Vijayawada is a city on the banks of the Krishna River, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipal corporation and the headquarters of Vijayawada (urban) mandal in Krishna district of the state. The city forms a part of Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and the headquarters of Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority is located in the city. The city is one of the major trading and business centres of the state and hence, it is also known as "The Business Capital of Andhra Pradesh". The city is one of the two metropolis in the state, with the other being Visakhapatnam. There are many legends behind the origin of the name Vijayawada. Goddess Durga killed the demon and relaxed in this place for some time. As she was victorious (vijaya), the place came to be known as Vijayawada (vijaya translates to victory and wada as place/location, literally "The Place of Victory"). The epic Mahabharata refers to the Indrakiladri hills as the place where Arjuna secured Pashupatastra from Lord Shiva. The city thereafter came to be known as Vijayavatika and later as Vijayawada. In some legends, Vijayawada was referred to as Rajendracholapura. A tale behind its acquiring the name "Bezawada" is that Goddess Krishnaveni (River Krishna) requested Arjuna to make a passage for her to merge into the Bay of Bengal. Hence, Arjuna made a bejjam (hole) through the mountains and the place came to be known as Bejjamwada which later changed to Bezawada. As of 2011 census, the city had a population of 1,048,240, making it the second largest city in the state in terms of population and it had an urban agglomeration population of 1,491,202. As per the Demographia World Urban Areas:2016, the city is the third most densely populated in terms of urban population in built-up areas of the world. The city has been recognised as a "Global City of the Future" by McKinsey Quarterly. It is one of the commercial hubs of Andhra Pradesh with a GDP of $3 billion in 2010, and is expected to increase to $17 billion by 2025.
