Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh

Pre-history

The district abounds in several pre-historic sites. The surface finds discovered are assigned to special stages in the progress of civilisation. The Palaeolithic tools are discovered at Tirupathi, Sitarampeta, Ellampalle, Mekalavandlapalle, Piler, etc. The Mesolithic tools are discovered at Chinthaparthi, Moratavandlapalle, Aruvandlapalle, Tirupathi etc. Remains of Neolithic and ancient tools are unearthed near Bangarupalem only. The existence of megolithic culture was revealed by the discovery of burials at Irulabanda, Bapanatham, Voyalpadu, Sodum, Velkuru, Nyakaneri, Basinikonda, etc.

Political history

The political history of the district commences with the Mauryas in the 4th century BC. The district of Chittoor was not a homogeneous administrative unit up to 1911. Its component parts were under the control of various principal dynasties at different periods of times, namely, the Mauryas, Satavahanas, Pallavas, Chalukyas of Badami, Rashtrakutas, Cholas, Pandyas, Royal of Vijayanagara, Qutub Shahis, Mughals, Asof Jahis, Marathas, Hyder Ali and Tipu of Mysore, and the British, besides minor dynasties such as the Renande Cholas, Banas, Vaidumbas, Nolambas, Western Gangas, Yadavas, Telugu Cholas, Matlis, Uttama Chola Ganga, Andiyaman, Siyaganga rulers, Nawabs of Kadapa and Arcot. The Zamindars of Karvetinagar, Srikalahasthi, Punganur and Kangundhi also ruled over this district.

Geography

Chittoor city lies on the banks of Ponnai River at the southernmost part of Andhra Pradesh state. It is located on the NH 4 linking major metropolitan cities of Bangalore and Chennai.

The district derives its name from Chittoor, its headquarters town. It is located between the northern latitudes of 37" and 14??8" and between the eastern longitudes 78??33" and 79??55". It is bounded on the east by Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh and Trivuvallur and Vellore Districts of Tamil Nadu, on the west by Kolar and Chikkaballapur Districts of Karnataka, on the North Kadapa District of Andhra Pradesh and on the south by Dharmapuri District of Tamil Nadu. In respect of area it takes the eighth place with an area of 15,150 Square Kilometers which accounts for 5.51 percent of the total area of the state. The general elevation of the mountainous part of the district is 2500 feet above sea level. The Chennai & Bangalore cities are located in 150 km. and 165 km. respectively to Chittoor Town.

Demographics

Telugu is both the official and widely spoken language. Chittoor also has a sizeable population of Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Marathi speaking people. Its Multi-cultural and Multi-Linguistic. Chittoor has a population of 353,766 and has a sex ratio of 1002 females per 1000 males compared to the state average of 992 females, as of 2011 census. The literacy rate of the City is 90.60%. Chittoor was upgraded as municipal corporation in 2011.

Governance

Chittoor Municipal Corporation is the civic administrative body of the city. It was constituted as a Grade–III municipality in the year 1917. It was upgraded to Grade–II in 1950, Grade–I in 1965, Special Grade in 1980 and Selection Grade in 2000. On 7 July 2012, it was upgraded to municipal corporation by merging 14 gram panchayats into the corporation and is spread over an area of 69.75 km² (26.93 sq mi).

Economy

Chittoor is the district capital and houses many district level government institutions.

Chittoor is predominantly an agro-market place and a major market for mango, grain, sugarcane, and peanut. Other industries include oilseed, poultry and milk. Tomato farming contributing over 20% of the State's production. Ground nut is the most major commercial crop in the district followed by sugarcane and the major horticulture crop of mangoes. 2nd largest milk producing district with its expansive dairy industries. In the field of Dairy, the district stood first in the state. The district is famous also for textile industries like that of Silk with 13,000 power looms providing employment 40,000 workers. Granite industry famous for its black, pink and grey granites.

Landmarks

The 11th century historical Chandragiri Fort is the notable landmark near the city.

Education

The primary and secondary school education is imparted by government, aided and private schools of the School Education Department of the state. The medium of instruction followed by different schools are English, Telugu.

Engineering Colleges:

Medical Colleges:

Pharmacy Colleges

Law College

Schools:

Transport

Roadways

The city is well connected to major cities through national and state highways.The National Highways through Chittoor City are, National Highway 140 (India) connecting Chittoor with Puthalapattu, National Highway 69 (India)connecting Chittoor with Chennai on South and Bangalore on West. The city has total road length of 382.30 km.

Public transport

The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation operates bus services from Chittoor bus station. Bus services are operated to Tirupathi, Nellore and also to all other major towns and cities in the district. It also operates to Chennai and Bangalore.

Railways

Chittoor railway station is an National railway station in Chittoor town of Andhra Pradesh. It lies on Gudur-Katpadi Branch line section and is administered under Guntakal railway division of South Central Railway zone.

Airport

The nearest airport is at Tiupati, Andhra pradesh.

Culture

Festivals

The city celebrates all major Hindu festivals which includes, Sankranti, Ugadi, Krishna Janmashtami, Maha Shivaratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, Deepavali, Rama Navami, Karthika pournami etc.

Politics

Chittoor is an assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh. Chittoor is part of Chittoor (Lok Sabha constituency). Naramalli SivaPrasad of TeluguDesam Party is the sitting Member of Parliament for Chittoor (Lok Sabha constituency) and D.K.Sathyaprabha of Telugu Desam Party is the sitting Member of Legislative Assembly for Chittoor (Assembly constituency).

Notable people