Mangalagiri

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Mangalagiri (मंगलगिरि) is a town in Guntur district situated between the twin cities of Vijayawada and Guntur of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a major suburb of the cities of Vijayawada and Guntur. It also forms a part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region. It is situated on National Highway 16 between Vijayawada and Guntur. The town was known to have existed since 225 B.C.

Variants

• Mangalaprastha मंगलप्रस्थ (AS, p.683)
• Mangalagiri मंगलगिरि, जिला गंतूर, मद्रास, (AS, p.683)

History

Mangalagiri translates to The Auspicious Hill (Mangala = Auspicious, Giri = Hill) in the local language. It was derived from the name Totadri. During Vijayanagara Kingdom, it was also known as Mangala Nilayam.

It is dated to 1520 and mentions the capture of Kondavidu by Timmarasu, general of Krishna Deva Raya, in 1515 from the Gajapati rulers of Kalinga (ancient Odisha). Another stone near the temple of Garudalvar has inscriptions on four sides recording grants in the reign of Sadasiva Raya of Vijayanagara Empire 1538. The lofty gopuram in the temple at the foot of the hill was erected by Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu in 1807–1809, and in terms of sculpture and architecture this temple stands to be an ultimate testament for the ancient vishwakarma sthapathis in planning and sculpting these temples

Mangalagiri was under the control of Golkonda Nawabs for a long period. It was plundered in 1780 by Hyder Jung but could not be conquered. In 1816, a gang of Pindaris again looted the place. It slowly recovered from these two attacks during the time of Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu who ruled the place from Amaravati. There is a big koneru (tank) in the center of the place which went dry in 1882. As many as 9,840 guns and 44 bullets which might have been related to Pindaris have been found here after the Pindaris looted this place.The picturesque hill was visited by the great Sri Krishna Deva Raya

मंगलगिरि

विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर ने लेख किया है ...मंगलगिरि (AS, p.683) प्राचीन तीर्थ है. यहां एक ऊंची पहाड़ी पर कई सौ वर्ष पुराना विष्णु मंदिर स्थित है. शिखर तक पहुंचने के लिए पहाड़ी में 600 सीढियां बनी हुई है.

मङ्गलप्रस्थ

विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर ने लेख किया है ...मंगलप्रस्थ (AS, p.683): ‘भारतेऽप्यस्मिन्वर्षे सरिच्छैला: सन्ति बहवो मलयो मङ्गलप्रस्थो मैनाकस्त्रिकूट ऋषभ: कूटक:..’ श्रीमद्भागवत पुराण 5,19,16. संदर्भ से, और जिस क्रम से पर्वतों के नाम इस उद्धरण में परीगणित हैं उनसे, सूचित होता है कि मंगलप्रस्थ संभवत: मंगलगिरि (जिला गंतूर, मद्रास) है. इस पहाड़ी पर जो विष्णु मंदिर है वह बहुत प्राचीन है.