Kurnool District   is a district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, located in the west-central part of the state on the southern banks of the Tungabhadra and Handri rivers. The town of Kurnool is currently the headquarters of the district.  It is the administrative seat of the district. Kurnool is the gateway to Rayalaseema and the largest city in the area. About 212 kilometers   south of state capital, Hyderabad According to A Manual of the Kurnool District in the Presidency of Madras, the name Kurnool is derived from Kandenavolu or Kandanavolu, pronounced as karnooluu. Telugu, Urdu and Kannada are the most widely spoken languages.

Kurnool History

Aurangazeb, the last Mogul King to rule India, conquered the Deccan in 1687 and left his governors, the Nizams, to rule the Andhra centres of Hyderabad and Kurnool. Both the Nizam of Hyderabad and Nawab of Kurnool declared independence and became sole rulers of their territories. Nawab Alaf Khan Bahadur was the first ruler of Kurnool and his descendants ruled it for over 200 years. In the early 18th century, the Nawabs merged with the sultan of Mysore and fought the British Empire.

Fort Konda Reddy Buruju
There is a bastian named Konda Reddy Buruju, constructed as a strategic watch tower by the rulers of the Vijayanagara Empire. There is an underground passage (tunnel) from this buruju to Gadwal which is 52 km away. The speciality of this tunnel is it crosses under the river Tungabhadra. Stories tell that the ruler of Gadwal Kingdom utilised this tunnel to escape from the Muslim conquerors in 17th century. The government of Andhra Pradesh closed the tunnel somewhere around the 1950s.

Kurnool Climate

The climate is tropical with temperatures ranging from 26 C to 45 C in the summer and 12 C to 31 C in the winter. The average annual rainfall is about  762 mm.

Kurnool Tourism

Tourist places in Kurnool

1. Mantralayam: A big Temple of Raghavendra swamy is located here. Thousands of pilgrims from Andhra and Karnataka visits this place every day. This Temple is situated on the banks of Tungabhadra River.
2. Ahobhilam: This is another pilgrim place. Sri Lakshminarasimha svaami is seaated here.
3. Mahaanandi: This is another pilgrim place of Siva.
 4. Srisailam: This well known Shiva Temple. The road leads o Srisailam is ghat Road and worth enjoyed which is full of forest. The Srisailam DAM is near the Temple is also worth seen. This is known as one of the 12 jyotirlingas.
5. Beloom guhalu: This worth seen. These natural caves under the ground.