Description

Andhra Pradesh is one of the states of the country which is located on the southeastern shore of India. It is situated to the eastern side of Karnataka, southeast of Odisha, north of Tamilnadu, east and south of Telangana and south of Chhattisgarh. Major places of Andhra Pradesh are Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam. Telugu is the widely spoken language of the state. The State is composed of 3 main areas Rayalaseema, Uttarandhra and Coastal Andhra in the internal southwestern division of Andhra Pradesh. Visakhapatnam, situated on the Bay of Bengal in North Coastal Andhra is the biggest city and commercial center of Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh is the 8th biggest state of India which spreads over an area of about 162,900 sq kms.

Tirumala Venkateswara Shrine in Tirupati is one of the famous sacred place of Andhra Pradesh. Other sacred place in the state are Prasanthi Nilayam in Puttaparthi, Mahachaitya at Amaravathi, Ameen Peer Dargah of Kadapa, Srikalahasteeswara Shrine of Srikalahasti, Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga of Srisailam, and the Kanaka Durga Shrine of Vijayawada while the states natural places which are prominent among tourists comprise land mass of Konaseema in the Godavari River delta, hill stations such as the Horsley Hills, beaches of Visakhapatnam and Araku Valley.

CITIES OF ANDHRA PRADESH
The state has about 31 cities which comprise, 14 municipalities’ and 16 municipal corporations. Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam are the cities in Andhra where more than one million residents are living.

CULTURE OF ANDHRA PRADESH
The State has well-off traditions and customs. Kuchipudi, the state dance of Andhra was started in the town of Kuchipudi in Krishna region, the dance was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records for performing Mahabrinda Natyam with a large amount of dancers in Vijayawada. It has 13 geographical signs in types of textiles, foodstuff and agricultural crafts. It enhanced to 15 with the addition of Bandar laddu and Banaganapalle Mangoes. The other commodities are Guntur Sannam, Bobbili Veena, Budithi Bell and Brass Craft, Venkatagiri Sari, Dharmavaram Handloom Pattu Paavadas & Sarees, Kondapalli Toys, Tirupati Laddu, Srikalahasti Kalamkari, Machilipatnam Kalamkari, Mangalagiri textiles and Sarees, ponduru khaddaru, Uppada and Jamdani Sari.

CUISINE OF ANDHRA PRADESH
Traditional Sweet of Andhra Pradesh is Pootharekulu which initiated from Atreyapuram town of the state. The cuisine of the state is very unique due to the Northern authority and huge amount of non-vegetarians. The hot chillies that are abundantly used in the grapes and the food gives a long lasting effect. The rule of the Muslim Nawabs is revealed in the spicy and rich local dishes, particularly in the region around the capital. Haleem is a dish which is manufactured with the Baghara Baigan with aubergines, spicy mutton & wheat. Kababs and Nahari, Meat Biryani and Rice, have a lot of similarity with the northern Mughlai dishes.