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Andhra Pradesh

AI-drafted · awaiting admin review

State · Capital: Amaravati

Known for

  • Kuchipudi, the classical dance named after a village in Krishna district
  • Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala, one of the most visited shrines in India
  • Fiery Andhra food: Guntur chillies, gongura and avakaya pickle
  • The Krishna–Godavari delta, a major rice-growing region
  • Farmed shrimp and fish from the coast and the delta
  • Kalamkari painting, Kondapalli and Etikoppaka toys, Uppada and Mangalagiri handlooms
  • Buddhist heritage at Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda and other ancient sites
  • Visakhapatnam: port city and headquarters of the Indian Navy's Eastern Naval Command

Main sources of income

Agriculture and allied activities, including aquaculture, employ the largest share of the State's workers.

  • Services: Trade, transport, ports and logistics, real estate, public administration, tourism and IT in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati
  • Agriculture and allied activities: Rice in the deltas, chillies, cotton, groundnut, tobacco, pulses, mangoes, bananas and other horticulture, plus livestock and a very large aquaculture and fisheries sector
  • Industry and manufacturing: Steel at Visakhapatnam, pharmaceuticals, food processing, cement, automobiles and electronics in industrial clusters such as Sri City
  • Ports and shipping: Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram, Krishnapatnam and Kakinada ports handle coal, iron ore, containers and seafood exports
  • Mining: Limestone, barytes, iron ore and other minerals, used largely by cement and chemical industries

Top 5 specialities

  1. Guntur Sannam chilli: A GI-tagged hot red chilli grown around Guntur and traded through one of Asia's largest chilli markets; thousands of farm families depend on it
  2. Farmed shrimp and fish: Andhra Pradesh is India's leading producer of farmed shrimp; ponds in the coastal districts supply seafood exports and many rural jobs
  3. Banganapalle mangoes: A GI-tagged, large, sweet table mango from Kurnool and Nandyal districts, sold across India and abroad
  4. Kalamkari: Hand-painted and block-printed cotton cloth from Srikalahasti and Machilipatnam (Pedana), both GI-tagged, made with natural dyes by artisan families
  5. Araku Valley Arabica coffee: GI-tagged coffee grown in the Eastern Ghats largely by tribal farmers, a key cash crop of the Araku and Paderu hills

Best practices

  • Community-managed natural farming: Since 2016 the State's Rythu Sadhikara Samstha has helped farmers move to chemical-free natural farming, using farmer-to-farmer training through women's self-help groups.
  • Women's self-help groups at scale: The Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) has organised rural women into self-help groups and federations that save, borrow from banks and run livelihoods, a model studied across India.
  • Village and ward secretariats: Since 2019 every village and urban ward has a secretariat where people can get government services and certificates close to home.

Dance & performing arts

  • Kuchipudi

Festivals

  • Sankranti
  • Ugadi

Food

  • Pesarattu
  • Gongura pachadi
  • Pootharekulu

Crafts & heritage

  • Kalamkari
  • Kondapalli toys
  • Etikoppaka lacquer toys

Top 5 problems in Andhra Pradesh

No problems have been raised here yet.

Ranked by members' support on this platform (verified votes break ties), including everything raised in its districts and smaller areas.

Issues raised from Andhra Pradesh →

More from Andhra Pradesh

Traditional recipes (35)

  • A thin, crisp crepe of ground whole green moong, flecked with ginger and chilli, often served with upma folded inside.

  • A sweet, sour and hot chutney of ginger, tamarind and jaggery, the classic partner for pesarattu.

  • Crisp, round fritters of rice and urad dal batter, a popular evening snack on the streets of Vijayawada and Guntur.

  • Ring-shaped fritters of ground urad dal, crisp outside and soft inside, made for Sankranti and other festivals.

  • Large mild green chillies stuffed with a tangy filling, dipped in gram flour batter and fried: a favourite street snack of Guntur and Vijayawada.

  • Crunchy rings of rice-flour dough studded with moong dal and sesame, a classic Telugu tea-time snack.

  • A sour, fiery chutney of roselle (gongura) leaves and red chillies, one of the signature tastes of Andhra food.

  • Raw mango pieces, cut with the hard seed shell, preserved in mustard powder, red chilli and sesame oil: the best-known Andhra pickle.

  • A fresh, tangy chutney of raw yellow cucumber with mustard and chillies, eaten with rice.

  • A roasted powder of toor dal, chana dal and red chillies, mixed with hot rice and ghee: the 'gunpowder' of the Andhra meal.

  • Plain toor dal cooked soft and mashed with salt and turmeric, eaten with hot rice, ghee and avakaya.

  • Toor dal cooked with spinach, green chillies and a little tamarind, finished with a garlic tempering.

See all 35

Traditional dances (5)

  • A classical dance-drama of Andhra Pradesh, named after Kuchipudi village in Krishna district, that blends graceful dance, expressive acting and Carnatic music.

  • A vigorous temple dance of Andhra Pradesh performed in honour of Veerabhadra, the fierce form of Shiva, to loud drums and trumpets.

  • A group dance of the tribal communities of the Eastern Ghats, in which men and women link arms and move in circles to drums and pipes.

  • A Telugu storytelling theatre in which a lead narrator sings and dances with a tambura, while two companions add commentary and humour.

  • A shadow puppet theatre that tells epic stories with large, brightly coloured, translucent leather puppets cast on a lit screen.

Pilgrimages and sacred places (5)

  • A temple on the Nallamala hills above the Krishna river that is both a Jyotirlinga (Shiva as Mallikarjuna) and a Shakti Peetha (the Goddess as Bhramarambika).

  • A Shakti Peetha at Kukkuteswara temple, Pithapuram, Kakinada district, where Sati's back (hip in some lists) is said to have fallen. The Goddess is worshipped here as Puruhutika.

  • A Shakti Peetha at Bhimeswara temple, Draksharamam, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district, where Sati's left cheek (navel in some lists) is said to have fallen. The Goddess is worshipped here as Manikyamba.

  • The Pancha Bhoota temple of air (Vayu linga), on the Swarnamukhi river.

  • The temple of Vishnu as Venkateswara (Balaji) on the seven hills, among the most visited places of worship in the world. It is also one of the 108 Divya Desams.

Famous places (8)

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