Ongole Ongolu | |
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City | |
    
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 Interactive map of Ongole | |
.svg)  Ongole Location in Andhra Pradesh, India | |
| Coordinates:15°30′22″N80°02′56″E / 15.506°N 80.049°E /15.506; 80.049 | |
| Country | India |
| State | Andhra Pradesh |
| District | Prakasam |
| Incorporated (Municipality) | 1876 |
| Incorporated (Corporation) | 25 January 2012 |
| Wards | 50 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor–Council |
| • Body | Ongole Municipal Corporation |
| • MLAs | Damacharla Janardhana Rao, (Telugu Desam Party) |
| • MP | Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, (Telugu Desam Party) |
| • Municipal commissioner | Kanthamaneni Sakunthala |
| Area | |
• Total | 132.45 km2 (51.14 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 252,739 |
| • Density | 1,908.2/km2 (4,942.2/sq mi) |
| • Households | 51,768 |
| Households[5] | |
| Literacy | |
| • Literates | 153,628 |
| • Literacy rate | 83.04% |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Telugu |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 523001, 523002, 523286 |
| Area code | +91–8592 |
| Vehicle registration | AP |
| Website | ongole |
Ongole (Telugu pronunciation:[oŋɡoːlu]), natively known asOngolu, is a city inPrakasam district of the Indian state ofAndhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Prakasam district.[3][6] It is known forOngole cattle, an indigenous breed ofoxen.[7]
The name "Ongole" is believed to be derived from the word "Vangaprolu," which later evolved into "Vangavolu," and then to modern "Ongolu."Prōlu meant "town" inOld Telugu.
The city's history dates back to 230 BCE, with the era of theMauryas andSatavahanas, who ruled most of what is now Andhra Pradesh. A few inscriptions dating to the Satavahana period have been found inChinaganjam, a village near Ongole. According to the historical inscriptions found at the Sri Raja Rajeswara Swami Temple complex, the city was founded by theCholas. Ongole was also mentioned in the inscriptions of thePallava rulers pertaining to the third and fourth century CE. The city was also ruled over byKrishna Deva Raya. This place returned into the limelight during theKakatiya dynasty, where the nearby towns ofMotupalli and Vodarevu served as significant seaports. The final Indian dynasty to rule over the Ongole region, prior to theBritish, was the Mandapati dynasty (zamindars).
TheKaasi Visweswara Swami, Chenna Kesava Swami, andVeeranjaneya Swami temples were constructed in the early 17th century by King Vankayalapati mantri and his army general.
The oldest educational institution in the city, the Andhra Baptist Mission High School, was established in the late 19th century by AmericanBaptist missionaries.
Ongole district came into existence on 2 February 1970, carving out portions ofMarkapur revenue division fromKurnool,Ongole revenue division fromGuntur, andKandukur revenue division fromNellore districts. It was renamedPrakasam district in 1972, in memory of freedom fighter, later Chief Minister of the compositeMadras State and the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh,Tanguturi Prakasam. Tangaturi was born in Vinodarayunipalem, a hamlet of Kanuparthi village, located inNaguluppalapadu mandal of the same district.
Ongole is located at 15.5°N 80.05°E. It has an average elevation of 10 m (33 ft)AMSL and is situated on plains. The city is around 149 kilometres (93 mi) to the southwest ofAmaravati, the state capital.
Summer temperatures reach as high as 44 °C (111 °F) between March and May.[8][9] The city receives a lot of rain in the monsoons. The annual average rainfall is approximately 794.5 mm. Winter months are typically dry, with little to no rainfall. The average annual temperature is 24.5 °C (76.1 °F). Cyclones occur more commonly between October and December.
| Climate data for Ongole (1991–2020, extremes 1944–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 36.5 (97.7) | 38.3 (100.9) | 43.3 (109.9) | 44.7 (112.5) | 47.4 (117.3) | 47.2 (117.0) | 41.8 (107.2) | 40.2 (104.4) | 41.0 (105.8) | 39.5 (103.1) | 36.2 (97.2) | 33.9 (93.0) | 47.4 (117.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.9 (87.6) | 32.5 (90.5) | 34.7 (94.5) | 36.4 (97.5) | 39.8 (103.6) | 38.0 (100.4) | 35.7 (96.3) | 35.0 (95.0) | 34.8 (94.6) | 33.3 (91.9) | 31.5 (88.7) | 30.8 (87.4) | 34.4 (93.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 20.3 (68.5) | 21.8 (71.2) | 24.1 (75.4) | 26.3 (79.3) | 28.2 (82.8) | 28.1 (82.6) | 27.0 (80.6) | 26.5 (79.7) | 26.0 (78.8) | 24.9 (76.8) | 22.7 (72.9) | 20.7 (69.3) | 24.7 (76.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 14.0 (57.2) | 14.4 (57.9) | 17.5 (63.5) | 19.4 (66.9) | 16.1 (61.0) | 22.4 (72.3) | 21.2 (70.2) | 21.3 (70.3) | 21.3 (70.3) | 18.3 (64.9) | 16.2 (61.2) | 15.1 (59.2) | 14.0 (57.2) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 13.1 (0.52) | 5.2 (0.20) | 9.2 (0.36) | 17.7 (0.70) | 58.7 (2.31) | 61.6 (2.43) | 84.2 (3.31) | 121.0 (4.76) | 145.8 (5.74) | 225.9 (8.89) | 156.2 (6.15) | 24.9 (0.98) | 923.5 (36.36) |
| Average rainy days | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 6.4 | 7.4 | 6.7 | 8.5 | 5.6 | 1.7 | 44.8 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%)(at 17:30IST) | 60 | 57 | 57 | 60 | 51 | 47 | 51 | 55 | 61 | 68 | 68 | 63 | 58 |
| Source:India Meteorological Department[10][11][12] | |||||||||||||
Ongole has been ranked the seventeenth best “National Clean Air City” under (Category 3 population under 3 lakhs cities) in India.[13]
According to the2011 Census of India, the city had a population of 252,739. The sex ratio of 994 females per 1000 males is higher than the national average of 940 per 1000.[14] 19,744 children are in the age group of 0–6 years, of which 10,228 are boys and 9,516 are girls, with a ratio of 935 per 1000. The average literacy rate stands at 83.04% with 153,628 literates, significantly higher than the state average of 67.41%.[15][16]
It is constituted as amunicipality in 1876, and was upgraded to amunicipal corporation on 25 January 2012.[17] The jurisdiction of the corporation is spread over an area of 132.45 km2 (51.14 sq mi), with 50 election wards.[18] The agglomerated villages that were merged into Ongole corporation were: Cheruvukommupalem, Throvagunta, Muktinuthalapadu, Dasarajupalli, Koppolu, Narasapuram Agraharam, Pellur,Pernamitta, and Vengamukkapalem.
The city is part ofOngole assembly constituency andOngole Lok Sabha constituency.[19] Damacharla Janardhan Rao is the currentMLA of the constituency, pertaining to theTelugu Desam Party.[20] The constituency is a part ofOngole (Lok Sabha constituency) which was won byMagunta Sreenivasulu Reddy of the Telugu Desam Party.[21]
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Agriculture is the primary industry of Ongole. The city is a major center fortobacco trading in Andhra Pradesh.
Ongole bulls (Telugu:ఒంగోలు గిత్తలు,romanized: Oṅgōlu gittalu) are a breed of oxen that are exported to many countries. TheBrahman bull in the United States, is an off breed of the Ongole. Ongole Island, in Malaysia, holds many Ongole oxen.[citation needed] The population ofZebu off-breed descended animals in Brazil, which contain a large Ongole component, was over 100 million in 1995.[22] The original breed of Ongole stud bulls are found in a small region around Ongole town between the Gundlakamma and Musi rivers.
National Highway 16, a part ofGolden Quadrilateral highway network, bypasses the city.[23]National Highway 216 connects the city withKathipudi.[24] The city has a total road length of 738.50 kilometres (458.88 mi).[25] Ongole bus station is owned and operated by theAndhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation.[26][27] The station is also equipped with abus depot.[28] The 'Passengers Delight Oroject' was implemented at the bus station for improving cleanliness and modernizing it.[29]
Ongole railway station was established as part of Nellore - Krishna Canal section on 20 December 1898 by the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway System.[30] It is categorized as aNon-Suburban Grade-3 (NSG-3) station in theVijayawada railway division.[31]
Education is imparted through government and private institutions. Several aided schools decided to become private schools or close down after transferring the staff to the government, when the government decided to stop giving aid.[32] English became the medium of instruction for primary schools in the academic year 2020–21.
Some of the famous educational institutes includeRajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), QIS College of Engineering and Technology, QIS Institute of Technology,[33] RISE Groups of Institutions,[34]Indira Priyadarshini Law College, Prakasam Engineering College,[35] and thePace Institute of Technology and Sciences.
The city is the headquarters ofAndhra Kesari University, apublic university established on 11 January 2022.[36]
ThePDCA-CSR Sarma College Ground is one of the home grounds of theAndhra cricket team, with afirst-class cricket status and hostsRanji Trophy matches.[37][38] The ground has recorded the first ever triple century by a wicket keeper in Ranji Trophy, achieved bySrikar Bharat of the Andhra cricket team.[39] The police parade grounds hosted the first state-level Girl Football Tournament in October 2016.[40]
Multiple places of tourist interest include:Kothapatnam beach (approx. 17 kilometres (11 mi) away), Valluramma temple atValluru (about 11 km away) and theGundlakamma Reservoir Project at Mallavaram (approx. 20 km away.)
Ongole istwinned with:
