Heritage of Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam city is located among the Eastern Ghats mountain range of Andhra Pradesh in India. Visakha is the lord of bravery in Hindu mythology and Visakhapatnam is called after his name. The Andhra ruler constructed a temple for God Visakha in olden days. It is also named Vizag, Vaishak and Vaishakhapuram. It is a fantastic metropolis with attractive beach locations and hillocks. One of the naval bases of India is located here.

King Visakha is said to have dominated this particular spot in historic periods. Later in two hundred and sixty B.C. it got below the control of Ruler Ashoka of Kalinga Kingdom. Then it had been ruled by Utkala Empire, Vengi empire and Pallava Rulers. The town was explained in the fantastic Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Buddhism prospered in this area in 5th century B.C. while it had been under the Kalinga Empire. Later after the battle of Kalinga, it had been dominated by King Ashoka.

There are lots of Buddhist web sites near Visakhapatnam such as Ligalametta, Sankaram, Bojjannakonda and Theravadda. The pictures of Buddha, Vajrayana art forms and stupas are identified in all of these areas. The ceramics found right here fit in with early historic time period and the coins date back towards the 1st century A.D. over the time of Satavahanas.

The excavations carried out in Bavikonda reveal a large vihara complex with various facilities. The artifacts fit in to the time period among third century B.C. and 2nd century B.C. The bone fragments and other mortal remains are identified in an urn with ash. This is one of these essential holy websites of Buddhism in India. In Thotlakonda, the part of Visakhapatnam, roman silver coins, Satavahana coins and terracotta tiles are identified.

From 10th century to 16th century A.D. the area was under the control of the Eastern Ganga Kings and Surya Vamsi Gajapati Kings. At this time, many temples were built here and they are exposed through the archeological findings. After a short tenure of Chola Kings, it turned a Mughal territory under the control of the Nizam of Hyderabad. A temple for the deity Visakha was constructed during the Chola period.

The elegance of Visakhapatnam tempted numerous people of historical instances. Combined with this, the natural harbour facilitated maritime trade. So many European traders came here from various nations for trading iron, ivory, muslin, tobacco, paddy along with other products.

Initially the city was under French control all through eighteenth century. At that time, it had been a part of the Northern Circars. The Battle of Visakhapatnam was fought in between the French and British in September 1804. This battle moved the city under the control of the English East India Company and made it a portion of the Madras Presidency. Right after the independence of India, the greatest district of Visakhapatnam was split into three districts namely Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam.

Scindia Steam Navigation Company. was setup in 1940 and it was called Hindustan Shipyard Limited later on. Visakhapatnam Steel Plant is one of the critical industries located here. The city features a cosmopolitan culture because of the existence of the naval base and several industrial sectors. The scenic charm of this metropolis may be seen in the Visakhapatnam photos and Visakhapatnam videos.

Suhaina Mazhar is a freelance content writer and blogger and has written thousands of original articles. Click here to find out interesting details about Visakhapatnam and watch Visakhapatnam photos and Visakhapatnam videos.