Uttarandhra

Uttarandhra Kalingandhra
Region of Andhra Pradesh
Uttarandhra region in Andhra Pradesh is Highlighted in the map
Country	India
State	Andhra Pradesh
Languages
• Official	Telugu
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Vehicle registration	AP
Largest city	Visakhapatnam

Megalithic Dolmen of Iron Age period at Dannanapeta near Amudalavalasa

Evening scenic view in peddipalem village of Visakhapatnam District

Uttarandhra is a region consisting of three Northeastern coastal districts of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The Uttarandhra region comprises the districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts.^[1] The region is in the extreme Northeast of Andhra Pradesh. The region is skirted to a distance by Kandivalasagedda, Vamsadhara and Bahuda at certain stretches of their courses white a line of heights of the great Eastern Ghats run from North East. East Godavari District flanks in the south and west while Odisha bounds it on the north and Bay of Bengal on the East. Visakhapatnam is the largest city of the region in terms of population and area.

Etymology

It is also referred as Kalingandhra.

West Entrance of the Vizianagaram fort in Andhra Pradesh

Geography

South West Monsoon : 1000–1100 mm. Temperatures range from Max. 33-36 °C & Min. 26-27 °C. Red soils and Black soils with clay base,Pockets of acidic soils, laterite soils, Soils with PH 4-5.^[2]

Rivers

Nagavali River rises in the eastern slopes of the Eastern Ghats near Lakhbahal in the Kalahandi district of Odisha at an elevation of about 1,300 metres.The total length of the river is about 256 km, of which 161 km are in Odisha and the rest in Andhra Pradesh. The catchment area of the basin is 9,510 square km. Nagavali is an interstate river with 4462 km2 and 5048 km2 river basin area located in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh respectively. The river basin receives 1000 mm average rain fall annually. The uplands of the river basin are hilly areas with predominantly tribal populated. It drains parts of the Kalahandi, Rayagada and Koraput districts of Odisha and Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh.^[3]

Vamsadhara River originates in the border of Thuamul Rampur in the Kalahandi district and Kalyansinghpur in Rayagada district of Odisha and runs for a distance of about 254 kilometers, where it joins the Bay of Bengal at Kalingapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The total catchement area of the river basin is about 10,830 square kilometers.^[4]

Economy

Agriculture

Major crops grown in this region are

Rice, Black gram, Green gram, Groundnut, Sugarcane, Sesame, Pearl millet, Mesta, finger millets, Horse gram.^[5] This region is home to many co-operative sugar factories,jute mills,cashew processing industries. Visakha Dairy is second biggest co-operative dairy in India.

Industries

HPCL

Visakhapatnam is the biggest city of the region and is placed 10th among the top 15 cities contributing to India's overall Gross domestic product.^[6] The industrial city, Visakhapatnam has contributed a GDP of $26 billion. The city is home for various state owned heavy industries and a steel plant, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant a leading Central PSU under the Ministry of Steel is the first shore based Integrated Steel Plant in the country. Apart from accommodating various international information technologies and banking firms, the city is a hub for iron ore and other minerals which are exported to China and other countries. The fishing and real estate industry has seen a tremendous growth.

Hindustan Shipyard Limited(HSL) is a shipyard located in Visakhapatnam on the east coast of India.^[7]

Visakhapatnam Refinery is one of the two oil refineries of HPCL in India^[8]

Palasa-Kasibugga is the center of cashew industries in the Srikakulam district. There are around 200 cashew processing industries around Palasa town. These twin towns are the largest cashew producing towns of Andhra Pradesh and are among the largest processing centres in India. The cashew industry provides direct and indirect employment to about 15,000 people in the surrounding areas.^[9]

Weaving at Ponduru

Ponduru hand-loom where the finest khadi is woven. Khadi from Ponduru is famous among Khadi lovers of the entire country. Mahatma Gandhi is also said to have been surprised at the finesse of the Khadi produced here and he always preferred khadi from this village. Khadi from this region is exported to various countries like America, Denmark, Japan and Sweden.^[10]

Jute mills and dairy products industry like Visakha Dairy contribute to the economy of the region^[11]

Education

Universities

Andhra University,Visakhapatnam.

• Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.^[12]
• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Srikakulam.^[13]
• Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University College of Engineering,^[14] Vizianagaram.
• GITAM University, Visakhapatnam
• Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Visakhapatnam^[15]
• Indian Maritime University Campus,Visakhapatnam.^[16]

Medical colleges

• Andhra Medical College, established in 1902.
• Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences Srikakulam town.
• Gayatri Vidya Parishad Institute of Health Care & Medical Technology^[17] Visakhapatnam

Central Institutions

• Indian Institute of Management, Visakhapatnam^[18]
• Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy,Visakhapatnam^[19]

Culture

Cuisine

Cuisine of this area still has its own distinctive flavours and unique taste, while it shares many similarities with the Andhra region cuisine. The people of this region like to eat many of their foods really sweet unlike other regions of Andhra Pradesh. They often cook lentils in jaggery (referred to as bellam pappu) enjoyed with butter and steamed rice.

They cook vegetables in gravies of menthipettina kura (fenugreek seed paste), avapettina kura (mustard seed paste), nuvvugunda kura (sesame seed paste), etc. Ullikaram is another popular dish where vegetables or corn seeds are flavored in shallots or onion paste.

Poori and Patoli is a favorite breakfast time or festive time dish. Patoli is soaked up split black chickpeas (senagapappu or chana dal) ground to a coarse paste and seasoned in coriander seeds, onions and at times with cluster beans (goruchikkudu kayi). Uppupindi is coarsely broken rice upma steamed with vegetables and tempering seeds. This dish is had during festive days when people would fast during the day and have it at night.

Inguva charu is a stew popular among adults and kids,is a sour and sweet stew made with tamarind and asafoetida (inguva) It can be had with rice or uppupindi. Bellam pulusu is another highly flavored thick sweet stew made out of rice flour, jaggery (cane sugar), corn cobs and whole Shallots.

The pickles in this region varies from other regions of Andhra Pradesh. They sun-dry mango pieces with mustard powder, red pepper powder and salt soaked in sesame oil, to give the pickle extended shelf life, and the result is a darker hue and sweeter taste. This method is followed to prevent spoiling despite the high moisture from the Bay of Bengal coast.^[20]

Notable personalities

• Tenneti Viswanadham (Freedom fighter and politician)
• Kandala Subrahmanyam (Indian lawyer, Socialist leader, Indian freedom activist and Parliamentarian)
• Gouthu Latchanna (veteran freedom fighter)
• Gurajada Apparao (Social reformer)
• Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu (violinist)
• Srirangam Srinivasarao (Poet)
• Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Dasu ( poet, musician, dancer, linguist and philosopher)
• Rachakonda Viswanatha Sastry (Writer)
• Lanka Sundaram (Indian parliamentarian and an expert in international law)
• Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju (a.k.a. Maharajkumar of Vizianagram) (Indian cricketer)
• P. Susheela ( Padma Bhushan awarded Singer)
• Vulimiri Ramalingaswami FNASC, FRAMS, FRS (London) (Eminent pathologist and Ex Director AIIMS New Delhi and ICMR)
• Padma Sri Hilda Mary Lazarus B.A., MBBS, FRCS (Christian missionary and popular gynecologist and obstetrician)
• Vaddadi Papaiah (artist)
• Mahamahopadhyaya, Padma Bhushan Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana (classical vocalist and musicologist)
• Kotcherlakota Rangadhama Rao (Indian physicist best known for his work on Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR))
• G.Anand (cine playback singer and music director)
• Sirivennela Sitaramasastri (Cine Lyricist)^[21]
• John Louis Nayar (Abhinava Saigal)(freedom-fighter, physician, singer, dancer and a humorist),^[22][23]
• Pingali Nagendrarao (legendary script writer, playwright and lyricist)
• Aarudhra (poet, lyricist, songwriter, translator & writer)
• Padma Bhushan Sripada Pinakapani (medical doctor, administrator, professor in medicine, and carnatic musician)
• Kodi Rammurthy Naidu (Indian bodybuilder, Kaliyugi Bhima)
• Devika Rani (Veteran Indian actress)
• Chaganti Somayajulu (Telugu story writers)
• Mallikarjuna Rao (Tollywood actor)
• Karnam Malleswari (Indian weightlifter, Olympic medallist)
• Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (founder chairman of GMR Group)
• J.V. Somayajulu (Indian theatre and film actor)
• Padmasri Dr. Kutikuppala Surya Rao (Padma Shri recipient, medical and health services)^[24]
• Pujari Sailaja (Indian weightlifting)^[25]
• Killi Appala Naidu (freedom fighter)^[26]
• H J Dora (Vigilance Commissioner, Central Vigilance Commission)^[27]

Anglo Indians Born in Uttarandhra

• Edward Hay Mackenzie Elliot ( Governor of New Zealand)
• Arthur Luard (English cricketer)
• George William Forbes Playfair (British businessman and member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong)

Tourism

Statue of Radha-Krishna on Beach Road

Visakhapatnam city has a range of tourist attractions including beaches, cliffs, hilltop parks facing the sea, a beach road, a zoological park and wildlife sanctuary, a submarine museum, hill stations, limestone caves, mountain ranges and valleys. Araku Valley is a hill station.

Simhachalam Temple

Religious destinations include Simhachalam, Arasavalli sun temple, Mukhalingam, ISKCON temple, Buddhist shrines at Salihundam, Danthavarapukota (Dantapuri) in Srikakulam district, Ramatheertham, Pavurallakonda, Thotlakonda, Bavikonda, Bojjannakonda (Sankaram), Kotturu Dhanadibbalu, Gopalapatnam in Visakhapatnam district.

Transport

National Highway 5 National Highway 43 passes through most of the Uttarandhra towns.am]] and Salur.^[28] The East Coast Railway serves Srikakulam, Vizianagaram District, and part of Visakhapatnam district including Visakhapatnam City and remaining under South Central Railway zone. Visakhapatnam Airport is a customs airport situated in the region. Visakhapatnam Port, Gangavaram Port are the major seaports. Some minor ports are at Bhavanapadu, Kalingapatnam, Bheemunipatnam.^[29]

Political leaders

Some of notable political leaders elected from this region are

Konathala Ramakrishna had been elected twice as the ninth and tenth Member of Parliament (MP), of Anakapalli Lok Sabha Parliamentary Constituency of Andhra Pradesh and as MLA for Anakapalli in the recently conducted general elections 2004 and he has been honored with ministerial portfolios - Department of Commercial Taxes, State Excise and Prohibition and Department of Law & Court.

Boddepalli Rajagopala Rao had represented Srikakulam (Lok Sabha constituency) for six terms between 1952 and 1967 (1st, 2nd and 3rd Lok Sabha) and 1971 and 1984 (5th, 6th and 7th Lok Sabha).^[30]

Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Srikakulam constituency,he became a minister at the centre, holding the portfolio of rural development and employment.^[31]

Kishore Chandra Deo was elected to 6th, 7th, 8th, 14th and 15th Lok Sabha Constituency from Araku.Since July 2011,he is Union Cabinet Minister for Tribal Affairs & Panchayati Raj .^[32]

Dr. Killi Krupa Rani had elected to the Lok Sabha from the Srikakulam constituency.She was inducted into Manmohan Singh's cabinet as Minister of State, Communications and Information Technology.^[33]

Daggubati Purandeswari was elected for Visakhapatnam constituency in the 15th Lok Sabha of India and served as Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industries.

See also

• Coastal Andhra
• Rayalaseema

References