Derived from Ananda Puram or Ananta Sagar
Rayalaseema, the haven for Tollywood Faction stories, contains Anantapur city. The origin of the city name throws up different stories without sufficient historic evidence. One of them was Ananta Sagar, which can be translated as a huge tank, and another was Ananda, the wife of Diwan of the Vijayanagaram (Karnataka) Kings, who added Sagar, finally being called Anantapur at present. The city is located in the Rayalaseema uplands region, about 80 miles (130 km) south-southwest of Kurnool and 120 miles (190 km) north of Bengaluru (Bangalore), Karnataka state. Anantapur lies on the main road between Hyderabad, Telangana State (north), and Bengaluru. A major part of Anantapur was derived from the Bellary district of Karnataka in 1882, and it was also a position of strategic importance for the British Indian Army during the Second World War. Anantapur became part of Andhra Pradesh State after the formation of states on a linguistic basis in 1956.
Populist people from this city
Satya Sai Baba was a self-proclaimed god, and the incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba started his spiritual and service activities from here only. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the former President of India and the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, and Paidi Lakshmayya was the first member of Parliament from Anantapur's Lok Sabha Constituency. Kallur Subba Rao was an Indian freedom activist and was the first speaker of the Andhra Assembly, as was Kadiri Venkata Reddy, who was an Indian film director, writer, and producer.
Transport Facilities
Anantapur is well connected to the nearby major cities with National Highway 44 and National Highway 205 of the National Highway network of India. The NH-44 connects it to Bangalore, which is towards the south, and Hyderabad, towards the north, and the NH-205 connects it to Chennai via Renigunta. Guntakal train station is an important zone on the South Central Railway. The nearest airport is Kempegowda in Bangalore, and to reach that, one has to travel 190 km.