Gorantla, Anantapur district


Gorantla, a municipal town and a mandal situated on the banks of River Chitravathi in Anantapur district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located around 120 km from Banglore City and well connected with National Highway 44. Gorantla is home to the historical Madhavaraya Temple built in the year 1354 A.D. by Narasimha Saluva of Vijaya Nagar Empire, ranks one among centrally protected monuments of national importance.
The town is known for its silk sarees and masala dosa.

History of Madhavaraya Temple

According to the district gazette and the Mysore Epigraphical Report of 1912, the temple was built by King Narasimha of the Saluva dynasty of the Vijayanagara empire in Saka 1276. Between the period 1610 and 1904, the nose of the presiding deity was broken which had made the idol ineligible for puja. The temple was declared a protected monument by the British govt. With the nose of the presiding deity being chiselled away, the daily rituals have been eluding the temple. Architecture:-Temple consists of a small shrine chamber, a large central hall enclosed with walls, and a large pillared mandapa in front. The most ornamental and interesting portion of the building is the pillared porch in front. The plain portions of the massive pillars are decorated with bas-relief sculptures representing scenes from Ramayana and Puranas. The entrances are richly carved with Vaishnava figures. The Garbha Griha has a small image of Lord Madavaraya. Large stepped well in font of the temple is another interesting place within compound, the holy water in the well, famous among locals for skin diseases. The historical site is full of sculptures and the Pillared Mandapa is renowned for its numerous stone carvings.
The surroundings of the temple were developed into a lush green park for local families: a place to hangout.

Hospitals

Govt. Hospital with good bed count of 40 serves patients 24×7, but one duty doctors at night makes multiple cases and critical care difficultat times. As the town expanding its wings on development and mandal being home for 1,00,000 plus citizens, there is an urgent need of the latest equipment and senior doctors.
Apart from Govt Hospital, few fellow physicians like Dr. Satyanarayana, Dr.Ravi Teja, Dr.Phani Shakar, Dr.Suneel and Dr. Ramaiah etc. serves patients in timely manner.

Religious importance

Gorantla has a mixture of religions.
Hindu Temples: Madhavaraya Temple, Varasidhi Vinayaka Temple, Chowdeshwari Devi Temple, Kanyaka Parameshwari Temple, Gangamma Temple, Rama & Shiva Alayam and Anjineyaswamy Temple were often found among pilgrims.
Mosques: Jamna Masjid was often flooded with people around, there are at least 10 masjids in town.
Churches: There are few churches available, namely C&IG and Baetal Church was few among.

Education

Gorantla was known for its primary schooling. Famous schools were: Montessori, Vivekananda, SKR, SSM, Uday Kiran and Narayana can be found with Govt Schools apart. Gorantla has its Pre-University and Degree Colleges and training institutes for Army, Karate, Dance, Typing, and Computing can be found.

Transportation

Gorantla is well connected with NH 44 passing within the mandal limits and connects state highway Hindupur to Tirupathi. Busses towards Banglore, Hindupur, Kadiri, Dharmavaram, Anantapur, Tirupathi, Chennai, Kadapa, Hyderabad, and Vijayawada were found often.
Nearest railway station is SSPN Railway Station, about 20 km from the town.
Nearest operational airport is Kempe Gowda Int Airport, Banglore about 100 km away.
Krishna Patnam Port is located 300 km away.

Vendors and services

Gorantla is famous for its critically acclaimed Masala Dosa and few players were often busy with dietaries, Dosala Mohana masala dosa a must-try. Among others Nannari Soda and Mirchi Bajji drags foodie attentions. Khan's ka Biryani a new entrant.
Two hotels were operational and can be found near the bus stop area.
There are as many as 10 function halls including: Raj Convention Hall, Vasavi, TTD, Ranga Mahal and SVT.
Gorantla has a police station from pre-independence, currently C.I and S.I controls the law and order in the town. For Details:- http://www.ananthapuramupolice.ap.gov.in/gorantla Current CI:- Jaya Naik Current SI:- Sreenivasulu.
Gorantla town has 3 theaters, namely: CTC, RK and newly constructed theater: operational by Feb 2020, Cinema Timings. All these theaters follow similar show timings start at 11.30 am followed by 2.30, 6.30 and 9.30 pm.
There are currently 3 banks operating in Gorantla, namely SBI, KVB and APGB and all these banks were equipped with 7 ATM centres across the town, few NBFC's like Kosamattam, Muthoot presence can be seen.
Assembly Constituency:- Till 2009
2004Pamudurthi Ravindra ReddyINC58909
1999Kristappa NimmalaTDP54971
1994N KristappaTDP56223
1989Ravindra Reddy PamudurthiINC49457
1985Kesanna VeluriTDP45677
1983Kessana VIND45280
1978P Bayapa ReddyINC27039
1972P Ravindra ReddyIND33888

Fuel Stations:- 4 in number :- Sahastra, Vinayaka, Aditya and Indian Oil

Geography

Gorantla is located at. It has an average elevation of 642 metres.

Demographics

According to Indian census, 2011, the total population of the village is 24,586, of which males were 12,331 and females were 12,255. Households. Children under 6-years of age include 2,845. Average literacy rate is 62.79%.

Economy

The major economy of the town is dependent on the weaving industry, predominantly industry of sarees made by powerlooms. Another major source of income is from agriculture, Farmers depend on rain water due to lack of water resources. A major crop in this area is ground nuts.