Tel: విజయవాడ vijayavāḍa
‘Victory City’ [Bezawada] City, Andhra Pradesh
From Skt: vijaya, ‘conquest’, ‘victory’; Dra: wada/vada, ‘district’, ‘city’.
There is no shortage of myths to explain the origin of these names:
Durga defeated Mahishasura here, some say. Others that this is where Shiva gave Arjuna the mighty Pashupatastra weapon.
Bezawada could be a British mispronunciation, but there’s also a story that Arjuna drilled a ‘hole’, or ‘tunnel’ [Tel: bejjam].
Rather appropriately Vijayawada boasts the longest electrified tunnel in India (6,6km), as well as a road tunnel which cuts across the nearly 5 km Indrakeeladri hill range [Article: Tunnel road lives up to name Bezawada].
For related place names see Indian Place names and Andhra Pradesh place names.
