Andhra Pradesh: Geography, Culture, Cuisine etc

•Geographically, Andhra Pradesh is bestowed with two mighty river systems of Krishna and Godavari.
•Its varied topography ranging from the hills of Eastern Ghats and Nallamallas to the shores of Bay of Bengal supports varied ecotypes, rich diversity of flora and fauna.
  • The Kadapa Basin formed by two arching branches of the Eastern Ghats is a mineral-rich area.  Lambasingi (or Lammasingi), a village in the Chintapalli Mandal of Visakhapatnam district is situated at 1000 meters above the sea level.
• It is the only place in South India which has snowfall and is also nicknamed as Kashmir of Andhra Pradesh.
• The total forest cover of the state after the bifurcation is left with an area of 22,862 km2.
The forest in the state can be broadly divided into four major biotic provinces.
They are:

Deccan Plateau
Central Plateau
Eastern Highland
East Coastal Plains

• Summers last from March to June.

•July to September is the season for tropical rains in Andhra Pradesh.
• The state receives heavy rainfall from the Southwest. •Monsoon during these months.
• About one third of the total rainfall in Andhra Pradesh is brought by the Northeast Monsoon.
• October and November see low-pressure systems and tropical cyclones form in the Bay of Bengal which, along with the Northeast Monsoon, bring rains to the southern and coastal regions of the state.
• November, December, January, and February are the winter months in Andhra Pradesh.

• Demographics:

2011-84,665,533-11.8%
  Visakhapatnam district has the largest urban population of 47.5% and Srikakulam district with 83.8%, has the largest rural population, among others districts in the state.
•  Sex ratio of 996 females per 1000 males, higher than the national average of 926 per 1000.
The average literacy rate stands at 67.41%

•The Minister of Tourism and Culture has issued a declaration of the Telugu language as a Classical Language. often spoken in the state include Tamil, Kannada and Oriya.

Religions:

Hinduism - 92.25%
Islam - 6.9%
Christianity - 1.51%
Jainism- 0.04%
Sikhism- 0.01%
Buddhism - 0.004%
Others- 0.001%

• Andhra Pradesh is home to Shankaracharya of Pushpagiri Peetham.
•Andhra Pradesh has several Hindu shrines. Most important and richest of them is Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams.

•The first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh was Neelam Sanjiva Reddy who later served as President of India.

•Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao is the founder of Telugu Desam party and served as the first chief minister from the party.

•N. Chandrababu Naidu held the record for the longest serving chief minister (1995 to 2004).

Arts, crafts and artifacts:

•The village of Durgi is known for stone craft, producing carvings of idols in soft stone that must be exhibited in the shade because they are prone to weathering.
• Andhra Pradesh is famous for doll making.
• Tirupati is famous for redwood carvings.
Kondapalli is famous for wood toys with rich colors.

Literature:
Telugu literature
•Nannayya, Tikkana, and Yerrapragada form the trinity who translated the great Sanskrit epic Mahabharata into Telugu language.

• Nannayya (c. eleventh century AD) was the earliest known poet and translator.
• He wrote the first treatise on Telugu grammar, called "Andhra Shabda Chintamani" in Sanskrit.
•Other modern writers include Gunturu Seshendra Sarma (second Nobel prize nominee in literature after Rabindranath Tagore).

Art forms and festivals:

Dance :

• Kuchipudi is the state's best-known classical dance form.

•Jayapa Senani was the first person to write about the dances prevalent in Andhra Pradesh.

Music:
Harikatha:
• Harikathaa Kalakshepam (or Harikatha) involves the narration of a story, intermingled with various songs relating to the story. Harikatha was originated in Andhra.

Burra katha:

•Burra katha is a oral storytelling technique in the Katha tradition, performed in villages of Telangana and coastal Andhra Pradesh region.

Festivals:

•Ugadi is celebrated as the Telugu New Year.

•People listen to Panchanga recitals by Pundits on the day of Ugadi. This process is called as Panchanga Shravanam which is an important aspect of the festival.
•Makara Sankranti is also a famous harvest festival which is celebrated across the state.

Cuisine:

• Roselle leaves (Gongura), termed as Andhra Bhakshyam (or food of Andhra).