city is about 650km northeast of the state capital Hyderabad. The city is the administrative headquarters of Visakhapatnam District and is also home of the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy.

Alternatively, it sometimes goes by its now mostly defunct colonial British name, Waltair. During the colonial era, the city had at its hub the Waltair railway station, and that part of the city still goes by the name of Waltair. It is also popularly referred to as "Vizag", a shortening of its full name. It is sometimes also referred to as the "City of Destiny".^{[citation needed]}

The city is home to several state owned heavy industries, one of the most advanced steel plant and has one of the country's largest ports and its oldest shipyard. It has the only natural harbour on the eastern coast of India.

Andhra University, a prominent seat of education in Andhra Pradesh, is located here.

Vizag is primarily an industrial city, apart from being a tourist destination. Tourists are attracted by its unspoilt beaches, nearby scenic Araku Valley and Borra caves, the 11th-century Simhachalam temple and ancient Buddhist sites like Totlakonda & Bavikonda spread across the area.

The city boasts a submarine museum, the first of its kind in South Asia, at Rama Krishna Beach.

[edit] History and Culture

This region, formerly part of the great Kalinga empire that stretched up to the river Godavari, has also been mentioned in Hindu and Buddhist texts from the 5th and 6th centuries BCE, as well as by Sanskrit grammarians Panini and Katyayana in the 4th century BCE.

This city was ruled by several dynasties: the Kalingas during the 7th century, the Chalukyas during the 8th century, the Cholas, the Qutb Shahis of Golconda, the Mughal Empire and the Nizams of Hyderabad.

Local legend says that an Andhra king (9-11th century) on his way to Benares rested there. So enchanted was he with the sheer beauty of the place that he ordered a temple to be built in honour of his family deity, Visakha. Archaeological sources, however, reveal that the temple was possibly built between the 11th and 12th centuries by the Chola king, Kulottunga Chola I. A shipping merchant, Sankarayya Chetty, built one of the mandapams, or pillared halls, of the temple. Although it no longer exists (it may have been washed away about a hundred years ago by a cyclonic storm), elderly residents of Vizag talk of visits to the ancient shrine by their grandparents. Noted author Ganapatiraju Atchutarama Raju contradicted this [1].

In the 18th century, Visakhapatnam was part of the Northern Circars, a region of Coastal Andhra that came first under French control and later that of the British. Visakhapatnam became a district in the Madras Presidency of British India. After India's independence it was the biggest district in the country and was subsequently divided into the three districts of Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram and Visakhapatnam.

[edit] Strategic Importance

Ever since the battle of kalinga during emperor Ashoka's reign the city found itself as a hotbed of millitary activity in almost every battle witnessed in the country. Right from the battle of kalinga, the World War II, India Pakistan war of 1971 and Bangladesh Liberation War. It was only the second region in south asia to be attacked by Japanese fighter planes during world war II. Recognising the strategic importance of the city and the role it played during the Bangladesh Liberation war pakistan sent its submarine PHS Ghazni to destroy the port of Vizag and sink India's only aircraft carrier. The submarine was spotted by the alert coast guard and was duly sunk. The remnants of the submarine are on display on the beach road.

The city was so important during times of war that the indian government decided to set up the eastern naval command, overlooking Chennai and Kolkata which were more populous and developed than vizag during that period. The establishment of the ENC soon after the construction of the Ship building yard firmly secured vizag's place in the annals of the Indian Navy. More defence related establishments would later come up at Vizag inluding the NSTL(Naval Science and Technology Laboratories) which is responsible for the development and testing warship technology, equipment and weapons. The Navy is also constructing a second base at vizag as the current base is overpopulated and not sufficient to meet the needs of the ENC.

[edit] Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[1] Visakhapatnam had a population of 1,345,938. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Visakhapatnam has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 74% and female literacy is 63%. In Visakhapatnam, 10% of the population is younger than six. Visakhapatnam is listed as one of the Ten Fastest Growing Cities of the World.^[2]

[edit] Language

Visakhapatnam is predominantly a Telugu speaking city. The Telugu spoken by the middle classes is a standard dialect, while a significant population who have settled down in the city from adjoining villages and neighbouring districts mainly Vizianagaram and Srikakulam speak Uttarandhra (North Coastal) Mandalikam (dialect). But even in Uttarandhra dialect there are subtle differences and in fact Telugu spoken in Srikakulam (Kalinga Andhra) is quite different from Telugu spoken in Visakhapatnam. Historians believe that centuries ago, when Uttarandhra was part of Kalinga empire; Buddhist Missionaries and Merchants might have taken Telugu (derived from Brahmi script)script to Southeast Asia from the shores of Uttarandhra where it parented into the scripts of Mon, Burmese, Thai, Khmer, Siam, Javanese and Balinese languages and even Sinhala of Srilanka. Their similarities to Telugu script can be discerned even today. Visakhapatnam is also home to large Oriya and Bengali communities. One can find Oriya inscriptions in Simhachalam temple and the temple in fact thrives on pilgrims from Orissa. Visakhapatnam due to the NAVY and high concentration of public sector industries has a significant Hindi speaking population. Visakhapatnam is also home to a large section of muslim's most of them date back to many generations in Visakhapatnam which makes Hindi probably the second most spoken language.

[edit] The City/Town

From being a small fishing village in the nineteenth century, Vizag has grown into an industrial hub. Its saga began with the quest of British to find a suitable port that connects the rich mineral belt of Central provinces with the East Coast. Unlike western coast of India, East Coast have few undulations to form a natural harbour. Their quest for finding out a harbour ended with Vizag. Vizag is the most protected natural harbour in Asia. They started building a harbour in 1927 and in 1933 it was opened to traffic. One more important milestone is setting up of Scindia Steam Navigation Co. later known as Hindustan Shipyard Ltd in 1940. With the construction of KK line connecting iron ore mines of Biladila in MP (present day Chattisgarh) its importance grew. In 1950s and 1960s Government and private sector setting up some largescale Basic industries like Bharat Heavy Plates and Vessels (BHPV), Hindustan Zinc Ltd., Caltex oil refinery (later acquired by Government as HPCL), Coramandel fertilizers, Andhra Polymers (Now LG Polymers), etc. 1980s saw a major development with the setting up of Vizag steelVizag Steel and other major industries. Economic liberalization in the 1990s brought a modest growth to the city but not as much as it did to the state capital, Hyderabad. However, some industries sprang up like Rain calclining Ltd., Expansion of HPCL, Setting up of Vizag Export Processing zone, Simhadri Thermal Power plant of NTPC, etc.Vizag is now declared as one of ten fastest growing cities of the world A Recent Study Conducted By United Nations.

Due to the presence of Eastern Naval Command, Steel Plant, HPCL, the city has been the home to people from different parts of the country and due to this the city has a cosmopolitan texture to it.

The city's main commercial and shopping centres are located in the Dwaraka Nagar-RTC Complex area and Jagadamda Junction area. In the recent years since 2000, the Dwaraka Nagar-RTC Complex area has transformed into a commercial hub with new shopping malls and complexes spring up within a radius of 2-3 kilometers. The city is home to many five star hotels with the presence of Taj group, ITC Welcomegroup & Park hotels group.

There has been a rise in the real estate prices, mainly attributed to the Telangana movement for a separate Telangana state, some speculate on Vizag becoming the next capital. Recently various large and small software and BPO companies have announced their plans for starting development and outsourcing centers in Vizag, which has also contributed to the rise in real estate prises. Inflows from NRIs from Vizag has further added to this rise. .

The city has the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park setup in the year 1972 at the city outskirts. The Zoo Park features some of the rarest species in India.

[edit] Transportation

Vizag is well connected with daily flights from Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Tirupati, and Raipur. With the entry of several new airlines, Air Sahara, Air Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines, and Paramount Airways operating there along with the state-owned airline Indian, there has been a modest increase in frequency of the flights. Vizag Airport has recently received permission to operate night flights, a new runway 10,000 feet long was constructed and became operational to accommodate international flights and larger aircraft. The airport was one of the few chosen by the center for modernization including facilities like aerobridges and immigration booths. the state government is scouting for land along the outskirts for a greenfield international airport to further enhance the status of the city as the gateway for south-east asia.

Visakhapatnam is one of the cities on the east coast of india connected by NH5, a major national highway and a part of the golden quardilateral system of indian highways connecting chennai and kolkata. the highway is an important route for transportation of cargo and people from these cities to and fro vizag. Visakhapatnam has a good network of roads.there are frequent buses to vizianagaram,srikakulam,araku and rajahmundry.There are even bus services to hyderabad,vijaywada,tirupathi,bangalore and few other parts of orissa and Karnataka.

vizagites make use of extensive public tranportation provided by the APS-RTC, which runs metro buses across various routes across the city and its suburbs. The APS-RTC complex at Asilametta is the hub and the origin point of most of these buses causing major traffic jams during rush hours on the heavily populated, congested Asilametta Junction. The city corporation is planning to dig subways, construct pedestrian overpasses and flyovers to address the traffic woes.

BRTS-Bus Rapid Transit System was approved for the city under the JNNURM. this will make use of dedicated lanes for buses allowing for an efficient, high speed mode of transportation for the public and significantly reduce traffic congestion, improving safety, this project is under implementation and will be completed by mid 2009. Once completed it will make vizag the first city in the country to implement the BRTS.

Being an important port along the east coast, passenger ships run between vizag - chennai and Vizag and the andaman islands. although ships are not a main method of transportation, tourism potential is seen as holiday cruises are being planned along these routes providing a major fillip to Vizag's tourism industry.

[edit] Educational Facilities

Visakhapatnam is also considered as one of the main centres of education in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The Mrs.A.V.N. College is one of the oldest and premier educational institutions established in 1878.^[3] It is the home of the renowned Andhra University (established in 1926). Prof S. Radhakrishnan, before he became the President of India, worked as the Vice Chancellor of this university between 1931 to 1936. The university and its affiliated colleges provide high quality and affordable education to thousands of students not only from the northern region of Andhra Pradesh but of the entire state. Post Graduate and Graduate courses are offered in various branches like Arts, Commerce, Science & Technology, Engineering, IT, Business Management,Law and Pharmacy.

Another important landmark in the education map of Visakhapatnam is the Andhra Medical College (established 1902). The college has ushered in an era of Medical Education in Visakhapatnam and continues to uphold the prestigious tradition of engendering the finest doctors from its aisles.

Coming down to the primary, high school and college level,Visakhapatnam has several good institutions, providing quality education. Apart from state run schools for the poor, there are many private institutions and missionary schools and colleges all of which provide quality education.

Georgia Institute of Technology (GA Tech) will establish its campus in Vizag. Making it the first foreign university to establish a campus in India.

Visakhapatnam has now become a preferred destination for students after Hyderabad. The city now has many engineering colleges.

ISC(International Science Conress) was hosted in the Andhra Unversity twice - once in 1976 and then in 2008. It is the biggest congregation of scientists of different disciplines in the world. Over 8000 people participated in the ISC in 2008 which included prominent nobel prize winners across the globe.

[edit] Economy

From being a tiny hamlet of local fishing community during the times of the struggle for Indian independence and for a few decades later the city exploded enonomically going into the 90's and the new millenium, in fact the rise has been so dramatic that the city was identified as one of the ten fastest growing cities in the world economically and demographically. Various factors contributed to the city's growth economically - The natural harbor, the location right in between Chennai and Kolkata, access to the NH5(a major National Expressway) and the developed nework of railways metamorphosed the village into a burgeoning industrial city.

The city has developed into a hub for many heavy industries. The Vizag Port - largest in the country - was the ideal gateway which contributed to the development of petroleum, steel and fertilizer industries. The Vizag Steel Plant, The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited were the two multi billion dollar investments which put vizag in the country's industrail Map. The city also has two NTPC power plants to satisfy the huge power needs of the industries.

Many other heavy industries call vizag their home. These include The Hindustan Zinc Limited, The Rain Calcines Limited, the Coromandel Fertilizers, The Hindustan Ship Yard and the Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels Limited(BHPV). These industries provide employment to hundreds of thousands of people and pump billions of dollars into the State's economy.

The city also ows its economic growth to the availability of highly educated and skilled english speaking manpower. English is the first language of many places of higher education in the city. This avaliability if highly educated workforce allowed the entry of many BPO companies to the city thus providing the roots for the exploding IT industry in the city. the city Registered over 100% growth in the IT sector over the last year contributing millions of dollars to the economy. Various National and International IT and Banking giants have set up or will be setting up shop in the city. These include Wipro, Satyam, TCS, HSBC, Kanexa etc. The Proactive AP gaovernment provided infrastructure and land for these companies to set up their development centers in the city outskirts.

The growing population, economy have resulted in the revamp of the real estate prices with proces at some prime locations in the city quadrupling over the past couple of years. Various real estate companies are setting up housing projects in the outskirts of the city which is being touted as the future IT destination of the country. multiple SEZ's have been sanctioned for the city. Reliance, Brandix HPCL have purchased huge areas in the SEZ for setting up their industries. Bhaba Atomic Research Center has proposed to set up their second Reseach Facility in the country after Trombay in this region. The city was one of the five in the country selected to hold strategic crude reserves for the nation in times of national emergency.

The fishing industry is also on the rise with the exports of tuna doubling over the past decade. Tuna is mainly exported to the eastern countries and also sold aross the nation for domestic consumption. A second port is being contructed at gangavaram with an investment of 2 billion dollars which when completed will be the deepest port in the country with the ability to handle the largest international vessels. This will further provide a fillip to the city and the states economy.

The following is a list of the major industries in Vizag:

• HPCL – Oil Refinery (Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited)
• APL (The Andhra Petrochemicals ltd.)[ Only OXO-ALCOHOL unit in INDIA](The Andhra Petrochemicals Limited)
• Vizag Steel Plant
• Hindustan Zinc Limited
• Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels Ltd (BHPV).
• Hindustan Shipyard Limited
• Visakhapatnam Port Trust
• Coromandel Fertilizers
• National Thermal Power Corporation
• Dredging Corporation of India Limited
• Rain Calcining Limited
• Essar Pelletization Plant (Recently a major expansion occurred. The iron ore now used by this plant comes via a pipeline 267km long from Bailadila, helping reduce transportation costs substantially.)
• HSBC
• Synergies Castings Ltd. is a Major Alloy Wheel Manufacturer in India with manufacturing base in Visakhapatam/Vizag.

Total logistics India Pvt Ltd

Its traditional importance in shipbuilding is confirmed by the fact that India's first ship, the "Jala Usha", was launched in Vizag.

Vizag is also one of India's main fishing ports, has a dedicated harbour for the fishing industry and handles a large percentage of India's seafood exports.

The Vizag Special Economic Zone plays a vital role in the industrial growth of the city.

The Andhra Pradesh government has confirmed deals with Satyam and Wipro to set up a presence in the city. Satyam's office has already been built and started working. Wipro's office is coming up on the site of the old TB hospital. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has also expressed interest in setting up a research centre and a nuclear power plant here.

[edit] Sports

Vishakapatnam has 7 cricket stadiums which are used for Ranji Trophy matches. However only 2 of these stadiums have been used for One Day International ("ODI") matches.

• Indira Priyadarshini Stadium (5 ODI Matches): Also known as the Municipal Corporation Stadium, it hosted the first ODI match on 9 December 1988 and the last of the 5 on 3 April2001. The stadium has discontinued hosting ODI matches in favor of the newer ACA-VDCA Stadium, which is situated in the satellite township of Madhurawada. The stadium is set amidst the hills and offers a scenic view.
• ACA-VDCA Stadium (2 ODI Matches): The ACA-VDCA Stadium has hosted 2 ODIs with India winning against Pakistan in the first and against Sri Lanka in the second.

The city of Vizag has never hosted a Test Match. The ACA-VDCA Stadium was recently awarded Test status. This makes the ACA stadium the ninth stadium to have a Test status in the country and the second in Andhra Pradesh.

[edit] IT/ITES Industry

Vizag city has about 50 small and medium software and call centre units, of which about 10 units started their operations during the year 2005-07. Most popular software companies in Vizag are Symbiosys Technologies, Miracle, Sand Software Solutions, Encore India, Satyam, Wipro, Net Decisions etc. Software exports from the Visakhapatnam region increased by around 56 per cent at Rs 109 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2006, as compared to Rs 70 crore in the corresponding previous year.

[edit] Ukkunagaram Township

The beautiful and well planned township for the employees of the visakhapatnam steel plant is called Ukkunagaram (ukku is Telugu for steel, nagaram is Telugu for town).

The design of the Township itself is state-of-the-art. The designers followed the Roman Circular design for the layout of homes and roads to keep the distances equal between any two points within the township.

There are 11 sectors in the Township, oldest of them being sectors 1, 2 and 3, and Sector 7 which is the exclusive domain of the directors and the chairman's homes. Other sectors came into being as the plant's staffing matured. On the average, each sectore consists of about 300 housing units, which vary from multi-storied quarters (3 floors) to single family homes. There are also bungalows exclusively for the directors of the plant.

Sector 1 used to house the Russians who came to erect and commission the first blast furnace "Godavari", The RMHP, Sinter, and Coke Oven Batteries I & II.

The beauty of the Township is that it sits in the cradle of the unspoilt forest belt starting at the Valleys of Aracu through Yelamanchili to Narsipatnam. The township comes under the mandate of the Town Administration. The continued afforestation efforts of the management has ensured a green and pollution-free environment and thereby creating a unique ecosystem in itself. The township has well kept roads, regulated traffic. The township also has all market places, parks, clubs, sports facilities exclusively for the employees and their dependents.

Last but not the least is the vistas that the Big Kanithi Balancing reservoir offers. This large mass of water reservoir is for the captive consumption of the plant and the township alike and sits between the Township and the NH5. It draws its water from a special canal built exclusively for it from the River Yeleru, a tributary of the great river Godavari.

The road that leads from the plant plaza main gate into the township actually travels ahead as a bypass to the busy NH5 and skips Anakapalli directly to Yelamanchili and Tuni, cutting almost 20 miles (30 km) on the road route from Visakhapatnam to Vijayawada.

[edit] Knowledge City

The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) has awarded the bid to construct a Knowledge City to Unitech Limited in an area of 1750 acres. With An Investment Of RS 35 Thousand Crores.

[edit] Famous Personalities

1) Alluri Sitaramaraju - Freedom Fighter
2) Sir Dr.C.V. Raman graduated high school from A.V.N. High School.
3) Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan- Served as Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University (1931-1936).
4) Tenneti Viswanadham - Freedom Fighter
5) Y Venugopala Rao - Cricketer: He made his One Day International debut against Sri Lanka on July 30, 2005.

[edit] Timeline of Vizag's history

• 260 BCE: Ashoka conquered the Kalinga empire (of which Vizag was a part).
• 208: Chandra Sri Satakarni was king of this region.
• 11th century: Simhachalam Temple built by Kulottunga I.
• 13th century: Simhachalam Temple renovated and made southern imperial centre by the Ganga king Narasimha I of Orissa.
• 1515: Krishna Deva Raya was ruler of the area comprising Vizag.
• Mid-17th century: A factory was founded in "Vizagapatam" by the British East India Company.
• 1689: The British factory was occupied by the forces of Aurangzeb.
• 1735: Dutch Colony was established.
• 1765: The territory of the Northern Circars, of which Vizag was a part, ceded to the British East India Company by the Nizam of Hyderabad. Following this, a British colony was established.
• 1881: The title of Raja was conferred upon Sri Goday Narayana Gajapathi Rao, Zamindar of Anakapalle and other estates
• 1904: Railway from Madras to Calcutta, passing through Vizagapatam, was opened.
• 1902 :Andhra Medical College was founded by Maharaja Goday Narayana Gajapati Rao and Maharani Lady Goday Chittijanakiammah.

• 1921 - 1921-09-14 - Arrest of the freedom-fighter Maulana Mohammad Ali at the Waltair (now Visakhapatnam) railway station.He was proceeding to Madras, along with Mahatma Gandhi, travelling by the Howrah-Madras Mail. Both the leaders alighted at the station, packed with a lot of people and also policemen. As soon as Mohammed Ali got down from the train, a shivering Superintendent of Police served the arrest warrant on Ali and whisked him away to the Central Jail. Gandhiji addressed the gathering and continued his journey to Madras.He was kept in central prison. On the morning of 1921-09-17, Ali was taken to the Waltair station from the jail with police escort for being sent to Karachi. People in large numbers cheered Ali all along the route from the jail to the station.^[4]
• 1921 - 1921-09-14- In the evening that day a public meeting was held on the beach where loads of foreign clothes were burnt. Umar Alisha, a Telugu poet, made a fiery speech against the arrest of the Khilafat movement leader(Maulana Mohammad Ali) at Visakhapatnam.^[5]
• 1926: Andhra University established.
• 1933: Visakhapatnam Port established.
• 1942: Japanese war planes attack Vizag.
• 1947: Eastern Naval Command established its base here. Before 1947 the Royal Navy had a base in HMIS Sircars.
• 1949: Scindia Shipyard started. Later nationalised and called Hindustan Shipyard.
• 1953: The Boat Repair Shop expanded into a Base Repair Organisation (BRO) and shifted to the location at the mouth of the northwest channel.
• 1957: A petroleum refinery by Caltex, currently owned by HPCL.
• 1965: Two survey ships, "Jumna" and "Investigator", were permanently rebased at Visakhapatnam.
• 1971: INS Rajput of the Indian Navy destroys the Pakistani submarine Ghazi in the Indo-Pak War off the coast of Visakhapatnam.
• 1977: Indira Gandhi Zoological Park established near Madhuravada.
• 1981: Visakhapatnam Steel Plant commenced operations.
• 1997: September 14 - A blast in HPCL with an official death toll of 33.

[edit] Vizag pictures

View of the amazingly beautiful Gangavaram beach.

View from Kailashgiri

Another view from Kailashgiri.

View of Vizag city from Kailashgiri.

the buddha statue in thotlakonda,visakhapatnam.

the floral clock on kailash giri hill.

[edit] See also

• Ports in India
• Kolkata Port

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• [*http://www.visitvizag.in Visit Vizag]
• [*http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Visakhapatnam,+Andhra+Pradesh+India&ie=UTF8&z=8&iwloc=addr&om=1 Google Map of vizag]

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