Short history of Manjusha : (present Mandasa)
ମଞ୍ଜୁଷା మండసా
#Thread
Mandasa historically once known as Manjusha, is a small town in Andhra Pradesh on the East Coast of India, its long corridor adorned by the virgin beaches of Bay of Bengal in the east, guarded by the
1/n

the majestic Mahendra hills in the West, that traps the gentle wind of the sea during the steaming heat of the summer for its people. It shares the borders with the Jalantara gada& Budharsingi Jamindaries in the North and Tarla gada & Paralakhemundi estate in the South.
2/n

In Sanskrit Manjusha is 'A Box' and in. Some says it is 'Jewel Box' but the word 'Manju' in Odia meant "beautiful", so we wonder whether in ancient times 'Manjusha ' indeed represented 'a beautiful jewel box'?. The Royals however, had a different thought of Odia terminology
3/n

the records suggested 'Manjusha' meant 'a beautiful dawn' ମଞ୍ଜୁ +ଉଷା. Thus it is reasonable to assume that the word 'Manjoosha' may have evolved from the combination of words 'Manju ' (beautiful) and "Usha" (Dawn). However the name changed to మండసా mandasa after 1936
4/n

The legend is that Raja Panchanan Baman Singha Deba, the youngest son of a Panchala (present day Punjab) a king abdicated his throne and left behind his kingdom to his uncle and took up a life of an ascetic and wandered onto Mahendragiri for penance.
5/n

No record exists of why such a long journey for whatsoever sin he may have committed, leaving the closer by Himalayas and all the way came down South east, some 1500 miles away. He stayed as a hermit, meditated and reclused himself from the population at large.
6/n

One day after a long and deep meditation the Raja (Panchanan Vaman Singha Deo) opened his eyes and saw 'a rising beautiful sun' shining over the Bay of Bengal (inset: earliest sunrise as seen from Kunti Temple). He was mesmerized with the sight and soon he set about in
7/n

Establishing a new kingdom in 1206 AD, which he named as 'a beautiful dawn'or 'Manjusha People were born and died passing from one generation to another and years had passed by from one empire to another leaving little trace of this place in the historical time scale
8/9

until after the establishment of British Empire. Manjusha then was in Ganjam district of the then Madras Presidency. Later when Orissa state was formed in 1936, Manjusha, silently changing itself Vizag district and presently the Srikakulam district .
*Oldest temple of Mandasa
9/n

The name 'Greater Mandasa' was realized to arbitrarily encompass Mandasa and the surrounding villages so that their social lives could be shared by a broader population.
To be continuned ......