Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh : (Telugu: ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్, Urdu: آندھرا پردیش, IPA: / /), is a state in South India. It lies between 12°41' and 22°N latitude and 77° and 84°40'E longitude, and is bordered by Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Orissa in the north, the Bay of Bengal in the East, Tamil Nadu to the south and Karnataka to the west. Andhra Pradesh is the fourth largest state in India by area and fifth largest by population. It is the biggest and most populous state in that area of India. It is also considered the rice bowl of India. The state is crossed by two major rivers, the Godavari and Krishna. ("Pradesh" means "region" or "state".)

Prehistory

Andhra is an ancient society of India. We encounter several references about Andhras in epics like Mahabharata, Ramayana, Puranas, and Buddhist Jataka Tales. They confirm the ancient existence of Andhra society. Andhra means "Leader in battle". Sanskrit writings from the 7th century BCE describe the Andhra people as Aryans.

Political History

Ancient Ages

During the Mauryan age there is historical evidence of the existence of Andhras as a political power in the southeastern Deccan. Megasthenes, who visited the Court of Chandragupta Maurya (322-297 BCE), mentioned that Andhras had 30 fortified towns and an army of a million infantry, 2000 cavalry and 1000 elephants. Buddhist books reveal that Andhras established their kingdoms in the Godavari Valley at that time. Asoka referred in his 13th rock edict (232 BCE) that Andhra was under his rule.

The continuous political and cultural accounts of Andhra begins with the fall of the Mauryan Empire. It commences with the rise of the Satavahanas as a political power. According to Matsya Purana there were 29 rulers of this dynasty. They ruled over the Andhradesa for about 456 years from the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century CE.

The fall of the Satavahana empire left Andhra in political chaos. Local rulers carved out small kingdoms for themselves. From 180-624 CE, Ikshvaku, Brihatpalayana, Salankayana, Vishnukundina, Vakataka, Pallava, Ananda Gotrika, Kalinga and others ruled over parts of Andhra with small kingdoms. Most important among these small dynasties were the Ikshvaku. Nagarjunakonda was their capital and they patronised Buddhism, though they followed the vedic ritualism.

Between 624-1323 a significant change came about in social, religious, linguistic and literary spheres of Andhra society. During this period the indigenous Telugu language, emerged as a literary medium subsuming the predominance of Prakrit and Sanskrit. As a result, Andhra achieved an identity and a distinction of its own. This change was brought by the Eastern and Western Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas and the early Cholas. The Western Chalukyas consisted of two dynasties. The Early Chalukyas ruled from Badami (550-750) and the later Chalukyas from Kalyani (973-1195). Throughout this period and up to the 13th century, Telugu language was written in old Kannada script. The emergence of the Telugu script from the old Kannada script started around 13th century and culminated in the 19th century.

The Eastern Chalukyas were a branch of the Chalukyas of Badami. Pulakesin II, the renowned ruler of Chalukyas conquered Vengi (near Eluru) in 624 and built the splendid vesara style Navabrahma temples at Alampur and installed his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana (624-641) as its ruler. His dynasty, known as the Eastern Chalukyas, ruled for nearly four centuries in all. Vishnuvardhana extended his dominions up to Srikakulam in the north and Nellore in the south.

The Eastern Chalukyas occupied a prominent place in the history of Andhra Pradesh. Since the time of Gunaga Vijayaditya (848), inscriptions show Telugu stanzas, culminating in the production of literary works in the coming centuries. Later in the 11th century, the Mahabharata was translated partly by the court poet Nannaya under the patronage of the then Eastern Chalukya King Raja Rajendra.

After a brief period of sovereignty under Gunaga Vijayaditya, the Vengi region again came under the Rashtrakuta rule and later the Kalyani Chalukya rule from the beginning of 10th century to the 11th century, when the Cholas managed to wrest control from the Chalukyas. However by 1118, with the defeat of the Kulottunga Chola at the hands of Vikramaditya VI of the Kalyani Chalukya dynasty and the victory of Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana over the Cholas at Talakad, Vengi once again came under Chalukya rule. The Kalyani Chalukya power itself went into decline after the death of Vikramaditya VI. By the end of the 12th century, their empire was split into several local kingdoms, namely the Hoysalas, Kakatiyas and Yadavas. The 12th and the 13th centuries saw the emergence of the Kakatiyas. They were at first the feudatories of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani, ruling over a small territory near Warangal. A ruler of this dynasty, Prola II (1110-1158) extended his sway to the south and declared his independence. His successor Rudra (1158-1195) pushed the kingdom to the north up to the Godavari delta. He built a fort at Warangal to serve as a second capital and faced the invasions of the Yadavas of Devagiri. The next ruler Mahadeva extended the kingdom to the coastal area. In 1199, Ganapati succeeded him. He was the greatest of the Kakatiyas and the first after the Satavahanas to bring the entire Telugu area under one rule. He put an end to the rule of the Velanati Cholas in 1210.

The Kakatiya period was called one of the brightest periods of the Telugu history. The entire Telugu-speaking area was under the kings who spoke Telugu and encouraged Telugu. They established order throughout the strife torn land and the forts built by them played a dominant role in the defence of the realm. Kakatiya art preserved the balance between art and architecture, that is, while valuing art, they laid emphasis on architecture where due. The Kakatiya temples, dedicated mostly to Siva, reveal in their construction a blending of the styles of North India and South India which influenced the political life of the Deccan. Some of their finest art is seen in the 1000 pillared temple in Hanmakonda and Ramappa temple near Warangal. Their temple architecture essentially used the Chalukya style of architecture.

Kakatiya empire faced Muslim onslaughts from 1310 and came under the control of Delhi Sultanate in 1323. A brief period (50 years) of independence was enjoyed under Musunuri Nayaks who rebelled and liberated Telugu land from the rule of Delhi. Eventually, at the fall of the Kakatiya empire in 1370, the Vijayanagar empire, considered the last great Hindu empire, swept across the Telugu region and the present day Karnataka. Most parts of present day Andhra Pradesh merged into this empire (1336 - 1450). Strong Hindu sentiment was reverberated by the Haridasa movement which spread the gospel of Madhwacharya of Udupi across southern India. The empire reached its peak under king Krishnadevaraya in the early part of 16th century. Telugu literature reached new heights during this time. Fine Vijayanagar monuments were built across South India including Lepakshi, Tirupathi and Sri Kalahasthi in Andhra Pradesh.

Mughal Era

In 1323, the Delhi Sultan Ghiaz-ud-din Tughlaq sent a large army under Ulugh Khan to conquer the Telugu country and lay siege to Warangal. The disastrous fall of the Kakatiya capital in 1323 brought the Andhras, for the first time in their history, under the yoke of alien rulers, the Muslims. In 1347, an independent Muslim state, the Bahmani kingdom, was established in south India by Alla-ud-din Hasan Gangu as a revolt against the Delhi Sultanate. By the end of the 15th century, the Bahmani rule was plagued with faction fights and there came into existence the five Shahi kingdoms. Of these, it was the Qutb Shahi dynasty that played a significant and notable role in the history of Telugu land.

The Qutb Shahi dynasty held sway over the Andhra country for about two hundred years from the early part of the 16th century to the end of the 17th century. Sultan Quli Qutb Shah, the founder of the dynasty, served the Bahmanis faithfully and was appointed governor of Telangana in 1496. He declared independence after the death of his patron king, Mahmud Shah, in 1518. Qutb Shahi rulers adopted religious tolerance and local customs to a great extent. They treated Hindus equal with Muslims and maintained cordial relations between the two communities. They encouraged the local language Telugu besides the Deccani Urdu. The socio-cultural life of the people during the rule of the Qutb Shahis was marked by a spirit of broad-mindedness and Catholicism based on sharing and adopting of mutual traditions and customs. The Deccani architecture, is a combination of Persian, Hindu and Pathan styles. Charminar, Citadel of Hyderabad, is the most remarkable of all the Qutb Shahi monuments.

Aurangazeb, the Mughal emperor, invaded Golconda in 1687 and annexed it to the Mughal empire. He appointed a Nizam (governor) and thus for about a period of 35 years this region was ruled by Mughal Nizams. Aurangazeb died in 1707 and the administrative machinery of the Mughal imperial regime began to crumble and it gradually lost control over the provinces. It enabled two foreign mercantile companies to consolidate themselves as political powers capable of subsequently playing decisive roles in shaping the destiny of the nation. They were the East India Company of England and the Compagnie de Inde Orientale of France.

Colonial Era

During the 17th century, the British acquired the Coastal Andhra region along the Bay of Bengal, then known as the Northern Circars, from the Nizams, which became part of the British Madras Presidency. The Nizams retained control of the interior provinces as the Princely state of Hyderabad, acknowledging British rule in return for local autonomy.

The provinces were at the time governed in a feudal manner, with Zamindars in areas such as Kulla and other parts of the Godavari acting as lords under the Nizam. The feudal or zamindari system was removed after independence.

The Andhras (or Telugu) were at the forefront of Indian nationalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Potti Sriramulu fought for independence alongside Mahatma Gandhi, and later fought for Andhra unification.

Post-Independence

India became independent from the United Kingdom in 1947. The Muslim Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to retain his independence from India, but his state was forcibly integrated into India in 1948 as the Hyderabad state. Andhra Pradesh is the first state in India that has been formed on a purely linguistic basis. When India became independent, the Telugu-speaking people (although Urdu is widely spoken in Hyderabad and disticts of Telangan) were distributed in about 21 districts, 9 of them in the Nizam's Dominions and 12 in the Madras Presidency.

However in 1953, Telugu speakers of Madras Presidency wanted Madras as the capital of Andhra state including the famous slogan "Madras Manade" (Madras is ours) before Tirupati was included in AP. Madras at that time was an indivisible mixture of Tamil and Telugu cultures. It was difficult to determine who should possess it. Panagal Raja, Chief Minister of the Madras Presidancy in the early 1920s said that the Cooum River should be kept as a boundary, giving the northern portion to the Andhra region and the southern portion to the Tamils. In 1928, Sir C.Sankaran Nair sent a report to the Central Council discussing why Madras does not belong to the Tamils. Although historically and geographically it is a part of the Andhra region, the greater political dominance of the Tamils caused Madras to remain in the Tamil region. According to the JPC report (Jawahar Lal Nehru, Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya, C.Rajagopalachari) "Telugu people should leave Madras for Tamils if they want a new state".

On the basis of an agitation, on Oct. 1, 1953, 11 districts in the Telugu-speaking portion of Madras State voted to become the new state of Andhra State with Kurnool as the capital. On Nov. 1, 1956 in accordance with the recommendations of the State Reorganization Commission, Andhra State merged with the Telangana region of erstwhile Hyderabad State to form a united Telugu-speaking state of Andhra Pradesh, the former capital of the Hyderabad State, was made the capital of the new state Andhra Pradesh.

(See also History of Hyderabad)

Dynasties

Regions

Andhra Pradesh can be broadly divided into three regions, namely Telangana,Kosta (Coastal Andhra), and Rayalaseema.

Kosta occupies the coastal plain between Eastern Ghats ranges, which run the length of the state, and the Bay of Bengal.

Telangana lies west of the Ghats on the Deccan plateau. The Godavari and Krishna rivers rise in the Western Ghats of Karnataka and Maharashtra and flow east across Telangana to empty into the Bay of Bengal in a combined river delta.

Rayalaseema lies in the southeast of the state on the Deccan plateau, in the basin of the Penner River. It is separated from Telangana by the low Erramala hills, and from Coastal Andhra by the Eastern Ghats.

The Krishna and Godavari rivers together irrigate thousands of square kilometres of land, and create the largest perennial cultivable area in the country. Andhra Pradesh leads in the production of rice (paddy) and is called India's Rice Bowl.

Important Cities/Towns

Hyderabad is the capital of the state which is in Telangana region and, along with its twin town of Secunderabad, is the largest city.
Visakhapatnam is the second largest city, India's fourth largest port, an important Naval Centre and an industrial hub.
Tirupati features the famous Venkateswara temple, is a major pilgrimage center.
Vijayawada is the third largest city and an important trading center and a prominent railway junction.
Guntur City is the heart of tobacco,cotton industries, a Textile Hub, features nearby ancient sites S,A,B.
Warangal is the oldest city in the state with a history of 800 years. It was the capital of the Kakatiya dynasty.
Nellore is famous for its sea food and rice quality. Also famous for mica industry and space research centre.
Kurnool was the capital city of the Andhra state.
Kakinada is the hub of natural gas exploration and industrial activity.
Rajahmundry is known for the Godavari barrage which is the largest bridge in the state.
Ramagundam is an industrial town in Karimnagar district.

Districts

23 districts of Andhra Pradesh

Languages in Andhra Pradesh

Telugu is the regional and official language of the state, spoken by 84.86% of the population. The major linguistic minority groups in the State include the speakers of Urdu (7.86%), Hindi (2.65%) and Tamil (1.27%). The minority language speakers who constitute less than 1% are the speakers of Kannada (0.94%), Marathi (0.84%), Oriya (0.42%), Malayalam (0.10%), Gondi (0.21%), and Koya (0.30%).

The state government has notified the areas where the population of linguistic minority constitutes 15% or more of the local population. 38% of Urdu speaking population in Andhra Pradesh is bilingual in Telugu as well.

Politics

Andhra Pradesh has a Legislative Assembly of 294 seats. The state has 60 members in the Indian national parliament: 18 in the Rajya Sabha (upper house) and 42 in the Lok Sabha (lower house).

Andhra Pradesh had a row of Congress governments till 1982. Kasu Bramhananda Reddy held the record for the longest serving chief minister which was broken by Nara Chandrababu Naidu. P.V. Narasimha Rao also served as the chief minister for the state, who later went on to become the Prime Minister of India. Among the notable chief ministers of the state are Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, Kasu Bramhananda Reddy, Dr. Marri Chenna Reddy, Kotla Vijaya Bhasker Reddy, N.T. Rama Rao and Nara Chandrababu Naidu.

Revenues of Government

This is a chart of trend of own tax revenues (excluding the shares from Union tax pool) of the Government of Andhra Pradesh assessed by the Finance Commissions from time to time with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.

Year	Own Tax Revenues
2000	110,279
2005	195,430

This is a chart of trend of own non-tax revenues (excluding the shares from Union tax pool) of the Government of Andhra Pradesh assessed by the Finance Commissions from time to time with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.

Year	Own Non-tax Revenues
2000	14,054
2005	33,179

The Beginning of Multi-Party Politics

1982 saw the rise of N.T. Rama Rao (or NTR) as the chief minister of the state for the first time introducing a formidable second political party to Andhra politics and thus breaking the virtually-single party monopoly on Andhra politics. Nadendla Bhaskar Rao attempted a hijack when NTR was away to the United States for a medical treatment. After coming back, NTR successfully convinced the governor to dissolve the Assembly and call for a fresh election. NTR won by a large majority. His government's policies included investment in education and rural development and in holding corrupt government offices accountable.

1989 assembly elections ended the 7-year rule of NTR with the congress being returned to power and Dr. Marri Chenna Reddy at the helm. He was replaced by N. Janardhan Reddy who was in turn replaced by Kotla Vijaya Bhasker Reddy.

In 1994 Assembly saw NTR becoming the chief minister again, but he was soon thrown out of power by his finance minister and son-in-law N Chandrababu Naidu. Naidu won a second term before he was defeated by the Congress-led coalition in the May 2004 polls.

Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy of the Indian National Congress (INC) is the current chief minister of the states. Rajasekhara Reddy fought the 2004 Assembly elections in an alliance with a new party called Telangana Rashtra Samithi (or TRS), which hopes to form a separate state called Telangana.

See Indian political parties-Andhra Pradesh

Economy

Andhra Pradesh's gross state domestic product for 2005 is estimated at $62 billion in current prices.

Macro-economic trend

This is a chart of trend of gross state domestic product of Andhra Pradesh at market prices estimated by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.

Year	Gross State Domestic Product
1980	81,910
1985	152,660
1990	333,360
1995	798,540
2000	1,401,190

In the Nineties, West Bengal was decisively overtaken by the dynamic economies of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu due to proactive reformist governments. At the current rate of growth, both of these economies are expected to overtake Uttar Pradesh by 2010 and Maharashtra by 2025.

Recent Economic Progress

In the last decade, the state has emerged at the forefront of India's progress in fields like

and has emerged as a land of immense business opportunities.

In spite of some liberalization since 1990, Andhra's economy still faces many challenges, especially in the drought-hit agricultural sector.

Agriculture has been the chief source of income for the state's economy. Two important rivers of India, the Godavari and Krishna, flow through the state. Rice, sugarcane, cotton, mirchi, and tobacco are the local crops. The state has also started to focus on the fields of information technology and biotechnology.

In 2004-2005 Andhra Pradesh is at the fifth position in the list of top IT exporting states of India. The IT exports from the State were Rs.1,800 million in 2004. The service sector of the state already accounts for 43% of the GSDP and employs 20% of the work force.

Andhra Pradesh is a mineral rich state that ranks second in the country containing a vast and variety of mineral wealth.

Andhra Pradesh ranks first nationwide in hydro electricity generation with national market share of over 11%.

Urban Centers of Economic Importance

Over 5% of S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, is the sixth largest cosmopolitan city in India, rich in culture, enduring history and industrial growth. It is unique in being one of the few cities where tradition and technology co-exist. Hyderabad, like Bangalore, has become a center for outsourcing. Notable amongst the multinational companies in Hyderabad are Microsoft, Google, Bank of America, Intergraph and Oracle.

Vizag, Andhra's main port, is home to the Indian Navy's Eastern Naval Command. The city's shipyards, fisheries, docks, and steel works make it an economic powerhouse. Recently, Vizag has seen a rise in investment as industry in Andhra begins to turn towards the lucrative export market. Also, because of its highly valuable geographic location, and because of recent political movement towards a creation of a separate Telangana state, Vizag has seen a massive rise in investment in the city's real estate market.

Education

Andhra Pradesh is served by 23 leading institutes of excellence in higher education. All the major arts, humanities, science, engineering, law, medicine, veterinary science, and business courses are offered, leading to first degrees as well as postgraduate awards. Advanced research is conducted in all major areas of excellence.

In 2004, Andhra Pradesh also has 1330 Arts, Science and commerce colleges, 238 engineering colleges and 53 Medical colleges. The student to teacher ratio is 19:1 in the higher education. According to census 2001, Andhra Pradesh has a literacy rate of 60.5. While male literacy rate is at 70.3, the female literacy rate is only at 50.4, a cause of concern.

The state has recently made strives in setting up institutes of high quality. International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and Indian School of Business (ISB) are gaining international attention for their standards. National Institute of Fashion Technology, Hyderabad (NIFT)^*has also a good repute among those interested in pursuing a career in fashion.

The 23 universities in Andhra Pradesh:

Culture

Language

History

Telugu words appear in an Maharashtri Prakrit anthology of poems (the Gathasaptashathi) collected by a first century BC Satavahana King Hala. Telugu speakers were probably an oldest peoples inhabiting a land between an Krishna with Godavari rivers.

Andhra society is one of the ancient societies of India, with a name Andhra has remained unchanged since antiquity. This is confirmed by tales about Andhras in epics like Mahabharatam with Ramayanam, in great puranas, with in Buddhist Jataka Tales. The first clear historical inscriptions in Telugu appear about an 7th century AD with known literature starts with Nannaya writing an Telugu Mahabharata in an 11th century AD. There has been prolific literature ever since, but a golden age is considered by many to be an 16th century, under a patronage of an Vijayanagar Emperor Krishna Deva Raya, However a purest form of Telugu is spoken under a reign of an Kakatiyas. One of a greatest Telugu poets, Pothana, hailed from this region too.

The western portion of an Telugu speaking lands came under an influence of Mughal rulers during with after an 14th century, with most recently by an Nizams of Hyderabad. Ancient Sanskrit, Persian with Urdu influences show most in an Telugu dialect from these regions. In 1956, 10 Nizam districts with four districts of Rayalaseema were merged to a so-called Northern Circar districts forming a modern telugu vernacular state of Andhra Pradesh.

Telugu and Kannada had same script till around 220 AD. One can see the common script carved on stone in Delhi National Museum. Old Kannada is essentially a continuation of an Kadamba script. The Kadamba script itself evolved from Brahmic script. It is used to write South Indian languages of Kannada and Telugu. In fact, Old Kannada is also known for an Kannada-Telugu script.

Differentiation of an Old Kannada script into modern scripts of Kannada with Telugu began for early for an 13th century CE, but a process did not finish until an early 19th century CE with an arrival of printing. Even so, Telugu and Kannada scripts have remained extremely similar.

Classification

Telugu is the Dravidian language, related to Kannada, Malayalam, with Tamil, all of which are national languages of India. Other closely related Dravidian languages are Chenchu, Savara, with Waddar. Like all Dravidian languages, there has been substantial historical borrowing of words from Sanskrit.

Official Status

Telugu (తెలుగు) is the state's official language. Telugu is the second most widely spoken language in India after the national language, Hindi. It is known for its mellifluous nature and has also been called Italian of the East. An Urdu-speaking and predominantly Muslim minority lives mostly in Hyderabad. Among the many tribal languages, Banjara, Koyi, and Gondi have the greatest number of speakers.

Dialects

The dialects of Telugu identified by Ethnologue are Berad, Dasari, Dommara, Golari, Kamathi, Komtao, Konda-Reddi, Madiga Salewari, Telangana, Telugu, Vadaga, Vadari, Srikakula, Vishakapatnam, East Godavari, Rayalseema, Nellore with Guntur. In Tamil Nadu an Telugu dialect is classified into Salem, Coimbatore, Chennai Telugu dialects. It is also widely spoken in Virudhunagar, Tuticorin, Madurai with Thanjavur districts .

Derived languages

The dialect spoken in an area between Guntur (Guntur) and Rajahmundry (East Godavari; Rajamahendri in ancient times) where a first Telugu scholar Nannaya Bhattaraka first wrote a script with other important works is considered as standard dialect. Nannaya has given Telugu the character with a form of language.

State Symbols

State Language - Telugu,
State Symbol - Poorna Kumbham
State Song - Maa telugu talliki by Sankarambadi Sundarachari,
State Animal - Krishna Jinka,
State Bird - Paala Pitta,
State Tree - Neem(vepa), and
State Sport - Kabaddi,

Movies

Andhra has 1,500 movie theaters, the second-most in India. The state also produces about 100 movies a year. Now it also houses IMax theatre with a big 3D screen and also 3-5 multiplexes

Music

The state has a rich cultural heritage. The great composers of carnatic music Annamacharya, Tyagaraja and many others were of Telugu descent who chose Telugu as their language of composition, thus enriching the language.

Literature

Nannayya, Tikkana, and Yerrapragada form the trinity who translated the great epic Mahabharatha into Telugu. Modern writers include Jnanpith Award winners Sri Viswanatha Satyanarayana and Dr. C.Narayana Reddy.

Dance

Classical dance in Andhra can be performed by both men and women, however women tend to learn it more often. Kuchipudi is the state's best-known and widely practiced classical dance forms of Andhra Pradesh. The various dance forms that existed through the states's history are Chenchu Bhagotham, Kuchipudi, Bhamakalpam, Burrakatha, Veeranatyam, Butta bommalu, Dappu, Tappeta Gullu, Lambadi, Bonalu, Dhimsa, and Kolattam.

Cultural Institutions

Andhra Pradesh has many museums, including the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad, which features a varied collection of sculptures, paintings, and religious artifacts, and the Visakha Museum in Vizag (Visakhapatnam), which displays the history of the pre-Independence Madras Presidency in a rehabilitated Dutch bungalow.

Newspapers

Andhra Pradesh has several newspapers. Prominent among them are:

Telugu Newspapers - Eenadu, Andhrajyothy ,Vaarttha,Prajasakti, Andhra Bhumi, Visalandra
English Newspapers - Deccan Chronicle, The Hindu, The Times of India

Other elements of Culture

Bapu's paintings, Nanduri Subbarao's Yenki Paatalu (Songs on/by a washerwoman called Yenki), mischievous Budugu (a character by Mullapudi), Annamayya's songs, Aavakaaya (a variant of mango pickle in which the kernel of mango is retained), Gongura (a chutney from Roselle plant), Atla taddi (a seasonal festival predominantly for teenage girls), banks of river Godavari, Dudu basavanna (The ceremonial ox decorated for door-to-door exhibition during the harvest festival Sankranti) have long defined Telugu culture.

Festivals

Sankranthi in January.
Maha Shivaratri in February/March.
Ugadi or the Telugu New Year in March/April.
Vinayaka Chavithi in August.
Dasara in October.
Deepavali in November.
Bonalu in Sravanam. Telangana region
Bathukamma celebrated during september/october in Telangana region

Food

Telangana and Muslim-influenced Hyderabadi cuisine like Hyderabadhi bhiriyani, Haleem, Osmania biscut, Irani Chai are world famous.

The cuisine of costal andhra is reputedly the spiciest of all Indian cuisine. Foods include both the original spicy Andhra cooking.

Pickles and chutneys, called patchadi in Telugu are particularly popular in Andhra Pradesh and many varieties of pickles and chutneys are unique to the state. Chutneys are made from practically every vegetable including tomatoes, brinjals, and roselle (gongura, otherwise called Andhra maatha, meaning mother dish for the people of Andhra). A mango pickle, aavakaaya, is probably the best known of the Andhra pickles.

Rice is the staple food and is used in a wide variety of ways. Typically, rice is either boiled and eaten with curry, or made into a batter for use in a crepe-like dish called attu or dosas, or rice cakes called idlis.

Meat, vegetables, and greens are prepared with different masalas into a variety of strongly flavoured dishes.

Hyderabadi cuisine is influenced by the Muslim population, which arrived in Telangana centuries ago. Much of the cuisine revolves around meat. It is rich and aromatic, with a liberal use of exotic spices and ghee, not to speak of nuts and dry fruits. Lamb, chicken and fish are the most widely used meats in the non-vegetarian dishes. The biryanis are perhaps the most distinctive and popular of Hyderabadi dishes.

Nellore chepela pulusu (Fish gravy with tamarind) is one of the popular dishes among the varieties prepared from fish.

Tourism

Andhra Pradesh is the home of many religious pilgrim centers. Tirupati, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, has the richest and most visited Hindu temple in India. Srisailam, the abode of Sri Mallikarjuna, is one of twelve Jyothirlingalu in India and Yadagirigutta, the abode of an avatara of Vishnu, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha. Puttaparthi hosts the ashram of popular guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The Ramappa temple at Warangal is famous for some fine temple carvings. The state has numerous Buddhist centers at Amaravati, Bhattiprolu, Nagarjuna Konda, and Phanigiri.

The one-million-year old limestone caves at Borra, picturesque Araku Valley, hill resorts of Horsley Hills, Godavari racing through a narrow gorge at Papi Kondalu, waterfalls and rich bio-diversity at Talakona, the beaches of Vizag are some of the natural attractions of the state.

Charminar, Golconda Fort, Chandragiri Fort, and Falaknuma Palace are some of the monuments in the state.

Sri Raja Rajeshwar Swamy Temple at Vemulavada in Karimnagar district is the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva known as the Dakshina Kashi Banaras of South India. The temple attracts lakhs of devoties from all over the country and is only next to Tirumal Temple in terms of Revenue. The temple is a fine example of communal harmony where both Hindus and Muslims offer obeisance to Lord Siva and Allah.

Kaleswaram temple, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple at Dharma puri, Sri Anjaneya Temple at Jagityala hill, Kaleswaram and Nagnur temple are some of the famous piligrimage cetres from Karimnagar district.

Famous personalities from Andhra Pradesh

See Telugu people

External links

Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh Temples List of temple in Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh government Official Portal
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Live
Andhra Pradesh Transportation
Telugu - Italian of the East
Andhra Pradesh Portal on The Indian Analyst Detailed information, index of News, Analysis, and Opinion from many sources
Telugu Samethalu Proverbs in Telugu
Sri Raja Rajeshawara Swamy temple

Telugu society | Andhra Pradesh | States and territories of India

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Andhra Pradesh