Tanuku- a description by Chari

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Tanuku is a big town in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, a large and wealthy state in southern India. It was known as Tarakapura in ancient times. The name comes from Tarakasena, who ruled over Tanuku and the adjoining regions. Currently Tanuku is the political capital of the West Godavari district. It is little known that this small town is one of the few centres in the country to produce and supply UDMH-MMH, hydrazine rocket fuel, so has its own importance in contributing to Indian Space Research.

According to some accounts it was the capital of the king of Asuras(demons) Tarakasura's kingdom Tarakapuri. Many of the surrounding villages have some associated historical significance or the other and quite a few ancient monuments can be seen here. In those days the present Palangi was known as Pulangi (Stall of Flowers) and Chivatam is known as Srivatam (The Financial Centre). The paddy repository of the kingdom is today’s Vadluru. Paidiparru was known as Swarnagaram (Place of gold), and the stall of gems called Ratnala Angi is probably Relangi of today.

Now coming to the story of Tarkasena. He is often referred to as Tarakasura (Taraka+asura).Asuras are demons, and our Tarakasena,may be originally Deva but must have been made a demon after his defeat in a great war between him and Lord Kumaraswamy(Subramania swamy), the son of Lord Shiva and Parvathi,who was the son-in-law of Devendra when invaded by Tarakasura over an insult meted out to him.

Many villages derive their name for this war. The place where Lord Kumaraswamy landed on earth is now called Komaravaram. Illindra Parru is the place where Indra stayed, and the place where all the angels stayed is now known as Velpuru (Place of Angels). The place where Uraga Raju resided is known as Undrajavaram. The place where Goddess Vijayalakshmi resided is known as Mahalakshmi Cheruvu, and the place where the holy priests resided is today called Vipparru. Thus you can see that Tanuku’s history goes back way back to the ancient Vedic times.

Tanuku is the birthplace of one of the greatest Telugu poets of all time, Adikavi Nannayya who translated the Mahabaratha from Sanskrit into Telugu. He is reputed to have conducted a huge Yagna(sacrifice) under a Jammi tree. The significance of which I do not know.

In more recent times the success of The Andhra Sugars Limited in producing rocket fuel (UDMH & MMH) is considered a remarkable achievement. India is the fifth country in the world to develop this fuel and dependence on foreign sources has been reduced.

Tanuku is essentially and agricultural town and is part of the Godavari river basin. The soil here is very fertile. It is said that there is no crop, which will not grow in Tanuku. The entire region forms part of the rice basket of India. Other crops grown are sugarcane, banana, coconut and many different types of vegetables especially brinjal. A word about these vegetables, you are unlikely to find anything as fresh, as luscious and flavourful vegetables anywhere in India as you would get in Tanuku.It is not an exaggeration. Our farmers are slowly realizing the importance of not using chemical pesticides and hopefully we would find all organically grown vegetables here.

Several good educational institutes have sprung up in Tanuku, following the demand of the software industry. There are nearly three engineering colleges, two masters’ degree colleges,and a B.Ed. college, a top ranking Polytechnic college and two MCA colleges. Hopefully at some point in the near future we would also be proud to have a medical college.

Tanuku is a nice place to live in, with unpolluted atmosphere. The people here are known for their friendliness and manners.

The historical River Gosthani flows around the town on three sides, the map gives an impression of a peninsula. It is said that the river has a spiritual power that any one who has a dip in it will be washed off all their sins. (Please note that this is said so about almost any water body in India).

Tanuku is situated at a distance of 5 km from Duvva, 60 km from Narsapur, 73 km from Eluru, 40 km from Bhimavaram, and 18 km from Tadepalligudem. The town is accessible by train and bus and there are frequent buses from Narsapur, Palakollu, Tadepalligudem and Eluru. Private transport is also available from Palakollu and Eluru.National highway NH5 ,part of the golden quadrilateral (i.e Kolkotta to Chennai) now passes through Tanuku for faster road connection.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   16°45'31"N   81°40'9"E

Comments

  • My house is located Behind Dr Prasada Rao's hospital near Co-operative society.Yerramsetty vari veedhi. My father is well known as TVS Babu Rao garu. All my closely related Yerramsetty families are surrounding my house.My pet name is Nani.Cheers to all my Tanuku mates.
  • thats a gud desc!
  • my house is located in Doddipatlavari st. at the junction of the road from the mosque( on Velpur rd) and Doddipatlavari st. My father,Dr.Yellamaraju Suryanarayan Rao was the first medical practitioner of Tanuku Dr.Sridhar Rao YVSS
This article was last modified 16 years ago