‘From Vizag’: Rohit Vijjapu’s book chronicles the sights and history of Visakhapatnam

Rohit Vijjapu’s new illustrated book From Vizag offers a measured and affectionate portrait of Visakhapatnam, shaped through two years of digital sketching and nearly four years of research and refinement. The 130-page coffee table book has illustrations accompanied by short, reflective notes that either precede or follow the artwork. Together they form a steady, immersive walk through the city’s layered history, its everyday rhythms and its varied landscapes where Rohit spent his formative years.

While Rohit is a product manager and designer in Bengaluru, it is clear that art has remained his chosen way of studying the world around him. The book is a collection of scenes that many residents recognise instinctively: the sweep of hills meeting the shoreline, the bustle of the city’s mornings and the pockets of heritage that anchor its identity. There are sketches of Jagadamba Theatre; the old Poorna Market, where the past and present sit alongside each other; the Dutch cemetery at Bheemunipatnam. An aerial map of the city’s topography appears like a quiet pause in the book, offering a wider sense of space before the reader returns to the ground.

Rohit explains that the journey began with one sketch that refused to leave his mind. “I kept noticing an autorickshaw that would go past me carrying an enormous fish,” he says, describing how the image stuck on until he finally drew it. “Once I finished the sketch, a colleague suggested that I should consider building a book around these observations. That idea encouraged me to start looking into the history of the city.”

Much of the early work happened during the pandemic when Rohit returned to his hometown Visakhapatnam from Bengaluru. With the city unusually quiet, he found time to explore places he had previously overlooked. “I was able to watch the meteor showers in Araku and speak to people who explained the cultural threads that connect various parts of the region,” he says. These encounters shaped several chapters of the book, which move steadily between heritage, seasonal landscapes and the lived realities of communities in and around Visakhapatnam.

Colour plays a considered role throughout From Vizag. Rohit has chosen a palette that shifts with the theme of each section. The heritage chapters use black and grey to echo archival material and architectural remnants. The summer pages are filled with a restrained but bright yellow, introduced in gradual degrees rather than dramatic bursts. The older parts of the city appear in earthy reds and warm sepia tones. None of these choices feel decorative; they function as a visual guide, offering the reader a sense of time, temperature and mood.

Despite the ease with which the illustrations unfold, Rohit acknowledges that the historical chapters required the most sustained attention. “I wanted to make sure that everything in the history section was accurate and responsibly presented,” he says. “I consulted historians and chroniclers. Jayshree Hatangad, the history narrator of Visakhapatnam, guided me through several details that were crucial for the narrative.” The book offers a concise overview of pre-Independence Waltair, covering the arrival of European traders and the presence of both the Dutch and the British in Visakhapatnam. One section notes, “After the Battle of Vizagapatnam in 1804, the British East India Company secured complete authority over the city, replacing French control.”

Rohit also revisits episodes from the city’s colonial past, including the oft-mentioned “bomb that never exploded” during the Second World War, which continues to be a subject of curiosity for many residents. These references are neither sensational nor sentimental; they appear as part of an attempt to place Visakhapatnam’s present within its long timeline.

The book broadens its field in the later chapters, moving from historical landmarks to natural habitats. Rohit devotes a section to Araku Valley, the tribal communities of the region, the return of Olive Ridley turtles to the coast each year and the flora and fauna that frame the city’s changing seasons. There is also a study of the city at night, viewed not as a spectacle but as a growing urban space that carries its own quiet energy.

From Vizag can be ordered online at www.rohitvijjapu.com. Physical copies are available at Dys Art Gallery and Gupta Book Store in Visakhapatnam.