Rajahmundry: A beautiful and attractive place to visit in Andhra Pradesh

Rajahmundry is a city and municipal corporation of the Andhra Pradesh state (its fourth-largest city) in India. It is located 400 kilometers (249 mi) east of the state capital, Hyderabad, on the banks of the River Godavari. Known as the Cultural Capital, Rajahmundry is noted for its strong Veda culture and intelligence. The climate is mostly hot and humid, with mostly a tropical climate and thereby, with no distinct seasons.

The biggest attraction in Rajahmundry is the river Godavari. The three bridges over the river are the longest in Andhra Pradesh with many beautiful Ghats and parks on the banks. Sir Arthur Cotton, a famous British civil engineer, had great plans for Rajahmundry and decided to build an anicut (dam) in Dhowleswaram due to its proximity to a hill that suited his purpose. The dam comprised four divisions: Dhowleswaram Division, Ryali Branch Division, Madduru division and Vijjeswaram division. This was in all 900 yards (800 m) long and 9 feet (3 m) high and Asia’s largest rail-cum-road bridge on the river Godavari linking Kovvur.

 The First Godavari Rail Bridge was built in 1897, under the supervision of Er. Walton, a British engineer, across Godavari connecting East and West Godavari districts. Stretching for three kilometers, and constructed with stone masonry and steel girders, this bridge served the trains plying between Madras (Chennai) and Howrah (Kolkata). With increased traffic in freight and passengers, a rail-cum-road bridge was built across the river’s downstream was inaugurated by the then president of India Dr. Fakruddin Ali Ahmed in 1977. A third railway bridge was built recently as the bridge built in 1897 was found not suitable for railway traffic anymore. The Dhowleswaram Bridge across Godavari is seven kilometers south of Rajahmundry. On the banks is the Rallabandi SubbaRao Museum displaying coins, sculpture, pottery, inscriptions and palm-leaf manuscripts.

Visiting Places in Rajahmundry

Rajahmundry is also one of the Hindu pilgrimage sites, with a number of temples like the Kotilingalu (10 million Sivalingas) temple on the bank of Godavari. It hosts holy congregations called Pushkarams held once every 12 years and considered auspicious to take sin-ridding holy dips — with the last in August 2003, when around 34 million are said to have taken the bath. These festivals lasts for 12 days and people offer prayers and make offerings to their departed family members. A huge Krishna temple has been constructed by the ISKCON foundation on the banks of Godavari. Popularly called as Gowthami Ghat, it is a major attraction for young people as a recreational center.

A boat cruise on the river Godavari to Papikondalu, through the beautiful waterfalls at Perantala Palli, is a major attraction. Another spot is Pattiseema, known for its natural beauty and quite many movies filmed here. Pedapatnam Lanka is called Konaseema because it is lush with greenery. Many scenic sites in Konaseema are rich sources of oil and natural gas.

Famous food in Rajahmundry

A very famous sweet in coastal Andhra Pradesh, Pootarekulu is made in Atreyapuram, a village near Rajahmundry. The city is also known for rare breed of Pulasa Fish, available only once in a year during Monsoon. Added to this people enjoy rose milk, near the Kothagumam area. And there are traditional pen-making shops where people can place order for a variety of pens.

Transportation services in Rajahmundry

Rajahmundry is well connected to all parts of the state. NH-5 passes by this place. With one national highway and two state highways, it has excellent road connectivity to all important places like Annavaram, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Jaipur and Lucknow. It is a main city for both the Godavari districts.

The city is also well connected by the railway network. Rajahmundry has one of the biggest railway stations in Andhra Pradesh and is one of the top revenue generators for South Central Railways. All trains along the Howrah-Chennai route stop here. It is also connected by a number of trains from Hyderabad, the state capital.

Rajahmundry is accessible by air through flights from Vijayawada, Chennai and Hyderabad. These 3 cities are connected by flights operated by Kingfisher Red and Jet Airways. The airport is situated near Madhurapudi which is 10km away from the heart of the city. The government has recently sanctioned an amount of rupees 200 crores for the installation of night landing facilities and construction of a new terminal building at the Rajahmundry Airport. And in soon we can see it as national airport.

The recent tourism developments by the government has made excellent platform for Rajahmundry to boast itself as water-way transport hub. Though currently the water way transport caters for select few purposes like pilgrimage, tourism etc., the government has huge plans for the future.