Kakinada Knowledge Guide

History

During the colonisation of the Dutch Coromandel coast, the Dutch East India Company maintained a trading post known as Jaggernaikpoeram or Jaggernaickpuram (among other spellings) to the English. The British established the site in 1759 as a shipbuilding and ship repair facility. The British knew the area as the Coromandel coast, and Coringa Town (now called Kakinada) on the Coringa River, a branch of the Godavari river. As the principal seaport on this coast, it soon became a large shipbuilding yard of some importance. In 1802 a dock was built for repair of Royal Navy and other vessels, it boasted the only wet dock between Bombay and Calcutta. ‘’Cape Cori, or Hope Island’' as it was called was known internationally for shipbuilding and repairs. The facilities were destroyed by massive cyclonic storms and tidal waves in 1787 (causing 20,000 fatalities) and again on the 9th and 10 May 1832.On 25 November 1839 yet another even greater cyclone finished off the port and it was not to recover. It has been estimated that the storm surge was as much as 40 feet. The harbour city was destroyed as were some 20,000 vessels of various sizes. This was one of the storms cited by Henry Piddington in a speech to the ‘’Asiatic Society of Bengal’’ where he first used the term ‘’cyclone’’ to describe the phenomena. After the 1839 cyclone, homes were relocated further inland. In 1901 due to sand depositing, and silting of the estuary not a single ship of any consequence could enter the port, by 1905 the construction of ships had ceased, and the port was closed.In the Madras Presidency, the District of Rajahmundry was created in 1823. It was reorganised in 1859 and was bifurcated into Godavari and Krishna districts. During British rule, Rajahmundry was the headquarters of Godavari district, which was further bifurcated into East Godavari and West Godavari districts in 1925. When the Godavari district was divided, Kakinada became the headquarters of East Godavari and Eluru became headquarters of West Godavari.

Culture

Festivals

Kakinada Beach Festival (also Sagara Sambaralu) is a music festival held in Kakinada. It was declared as an annual festival by the government of Andhra Pradesh in 2012. It is a three-day event where many artists perform.

Notable personalities

The city has its recognition in Tollywood films with notable actors, actresses and directors namely, Anjali Devi, Suryakantham, Relangi Venkata Ramaiah, Rao Gopal Rao, C. Pullaiah, P. B. Srinivas, and Chittajallu Srinivasa Rao Indian crickter BCCI with notable players, Cricketer namely, Hanuma Vihari

Literature

There are many scholars like Kasibhatta Brahmaiah Sastry, who is a noted Sanskrit and Telugu scholar and who coined the term "Navala" in Telugu literature, Peddada Ramaswamy English literature, Chaganti Koteswara Rao (Hindu scholar), Garikipati etc.

Tourism

Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, part of the Godavari delta, Hope Island, India, a sandspit formed by the Godavari, Konaseema, scenic Godavari delta islands. It is the second largest mangrove forest in India after Sundarbans. Uppada beach is primarily considered as Kakinada beach which is having one of longest coastlines in Indian beaches. Kakinada beach is meant for its mild blue waters and cold breeze all the day. The famous temples Suryanarayana Swami and Kodandaramalayam are located at G. Mamidada which is 20 km from the city.