Borra caves
The natural formation in the Eastern ghats are situated in Anantagiri mandal at a distance of 100 kms from Vizag. The caves have geological and historical importance. Deep in the caves there is a Shiva linga over which water drops from above, which is said to be the origin of the river Gosthani. The river flowing from these caves with natural rearing sounds is a beautiful sight to enjoy.

Appikonda
This is a small village situated on the coast of the Bay of Bengal at a distance of 18 kms from Vizag. Kapila Mahamuni is said to have installed the image of Somalingeswara Swamy in this village. So it was called Kapilakonda. Formerly fisherman used to live in these places and they called it apilakonda which gradually became Appikonda. It assumed religious importance owing to the existence of a Shiva temple containing a life size bull carved out of black stone. There are also other small temples around the Shiva temple but they are covered with sand dunes and their gopurams alone are visible. The Shiva temple contains inscriptions of 12^th century A.D. These inscriptions mention that this village was granted by a commander in chief of the Chodas for the maintenance of worship in the temple. The Shivaratri festival celebrated here is attended by a large number of devotees.

Annavaram
Annavaram is at a distance of 124 kms. From Visakhapatnam is a sacred pilgrim center on a hilltop known as a Ratnagiri. The presiding deity of Annavaram is Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy. It is believed that when a Vratha is performed in the name of the deity, the devotees wishes will be fulfilled. It is estimated that an average of about one lakh Vrathas are performed here every year, largely by couples. It is situated on the banks of the river Pampa.

Classical Dance
Kuchipudi, one of the four classical dance forms of natya shastra, owes its name and existence to a small village on the Krishna belt in Andhra Pradesh called Kuchipudi. It is a consequent result of the Bhakti Andolan during the 6^th century. In the 17^th century, Siddhendra Yogi, one of the Kuchipudi’s original exponents, took a group of village boys and trained them to present a dance-drama and purposely elevated this dance form away from the reach of devadasis. There after, this dance-drama performance became a tradition.

The exponents of this dance need to be well versed in dance, mime, music and song. Apart from being a good dancer and an actor, he/she needs to have fine knowledge of the languages Sanskrit and Telugu.

Kuchipudi is played under the night sky on makeshift ramps. The main role played in these dance dramas is the choreographer who keeps the whole show under a tight grip and infuses a continuity by his showmanship. Its fast paced nature has propelled this dance form into a renowned drama art.

The popularity of this dance form was on a wane because of a false allegation that Kuchipudi tended to be folklorish. Wiping away such allegations is the world renowned choreographer, Vempatti ‘china’ Satyam, who with his life long dedication brought this dance form out of villages boundaries and gave it it’s rightful place in the world of dance.

Cinema
If there is one thing that gets the local out of his confines in all seasons is cinema. People here are simply crazy after movies. The city boasts some of the finest cinema theatres in the country. One of them called Sangeet in the Secunderabad region supposedly has the best viewing facilities in the whole of South Asia! Coming to the Telugu cinema, it has the privilege of producing the world’s highest number of films in a single language per year. This is the land where matinee idols are treated like gods and they share an equal place on the mantelpiece, along with the other deities! They hold sway over millions of people and are idolized in a feverish frenzy. One such actor was the late NT Rama Rao, more popularly known as NTR. Through his sheer popularity with the Andhra populace, he went on to become their leader and rules the state with impeccable ease.

Such is the craze of movies here that it forms no.1 entertainment priority and is an inevitable conversation piece for anyone and anybody. It’s just like what football means to Brazil, one could say!

History

Geographically India is divided into two parts:- North and South India.

1. North India is the place which extends to the north of Vindhyas to the Central Himalayas.
2. South India is the place extending the south of Vindhyas down to the Indian Ocean. South India is again divided into two regions – the Deccan and the Dravidian.

Andhra is located in the Deccan region between the rivers Godavari and Narmada.

History:- Andhra is known to be inhabited by Aryans and made residential since 1 lakh years approximately we come across a word about Andhras in our ancient holy book Mahabharata.

Archeologists could collect many evidences of history dating to 200 BC which is believed was the then official language and Paisachi language was spoken by common people.

After this period Ikshavakas, Vishnu-kondins, Pallavas, and Shalamkayans ruled Andhra upto 600 A.D. During this period Sanskrit became the language of Aristocrats. Buddhists and Jains also flourished in this period.

Later the kings who ruled Andhra between 600 A.D. and 1100 A.D. belonged to Chalukyas, Kalinga, Chola and Rashtrakuta dynasties. It was then that the first inscription in Telugu belonging to 600 A.D. was found in Renadu in Cuddapah district. Later in 850 A.D. Panda Randa (Calukya serani) got a poem inscribed in Telugu on stone. The roots of our Telugu started strengthening with Nannaya’s translation of Maha Bharatam into Telugu in and around the year 1025 A.D. This was the main step in increasing the importance of Telugu language.

In the coming years in after 1100 A.D. Jains and Buddhists started migrating out of Andhra. Vaidika creed grew in number and was responsible for the construction of many Devalayas in and around Andhra. Kakatiyas took over Andhras from 1000 A.D. to 1300 A.D. Saivism and Vaishnavism also developed. Palnati Yuddham (1176 – 1182) took place during the Kakatiya period which led to the growth of Telugu Powruhsam (ego & courage) among Andhrites.

Later Muslim rulers from North namely Bahmani Sultans conquered us and ruled from 1347-1538. In the 16^th century Vijayanagara Empire was in its full swing. Sri Krishna Devaraya was famous among Vijayanagara Kings. His era was called as Golden Era of Andhra. Telugu language became prominent and was adored both by Pandits and common people during this time. Tanjavur Naika Kings also respected and propagated Telugu language.

With the decline of Vijayanagara Empire, Britishers stepped into India as traders. They made main cities as their trading centers and gradually invaded them. In 1616 Machilipatnam, 1766 North Circar region and in 1800 Rayalaseema befell into their hands. Telangana was under Nizam rule.Indians started revolting against the British rule. Among the many number of traders who shed their precious lives for the sake of our mother used were so-Alluri Sita Ramaraju (1922). Since 1920 until we got our Independence in 1947 Mahatma Gandhi played a vital role in acquiring Independence to us. In 1948 our Indian Army could successfully bring the Nizam region also under its control.