During, last Dussehra holidays, we went to my granny’s place near Vizag, so that I can play around with my friends there. During that time, one day, my entire family was sitting in front of the T.V and were watching something seriously. Being a small boy of 5 years, I didn’t understand why they were watching T.V for a long time. My mommy told me that they are watching a carnival held in Vizayanagaram. So I thought, why can’t I make this #XploreBharat blog train stop at Vizayanagaram, so that you guys can also explore this place along with me. So now, come join me on this fun ride to Vizayanagaram.

Where is Vizayanagaram?
This place is in North Andhra and connects Andhra Pradesh to other Northeastern states like Odisha and West Bengal. This town is a smaller one when compared to Vizag, which is nothing but her other cousin. As per my mom, we can easily call Vishakapatnam and Vizayanagarm as sister towns. But Vishakapatnam has grown into a bigger and famous city, leaving behind Vizayanagaram, which is more famous from its cultural and historical per say.
This place has some other new form of transport called cycle rickshaw, which I haven’t seen till date. So I told my dad that I want to ride on it, and so we took one cycle rickshaw for a small ride and went to the fort.
Vizayanagaram Fort:
At the entrance of the town itself, we get to see the Vizayanagaram Fort. This fort has been constructed by Kalinga dynasty kings. This fort is the oldest one and of huge historical significance it seems. My mom showed me the gate and told me that this fort has been donated by the Gajapati kings to the government and we can observe that a lot of government offices are being run out of this premises now. So we went inside the fort to have a look at its structure and other details. If we climb up and check from the balconies there, we can see the aerial view of the entire town.
Currently, this place is very busy with a lot of people. So I got a small doubt immediately. If the kings have given their house to the offices, then where will they live? And will they still wear a turban and long coat the whole day? Do you remember my school drama, in that the king and queen always wore long gowns and even I as a Solider have to wear a lot of stuff and hold the sword in my hand isn’t it? So will there still be soldiers guarding this king all the time
As soon as I started expressing my questions, everybody started laughing at me. What is so silly in my doubts, can you guys please let me know? These elders are always like that only, keep laughing for silly reasons. So now, friends, if you know answers to my above questions, can you please let me know?

Maharaja Colleges:
At the farther end, they have few colleges also in the fort. One is the Musical college and the other two are the Sanskrit college and Ladies college. All these colleges are very old it seems. Last month only the musical college celebrated its 100th birthday it seems. All these colleges were established by the Vizayanagaram kings a

Since this music college is so old, a lot of famous musicians studied here it seems. Most of the popular music directors and playback singers in movies have studied here only. But I can’t remember all their names. My mom and dad showed me some of their photos on the walls of this college. They took me into this college and told me that walls here also can sing songs and play musical notes. Maybe, only singers and musicians can hear them, but since I am a dancer, I felt like only dancing, then my mom told me that maybe I am getting inspired from the world famous musicians who lived here. Please let me know in case if you hear any music when you visit there. They even showed me the world famous Bobbili veena here. I liked the instrument but didn’t have the courage to touch and play it. So I just left it there.

My mom and dad discussed a lot of things along with my granddad here about the history of this place, maybe when I grow big, I will understand all that. But here is the photo collage of the people, I had seen there in the college. They are Adibatla Naryanadas garu (well-known Sanskrit author and scholar, father of the Harikatha art, Dwarampudi Venkateswara Rao garu (well-known flutist and musician), Ghantasala garu (well-known Telugu playback singer and music director), P. Susheela (well known Telugu playback singer).
Gurujada Apparao gari House:
Next, my parents took me to an old house situated at the back of the fort. That house belongs to Gurujada Apparao garu it seems. He is older than my granddad it seems. He is a very famous Telugu playwright, author, and social activist. His poem on the country is very famous and sung even till date it seems. The meaning of that song is that “Stop thinking about yourself, and help others a little bit, as the Country means just not sand, but people and only when people are happy the country would progress”. I really felt wonderful after hearing that song and asked my mom to teach me.

Market Place and Ganta Stambham (Clock Tower)
There is a huge market place next to the fort and we get everything here. Everything is very cheap here. This market place is always crowded and my parents told me that this town is the business district for the northern parts of Andhra. Here comes the interesting part. There is a big clock tower in the middle of the market and its called “Ganta Stambham”. This tower is similar to Big-Ben in London. Hope you all know about Big-Ben. If not come to me again, I will give you the presentation, which my aunty has given us in the school. We had built a miniature Big-Ben too in our Montessori house.

After seeing the Ganta Stambham and having nice and famous lassi there in the shops, we went on a window shopping spree and by the time, I got tired, we reached a temple and that temple is for a goddess called Paiditalli ammavaru. This goddess is very famous and the family deity for Vizayanagaram Kings it seems. Post-Dussehra, there would be a huge carnival conducted for this goddess and that’s the one which my parents were watching the other day.

Sirimanu Utsavam (Carnival)
This carnival name is “Sirimanu Utsavam”. A pujari or the pandit who prays daily to this goddess will be tied to a big long pole and that pole would be carried over the entire town post-Dussehra. This is the tradition followed here in this region and believe me that carnival would be very crowded. You can have a look at the video below to understand it. But honestly, seeing in the T.V itself, I got scared and was thinking how brave that priest uncle should be to sit on top of a pole like this?. Please check the video of the carnival here.

After covering all the places, we went to have lunch at my relative’s place and while returning back home, my mom showed me another fort called Korukonda. That fort has been converted to Sainik school now and it seems people who study here join into Defence forces. They teach horse riding and a lot of stuff here it seems. So my mom was asking me whether I would like to join in this school? But how can I leave my mom tell me? I am such a small kid, though I like Defence people and would like to try out stunts like them, I can’t leave my mom now itself right. So I told a big NO to my mom. Hope you all agree to me.

During my last visit to Vizag, my granny told me of another new place called Ramanaryanam. This place was constructed recently and is in the shape of a Bow it seems. I am yet to go, but what I heard from my friends and cousins is that this place captures the entire essence of Ramayana in simple pictures and is very good with a lot of fountains. It seems the kids also have a good play area as well. I will visit it during my next trip along with my parents until then get more details about this place from the following videos. This is the website link for that temple.
How is your day trip to Vizayanagarm along with me and #XploreBharat blog train? Hope this stop at the land of Kings and Kingdoms tempted you to brush your history once again. Our #XploreBharat blog train came here from after covering Kovalam in Kerala with Seema aunty and will be moving to see the White Desert from Great Rann of Kutch with Sthuti aunty.
About #XploreBharat Blog train

This is a Blog train hosted by my mommy’s friends, Aditi, Esha, Maheshwaran, Preeti, Saba, Pragun, Sanjota, Sonia, Sudip, Suhasini, and Supriya.
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Thank you for this beautiful tour of Vizayanagaram. Enjoyed the read and the pics.
Thanks for your encouragement Mayuri
One more hidden gem of India explored. Thanks for choosing a unique and lesser known place. I liked to see it thru a childs eyes.
Thank you Ujjwal
I have heard about the place and contributions by Gajapati rulers but modern day acknowledgment was new and delightful. You show the world a new way little one. Thank you I enjoyed reading it.
Thank you for your kind encouragement. It means a lot to me
Loved your write-up for amazing pictures, beautiful description. Thanks for adding Vizayanagarm to my bucket list:)
Thank you Aditi for your kind words
Very nice to see a new place through your son’s eyes, Suhasini!! Loved it…:)
Thank you Jayanti
That’s a wonderful post on Vizag, loved the description and pic too.
Thank you Vartika
Our train to Odisha always goes by Vizayanagaram. Got to know more about the place today. thank you so much.
Yeah I know. Thanks for liking the post
Beautifully informative and detailed post. Reading it in the voice of a kid adds a strange charm to it. Thank you!
A beautiful post. I loved Srimanu Utsavam. The pujari must be having a great time or scared out of his mind. I had read the prince or king of Vijianagram used to be cricket lover. He even captained Indian team. Is this town part of famous Vijayanagar empire? Nice cool places with clock tower. Loved your narration.
Yes Abhijit, the kings of Vizayanagarm are great sportspersons and philanthropists. This is part of the Kalinga empire, you would have heard about the famous Bobbili fight. That fight was conducted by these kings only.
I did not hear of Bobbili fight. I shall read up.
I’d never heard of Vizayanagaram before, so this is a great new discovery for me! Great post!
Thank you Vijaylakshmi.
Thanks for sharing this…I think if we were to explore the length and breadth of this country it will take us a lifetime… Especially the carnival…sounds so interesting
Very true Esha. There are so many hidden gems which don’t get the lime light they deserve. Only locals know about their importance.
The fort of Vijayanagaram. Read a lot about it in my history books. Thanks for the virtual tour!
Thank you Sudip. Thats precisely the reason why I wanted to write about this place. While walking in this place, I always tend to get lost in time.
Hey suhasini, thanks for writing on this place because of you I got to know this place. For a moment I thought maybe there was a typo and you had misspelled Vijay Nagar or vishakhapatnam .. Glad to know it’s history and significance..greatly detailed post as always.
Thank you Anshu for your encouragement
Lovely write-up on a hidden gem of India. I enjoyed it thoroughly!
Thanks Prerna for enjoying this little town.
i always enjoy your posts from first word till the last. Narration takes me to a different world 🙂 I must say it is a beautiful place!
https://www.hackytips.com
Thanks a lot Sanjot for such sweet words. 🙂
A lovely informative post.It shows the hard work put in Suhasini. This is the success of XploreBharat…exploring such lesser known places.
#ContemplationOfaJoker #Jokerophilia
Thank you Manas. Yes the thrill is in exploring the unexplored places only.
Hey there, Shrav!
This is one of the most unique post I have read. Credit to your mother for sharing your worldview while also managing to create a crash course in the history of Vizayanagaram. Amazing!
Thanks a lot for the encouraging words. I will definitely show it to my kid.
Excellent post Suhasini. The Viziyanagaram fort really looks resplendent. Really enjoyed getting to know the place.
Thank you Jai for your kind words
Vizayanagaram. Never heard about this. But thanks for exploring the unexplored place of bharat which is truly inspiring.
Loved the detailed post.
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Thank you for your kind encouragement
I never knew about this place!!! thank you for this beautiful article!
Thanks a lot for the blog love and share
Vizayanagaram appears ti me as the hidden gem of Andhra. Right from its ancient fort, to Bobbili Vina to Rama temple, everything about it so fascinating. Thanks for sharing this place.
Thanks a lot for liking this place
Glad to know about Vizayanagaram Fort , colleges and city tour
#xplorabharat #poseinstylereads
Thanks for liking this town Pooja
Thanks once again
A great post as always Suhasini. I liked the small touches you gave to this write up… Like going on a rickshaw ride; elders laughing on kids innocence and the child getting irritated at their laughs;trying to hear the walls singing in the music school; thinking about what the priest is feeling sitting at the top of the pole. These observations and perceptions captured in this post along with the detailed description of the place have given the post such uniqueness.
#readbypreetispanorama
Thank you dear for your kind words.
I liked the way you made this place really bring out the royal touch of it. It’s indeed a unique place.
Thank you for liking this place
When I had first opened the xplorebharat excal sheet, I saw Vizayanagaram against your name. Because I was planning to do Vizag, I almost thought that it was already taken. But due to the name difference, I went back to google and checked and figured that it indeed is a different city. Now after reading your post, I am wiser. The city does look like it has a rich culture.
Ohh really, you should have told me. If Machilipatnam is my parent’s place, my inlaws place is near Vizayanagarm. Since both these places are kind of obscured I thought of handling them.
Great batch of photos! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you!
This is first time I have read a post on Vijaynagram. Thanks for writing about this lesser known place. I have heard of this city before but that’s it.
Thanks a lot for dropping by
Thank you.. waiting to read your article