Tanuku

Tanuku is a town in West Godavari district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the mandal headquarters of Tanuku mandal in Kovvur revenue division.

Etymology

According to mythology, the Tarakapuri kingdom, ruled by the Asura king Tarakasena, often referred to as Tarakasura, had his capital in Tanuku. It was named after him and called as Tarakapura. Tarakasena was made a demon after his defeat in a great war between him and Lord Kumara Swamy, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi and the son-in-law of Indra, who was invaded by Tarakasura over an insult meted out to him.

History

Adikavi Nannayya is reputed to have conducted a large Yagna (sacrifice) under a Jammi(Prosopis cineraria) tree. He also translated first three Parvas (Cantos) of the Mahabaratha from Sanskrit into Telugu. Many of the surrounding villages have some historical connection to this war and quite a few ancient monuments can be seen here. The place where Lord Kumara Swamy landed on earth is now called Komara. Illindra Parru is the place where Indra stayed, and the place where all the angels stayed is now known as Velpuru (Place of Angels). The place where Uraga Raju resided is known as Undrajavaram. The place where the goddess Vijaya Lakshmi resided is known as Mahalakshmi Cheruvu, and the place where the holy priests resided is today called Vipparru. The present day Palangi was known as "Poolangi" (Stall of Flowers) and Chivatam was known as "Srivatam" (the financial centre). Paidiparru was known as "Swarnagaram" (place of gold), and the stall of gems once called "Ratnala Angi" is Relangi today. The paddy repository of the kingdom is now Vadlooru.

Tanuku (Assembly constituency)

Tanuku Assembly constituency is a constituency of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, India. It is one of 15 constituencies in the West Godavari district. Arimilli Radha Krishna is the current MLA who belongs to the Telugu Desam Party. The TDP is stronghold in the region beginning from NTR's regime to Chandrababu Naidu's regime. Though Chiranjeevi's Prajarajyam party won a seat in the nearby Tadepalligudem constituency in 2009 elections, it couldn't influence the voters in Tanuku much. Loksatta is one other party which has high profile members like doctors and lawyers from the town. It is trying to gain influence by encouragingthe youth to understand politics and governance from a different perspective and getting them motivated to utilize their right to vote.

Overview

It is part of the Narsapuram Lok Sabha constituency along with another six Vidhan Sabha segments, namely, Achanta, Palakol, Narasapuram, Bhimavaram, Undi, and Tadepalligudem.

Members of Legislative Assembly