Thondangi mandal

Thondangi mandal is one of the 21 mandals in Kakinada district of Andhra Pradesh. As per census 2011, there are 15 villages.^[1]

Thondangi mandal has total population of 87,592 as per the Census 2011 out of which 44,412 are males while 43,180 are females and the average sex ratio of the mandal is 972. The total literacy rate of the mandal is 55.67%. The male literacy rate is 53.68% and the female literacy rate is 45.12%.

• A. Kothapalli
• A.V.Nagaram
• Anuru
• Bendapudi
• Gopalapatnam
• Kommanapalle
• Kona Forest
• Krishnapuram
• P. Agraharam
• P.E.Chinnayapalem
• Pydikonda
• Ravikampadu
• Srungavruksham
• Thondangi
• Vemavaram

• List of mandals in Andhra Pradesh

The Thondangi Mandal is a special mandal in the district with a vast coastline. The coastline starts from Chodipallipeta /. Yadavas and fishermen live there. The Kaifiyats collected by Mackenzie in 1785 contain detailed information about this coastline. In the Kaifiyats of East Godavari written by Balloji Baba of Kakinada, there is a Kaifiyat all about this. There is no doubt that Balloji Baba is a historian. Ancient Towns of East Godavari If you go into another rare history collection book, you will see the history of Tondangi from a thousand years ago. Especially if you know that Perumallapuram village has existed for a thousand years, you will not be surprised. That was in 1078 AD, the time of the Chola kings. King Raja Anarendra's son Kulutthongu was the leader of the Chola empire and made his son Veera Chola the king of the Vengi kingdom. He ruled Vengi until 1093. He was a Vaishnava. In those days, the days when the Shaivites and Vaishnava religions were attacking each other fiercely. The Vaishnava religious leaders in Tamil Nadu were living in the palm of their hands. When 536 Brahmins sought refuge with Veera Choda, he arranged a residence for them in the Pithapuram agraharam. They were He gave the villages of Perumalpuram and told them to live on the income from those villages. They called the village of Perumalpuram Chaturvedi Mangalam. The word Perumallu is a Tamil word. Perumallu means Vishnu. This is the village where Perennikaganna lived thousands of years ago. You can see the Ponnada where Brahmins still live. Pithapuram is also an agraharam. I think it is probably because of the distance that Brahmins did not live in Perumalpuram. They settled in Sarpavaram. It is known that they built an agraharam there and lived on the taxes coming from the village of Perumalpuram. That is why there are no temples in Perumalpuram. The name of the village was called Perumallu. It is known that fishermen migrated and started living in the new Perumalpuram during that time.

In 1814, when it was a Rajahmundry district, the Kona forest in Pithapuram taluka was mentioned. It is also called Kona forest in the current revenue records. This Kona forest was surrounded by the sea in the east, Ponnada in the west, and Thondangi and Vemayi (Vemavaram) villages in the north. The bulls roaming in this Kona forest had horns that were stronger than ordinary bulls and were not crooked. When they were tired, they would run wildly. These bulls would graze in the forest during the day (gaddipet) and lie down at night, basking in the sea waves. Hunting them was a pastime. The landlords of Pithapuram, Peddapuram, Kakinadai, Kapileswarapuram, and the French and British collectors used to hunt them with guns.  In this forest, there were thick trees like Pushiniga, Dorniga, Gollu, Kumkudu trees (which can be seen in the old Perumallapuram area) and milk trees.

There were small trees called shrubs. Milk trees were very tall. The trunks of milk trees were as tall as a man could sit on. In those days, farmers would cut these milk trees and make them into huts and do agriculture. This entire forest was under the rule of Pithapuram Jammindaru. Honeycombs were abundant. People were afraid to go into the forest. Groups of bees would buzz around the forest making a loud noise. Small flowering trees are flowers that are very fragrant and have a good fragrance. Bees would collect honey from these flowers and put honey combs in the trunks of milk trees. The whole forest was filled with honey. This honey was fragrant and very tasty. This small-flowered tree honey was available in the month of November. The landlords of Pithapuram used to hire honey collectors and collect the honey. However, this honey was not like the honey of today, but it was like the syrup that is mixed in Diwali goods. It was very tasty. The landlords ate it very much. Rice grew well in the vicinity of Thondangi, Vemavaram and Ponnada. In those days, Thondangi was famous for its sesame crop. Traders used to come from all over the country to buy sesame. Wood for houses was not available in the coniferous forest. Chintha trees (which is probably why the name Chintha Kayalpeta came from), neem trees, thumma trees, wild oxen, thick thorn bushes and thuppa forests were widespread. All these details are found in Mackenzie's East Godavari Kaifiyathu written by Balloji Baba. Everyone should read and cherish such good books. A book that should be kept in school libraries.

When did the coastal villages come? Mackenzie collected these Kaifiyathu in 1814-1815. By then, these may have been written about ten years ago. That is, in 1800, the Kona region was still a forest. Due to the vast land and coastline, the attention of the fishermen of the country fell on this area. In that order, migration gradually increased from Burma, Orissa, Puri, Machilipatnam, Yanam, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, etc. The villages we see gradually formed after 1850. Since cattle are found naturally in abundance, the Yadavas may have arrived. This is probably why villages like Avalamanda and Gaddipet were formed here.

artical was written by ben johnson