Khammam-Cedar Herald Index

Khammam (formally Khammam Mettu or Combamettu) is the city in Khammam district of the Indian state of Telangana. It is the fourth largest city in the state. It is the headquarters of the Khammam district and Khammam mandal also. It is located about east of the state capital, Hyderabad, from Suryapet, from Warangal and also it is located about North of the Andhra Pradesh state capital, Amaravathi. The river Munneru flows on the western side of the city. census of India, Khammam urban agglomeration has a population of 313,504. However, on 19 October 2012, the civic body of Khammam was upgraded to a municipal corporation. Post- upgradation to corporation, the population of Khammam was approximated to be 3,07,000.

Etymology

Historical records show that the city has various names such as Stambhadri, Kambamettu, Khammammettu, Kama Mett, Gambambumettu, Kambamu Mettu, Khammam. It is named after the oldest pillared Stambhadri Narasimhaswamy temple and "Kamma Mettu.". The name was also anglicized as "Comma Met" and "Khammammet".

Khammam

History

The name Khammam, which means a pillar is named after lord Narasimha Swamy, the presiding deity of Narasimhaswamy Gutta, an important pilgrimage site for the locals. Because of the presence of Lord Narasimhaswami temple in Khammam, the city was named Sthambadri earlier. The city is located on the banks of a river called Munneru which is a tributary of the Krishna River. Khammam district has a lot of historical importance in Telangana.

Khammam

From the year 1901 to 1981 Khammam town has grown from a small town of nine thousand population to a city of one hundred thousand inhabitants. In 1942 the town was constituted as Municipality. From the year 1952 to 1987 elections were held five times to elect its body.

Khammam

Khammam City, which was the seat of the Taluk Administration, was part of the larger Warangal District, until 1 October 1953. Five taluks of the Warangal district viz., Khammam, Madhira, Yellandu, Burgampadu, and Paloncha (now Kothagudem) were carved out and a new district Khammam with Khammam as District Headquarters. In 1959 Bhadrachalam Revenue Division consisted of Bhadrachalam and Nuguru Venkatapuram Taluks of East Godawari district, which were on the other side of the river Godavari were merged into Khammam on grounds of geographical contiguity and administrative viability.

In 1973, a new taluk with Sathupalli as its headquarters was carved out from Madhira and Kothagudem taluks. In the year 1976 four new taluks were formed viz., Tirumalayapalem, Sudimalla, Aswaraopeta and Khammam district was initially a part of larger Warangal District.

History of Khammam shows that it has produced a number of leaders who were part of the Freedom struggle, such as first generation Communist leaders Peravelli Venkata Ramanaiah, Pendyala Satyanarayana Rao, Sarvadevabhatla Ramanatham, K.L. Narsimha Rao, Manchikanti Ramkishan Rao and Chirravuri Laxminarasaiah First Municipal Chairman of Khammam; Congress leaders Madapati Hanumantha Rao, Chepuri Nenkanna, Madapati Ramchander Rao, Sardar Jamalpuram Keshava Rao, Bommakanti Satyanarayana Rao, Hayagreeva Chary, and Nizam Rashtra Vimochanam Jalagam Vengala Rao, former Chief Minister of AP, Prof. K. Venkata Ramiah, Founder and Vice-Chancellor of KU.

Freedom movement

Some of the notable events in Khammam town during the freedom struggle:

1915: First Iron and steel store established by the then freedom fighter Sri.Thavidisetty Sambaiah to cater the needs of Telangana 1931 – First Independence movement in Khammam proper 1935 – First Library established in Khammam town 1945 – 12th State Andhra Mahasabha meeting at Khammam organized by Pendyala Satya Narayana Rao as general secretary, Aahvana sangham. Elected Baddam Ellareddy as president and Pendyala Satya Narayana Rao as vice-president to 13th State Andhra Mahasabha in that meeting. The meeting was held on 26–28 March. Puchalapalli Sundarayya participated in the meeting as a guest. Nearly 40,000 people attended the meeting. 1946 – Mahathma Gandhi's visit to Khammam mett (Khammam town) on 5 August 1946 1947 August, 7 – Satyagraham at Madhira and Khammam by Jamalapuram Kesava Rao, Kurapati Venkata Raju, Jagadeeswaraiah Neelakandan, Bachalakura Laxmaiah, Vattikonda Ramakotaiah, Heeralal Moriya, Teegala Hanumantha Rao, Kolipaka Kishan Rao, Gella Keshava Rao, Yadavalli Venkateswara Sharma, Pullabhotla Venkateswarlu (Hyderabad congress present), Vutukuru Kamala (Freedom Fighter – Telangana Vimochana)