| About 16 km (9.9 mi) from Vizag is Thotlakonda, a Buddhist complex situated on top of a hill. The Buddhist Complex on the Mangamaripeta hilltop, locally known as Thotlakonda, lies about 16 km from Vizag on Vizag-Bheemili Beach Road. After its discovery (during an aerial survey), the Government of A.P declared the 48 ha site as a protected monument in 1978. Excavations in 1988 to 1992 exposed structural remains and artefacts, classified as Religious, Secular and Civil. These structures include the Stupa, Chaityagrihas, pillared congregation halls, bhandagaras, refectory (bhojanasala), drainage and stone pathways. The site covers an area of 120 acres (49 hectares), and has been declared a protected area by the government of Andhra Pradesh. Excavations have revealed three kinds of structural remains: religious, secular and civil. Structures include a mahastupa, sixteen votive stupas, a stone-pillared congregation hall, eleven rock-cut cisterns, well-paved stone pathways, an apsidal chaitya-griha, three round chaitgya-grihas, two votive platforms, ten viharas and a kitchen complex with three halls and a refectory (dining hall). Apart from the structures, Buddhist treasures excavated include nine Satavahana and five Roman silver coins, terracotta tiles, stucco decorative pieces, sculptured panels, miniature stupa models in stone, Buddha padas depicted with asthamangal symbols (i.e. the eight auspicious symbols of Swastika, Shrivasta, Nandhyavarta, Vardhamanaka, Bhadrasana, Kalasha, Minyugala and Darpan) and early pottery. |
| Bavikonda is an important Buddhist heritage site located on a hill about 15 km, northeast from Vizag city. Here the Buddhist habitation is noticed on a 16 ha flat terraced area. The Hinayana school of Buddhism was practised at the monastery between the 3rd century B.C. and the 3rd century A.D. Bavikonda has remains of an entire Buddhist complex, comprising 26 structures belonging to three phases. A piece of bone stored in an urn recovered here is believed to belong to the mortal remains of the Budda. The word Bavikonda in Telugu means “a hill of wells”. Fitting its name, Bavikonda is a hill with wells for the collection of rainwater. It is located 15 km (9.3 mi) from Vizag and is a significant Buddhist site. Excavation carried out from 1982–1987 revealed a Buddhist establishment including a mahachaitya embedded with relic caskets, a large vihara complex, numerous votive stupas, a stone-pillared congregation and rectangular halls and a refectory. Artifacts recovered from the site include Roman and Satavahana coins and pottery dating from the third century BC to the second century AD. A significant finding was a piece of bone (with a large quantity of ash) in an urn, which is believed to be the remains of the Buddha. The Bavikonda site is considered one of the oldest Buddhist sites in Asia. It is a reminder of the Buddhist civilisation which once existed in southern India, and also reminiscent of Borobudur in Indonesia. |
| The township for plant employees is Ukkunagaram (ukku means steel and nagaram is town in Telugu). The designers of the township followed a Roman circular design for the layout of homes and roads to keep distances equal between any two points within the township. There are 12 sectors; the oldest are sectors 1, 2 and 3, and sector 7 is the domain of the directors and chairman. The newest is sector 12, which is available for senior officers. Other sectors were built as the plant’s staff increased. Each sector consists of about 300 housing units, varying from three-floor apartment houses to single-family homes. There are also bungalows for plant directors. There are five types of housing units: types A through D and the bungalows. Sector one housed Russian workers who built the first blast furnace (Godavari), the RMHP, Sinter and coke-oven batteries one and two. Ukkunagaram is in a forest belt, running from the Valleys of Araku through Elamanchili to Narsipatnam. Forestry by management has resulted in a green environment. The township has roads, markets, parks, clubs and sports facilities for employees and their families. The Kanithi Reservoir (between the town and the NH5) provides water for the plant and Ukkunagaram. It draws its water from a canal running from the Yeleru River, a tributary of the Godavari River. |
| A milestone was the establishment of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company (later known as Hindustan Shipyard Limited) in 1940. With the construction of the Kottavalasa-Kirandul (K.K.) line connecting the iron-ore mines in Bailadila, Madhya Pradesh (present-day Chattisgarh), its importance grew. During the 1950s and 1960s the government and the private sector set up large-scale industries such as Bharat Heavy Plates and Vessels, Hindustan Zinc, Dredging Corporation of India, the Caltex oil refinery (later acquired by the government as Hindustan Petroleum), Coromandel International and Andhra Polymers (now LG Polymers). The 1980s saw development of the Vizag Steel Plant and other industries. Economic liberalisation during the 1990s brought modest growth to the city but not as much as it did to Hyderabad. However, industries such as Rain Calcining and the Simhadri Thermal Power plant of NTPC Limited were established, Hindustan Petroleum expanded and the Vizag Export Processing Zone was established. Vizag was named as one of the ten fastest-growing cities of the world in a recent study by United Nations. In its extensive survey on next generation of top ten business destinations across the country, Cushman & Wakefield has discovered Vizag as one of the ideal business destinations |
| St. Aloysius Anglo-Indian High School is the oldest high school in the district and one of the oldest schools in the country. It was established in 1847, and is in the old town. St. Joseph’s Girls’ High School was established in 1893 in Waltair and is an ICSE school.Other notable schools are Visvodaya High School, Naval Children’s School, Kotak Salesian School, D.A.V Centenary Public School, Delhi Public School, S.F.S. School, St. Anthony’s High School, Bethany School, Visakha Valley School and Timpany School. Other schools include the public school at MVP Colony, Pollocks School, St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sri Krishna Vidya Mandir, Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar, Siva Sivani, Saraswathi Vidya Vihar, Little Angels, Little Flowers,Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan and Pavani School. The city has about 10 Kendriya Vidyalayas with a total enrolment of 18,000. Timpany School has three branches: one affiliated with ICSE and the other two with the Central Board of Secondary Education. Vikas Vidyaniketan is the largest CBSE residential school. Vijnana Vihara (Gudilova), Visakha Valley School and Sri Krishna Vidya Mandir are also affiliated with CBSE. De Paul School is affiliated with SSC and ICSE. |
| From a hamlet of local fishing communities during the early days of the Indian independence struggle and a few decades later, Vizag grew economically; the rise has been so quick that the city was identified as one of the fastest-growing in the world, economically and demographically. Several factors contributed to its economic growth, including the natural harbour, its location between Madras and Calcutta, access to NH5 and a developed network of railways which changed the hamlet into an industrial city. It has developed into a hub for heavy industry. The Vizag Port (the largest in the country) was a gateway contributing to the development of the petroleum, steel and fertiliser industries. The Vizag Steel Plant (recently expanded from 3.1 to 6.3 million ton in its daily cargo handling capacity) and Hindustan Petroleum were the two multi-billion-dollar investments that put Vizag on the industrial map. The city has two N.T.P.C. power plants to fill its power needs. Vizag also hosts the headquarters of the Dredging Corporation of India. |
| Vizag also owes its economic growth to the availability of an educated English-speaking workforce; English is the first language in many institutions of higher education in the city. The availability of an educated workforce allowed information technology enabled services (ITES) companies such as Encore India HSBC, IBM Daksh, Sutherland and Acclaris to flourish. The city has 102 small and medium software and call-centre companies, of which about 10 began operations from 2005–2007. Software exports from Vizag in 2007 were worth 2450 million (US$45 million) and 5020 million (US$92 million) in 2008, 10 billion (US$183 million) in 2011 – an increase of nearly 90% each year.The IT exports from Vizag for 2012 were 1200Crores and 16000ppl were working in IT industry in Vizag -http://cityofvizag.com/home/vizag-now/2740-electronics-manufacturing-cluster-soon-ponnala.html .The city is set to have New Electronic Manufacturing Hub. |
| Vizag Airport is the busiest airport in Coastal Andhra. It is connected by daily flights with Dubai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Tirupati, Rajahmundry, Kolkata, Kochi, Coimbatore,Raipur and tri-weekly flights to Singapore. Vizag Airport recently received permission to operate night flights, and the airport is open until 23:55. A new 10,000-foot (3 km) runway is operational to accommodate international flights and larger aircraft. The airport was recently modernised (including aerobridges and immigration booths), and the new terminal was opened on 21 March 2009. Vizag became an international airport when Air India began flights to Dubai (via Hyderabad) on 25 March 2012. Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines have agreed to begin international flights from Vizag. Vizag airport became operational round the clock from 15 October 2012. |
| According to the 2011 India census, the population of Vizag in 2011 was 3789820, of which 1903890 were male and 1885920 were female. The sex ratio of Vizag city was 977 females per 1000 males. In the education section, the total literate population in Vizag city was 1,298,896, of which 698,959 were males while 599,937 were females. The average literacy rate of Vizag city was 82.66 percent, of which male and female literacy were 88.02 and 77.18 percent respectively. There were 158,924 children ages 0 to 6 in Vizag city as of 2011. There were 81,119 boys while 77,805 were girls. The child sex ratio was 959 girls per 1000 boys. 10 percent of the population was under age six. Vizag is ranked 122 in the list of fastest-growing cities in the world. |
| In 1907 British archaeologist Alexander Rea unearthed Sankaram, a 2,000-year-old Buddhist site. The name “Sankaram” derives from the Sangharama (temple or monastery). Located 40 km (25 mi) south of Vizag, it is known locally as Bojjannakonda and is a significant Buddhist site in Andhra Pradesh. The three major schools of Buddhism (Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana) flourished here. The complex is known for its monolithic stupas, rock-cut caves and brick structures. The primary stupa was initially carved out of rock and covered with bricks. Excavations yielded historic pottery and Satavahana coins from the first century AD. At Lingalakonda, there are also rock-cut monolithic stupas in rows spread over the hill. The vihara was active for about 1,000 years. |
| On the east coast of India, Vizag serves as the gateway waterway for Andhra Pradesh. It has one of the country’s largest ports, and the oldest shipyard on the east coast. It is a land-locked harbour, as connected to the sea by a channel cut through rock and sand. Vizag is one of the busiest ports in India. Vizag Seaport owns two berths in the inner harbour; berth EQ-8 is fully mechanised and berth EQ-9 berth is not. Both berths are capable of handling Panamax vessels. The shipyard at Vizag is the largest in India. On the Chennai–Kolkota corridor, the city is also a hub for ground traffic. The Gangavaram Port is India’s deepest seaport. In December 2010, Coal India agreed to enable an additional berth to be built at the port. |
| The first train from Vizag started in October,1894 . In the beginning, the railway station was situated at One Town near Old post office, behind Laxmi talkies. Later, in 1968, it was shifted to its present location and was called Waltair railway station. Later, around 1987, Mr. D.V Subbarao, the then Mayor of Vizag, changed the name to Vizag. The Vizag railway station is administered by the East Coast Railway of Indian Railways. It is on the Chennai Central-Howrah Station route, although the main line bypasses the Central Station. Duvvada railway station, a suburban station on the main line (near the Vizag Steel Plant) is being developed into a satellite hub to improve train service into the city. |
| There are direct rail links to Machilipatnam, Vijayawada Junction, Secunderabad Railway Station, Tirupati, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Bangalore Bhopal Junction, Mumbai, Surat, Porbandar, Okha, Mangalore, Tiruchchirapalli, Puri, Raipur, Bilaspur, Korba, Nasik, Amritsar, Patna, Ernakulam, Trivandrum, Malda, Kanniyakumari, Shirdi, Aurangabad, Haldia, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Rameswaram, Tata nagar, Digha Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Jammu Tawi, Bhilai, Gwalior, Chennai Central, Vellore-Katpadi Junction, Howrah Station, New Delhi Railway Station and also has direct services to Indore, Ujjain, Coimbatore, Jaipur and other major cities. Vizag has a daily Vizag – Secunderabad Garib Rath Express service to Secunderabad. |
| The territory of Vizag then came under the Andhra rulers of Vengi, and Chalukyas and Pallavas ruled the land. The region was ruled by the Eastern Ganga king Surya Vamsi and the Gajapati kings of Odisha from the 10th century to the 16th centuries AD (when the region came under the Hyderabad rulers). Based on archaeological evidence, the and the Eastern Ganga Kings of Odisha built temples in the city in the 11th and 12th centuries. The Mughals ruled the area under the Hyderabad Nizam during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. European merchants from France, Holland and the East India Company used the natural port to export tobacco, paddy, coal, iron ore, ivory, muslin and other textile products. |
| Established in 1878, A.V.N. College is one of the city’s oldest educational institutions. Vizag is also home to Andhra University (AU), established in 1926. Before he became president of India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was vice chancellor of the university between 1931 and 1936. AU and its affiliated colleges provide education to thousands of students from the state. Postgraduate and graduate courses are offered in the arts, commerce, science and technology, engineering, IT, business management, law and pharmacy. The AU College of Pharmacy is the second-oldest pharmacy college in India. The university is in the process of obtaining IIEST status, and there are plans to set up an IIM at Vizag. |
| Vizag is one of the major cities on the east coast of India connected by NH5, a major highway and a part of the Golden Quadrilateral system of Indian highways connecting Chennai and Kolkata. The section of NH5 from Kolkata to Chennai connects Vizag on the northeast and the south. The highway is an important route for transporting cargo and people from these cities via Vizag. The city has a broad network of roads. There are frequent buses to Kakinada, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Araku, Guntur and Rajahmundry, and bus service to Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guntur, Ongole Tirupati, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Koraput, Rayagada and elsewhere in Karnataka. |
| Vizag is the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command, the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (a DRDO Lab), a Chief Quality Assurance Establishment (CQAE), an EFS office, a Naval Dockyard (established in 1949) and Naval Bases including INS Kalinga, INS Samudrika, INS Satavahana, and INS Dega. A new base at INS Rambilli is being built on 5,000 acres (20 km2) with an investment of 15 billion (US$275 million), as the first dedicated submarine base in India. India’s first nuclear submarine INS Arihant was launched in the Naval Dockyard, and Bharat Dynamics has begun manufacturing torpedoes. Vizag also has presence of the Indian Coast Guard including ships and offices. |
| City-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (such as Jain Infotech,Media Systems,Gaian Solutions, Acclaris, Manuh Solutions, NuNet Technologies, Patra Corp, Prospecta Technologies, Quant Systems, Sankhya Technologies, Samudra Software, Symbiosys Technologies, Xinthe Technologies) and softscripts provide IT and BPO services. Some of these companies have formed an association called Vizag information technology Association (VITA) to promote IT in Vizag and bridge the industry-school gap. To help companies in and around Vizag fill their workforces, companies such as IndiGenius and Mafoi provide human-resource services such as recruitment, temporary staffing and training. |
| Other industries include Hindustan Zinc, GAIL, IOC Bottling Unit, BPCL Bottling Unit, Synergies Castings, Rain Calcining Limited, Coromandel Fertilizers, Hindustan Ship Yard, Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels Limited (BHPV), Visakha Dairy, Vizag Profiles, Essar Pellet Plant, Andhra Polymers (now LG Polymers), Andhra Cement, Andhra Petrochemicals and Andhra Ferroalloys. The prevalence of ferroalloy plants is due to the availability of manganese ore near Vizag. The city is the headquarters for the Waltair division of the East Coast Railway. The division generated 34830 million (US$637 million) in revenue in 2009–2010, one of the highest-grossing industries in the country. |
| Local legend tells that an Andhra king, on his way to Benares, rested at Vizag and was so enchanted by its beauty that he ordered a temple to be built in honour of his family deity, Visakha. Archaeological sources, however, reveal that the temple was probably built between the 11th and 12th centuries by the Cholas. A shipping merchant, Sankarayya Chetty, built one of the mandapams (pillared halls) of the temple. Although it no longer exists (possibly washed away about 100 years ago by a cyclonic storm), elderly residents of Vizag remember visits to the ancient shrine by their grandparents (although author Ganapatiraju Atchuta Rama Raju denies this). |
