Bapatla district

Bapatla district is a district in coastal Andhra in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) established on 4 April 2022. The administrative headquarters are in Bapatla. The district is formed from parts of the erstwhile Prakasam district and Guntur districts.

It has an Indian Air Force station and several universities.

History
Named after Bhavanarayana Swamy temple, it was originally called Bhavapuri, and later to Bhavapatla and finally, Bapatla, in due course. In 1977, a proposal to form Bapatla district was made by Kolla Venkaiah, famous communist leader. On April 4, 2022 as part of forming districts with parliamentary constituencies as the basis, the district was created with parts from erstwhile Prakasam district and Guntur districts.

Bapatla Taluka was created in 1794. During May 26-27,1913 meeting of the first Andhra Mahasabha at the townhall, the foundation for separate state for Andhras was mooted. During Independence movement, Chirala-Perala movement of 1919 led by Duggirala Gopalakrishnaiah became prominent at national level.

The first agricultural college in South India was started in Bapatla on 11 July 1945. BPT-5204 and Samba Masuri paddy varieties were developed here by MV Reddy. The Cashew Research Center at Bapatla developed the popular BPP-8 variety of cashews.

Geography
This district is surrounded to the north by the Guntur district, south by the Bay of Bengal, west by the Palnadu district, Prakasam district and east by the Krishna district.

Natural resources
Sand reaches occur in Bhattiprolu and Kollur Mandals. Gravel is present in Amarthalur, Kollur, Bhattiprolu, Karlapalem and Bapatla mandals.

Good deposits of coloured granites occur around Uppumaguluru and Konidena.

Demographics
Based on 2011 census, Bapatla district had a population of 15,86,918, of which 284,114 (17.90%) lived in urban areas. It had a sex ratio of 1012 females per 1000 males. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 3,58,655 (22.6%) and 75,838 (4.97%) of the population respectively.

At the time of the 2011 census, 93.00% of the population spoke Telugu and 6.12% Urdu as their first language. 91.82% of population follow Hinduism, while Muslims and Christians make up smaller percentages.

Administrative divisions
The district is divided into Bapatla, Chirala and Repalle, which are further subdivided into a total of 25 mandals.

Mandals
The list of 25 mandals in Bapatla district, divided into 3 revenue divisions, is given below.
 * 1) Bapatla revenue division
 * 2) Bapatla
 * 3) Karlapalem
 * 4) Martur
 * 5) Parchur
 * 6) Pittalavanipalem
 * 7) Yeddanapudi
 * 8) Chirala revenue division
 * 9) Addanki
 * 10) Ballikurava
 * 11) Chinaganjam
 * 12) Chirala
 * 13) Inkollu
 * 14) J. Panguluru
 * 15) Karamchedu
 * 16) Korisapadu
 * 17) Santhamaguluru
 * 18) Vetapalem
 * 19) Repalle revenue division
 * 20) Amruthalur
 * 21) Bhattiprolu
 * 22) Cherukupalle
 * 23) Kollur
 * 24) Nagaram
 * 25) Nizampatnam
 * 26) Repalle
 * 27) Tsundur
 * 28) Vemuru

Parliament segment
There are one parliamentary and six assembly constituencies in Bapatla district.

Bapatla Parliamentary constituency (sc), from this constituency Tenneti Krishna Prasad (Telugu Desam Party) was representing, won in 2024.

Assembly segments
Bapatla district presently comprises the following six Legislative Assembly segments:

Economy
Agriculture contributes to major share of gross district domestic product. Agriculture and allied services based industries such as cotton spinning mills, oil mills and shrimp processing are present in the district

Irrigation
Irrigation are other sources of irrigation.
 * Krishna western delta is a major irrigation project Tanks, Tube Wells, Dug Wells, Lift

Education
The first agricultural College in South India was started on 11 July 1945 in Bapatla by the Government of Composite Madras State India. It became part of Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Andhra Pradesh in 1964.

Military institutions
Airforce station at Suryalanka of Southern Air Command  is a major defence establishment in the district. It has carried out Emergency Landing Facility trials on National Highway 16  near Addanki on 29 Dec 2022.

Tourism
Bhavanarayana Swamy Temple in Bapatla is a 5th Century CE temple dedicated to Ksheera Bhavanarayanaswamy and Sundaravalli. This temple is under the administration control of Archaeological Survey of India. Chariot procession and other festivals are celebrated. Prasannanjaneya swamy temple at Singarakonda near Addanki is a popular pilgrimage center. This temple was said to be constructed in the 15th century by Vijayanagara king Devarayalu. Mahasivaratri is celebrated in a grand manner at Ganga Bhramarambha Sameta Malleswara Swamy temple, Manikeswaram

One of the earliest evidence of Brahmi script, origin of most scripts in India, is written on an urn containing Buddha's relics placed in the Stupa of Bhattiprolu. The script has been named Bhattiprolu script.

Saraswata Niketanam at Vetapalem is a library founded in 1918. It is known for its large collection of palm leaf manuscripts,newspapers and books.

Beaches
Nallamada, East Tungabhadra, Gundamthippa, Romperu(right) rivers meet the sea at Kappalavaripalem, Pinniboyinavaripalem. Suryalanka beach, about 9 km from Bapatla is suitable for sea bathing. Vadarevu and Ramapuram beaches near Chirala are also popular tourist attractions.

Notable people
Kasinadhuni Viswanath who won the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to films as director, screenwriter, lyricist and actor hails from Repalle. D. Ramanaidu, Guinness Book of World Records holder for the most films produced by an individual hailed from Karamchedu near Chirala. Pawan Kalyan born in Bapatla is a famous film actor and founder of Jana Sena Party.

Konijeti Rosaiah elected as MLA of Chirala assembly constituency several times rose to become Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Governor of Tamil Nadu. Kona Prabhakara Rao represented Bapatla assembly constituency several times and served as Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker, State Minister and Governor.