Home :: South India Travel Destinations :: Guntur India

» Location : Northeastern Part Of State Andhra Pradesh
» Founded By : French
» Founded In : Mid-Eighth Century

Located in the northeastern part of the Andhra Pradesh State, in the Krishna River delta, Guntur lies on the Vijayawada-Madras trunk road, about 9-km to the east of the picturesque Kondaveedu range of hills. It is the headquarters of the district of its name, Revenue division and Taluk. It is one of the oldest municipalities having been constituted in AD 1866. The French founded the city in the mid-eighth century, but in 1788 it was ceded permanently to the British.

The village of 'Ramachandrapuram Agraharam', which is now part of Guntur city, is considered much older than Guntur as it is testified by an inscription dated AD 1296 on a pillar of Mantapam in three temple of Lakshminarayana Swami. It is an important railway junction and is connected by rail with Macherla, Vijayawada, Machilipatnam, Hubli, Tenali and Repalle. This city is an important commercial centre, with tobacco curing barns, rice mills, cotton and oil mills. There are many places of tourist importance around this city.

Excursions of Guntur
Buddhist Relics And Lord Amareswara Temple At Amaravati : Amaravati is situated in Sattenapalli Taluk, 35-km away from Guntur. It is famous as the seat of a temple to Lord Shiva worshipped here as Lord Amareswara and also for the Buddhist sculptures, which are world famous. Amareswaram is considered sacred because of three things, the Krishna River, an important 'Kshetra' with a 'Sthalamahatyam' and the 'Sri Mahalinga Murthy', which are three sacred principles embodied in one.

Undavalli caves : The Undavalli caves, in the village of Undavalli, are at a distance of 8-km from Vijayawada and nearly 32-km from Guntur. The high hill overlooking the Krishna River hosts fine specimens of cut-in architectural and sculptural models.

Chebrolu : Chebrolu, a very ancient village with many historical remains, is situated on the Guntur-Bapatla road within a distance of 10-km from Guntur. The high mound, on which the village is situated, has yielded some terracotta figurines, as well as some old coins, which reveal the existence of ancient civilisation at this place. Two gold coins pertaining to the period of the Roman Emperor Constantine were unearthed at this place. A number of lead coins containing the figures of ships, animals and mosques were also unearthed.

Kotappa Konda : Kotappa Konda is one of the important pilgrim centers of Andhra Pradesh. It is located 13-km southwest of Narasaraopet in and 60-km from Guntur. Original name of this village is "Kondakavuru", but is more popularly known as Kotappakonda or 'Trikutaparvatam' (three-peaked hill). The deity on this hill is named 'Trikoteswara'. Maha Shivaratri is the important festival celebrated here with great devotion and fervour.