Anantapur, officially Anantapuramu, is a city in

Anantapur district Anantapur district officially: Anantapuramu district is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The district headquarters is located at Anantapur city. It is one of the driest places in So ...

of the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. It is the mandal headquarters of Anantapuru mandal and also the divisional headquarters of

Anantapur revenue division Anantapur revenue division (or Anantapur division) is an administrative division in the Anantapur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the 3 revenue divisions in the district with 12 mandals under its administration. The ...

. The city is located on

National Highway National highway or National Highway may refer to: * National Highways (England) * National Highway (Australia) * List of National Roads in Belgium * Brunei National Roads System * National Highway System (Canada) * Trans ...

. It was also the headquarters of the ''Datta Mandalam'' ( Rayalaseema districts of Andhra Pradesh and Bellary district of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

) in 1799. It was also a position of strategic importance for the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which cou ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Geography

Anantapur is located at . It has an average elevation of . It is located at a distance of 484 km from

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...

, 148 km from

Kurnool Kurnool is a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It formerly served as the capital of Andhra State (1953–1956). The city is often referred to as "The Gateway of Rayalaseema".Kurnool is also known as The City of Gem Stones. It also s ...

and 210 km from Bengaluru which is the closest international airport.

Climate

Anantapur has a semi-arid climate, with hot and dry conditions for most of the year. Summer start in late February and peak in May with average high temperatures around the range. Anantapur gets pre-

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

showers starting as early as March, mainly through north-easterly winds blowing in from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

. Monsoon arrives in September and lasts until early November with about of precipitation. A dry and mild winter starts in late November and lasts until early February; with little humidity and average temperatures in the range. Total annual rainfall is about .

Demographics

census, Anantapur city has a population of 340,613. The sex ratio was 995 females per 1000 males and 9% of the population was under 6 years old. Effective literacy is 82%, male literacy is 89% and female literacy is 75%.

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

is the official and widely spoken language, in addition to it Urdu, Hindi, Kannada and Tamil languages are also spoken by significant minorities in the city.

Governance

Civic administration Anantapuru Municipal Corporation is the civic body of Anantapuru. Public utilities ''Anantapuru Drinking Water Supply Project'' and ''Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust'' have also step forward in supplying clean water and concentrated mainly on eradicating fluorosis. The corporation supplies chlorinated water to the city from the summer storage tank located in the town.

Transport

Anantapur is well connected to the nearby major cities with National Highway 44 and National Highway 205 of National Highway network of India. The NH–44 connects it to Bangalore, which is towards south and Hyderabad, towards north, and NH 205 connects it to

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

via

Renigunta Renigunta is a neighbourhood and suburb of Tirupati located in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Tirupati Airport is located in Renigunta. It is a part of Tirupati urban agglomeration. It is also the mandal headquarters of ...

. The

Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) is the state-owned road transport corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Its headquarters is located at NTR Administrative Block of RTC House in Pandit Nehru bus station of ...

operates bus services from Anantapur bus station. The city has a total road length of 298.12 km. provides rail connectivity for the city and is classified as an ''A–category'' station in Guntakal railway division of South Central Railway zone. The nearest International airport is Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru which is 190 kilometers away.

Culture

There are a few notable people from the town with their contributions to various fields such as

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, ...

and other areas. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the former

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murm ...

and the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, and

Paidi Lakshmayya Paidi Lakshmayya BA, B.L. (Telugu: పైడి లక్ష్మయ్య) (26 April 1904 – 28 April 1987) was Indian Parliamentarian, actor, writer and administrator. He was born to Shri Musalappa in Achampalle village in Kambadur mandal ...

was the first

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

from Anantapur's Lok Sabha Constituency. Kallur Subba Rao was an Indian freedom activist and was the first speaker of Andhra Assembly, as well as

Kadiri Venkata Reddy, Kadiri is a major city in Sri Sathya Sai District the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a ''Special Grade'' Municipal City Council and headquarters of Kadiri Mandal and Kadiri Revenue Division. Kadiri Taluka ('Tehsil') was the largest taluk ...

who was an Indian film director, writer and also a producer. Sathya Sai Baba, was a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

spiritual leader;

Bellary Raghava Bellary Raghava (Telugu: బళ్ళారి రాఘవ; born ''Tadipatri Raghavacharyulu''; 2 August 1880 – 16 April 1946) was an Indian playwright and actor, known for his works predominantly in Telugu theatre and cinema.M.L. Narasimhar ...

was an Indian playwright, thespian and film actor.

Cuisine

Millets such as,

Jowar ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a grass species cultivated for its grain, which is used for food for humans, animal feed, and ethanol produ ...

, Bajra, Ragi are the food grains which are mostly used in food items. Peanuts are also popular and used in everyday food like chutney, Chikki and enjoyed as snack with boiled or spicy roasted peanuts.

Cityscape

Neighbourhoods and landmarks in and around the city are - Clock tower, Sapthagiri circle, ISKCON temple, the railway station area, bus station, Srikantam circle, Government Hospital, Court Road etc. Major landmark of city is railway overbridge near Clock tower connecting Newtown constructed in late 1960. As part of connecting heart of city with NH44 this landmark is in demolition and closed till new four-lane flyover is functional.

Education

The primary and

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...

is imparted by government, aided and private schools of the ''School Education Department'' of the state. The mediums of instruction that are followed by different CBSE schools like Kendriya Vidyalaya and Montessori Elite EM School, State board

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

mediums and

mediums. Anantapur is an important education centre of the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

which has many schools, colleges and universities. Prominent institutions and universities include,

Sri Krishnadevaraya University Sri Krishnadevaraya University is a public university in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India, founded on 25 July 1981. The university is named after a patron of learning and the arts, Sri Krishnadevaraya, of the Vijayanagara empire The V ...

, JNTU Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai University,

central University of Andhra Pradesh Central University of Andhra Pradesh (CUAP) is a central university located in Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. History In 2014 the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh was enacted through the ''Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014''. ...

, Government Medical College, Arts College, PVKK Institute of Technology etc.

Sports

Anantapur has many sports facilities and hosted the

Irani Cup Irani Trophy or Irani Cup also known as the Mastercard Irani Trophy due to sponsorship reasons, is a first-class cricket tournament organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). . It is played annually between the winners of ...

in 1963–64 when Rest of India scored their lowest total of 83 against the then Ranji trophy winners Bombay, played at the Sanjeeva Reddy stadium. Several Ranji trophy matches and other regional tournaments for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, badminton, etc. have been hosted in Anantapur. The Anantapur Sports Village (ASV), located alongside the

National Highway 7 The following highways are numbered 7. For roads numbered A7, see list of A7 roads. Route 7, or Highway 7, may refer to: International * Asian Highway 7 * European route E07 * European route E007 Afghanistan * Kunduz-Khomri Highway (A7) Al ...

. The Anantapur Cricket Ground sits within a complex which is managed by the Rural Development Trust (RDT). In October 2010, Rafael Nadal opened the Rafael Nadal Tennis School, which hosts district, state and national-level tournaments, as well as laying equal emphasis on the children's education and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

training. There are several Indoor Stadiums for Basketball and Badminton under local bodies which conducts District, State and National Competitions. There are many coaching class for taekwondo and Karate. There are also coaching centres for swimming which conduct district competitions.

Temples

There are four temples under the management of Endowments Department. * Sri Kasivisweswara & Kodanda Rama Swamy Temples * Sri Virupakeshwara & Obuleswara Swamy Temple * Sri Peta Basaveswara Swamy Temple * Sri Rama Swamy temple And there are several important Temples which became good landmarks such as * ISKCON temple * Sri Mounagiri Kshetram (39ft height Monolithic Hanuman statue) * Shivakoti temple * Harihara Temple * Sri Anjanayaswamy Temple

Hospitals

* MGB Clinics * KIMS- Saveera hospital * Anantapur Government hospital * Super Specialty hospital

References

External links

*
Anatapur district
{{Authority control Cities in Andhra Pradesh District headquarters of Andhra Pradesh Cities and towns in Anantapur district