CENSUS 1971 SERIES 2 ANDHRA PRADESH DISTRICT CENSUS HANDBOOK CHITTOOR PART X-A VILLAGE & TOWN DIRECTORY PART X-B VILLAGE & TOWN PRIMARY CENSUS ABSTRACT T. VEDANTAM OF THE INDIAN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE DIRECTOR OF CENSUS OPERATIONS ANDHRA PRADESH PUBLISHED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH 1973 was serving as a landmark for the ships touching Madras. A bonfire was created on the tip of the nose which used to guide the ships in those days. The then Rajas of Karvetinagar bestowed a land grant of 0.75 Acre of wet land to a Jangam family in Kemparapalem village which lies at the f(Jot of the hill for the services rendered. Even now, a big earthen oil lamp is lit on every full moon day on the tip of the nose by one of the descendants of this Jangam family who is ~ll enjoying the hereditary land grant Of late, the cliff is also used for mountaineering and range practices. 6. There is not much of flora except vegetation like lemon grass and cactus. But like any other important hill in this country, this hill also is said (0 contain some medicinal herbs and creepers, the important one being a rare medicinal leaf used NAGAR! NOSE by the famous Puttur Bone-Setters at Rachapalem village about Chittoor district which has a happy combination of plains, one Km. north of Puttur on Puttur-Tirupati road. valleys, plateau and the hills, is one of the most picturesque 7. Under the very nose of this Nose, there is the temple areas of the State. The most extensive range of hills, namely, of Sri Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy of pilgrim importance in the Eastern Ghats enter the district in Kuppam taluk in the Narayanavanam village. There is a legend to say that Lord .south-west corner and passing northwards to the eastern Sri Venkateswara married Goddess Padmavathi here and the j parts of Palmaner and Punganur taluks. gradually bend towardS nose which is determined to be of 1 ,500 million years old must the east as far as the hills of Tirupati known as Seshachala have witnessed th is marri age! hills on which the world renowned temple 'of Lord Sri Venka­ tcswara is situated. 8. At the sloping end of the nose, there is a waterfall, 2. The spurs of the Eastern Ghats run through Chittoor known as "Kailasanatha Kona" which is attracting large taluk into west of PuttUf taluk. Through Puttur taluk runs a number of tourists, particularly from the neighbouring Tamil broad and fertile valley and this is shut in on the eastern side by Nadu State onllie week-ends and holidays mostly for picnic a hill range known as Nagari Hills, which extends northwards purposes. There is an idol of Lord Siva where daily poojas into Srikalahasti taluk. These hills which present an appea­ are performed by a priest appointed by a committe of trustees. rance of having been suddenly upheaved by volcanic action, Some Sadhns who find this place congenial for meditation are overlook the valley with high precipitous cliffs. The prominent having their abodes here and attracting persons interested in cliff, popularly referred to as the "'Nagari Nose" is a land mark spiritual matters. Thus this place can very well be de~'eloped that can be seen for about 100 Kms. around and from Madras both as a religious centre and picnic resort. light hOllse. People visiting Tirumala Hills are familiar with 9, It is said that sage Gowthama lived very near to this hill these range of hills which present a panoramic view. on the bank of Kusasthali river and the :Bugga (spring) in the 3. The Nagari N{)sc first gained its popularity when Ashram was narr:ed Gowthama Bugga. In the precincts of the William King, Geologist, Geological Survey of India, surveyed Ashram there are temples of Lord Iswara and Kalabhairava. this area and published his report in 1870 (a strange coincidence There are 14 temples dedicated to Lord Siva on the 30 mile path with the first Cemus year). The rock on the top of this nose is known as Lord's path ( o~ ~ ilJ"b ) surrounding this massive quartzite and is named as Nagari quartzite by William mountain. Procession of the deities of these temples on the King. This rock is supposed to be 1,500 millon years old third day to Sankranti (Pongal) festival and their termination and is equivalent to the Pulivendla quartzite which is the at Nagari, a small and prosperous town was an occasion for the standard reference rock in the geological formations ofthis area. mixing of the local'people and recreation. There is an idol of This cliff which lies about 10 Kms. north of Nagari rises to a Lord Ganapati at the tip of the no,e. i&ht of 2.814 ft. (855 Mtrs.) M.S.L. and is popularly known s 'Nagarimur Konda '. The longitude and latitude of the hills 10. Mountains of Chittoor district attracted the attention of ke 790 35' 43" and 13 0 22' 42" respectively. pandit lawaharlal Nehru during his tour of the district in 1952. Viewing the pris.tine beauty of the skyline of the encircled moun­ 4. The cliff is also described as 'Nagari Nose' because tain ranges which formeda picturesque background to the vast it projects towards one side in the form of a human nose. This sea of humanity that congregated there to hear him, he said nose structure is due to the fact that the rock projects steeply .. It was essential that people should develop the strength of rocks 'owards east, south-west and north-west and slopes off gently to stand up to difficulties-a strength which would enable them towards east, north-east and south-east. The nose with its to face the challenge of the lightning and the tempest and refuse elegant appearance looks as though it is in eternal conversation to submit even to the thunderbolt from the skies", and exhorted with the One above! the audience "to develop not only the kindness of good earth btlt 5. Nagari Nose served as a 'light house' during medieval the sternness and hardness of the rocks and the hills that sur­ period for guiding naviga.tion in the Bay of Bengal as the nose round them." People of Chittoor district live upto his advice. PREFACE The District Census Handbooks which were first published at the 1951 Census proved to be very useful to the State and Central Government Departments, private agencies and academic bodies like Universities and Research Institutions. The scope of these HandbJoks was enlarged to make them more useful during the 1961 Census. Considering the delay in the publication of these Hand~ books due to difficulties in finding suitable presses which could undertake huge printing work of this kind, it was considered desirable to split up the 1971 Census Handbooks into three parts viz., Part A - Village and Town Directory, Part B - Village and Town Primary Census Abstract and Part C­ Analytical Report, Departmental Statistics and District Census Tables. This was done mainly wi th a view to publishing Parts A and B which contain not only the p:)puhtion data upto the village and town level but also the particulars about the basic amenities etc., available in the towns and villages, as early as possible for public use. The scope and contents of these three parts are elaborated in the introduction of this volume. I am glad to record here that Parts A and B of the 1971 Census Handbooks of all the 21 Districts in the State have been finalised already and I expect that before the end of 1973 Parts A and B f,)f all the 21 Districts would have been published. The compilation of these Handbooks is being done from the 1951 Census in the Office of the Director of Census Operations while the cost of paper, printing, etc., required for these volumes is being borne by the State Government. The Andhra Pradesh State Government have readily agreed to bear the cost cf printing and paper for the 1971 Census Handbooks. I am grateful to the Andhra Pradesh State Government and in particular to the Additional Chief Secretary to the GJvernment of Andhra Pradesh, Shri S. A. Quader, lAS., for their co-operation and encouragement. I am thlnkful to the Director of Printing, Government of Andhra Pradesh for assisting me by selecting suitable presses for undertaking the printing of the Handbooks. The data presented in the Village and Town Directories are obtained from different State Government and Central Government Departments but for whose co-operation Part-A of the Handbooks could not have been compiled. I am thankful to all of them for furnishing me the required data. I am extremely grateful to Shri A. Chandra Sekhar, lAS., Registrar General, India and Dr. B.K. Roy Burman, Deputy Registrar General, India who formulated the contents of these Handbooks in detail and rendered spontaneous help and encouragement to me at all stages. The following staff of my Office worked on the present volume of Chittoor District Census Handbook under the guidance and supervision of Shri P. S. R. Avadhany, Deputy Director of Census Operations and Sri K. Narasimha Murthy, Assistant Director of Census• Operations of my Office. Sri P. B. Sunder Raj, Tabulation Officer ") Drafting Scrutiny and T. Brahmiah, Statistical Assistant ~ Supervision of Printing " T. Govardhana Rao, Statistical Assistant I " ) Smt. K. Subbalakshmi, Computor "\ Sri G. V. Ramachandran, Computor I S. Ramakrishna, Assistant Compiler ~ Collection and Compilati6n " I Kumari. Anasuya, Assistant Compiler ) Sri K. Ram Reddy, Junior Reader,G.C.P.