The town is important as a Railway Junction where a branch line emanates to Manuguru and Bhadrachalam Road and is also on the Vijayawada - Warangal - Secunderabad/Peddapalli mainline in South India.

The word "stone," or its equivalent, is used in more than a dozen forms in the naming of the villages of the Deccan plateau.

Dornakal is located on the slopes of a rock region thru which a small river flows.

It is the overflow of a big "natural tank" or lake, which has an area of 24 sq mi (62 km2).

The main factors in the expansion of the town is due to its position on the main railway route to important towns; the timber of the forests; the resources of coal fields near the village; and the activities of a Christian mission, with its school for vocational training.