Tekkali is a

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

Srikakulam district Srikakulam district is a district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, located in the Uttarandhra region of the state, with its headquarters located at Srikakulam. It is one of the six districts, located in the extreme northeastern direction ...

of the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. It is the mandal headquarters of Tekkali mandal and Tekkali revenue division and is located at a distance of 51 km from the district headquarters.

Etymology

The town derives its name from the eponymous medicinal tree. The

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

botanical name of Tekkali plant is ''Clerodendrum phlomides Linn''. It belongs to the family Verbenacae. The ''Tekkali'' chettu (tree) is known by various alternate names too in various regions of

. For instance, it's also known by the name of ''Nelli'' (నెల్లి) from which

Nellore Nellore, also spelt as Nelluru, is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India.Nellimarla Nelli-marla is a census town in Vizianagaram district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is in Nellimarla mandal of Vizianagaram revenue division. Etymology The town of Nellimarla derives its name from a Telugu word for the medicinal tr ...

Town in Vizianagaram district are said to derive their names.

Geography

Tekkali is located at . It has an average elevation of 27 meters (91 feet). It lies on the coast of

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

with an area of 275 square miles.

Connectivity

The nearest airport is the

Vishakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is between the Eastern Ghats and the coast of t ...

, which is at a distance of 150 km. National Highway 16 (Chennai - Kolkata) passes through the town. It is well connected with the nearest towns of Nandigam,

Palasa Palasa is one of the twin towns located in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The town is situated between Srikakulam and Berhampur. It is categorized as the second grade municipality. Also the town serves as the headquarters ...

, Meliaputti, Chapara, Sompeta, Mandasa, Kaviti, Itchapuram, Narasannapeta, Pathapatnam, Paralakhemundi and the district headquarter

Srikakulam Srikakulam is a city and the headquarters of Srikakulam district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. census, it has a population of 165,735. There are many other places of Buddhist Tourism such as Salihundam, Kalinga Patnam, Dabbaka Vaan ...

. Tekkali is 50 km away from Srikakulam headquarter. There is a Railway station in Tekkali. Another nearby railway station is at Naupada called Naupada Junction (NWP). Naupada Junction is 4 km from Tekkali and is accessible by autorickshaws and private bus services.

Demography

According to

The Imperial Gazetteer of India ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...

, Tekkali in 1901 was a Zamindari tahsil in

Ganjam district Ganjam is a district in the Indian state of Odisha. Ganjam's total area is 8,206 km² (3,168 mi²). The district headquarters is Chhatrapur. Ganjam is divided into three sub-divisions: Chhatrapur, Berhampur, and Bhanjanagar. As of ...

Madras province The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency in ...

Education

The primary and secondary school education is enabled by government, government-aided and private schools, under the ''School Education Department'' of the state of Andhra Pradesh. The medium of instruction followed by different schools are English and Telugu.

Politics

Nandhamuri Taraka Rama Rao represented this assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh General Legislative assembly Elections 1994.

References

{{Mandal headquarters in Srikakulam district Cities and towns in Srikakulam district Mandal headquarters in Srikakulam district