Machilipatnam

Machilipatnam, aka Bandar, one of the oldest ports in India, dating back to 3rd century, famous for it's Bandaru Laddu, beaches and Kalamkari work.

Known as Masulipatnam, Masula, the town gets it's name from the belief that there was a fish statue on the walls around it. It's also called as Bandaru meaning port in Persian. The port's existence dates to 3rd century BCE, when Ptolemy referred to it as Maisolos. It was referred to as Masalia one of the ports that traded with the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.

Located on the Krishna River Delta, the Masula port saw flourishing trade once, especially in Muslin, a very fine cotton fabric that got it's name from this place. Many ancient Roman coins were found during excavations here. During the reign of the Qutub Shahi rulers of Golkonda, Machilipatnam was the main port for their kingdom, as well as a trading point for textiles produced in the Godavari-Krishna delta region.

However with the Mughal conquest of Golkonda at the end of the 17th century, Machilipatnam port fell into decline, and later came under the British rule, was part of Madras state.

During the freedom struggle, Machilipatnam played a significant role, with two greats hailing from here. One was Bhogaraju Pattabi Sitaramaiah, close associate of Mahatma Gandhi who would found the Andhra Bank in 1923.

The other great freedom fighter from Machilipatnam was Pingali Venkayya, who designed our national flag, and was a writer, agriculturist,geologist of note too.

One of the famous temples around Machilipatnam is the Panduranga Swamy temple at Chilakalapudi, that is modelled on the Vithoba temple of Pandharpur, built by a devotee of Vithoba, worth a visit.

The Chilakalapudi temple was built by Bhaktha Narasimham in 1925, who after visiting Pandharpur, wanted to build a similiar temple. To date the temple is managed by his descendants, who have refused to hand it over to the Endowments Dept. And the temple doesnt have a hundi too.

The Dattashram located near the Manginapudi beach, has an ancient Shiva temple. Also there are 12 wells for bathing, after taking a dip in the sea, hence this place is also called Datta Rameshwaram.

Manginapudi beach is a nice place to relax during evenings, and with the Dattashram, temples nearby, its worth a visit.

And the delicious Bandar Laddu, also called as Thokkudu laddu, made with besan. The most famous shop in Machilipatnam where you get this is Thatha Rao sweets, one of the older ones in the city. One of the most famous Telugu sweets which is served at every wedding.

Interestingly the original recipe for the Bandar Laddu, came from a group of north Indian migrant familes, which was adopted by the locals. The Bandaru Halwa is also equally famous here.

Machilipatnam is also the HQ of Krishna district, though Vijayawada is the bigger city. The town has a typical, small town, laidback feeling, with a very relaxed pace of life. And the green paddy fields, temples, the sea make it worth a visit.

It has a long association with Telugu film industry. Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu, considered the father of Telugu cinema, who was the first Indian to own a cinema theater, produced the first Telugu movie, hailed from here.

Many famous personalities of Telugu film industry are from Machilipatnam. Actors CSR Anjaneyulu, Satyanarayana, Nirmalamma, Jagapathi Babu, music directors Mani Sharma, Master Venu, director Maruthi,all hailed from this place. Also Mutnuri Krishna Rao, the editor of Krishna Patrika, a freedom fighter, activist, considered to be the doyen of Telugu media, hailed from Machilipatnam.