Andhra Pradesh Information

Andhra Pradesh was the first state to be formed on the basis of language, after independence.  Andhra is located in the South India.  It is bounded by Tamil Nadu in the South, Maharashtra in the north and North West, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, in the North east, Karnataka in the West and Bay of Bengal in the east.  It is situated on the Deccan plateau and it is one of the geological formations of the country.  The Godavari and Krishna rivers cut through the state by forming large deltas before joining the Bay of Bengal.

The state can be divided into three important regions based on its geography.  The coastal region, the interior region which is known as Rayalseema and the Telengana region and nine adjoining districts.  Andhra Pradesh has a wide variety of wild life and has natural beauty.  It is a home to India’s largest tiger reserve in the Nallamala forest.

The fifth largest state of India, Andhra Pradesh is irrigated by the mighty Krishna and the Godavari rivers and is aptly termed as the Rice Granary of India.  Telugu is the main language though Urdu is also widely spoken, because of the sizable Muslim population.  Kuchpudi, the classical dance from and Kalamkari, vegetable dyed textiles are unique for Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh has been ruled by several great dynasties including the sate vahanas, sakas, Ikshvakus, Eastern chalukyas and the Kakaiyas.  After the end of the Kakatiya dynasty a few local kingdoms rose to power in different parts of the Kingdom.  The Vijaya nagar kingdom was the most powerful one among these.  The state saw the emergence of the Qutb shahi dynasty which was defeated by the Mughals in the 16th century.  Hyderabad came under the rule of Nizam in 1707.

The Telugu speaking people were given twenty one districts, out of which nine were in the Nizam’s dominations and rest in the Madras Presidency.  The eleven districts of the Madras state were taken to form a new Andhra state with Kurnool as its capital in 1953.  Nine districts under the Nizam were later added to form the enlarged state of Andhra Pradesh in 1956.

Capital:  The capital of Andhra Pradesh is Hyderabad.
Districts:  There are 23 districts in this state.
Languages:  The principal languages spoken by the people are Telugu and Urdu.
State Bird:  Indian Roller is this state bird.
State Animal:  Black Buck is this state animal.
State Flower:  Water lily is this state flower.

Hyderabad is a HITEC city.  The HITEC city stands for Hyderabad Information Technology by engineering consultancy city.  It is the largest information technology park in India.  It offers world class, state of the art IT infrastructure under one roof.  It is spread over 151 acres of land in the suburbs of Hyderabad.  This technology township has made Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh one of the most important centres of the information technology industry in the world.

Kuchipudi is a classical dance of Andhra Pradesh.  This dance is known for its graceful movements, strong narrative and dramatic character.  The credit for the existing dance form of Kuchipudi goes to Siddhendra Yogi.  The style is a blend of folk and classical dance. 

Kuchipudi dance drama has a perfect blend of rhythm, mime and pure dance.  This art form has some very complicated items of original footwork such as tracing out an outline of a lion or an elephant with the feet on the floor, or dancing with the feet on the edges of a circular brass tray, or with a water pot, delicately and precariously balanced on the head kuchipudi flourished as a dramatic form a dance for hundreds of years.  It was held in high esteem by the rulers of the Deccan and is considered to be Andhra Pradesh gift to the world of arts.

Andhra has won Guinness records in many fields.  It gas India’s largest and Asia’s second largest road cum Railway Bridge at Rajahmundy.  The state owned road Transport Corporation.  It is the largest bus operator in the world.  In cinema, it holds the records for the largest film production facility in the world.  Dr. Brahmanandam holds the records for acting in the most number of Telugu films in the role of comedian.  D. Ramanaidu is listed as the most prolific producer, while 2800 kuchipudi dancers performed kuchipudi to create another Guinness record.  Recently a huge 5,570 kg laddu prepared for the Ganesh festival in Andhra Pradesh also entered the Guinness world records.  Andhra Pradesh is also called as the rice bowl of India.