History

The District Court, Kurnool was established in the year 1873. The District has 41 number of Courts, i.e., 11 District Courts, 10 Senior Civil Judge Courts and 20 Junior Civil Judge Courts.

PLACES OF IMPORTANCE IN THE DISTRICT: (Briefly Mention)

1. SRISAILAM:
   The Bhramaramba Mallikarjunaswamy temple houses one of India’s TWELVE JYOTHIRLINGAS (Natural stone formations in the shape of a linga) Srisailam is a very sacred shrine of all India importance, The temple is on the top of a hill in the midst of rich natural scenery in the Nallamalai forests. Around Srisailam there are many other tourist places like, Sikareshwaram, site of the sikaraswamy temple on the highest peak in the Nallamalai Hills, Hatakeswaram, Paladhara and Panchadara and natural springs flowing a spot where Adi Shankaracharya is believed to have performed penance, Sivanandalahari temple of Sakshi Ganapathi, Srisailam project which is one of the biggest Hydel projects, with the dam stretching 512 metres.
2. MAHANANDI:
   Mahashivarathri is celebrated here, where thousands of pilgrims congregate to worship Sri Mahanandeeswaraswamy. It is not only a place of pilgrimage, but also a picnic spot in view of the natural scenery in which the temple is set in the Nallamalai Hills. The remarkable feature here is the crystal clear water which flows throughout the year from perennial springs. Other places of interest are puskharini, a pond with water so clear and pure that even a pin at the bottom can be seen.
3. AHOBILAM:
   Ahobilam, an ancient temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu who took Narasimha Avatara in order to kill the demon Hiranyakasipu. This place is also called Singavel kunram. The hills is reached, there is the temple of Prahladavarada narasimha, i.e, the aspect of Lord Narasimha as bessing prahlada. From the foot of the hill on has to ascend the hill to reach what is called Upper Ahobilam. The temple is magnificent with a mantapa and gopuram. Nearby is the shine of Guha Narasimha, the entrance of which is a huge pillar. The same pillar Lord Vishnu finally emerged as Ugra Narasimha and kills the deman.
4. BELUM CAVES:
   These underground caves are located on a flat agricultural field, have 3 well like cavities with the entral one being the main entrance to the caves. The cave is horizontal and has a length of 3229 meters, longer than borra caves and have long passages, spacious chambers, fresh water galleries and siphons. All this makes Belum Caves a geological and archaeological attraction worldwide.
5. YAGANTI:
   It is well known for the temple of Uma Maheswar, built in the 15th century, which has a magnificent Goura at the entrance and a pond surrounded by animated friezes of court and mythological scenes carved on stone. Other places of interest include a huge Nandeeswara, Agasthya Pushkarini, and scenic natural caves.
6. MANTHRALAYAM:
   Sri Raghavendra Swamy temple, situated on the banks of Tungabhadra river. Mantralayam is famous for the ‘Samadhi’ of the well-known saint, Sri Raghavendra Theertha. The temple was built over 300 years ago, still of attracts a large number of followers and devotees.

ANY OTHER INFORMATION WHICH IS RELEVANT PERTAINING TO THE DISTRICT:

During the 18th century, Kurnool was formed by the Jagir of semi independent Pathan-Nawab whose descendant was dispossessed by the British Government for treason in 1838. The Nawabs formed territory, which became a District of Madras Presidency, with Kurnool as its capital. After India’s Independence in 1947, Kurnool became part of the State of Madras. Britishers gifted the Districts of Bellary, Anantapur, Kadapa and Kurnool.

Kurnool is the crest jewel of Rayalaseema – The visage of Rayalaseema. On 01-10-1953 the State of Andhra was formed. Formation of State was celebrated in S.T.B.C. College ground. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan participated; Kurnool was capital of Andhra state from 01-10-1953 to 31-10-1956.

When capital was in Kurnool, the present District Court building was used for Legislative Assembly. Laws were made from this building the-the District Court. The Speaker of the Assembly was sitting in the chair where the District Judge now sits. The Governor of Andhra also sat in that Chair, when the addressed the Assembly. All the District Judges or Additional District Judges worked here and elevated to the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. Our District Court seat is such a powerful seat. We had and we have eminent Judges and eminent lawyers who have inherited a wealth of tradition and talent. There was only one District Court for all the four revenue divisions of Kurnool, Nandyal, Adoni and Markapur, in response to call of Mahatma Gandhi for non-Cooperation Movement, Advocates here boycotted Courts in the year 1920.

In the record room of the Kurnool District Court, there are Judgments of the District Court and other Courts of Kurnool District dating back to 1873 and these Judgments show that the District Court, Kurnool and the Mofusil courts in Kurnool were there from 1873, that is everslnce the Madras Civil Court Act of 1873. These Judgments further show that the than District Judges were mostly ICS officers and the Lawyers were only pleaders. Judgments are short, written by hand and in excellent English.

Earlier Andhra was in Madras State and the High Court of Madras was having jurisdiction over Andhra Courts. The High Court of Andhra was established in 1954 at Guntur under the Andhra State Act. It had all the powers hitherto being exercised by the High Court of Madras in respect of the Territories included in the State of Andhra. In 1956 with the establishment of one High Court of Andhra Pradesh, the jurisdiction of the High Court of Andhra was extended to the whole of Telangana Area of the erstwhile Hyderabad State and the High Court of Hyderabad was abolished.

The Bar Association of Kurnool was registered under the societies Act in 1964.

The name Kurnool is said to have been derived from “Kandanavolu”. When the capital of Andhra State was in Kurnool, the Present District Court building was used for Legislative Assembly.

The Konda Reddy Buruju in Kurnool has history of more than 2300 years, built by the Rajas of Vijayanagaram, Konda Reddy Buruju was a part of Kurnool fort and was used as a prison, one revolutionary Konda reddy attained martyrdom in this prison. There is a bastian named Konda Reddy Buruju, constructed as a strategic watch tower by the rules of the Vijayanagara Empire. There is an underground passage (tunnel) from this buruju to Gadwal which is 52 km away. The specialty of this tunnel is that it crosses under the river Tungabadra. History tells that the ruler of Gadwal Kingdom utilized this tunnel to escape from the Muslim conquerors in 17th century. The government of Andhra Pradesh closed the tunnel somewhere around the 1950s.

The rare bird in the world, the great Indian Bustard Bird (Batta Meka) which is a heavy ground bird like a yound ostrich or peahen is in Rollapadu sanctuary in this District.

JUDICIARY WORST HIT BY FLOOD IN KURNOOL ON 02-10-2009:

The Tungabhadra River ran amok letting loose a huge deluge of water that engulfed Kurnool City. Though the rains have abated for the time being in Kurnool town, it is likely to be flooded further after being hit by the back waters of the surging Krishna River. As the District Court is also located in the flood zone area, Kurnool District Court Complex and Munsif Court Complex were drowned getting more than 10 to 15 feet of water.

The Judicial Officers who were trapped in the quarters had a harrowing experience as only one building had upstairs. All the officers and their family members and staff reached the top of the quarters and court building and contacted different sources for help like rest of the victims in the town. The police made frantic efforts to shift the Judicial Officers and their families to safer areas.

The financial loss to the Judiciary is estimated to be over Rs. 4 Crore., 10 Courts, Judicial Officers trapped in flood waters, 100 year-old court records totally destroyed.

The future of 15,000 on-going cases in different civil and criminal courts in the city is at stake as the Judiciary was the worst victim of the recent floods. The flood water entered ten courts, located closer to the river bank and destroyed the invaluable records and furniture.

Eight Judicial Officers and staff who were staying in the official quarters and courts were surrounded by flood water and got trapped there for 30 hours. As the whole town was in crisis, nobody could pay special attention to the plight of the Judicial Officers. The Judiciary is hurt that there was no proper response from the people who were supposed to come to their rescue.

The 100-year-old records of the court were completely destroyed in the flood. On the other hand, the information of 15,000 on-going cases was also destroyed throwing the Judiciary out of gear.
Bringing the courts back into action would take several weeks. Meanwhile, the advocates also suffered huge losses as in the form of valuable files and library. In some cases, the advocates of for and against the offence, lost records.