What is "pithunda"

Pithunda was a port in the ancient kingdom of Kalinga on the eastern coast of India. Pithundra was the capital of an old kingdom in what is now the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, not far from Masulipatam. Sylvain Levi considers that Pithunda was located to the south of Pallur near Chicacola (Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh)and Kalingapatanam.

Pithunda is described in the Jain text Uttaradhyana Sutra as an important center at the time of Mahavira (599 – 527 BC), and was frequented by merchants from Champa (now Vietnam). The Hatigumpha inscription says that Kharavela (c. 209 – 170 BC) devastated the city. This occurred during a war between Kalinga and the Tamil confederacy to the south. After defeating the city, Kharavela is said to have ploughed it using a plough yoked to asses. Pithunda was called Pithundra in the Peripus and the Geography of Ptolemy (c. 90 – 168 AD).