The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Kadapa gearing up for bicentenary fete

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Thursday, Dec 13, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Kadapa gearing up for bicentenary fete

Staff Reporter

Cultural, sports and handicraft shows lined up for the event

The event is being organised by Razzmatazz
APTDC plans package tour to Kadapa, Tirumala

VISAKHAPATNAM: Kadapa, the ‘Town of Mercy’, is gearing up to celebrate its 200th year of formation in a big way. The Joint Collector of Kapada M. Girija Shankar told media persons here on Wednesday that a variety of cultural, sports and handicraft shows have been lined up to showcase the heritage of the district at the four-day bi-centenary celebrations from December 20.

The region ceded to be a district in the year 1800 and was officially made a district in 1807.

“The idea is to revive the traditional folk arts and games of the region like Yakshagana and Tolubommalata and relive the days of Annamayya and Vemana who hailed from the districts,’ he said.

Giving a brief history of Kadapa, he said that the mythological figure Krupacharya had named the town as Krupa Nagara (Town of Mercy) in the beginning of Kaliyuga. “It later came to be known as Kadupayee and then Gadapa (threshold of the Tirumala Temple).

The colonial rulers called it as Cuddapah and in the year 2005, it was renamed Kadapa, based on the writings of renowned Indologist C.P. Brown.

Historically, the region had been ruled by emperors of the Vijayanagar, Maurya, Chalukya, Chola, Badami and the Qutab Shahis.”

Apart from decorating and conducting tours to its heritage structures like the Sidhout Fort, Sowmynatha Temple, Gandikota Fort, Vantimitta Kodanda Swamy Temple and Pushpagiri Temple during the celebration days, a variety of entertainment programmes is in store for the tourists.

The cultural programmes include classical dance by actress and Padmasri awardee Shobhana, music concerts by Zee TV fame Karunya and Little Champs, a concert by Ghazal Srinivas, Kuchipudi dance ballet by Padmaja Reddy, mushaira and qawali performances.

Four venues have been identified by the Kadapa district administration for hosting the main events: Sidhout fort, Kalashetram, Municipal Stadium and the C.P. Brown Library.

Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation also plans to run a package tour to Kadapa and Tirumala during the four-day festival. Interested persons may get in touch with the Regional Manager of APTDC, Visakhapatnam, Jeevan Prasad or call 9848007021. The event is being organised by Razzmatazz.

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