Shika Khol To Srikakulam, How This Andhra Pradesh District Got Its Identity

Srikakulam District is the extreme Northeastern District of Andhra Pradesh and is located on the both side banks of the river Nagavali. According to Local 18 Andhra Pradesh, the history of this district’s name dates back to the time of the Kalinga rulers. They ruled for about 700 years with Nagarikatakam village as their capital. After that, during the Turkish administration regime, they collected money and coins from the vassal kings and kept them in bundles. A vassal king is a king who owes allegiance to another king or emperor. This process of collecting the coins and keeping them in bundles was called Shika Khol by the people. In Arabic, Shika means a knot and khol means to open and over time, the region begin to be called the Shika Khol. This translates to “open the purse”. The Britishers used to call this Chicacole and Chikkolu. Eventually, the name was changed to Srikakulanga, and then Srikakulam came to be the history of this town.

According to the religious beliefs, in the Padma Purana, Lord Balarama told Lord Krishna that he would not be able to see the war between the Pandavas and Kauravas. during the Dwapara Yuga. Therefore, Lord Balarama needed to ascend in Srikakulam to perform penance (sorrow or repentance for sin). He required water to offer that penance to Lord Shiva and had to approach the Goddess Ganga to grant him water. Lord Balarama told Lord Krishna that if he gave him word that Ganga would merge from the sky to the sea, he would arrive on the earth. After arriving on the earth, Lord Balarama ploughed the earth with his weapon and walked towards the sea to make a path for the river Nagavali. It also has the name Langulya River which means plough in Sanskrit and thus Srikakulam was formed on the banks of the Nagavali river.

Srikakulam is also referred to as the poor man’s Ooty which means that a person from a low-income group can enjoy a cool atmosphere at a cheap price. Earlier in the 16th century, it was under the rule of the Nawabs of Golconda for a few years and then under the rule of the Dutch and the British for a few years.

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