Page:Gódávari.djvu/248

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Jagammapéta : Eight miles north-west of Peddapuram ; population 4,638. Chief village of a union which also comprises Kotturu, Ragampeta and Ramavaram. Contains a police-station, two travellers' bungalows (one for natives and the other for Europeans), a small choultry, a small local fund market, and a lower secondary school for boys. The sublimate of mercury made in it is referred to in Chapter VI. One or two Kamsalas make brass vessels.

Jagammapéta is the chief village of the zamindari of the same name, which consists of 28 villages and pays a peshkash of Rs. 33,062. Along with the Dontamuru estate (one village, peshkash Rs. 3,267) and the Rayavaram estate (two villages, peshkash Rs. 1,998) this zamindari was purchased from the Peddapuram estate by the Raja of Pithapuram. He gave them to a certain Rao Venkata Rao, and the present holder is the widow of the latter's grandson.

Kándrakóta, six miles north of Peddapuram, population 2,664, is celebrated for its festival to the village goddess Nukalamma, which lasts for a month and end with the last new-moon day before the Telugu New Year's Day in March or April. Many pilgrims visit the place on this occasion and vows of many kinds are made to the goddess, generally, it is said, to secure alleviation from disease. A buffalo is sacrificed, a wound being first made in its throat and the blood caught in a pot, and its head being then cut off.

Kattipúdi : Seventeen and a half miles north-east of Peddapuram. Population 1,470. Contains a police-station, a travellers' bungalow and a large choultry with an income of Rs. 3,000 from land bequeathed to the taluk board, which is devoted to feeding travellers of all classes.

Kirlampúdi : Nine miles north-north-east of Peddapuram. Population 4,316. Has a small market. Is included in the Jagapatinagaram union. Chief village of a small estate, consisting of ten villages paying a peshkash of Rs. 23,186, which was purchased from the old Peddapuram zamindari at a sale for arrears. It has changed hands since then and is now held in shares by two brothers. One share has been sold to the Maharaja of Bobbili.

Peddápuram, the head-quarters of the taluk, lies three miles from Samalkot railway-station and contains a population of 12,609. In it are the offices of a Deputy Collector, a tahsildar, a district munsif, a sub-registrar, and a stationary sub-magistrate, and also a local fund dispensary (established 1881), a fair-sized market, a police-station and a fine taluk board choultry where Brahmans and Sudras are fed. This