Popular

The history of Vijayawada can be traced back to the mythological times. The history of Vijayawada or Vijayavata, as it is termed in a few inscriptions, reveals the religious importance of the place. The remains of the pre-historic man and society of the Stone Age is found all along the River Krishna, which dominates the landscape of Vijayawada.

The famous Chinese traveler Xuanzang (Hsuan-tsang) visited this place in 639 AD, when Buddhism was at its zenith in the region. Kings Choda Gangadeva and Ananga Bhimadeva of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty in the 12th century, whose capital was in modern Bhubaneswar and who built the Lingaraj temple, had re-annexed a considerable part of the modern Andhra region and marched up to Godavari but could not cross the wide river. He established a town 'Vijaya Bahuda'(Oriya) which means 'return after winning' which became known as Vijayawada.
According to Vishnu Puranam, King Madhava Varma built the kingdom of Vijayawada and he was the ancestor of Poosapati Kings of Vizianagaram. He also built the Holy Temple of Kanaka Durga in Indrakiladri.
During the British Raj the city experienced significant growth. In particular, the completion of the Prakasam Barrage in 1959, and railway bridge on the Krishna River have helped the region expand its agriculture and commercial base. Vijayawada Railway station is one of the busiest railway junctions in India. The regions around the city have fertile soil and are irrigated by the river Krishna. It is the third largest junction in Asia.

According to the history, the city was named after the god of 'Valor-Vishakha'. It was a part of the Kalinga Kingdom, under Ashoka's rule in 260 B.C. It passed on later to the Andhra Kings of 'Vengi'. After this Pallava, Chola and Ganga dynasties ruled the city. In the 15th century, Vishakhapatnam became a part of the Vijayanagar Empire.

The Europeans, the Dutch, the French and the English established themselves from the 17th century onwards and used this as a major trading center to export textiles, ivory, tobacco, indigo etc. This port is well documented in the histories of these colonial powers as well as in Indian historical records. This coast played a major role during the reign of the Asaf Jahis and the Golcondas.

Warangal was the capital of a Hindu Shaivaite kingdom[citation needed] ruled by the Kakatiya dynasty from the 12th to the 14th centuries. The old name of this newly formed city is Orugallu. Oru means one and Kallu means stone. The entire city was carved in a single rock, hence the name Orukallu meaning 'one rock' (Ekasila nagaram in Sanskrit). The Kakatiyas left many monuments, including an impressive fortress, four massive stone gateways, the Swayambhu temple dedicated to Shiva, and the Ramappa temple situated near Ramappa Lake. The cultural and administrative distinction of the Kakatiyas was mentioned by the famous traveller Marco Polo. Famous or well-known rulers included Ganapathi Deva, Prathapa Rudra, and Rani (queen) Rudrama Devi. After the defeat of PratapaRudra, the Musunuri Nayaks united seventy two Nayak chieftains and captured Warangal from Delhi sultanate and ruled for fifty years. Jealousy and mutual rivalry between Nayaks ultimately led to the downfall of Hindus in 1370 A.D. and success of Bahmanis. Bahmani Sultanate later broke up into several smaller sultanates, of which the Golconda sultanate ruled Warangal. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb conquered Golconda in 1687, and it remained part of the Mughal empire until the southern provinces of the empire split away to become the state of Hyderabad in 1724 which included the Telangana region and some parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Hyderabad was annexed to India in 1948, and became an Indian state. In 1956 Hyderabad was partitioned as part of the States Reorganization Act, and Telangana, the Telugu-speaking region of Hyderabad state which includes Warangal, became part of Andhra Pradesh.

The city's history begins with the establishment of the Qutb Shahi dynasty when Quli Qutb Shah seized the power from the Bahamani Kingdom in 1512, establishing the city of Golconda. Owing to water scarcity and frequent epidemics of cholera and plague, Quli Qutb Shah wanted to establish a city outside of Golconda. Charminar became the center of this new city and there were four major roads arising from the Charminar along the four cardinal directions.

The wealth and strategic location of Hyderabad and Golconda attracted Aurangazeb. After a tough eight-month siege, Quli Qutb Shah gave in, and in 1687, the Moghul Empire was established. During the Moghul rule, the city experienced partial ruins and lost its importance. However, having no mighty emperors after Aurangazeb, the Moghul emperor soon lost its glory and hold, and then began Asaf Jahi dynasty. Asaf Jah I proclaimed himself the Nizam of Hyderabad and established independent rule of the Deccan. The city regained its importance and became the capital city of the Asif Jahi dynasty until Andhra Pradesh was merged into the Indian Union 1948.

According to Hindu mythology, Goddess Ganga took the form of a river to absolve the sins of King Bhagiratha's predecessors, following his severe penance of several centuries.

The picturesque pilgrimage in the hinterlands of the Himalayas is the most sacred spot where Ganga, the stream of life, touched earth for the first time.

According to mythology, Goddess Ganga, the daughter of heaven, manifested herself in the form a river to absolve the sins of king Bhagirath's predecessors, following his severe penance of 5500 years. Lord Shiva received into his matted locks to minimize the impact of her fall. The river itself begins at Gangotri which literally means Ganga Uttari or Ganga descending. She came to be called Bhagirathi at her legendary source.

According to mythology King Sagar after slaying the demons on earth staged an Aswamedh Yagna to proclaim his supremacy. The King's 60,000 sons born of Queen Sumati and one son Asamanjas of Queen Kesani were to accompany the horse. Lord Indra fearing loss of his supremacy stole the horse and tied it to the ashram of ancient sage Kapil who was then deep into meditation. On their search for horse, the 60,000 sons stormed the ashram of Kapil and just before the attack on him the sage opened his eyes and reduced all the 60,000 sons of King Sagar except Asamanjas to ashes. King Sagar's grandson Anshuman was successful in recovering the horse from Kapil and was told that those 60,000 burnt will attain heavenly adobe if Ganga is brought down from heaven & their ashes were sleaned by its water. Then the great task of bringing Ganga to earth started. Anshuman failed and so did his son Dilip but his grandson Bhagirath succeeded.

The intense meditation made Ganga to descend from heaven and in order that the earth is not flooded, it remained suspended in the matted locks of Lord Shiva's hair. Shiva pleased with King Bhagirath, released Ganga in seven streams - the most sacred streams came to be known as Bhagirathi (started from Gangotri). King Sagar's 60,000 sons' ashes were touched with Ganga water and thus they were bestowed with eternal rest in heaven.

According to legends, Lord Shiva rewarded King Bhagirath after his penance and Ganga came down to earth. However, due to her pride, and the fact that the earth would be devastated if Ganga came down in her full force, Lord Shiva caught her in his hairs. It was then proclaimed that Goddess Uma or Parvati, would bathe in the Ganges daily and only then would she descend on the earth. The sacred stone near the temple denotes the place where Ganga first came down to earth.

The mountains around Badrinath are mentioned in the Mahabharata, when the Pandavas are said to have ended their life by ascending the slopes of a peak in western Garhwal called Swargarohini - literally, the 'Ascent to Heaven'. Local legend has it that the Pandavas passed through Badrinath and the town of Mana, 4 km north of Badrinath, on their way to Swargarohini. There is also a cave in Mana where Vyas, according to legend, wrote the Mahabharata.

According to the Skanda Purana: “There are several sacred shrines in heaven, on earth, and in hell; but there is no shrine like Badrinath.”

The area around Badrinath was celebrated in Padma Purana as abounding in spiritual treasures.
According to Vamana Purana, the sages Nara and Narayana (fifth avatar of Lord Vishnu) perform Penances here.

Badrinath has also been eulogised as Bhu Vaikunta or earthly abode of Lord Vishnu. Many religious scholars such as Ramanujacharya, Madhawacharya and Vedanta Desika visited Badrinath and wrote sacred texts, such as commentaries on Brahmasutras and other Upanishads.

References to Sri Badrinath have been made in the Vedas & perhaps it was a popular shrine during the Vedic age also. The Skand Purana gives an account of the Adiguru consecrating the idol of Lord Badri Vishal in the temple after recovering it from Narad Kund, in a pursuance of a divine call from heaven. The idol is made of black stone similar to granite. So holy is the shrine that it forms one of the four prominent places of Hindu worship. The epic Mahabharat, it is believed, was composed in the Vyas & Ganesh caves close by. The Vishnu Ganga which later becomes the Alaknanda flows below the temple.

History of Almora can be traced back to ancient times of Mahabharata. However, the earliest historical account of the place is provided by a Chinese pilgrim of seventh century. The pilgrim wrote in great detail about a kingdom called ‘Brahmaputra’.

The ancient town of Almora, before its establishment was under the possession of Katyuri king Baichaldeo. He donated major part of this land to a Gujrati Brahmin Sri Chand Tiwari [1] Later on when Chand kingdom was founded in Baramandal, the town of Almora was founded at this centrally located place in 1568 [2] by Kalyan Chand.[citation needed] In the days of the Chand Kings it was called Rajapur. The name 'Rajpur' is also mentioned over a number of ancient copper plates.

In 1744 during the raid by Ali Muhammad Khan Rohilla, Almora was taken over from Chand dynasty. However, unable to bear the hardships of living in the hills, the Rohillas chiefs, placed by Ali Mohammad Khan Rohilla, returned Almora for a heavy bribe of three lakh rupees.

Ali Mohammad, dissatisfied with the conduct of his commanders, attacked Almora again in 1745. However, this time the Rohillas were defeated. They never came back again.

In 1790, Almora was conquered by the Gurkhas who ruled it for the next 24 years until it was taken over by the British in 1815. Today, Almora is a primary center for trade and other activities – social, cultural, political- and is a district place of Uttarakhand State in India.