Etymology
It was named as prakasam district on 12 May 1972, in memory of the great patriot and Andhra Leader, Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu, also known as Andhra Kesari (Lion of Andhra ) who was born in Vinodarayunipalem village near Ammanabrolu of this district.
History
Prakasam District's past stretches back to the days when it was ruled by the Mauryas from 250 B.C. the rise of the Satavahanas saw Buddhism flourish in the region and the construction of several stupas. The Ikshvaku and Vijayanagar Kings,the Kakatiyas, the Qutub Shahis,the Mughals, the Addanki Reddys,the Chundi Rajas, the ongole Samsthanam Kings and the Pellur Rajas later followed these rulers.
The Prakasam district was originally constituted on the 2 February 1970, carved out of Guntur, Nellore and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh.[1] It was carved out of three taluks of Guntur District, i.e. Addanki, Chirala and Ongole, four taluks of Nellore district, i.e. Kandukur, Kanigiri, Podili and Darsi and three taluks of Kurnool district i.e. Markapuram, Cumbum and Giddaluru. It is one of the nine districts in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh.
Prakasam District is currently a part of the Red Corridor.
Geography
Prakasam Distric occupies an area of 17,626 square kilometres (6,805 sq mi),[3] comparatively equivalent to Indonesia's Seram Island.
The only one Municipal Corporation in Prakasam is Ongole. Some of the main towns in Prakasam district are Singarayakonda, Addanki, Inkollu, Markapur, Yerragondapalem, Podili, Darsi, Chirala, Kandukur, Parchur, Giddaluru, Podili, Dornala, Cumbum, Kanigiri, Chimakurthi and Martur. Markapur is India's main slate manufacturing town where the historic temple of Lord Chennakesava is situated. Chimakurthi is world renowned for its granite reserves. Dornala is also known as diguva Srisailam, since it is very near the historic pilgrimage center of Srisailam.
Cumbum lake also known as Gundalakamma lake built on Gundalakamma rivulet upon Nallamalai hills is one of the oldest man made lakes of Asia. The anicut was built by the Gajapati kings of Orissa in 15th. Century AD when the area was under their control. It was subsequently renovated by the Vijayanagar princess Varadharajamma. The lake in its present form is about 7 km long and on average, about 3.5 km wide As per the Imperial gazette of India at the turn of 20th century the height of the dam was 57 feet (17 m) and the drainage area was 430 square miles (1,100 km2). The direct irrigation land was about 10,300 acres (42 km2) in all.[3] Cumbum lake is accessible both by the rail Guntur-Nandyal railway line and by road 108 km from Ongole.
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