Mangalagiri is a model town in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. It is a major suburb of the Vijayawada .the town is also part of vijayawada metropolitan area . It is currently the 31st most populous city of Andhra Pradesh. The town is the headquarters of Mangalagiri mandal under Guntur revenue division. It is situated on National Highway 16 between Vijayawada and Guntur. The town was known to have existed since 225 B.C.

Ten villages namely Chinakakani, Kaza, Nutakki, Chinavadlapudi, Pedavadlapudi, Ramachandrapuram, Atamakuru, Nowluru, Yerrabalem, Nidamarru, Bethapudi are merged into Mangalagiri Municipality The issue of the merger of the villages is now pending in the court.

It is dated to 1520 and mentions the capture of Kondavidu by Timmarusu, general of Sri Krishnadevaraya, in 1515 from the Gajapati rulers of Kalinga (ancient Odisha). Another stone near the temple of Garudalvar has inscriptions on four sides recording grants in the reign of Sadasiva Raya of Vijayanagara Empire in 1538. The lofty gopuram in the temple at the foot of the hill was erected by Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu in 1807–1809, and in terms of sculpture and architecture this temple stands to be an ultimate testament for the ancient vishwakarma sthapathis in planning and sculpting these temples.

Mangalagiri was under the control of Golkonda Nawabs for a long period. It was plundered in 1780 by Hyder Jung but could not be conquered. In 1816, a gang of Pindaris again looted the place. It slowly recovered from these two attacks during the time of Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu who ruled the place from Amaravati. There is a big koneru (tank) in the center of the place which went dry in 1882. As many as 9,840 guns and 44 bullets which might have been related to Pindaris have been found here after the Pindaris looted this place. The picturesque hill was visited by the great Sri Krishna Deva Raya.

In the 1970s there was huge water scarcity in Mangalagiri. Goli Gopala Rao, the then Municipal Chairman of Mangalagiri, brought water to the town through water pipelines and he was called “Apara Baghiratha” due to his services to the public.

The production of handcrafted dyed fabric is the major occupation of the town, which is as old as 500 years. Mangalagiri Sarees and Fabrics was registered as one of the geographical indication from Andhra Pradesh.