Tenali

Tenali is a town in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality, and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The town is renowned for art, culture, drama, and hence, it is called "Andhra Paris". It is one of the twelve urban local bodies in Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and the twelfth most populous town in the state, with a population of 199,345 as of 2011. Tenali town is also part of Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA).

Tenali Rama, one of the jesters and eight poets of the early 16th century Vijayanagara ruler Krishnadevaraya, hailed from Tenali.

Etymology

The word Tenali is derived from Teravali.

Three canals of the Krishna River flow through Tenali town, making it a part of the rice bowl of Andhra Pradesh, resembling Paris, where three canals pass through the town. Hence Tenali is affectionately called "Andhra Paris". In 2011 the town limits were expanded by many kilometers. The expansion included the villages of Angalakuduru, Nandivelugu, Kolakaluru, Pinapadu and Burripalem.

History

The Andhra–Satavahana dynasty ruled the region around the present town from 225 B.C. to 225 A.D. The relics found in the excavations around Tenali reveal the existence of Jainism and Buddhism.

Geography

thumb|A pond at Pinapadu area of Tenali|left

Tenali is situated at , on the southern deltaic region of Krishna River. The region around the town forms a part of Western Delta System of Krishna river. The area is covered by Alluvium and the main soil varieties are Red and Black. The town receives maximum rainfall due to the onset of southwest monsoon season from June to October.

| 1971 | 102937

| 1981 | 119257

| 1991 | 149726

| 2001 | 193756

| 2011 | 222895

census of India, there were households with a population of . It comprises males, females and children (age group of 0–6 years). The average literacy rate stood at 82.75% with literates, of which males were 164,467 and females were 160,151. There are a total of workers and non–workers. The religious population constitute Hindus (83.76%), Muslims (13.11%), Christians (1.94%) and (0.82%) not stating any religion.

Government and politics

Civic administration

thumb|Tenali municipal office|alt=|left

The Tenali Municipality is the seat of local government and the Tenali municipal council is the legislative body. Each ward is represented by a ward member and the wards committee is headed by a Chairperson. The present Municipal Commissioner of the town is Venkata Krishna. The municipality of the town has received several awards, such as the Green Leaf Award 2015 for Best Decentralised Solid Waste Management and Green City of the country for waste segregation management.

The town is represented by Tenali Assembly constituency in the state legislative assembly. The assembly segment forms a part of Guntur Lok Sabha constituency, which represents the lower house of Indian Parliament. The present MLA from Tenali is Mr. Nadendla Manohar. Currently, Mr. Nadendla is serving as the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs.

Public utilities

thumb|Solid waste management park in the outskirts of Tenali

The municipality oversees civic needs, such as water supply, sewerage, roads, and parks, and is included in the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation. The town residents rely on borewells, overhead reservoirs, and a filtration plant for daily water needs, which mainly draws water from the Krishna river of Prakasam Barrage. The town municipality implements two-bin garbage collection, sanitation campaigns like Mana Tenali – It's people's creation for hygiene of the people, ban on plastic bags etc.

Economy

thumb|Kotha Raghuramaiah Agricultural Market Yard, Tenali

Tenali thrives on trade and agriculture. Irrigation in the Western Delta, the region in which the town lies, is supported by water from the Krishna river. Paddy is the major crop cultivated, producing on an average of 22–24 bags per acre. The Tenali Agriculture Market Yard is used for trading and exporting agricultural products.

The town being a part of the capital region, is recognized as one of the future growth centers. It is also a part of the Tenali–Ponnur growth corridor.

Culture

thumb|Tenali Ramakrishna statue near Municipal office|alt=|left

thumb|Satyanarayana UDA lake park at Chinnaravuru, Tenali

The town is notable for drama, fine arts, literature and poetry. The iconic Martyr's Memorial at Ranarang Chowk denotes the impact of the town on the Indian freedom struggle during the Quit India Movement. The people of Tenali had responded to Mahatma Gandhi's call and organised a bandh on 12 August 1942. The British police had opened fire on them, and seven people had been killed on the spot, at Morrispeta which later came to be known as Ranarang Chowk. After Independence, seven pillars had been erected in the memory of the seven martyrs, and a statue of Mother India with a baby in her arms had been installed at Ranarang Chowk.

It was the domicile of doyen of several social and revolutionary moments viz. Non Bramin Movement 1920 (Suryadevara raghavaiah Chowdary), Rationalist movement 1940 (Kaviraju Sri Tripuranen<nowiki/>i), Radical Humanist Movement 1950 (Sri M.N. Roy) etc.

Drama and literature

The town has been the host for events such as the formation of the 1929 Andhra Nataka Kala Parishad, the Kanyasulkam play, and cultural fests. Tenali Ramakrishna, one of the eight poets in the court of Sri Krishna Devaraya, hails from Tenali.

Food

Jalebi is very famous in Tenali town. It is made with jaggery instead of the traditional way with sugar. There is no color added to jalebi. Many parcels are sent abroad on a daily basis.

Transport

thumb|left|Tenali bus station

thumb|right|Tenali railway station main entrance

Tenali has a total road length of . Guntur, Mangalagiri, Burripalem and Ponnur roads are the arterial roads for road connectivity to the town. The road towards Guntur connects with SH 48 at Narakodur. The Tenali–Mangalagiri road, the Tenali–Narakodur road, and the Tenali–Chandole road are a part of the core road network of the district, which connects the town with Mangalagiri, Narakodur and Chandole respectively.

Bus and rail transport are the major modes of public transport for inter district and inter state commuting. The bus transport is provided by Tenali bus station, owned and operated by APSRTC. The station is also equipped with a bus depot for storage and maintenance of buses. It operates bus services to nearby and intrastate destinations.

The town's railway line, the Guntur-Tenali railway line, is an important and short route line that connects Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with Tamil Nadu and Kerala. As it is a junction railway station, the trains are more frequent to any of the cities. provides rail connectivity to the town and is classified as an A–category station in the Vijayawada railway division of South Central Railway zone. It is an important junction station on the line between the Howrah–Chennai and the New Delhi–Chennai sections, which also connects the Tenali–Repalle branch line and the Guntur–Tenali section.

Education

thumb|Kendriya Vidyalaya school

The primary and secondary school education is imparted by government, aided, and private schools, under the School Education Department of the state. As per the school information report for the academic year 2015–16, there are a total of 71 schools, comprising 26 private schools, 44 municipal schools, and 1 other type of school. The total number of students enrolled in primary, upper primary and high schools of the town is 11,544.

Sri Vivekananda Central School, Adarsh Public School, Dr.K.K.R Gowtham St. John's Public School, Kendriya Vidyalaya, and Westberry School are some of the public and private schools under CBSE and state boards. Yalavarthy Veda Pathashala, one of the oldest vedic schools founded in 1894, is located in Gandhi Nagar area of the town.

There are 20 private aided junior colleges, such as the Taluk Junior college, the JMJ college for Women, the VSR and NVR college, and the Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Memorial Junior college. Additionally, fourteen unaided junior colleges provide undergraduate education. The JMJ college for women and the VSR and NVR college are the two autonomous colleges under Acharya Nagarjuna University. There are colleges for different fields of study, such as nursing, Government Industrial Training Institute, and other institutes for vocational courses.

Sports

The town has an indoor sports complex for Badminton, Tennis and Volleyball at the Chenchupet area.

Sports personalities from the town include National Senior Chess Silver Medalist International Master CRG Krishna, National Challengers Championship winner and chess master S. Ravi Teja and weightlifter Sai Revathi Ghattamaneni, a gold medalist at Senior Nationals in the 63-kg category.

Notable people

Tenali Rama, poet and key figure of the Court of Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara Empire
Savitri, known as Mahanati and one of the greatest Indian female actors of all time
Yalavarthy Nayudamma, popular Scientist who died in the Kanishka airplane bombing
Nadendla Bhaskara Rao, Politician and former Chief Minister of combined Andhra Pradesh
Nadendla Manohar, Politician, s/o Nadendla Bhaskara Rao and former speaker of Andhra Pradesh assembly
J. C. M. Sastry, nephrologist
Krishna, popular actor and winner of Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
Sobhita Dhulipala, actress and winner of Femina Miss India Earth 2013
Sarada, winner of 4 Indian national awards for best actress
Chakrapani, founder of Chandamama and famous film producer

Other notable actors in film industry include Jaggayya,

Rajyalakshmi,
Kanchanamala,
Ashwin Babu,
Ohmkar,
Maharshi Raghava,
Punarnavi Bhupalam,
Govindarajula Subba Rao,
Gummadi,
Priyadarshini Ram,
Prabha among others.

Eminent academics and poets such as

Chand Gudi, Roboticist and Entrepreneur (coined Fog robotics)
Tripuraneni Ramaswamy
Chalam
Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao