Vizagapatam/Gazetteer/Chipurupalle Taluk
CHIPURUPALLE TALUK.
Is the most northern of the coast taluks of the district and is divided from Ganjám by the Lángulya river. CHAP. XV. Chipurupalle. It is perhaps the least picturesque part of the whole district. The coast, which further south is relieved by bold hills and headlands, is here flat and uninteresting, and the centre of the taluk is an undulating plain, sparsely dotted with small, bare hills. It is, however, carefully cultivated, and in the dry weather, when elsewhere there is little crop on the ground, the patches of ragi, tobacco and chillies under its numerous wells give it a flourishing appearance.
Among the few places of interest in it are the following:—
Chipurupalle: A union of 2,916 inhabitants, the headquarters of the taluk and a railway-station. Though now unimportant, it seems to have been of some note in days gone by, as it contains the remains of what was once a considerable fort, bricks of ancient pattern are often dug up round this, and in 1867 three sets of copper sásanams were found in the village, one of which records a grant by Vishnuvardhana I of the Eastern Chálukya dynasty, who flourished from 615 to 633 A.D.1[1]
Garugubilli: Five miles north of Chipurupalle. About two miles west of it is a hill with three peaks, in the northernmost of which, Dévudukonda, is an odd natural cave which is reached by a passage through the hill some 30 feet long, and is about 10 feet in diameter. Out of it lead two other chambers accessible with the help of a ladder. In this cave is a stone which is supposed to be a lingam and in the month of Kártigam people flock to do pújá to it.
Gujarátipéta: A village of 1,272 inhabitants on the bank of the Lángulya facing Chicacole, with which it is connected by a masonry road bridge of 24 spans which was built in 1854, partly washed away in the cyclone of 1876 (see p. 154) and repaired in 1886. Being outside the municipal limits of Chicacole, it is a favourite haunt of gamblers of that town who wish to avoid the attentions of the police. The village is said to get its name from the circumstance that it was founded many years ago by a number of Gujaráti Bráhmans who traded in precious stones. Some of their descendants still live there, carry on the same business, CHAP. XV. Chipurupalle. and keep up relations with their castemen in Benares. The pillars of the Lakshésvara temple here are said to have been found in the river-bed, and one of them bears Uriya inscriptions.
Near the river is a brick and stone octagonal column 20 feet high, surmounted by a small dome, which is called the burrala kóta or 'skull fort.' The story goes that it was made from the skulls of Hindus slain by Musalmans in a battle here. Near by are a number of neglected Muhammadan tombs, and these are said to cover the remains of the slain of the other side.
Shérmuhammadpuram: Four miles west of Chicacole; population 2,582. Is named after Shér Muhammad, Faujdar or Nawáb of Chicacole under the Nizam, and the man who built the Chicacole mosque between 1641 and 1645. Tradition says he erected a summer palace for himself about a mile to the west of this village and brought a channel to it from the Lángulya. The ruins of the building are still to be seen and the ground is called Shér Mahál Tótam. Not far off is a great irrigation tank, which is worth a visit.
The village is the chief place of the proprietary estate of the same name. This is referred to in the account of Anakápalle on p. 221 above.
- ↑ 1 For further particulars, see G.O., No. 28, Public, dated 3rd August 1869, and Ind. Ant., xviii, 143-230.