South India · Andhra Pradesh
Nellore, Andhra Pradesh
About Nellore
- Riverside
Where it is
Nellore is a city in southern coastal Andhra Pradesh on the banks of the Penna River, about 24 km inland from the Bay of Bengal and some 170 km north of Chennai.
History
The name is often explained as the town of paddy, from nellu, rice. The region was ruled by the Mauryas, Satavahanas, Pallavas and Cholas, and in the 13th century the court of its Telugu Chola rulers patronised the poet Tikkana, who helped render the Mahabharata into Telugu. Vijayanagara and the Nawabs of Arcot followed, and the British took over in the 18th century.
People
Telugu is the main language. Farming families grow rice along the Penna, the coast is lined with shrimp ponds and fishing villages, and Nellore cooking, especially its tangy fish curry, is famous across Andhra Pradesh.
Known for
- Rice fields and shrimp farms
- Talpagiri Ranganathaswamy Temple
- Nellore fish curry, chepala pulusu
- Mypadu beach
- Nelapattu and Pulicat bird sanctuaries to the south
Did you know?
Brazil's Nelore cattle, now the backbone of its beef herd, take their name from Nellore: they descend from Ongole cattle of this region, first shipped to Brazil in 1868.
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