Kurnool

Kurnool is a town in the State of Andhra Pradesh in India. The town is located at 15.8333°N latitude and 78.05°E longitude in the western central part of Andhra Pradesh. It lies on the banks of the Tungabhadra River. The Hundri and Neeva rivers also flow through the city. It is famous for many ancient monuments, palaces and temples and the K C Canal (Kurnool–Cuddapah) which was built by the Dutch for transportation, but later used for irrigation. It has an average elevation of 273 metres (898 feet).

It headquarters the district of the same name. The town was the capital of the Nizams from October 1953 to November 1956. Its status has since been reduced to a district headquarters from the capital of Andhra. As per census 2011, it is the fifth most populous city of Andhra Pradesh. It had a population of 460,184.

It is a very old town, which was, during the 12th century, being referred to as Kandanavolu, which over the centuries transformed to Kurnool.

It is believed that during the 12th century, the Odders used to transport stones on carts for building the temple in Alampur, which was across the Tungabhadra River. These Odders used to halt their carts at the site of the current town of Kurnool to grease the wheels of their carts.

The climate is tropical with temperatures ranging from 26 °C to 46 °C in the summer and 12 °C to 31 °C in the winter. The town receives an average annual rainfall of 705 mm.

There are ruins of a mediaeval fort containing inscriptions in Arabic and Persian. It was constructed during the reign of Vijayanagar Empire.

The mausoleum of Abdul Wahab, the remains of the palace belonging to the last Hindu king of the region and the Kondareddy Buruz are the other important places.The flood wall constructed to protect the city from the rising river waters is an engineering feet. The wall forms a part of a fort wall.

The important temples of the city include Nagereswarswami Temple and Peta Anjanyeswami Temple.