ACP is the cultural network, interface, and database for the serious Andhra person.

Globalisation has connected humanity like never before, allowing pop culture trends to be transmitted in an instant. But pop culture cannot raise and educate the next generation. The traditions, values, and distinctiveness of a people is preserved in its high culture, i.e. its literature, classical music and dance, art, history, philosophy, and cuisine. This is what nourishes a society. That is what the Andhra Cultural Portal  aims to preserve and perpetuate.

An integral part of India, Andhra Pradesh has a long history, a sweet language, and an important place in the tapestry of Indic Civilization. ACP is focused on preserving Andhra’s heritage and accomplishments for future generations.

Why it’s relevant:

Whether they’re citizens of India, the United States, or other countries around the world, people should make an effort to integrate and be good members of whatever society in which they are a part. In immigrant societies such as the US, Canada, and Australia, while integration can and must occur within the first generation, assimilation takes several generations. Indeed, as Scottish, Irish, and Italian Americans have all shown, political loyalties don’t mean one cannot celebrate his heritage (however many branches on the family tree it may be removed). Thus an American of Andhra descent (whether a recent immigrant or only ½  Andhra by blood) can still be a responsible citizen while celebrating his or her ancestral culture.

Correspondingly, Andhras in India, can still appreciate their regional culture and be confident in their distinctiveness, while working for an integrated and unified India (itself the political expression of millennia old Indic/Dharmic civilization). To do all these things, however, people need to be in tune not only to pop culture (telugu movies, etc.), but also must learn and appreciate the literary and artistic accomplishment of their ancestors. Cultural awareness ensures that an ancient people can prosper in and successfully engage with the modern globalised context with a myriad of other cultures—only then can they be serious people.

That is the purpose of this site: to preserve and stimulate appreciation of the ancient culture and language of the Andhra people.

Who is an Andhra:

In the wake of various regional separatist movements, incorrect terminology has been used to separate the people of Andhra Pradesh. Andhra refers to the people of all the three regions of the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh: Telangana, Coastal Andhra, and Rayalaseema. The word Andhra dates back to the Aitareya Brahmana and Andhras were recognized as a distinct people who lived south of the Vindhyas and were mentioned in the Puranas as well.

The site founders believe that regional separatism is a symptom of the traditional divide and rule tactics applied in politics, and as such, has no historical or cultural validity. Irrespective of the future internal geography of India, ACP will continue to use the word Andhra to refer to the Telugu speakers of all three regions of A.P. It is not for nothing that the Kakatiyas forged a united Andhra Kingdom from the capital of Ekashila (Warangal).

Andhra Pradesh: The Diamond of India

QuickFacts:

• India’s national flag designed by an Andhra freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya
• Andhra cuisine is the spiciest in all of India
• Kohinoor came from Andhra’s Kolluru diamond mines. Andhra was India’s main diamond center and the source of the most famous diamonds
• Andhra was also famous for pearls
• Due to its sweetness, the Telugu language has been called the “Italian of the East”
• Great Andhra musicians, dancers, artists, and actors include Annamacharya, Thyagaraja, Vempati Chinna Satyam, Bapu and Sridevi

• Sri Krishna Deva Raya-Though “Andhra Bhoja” is the subject of an ongoing dispute between telugus and kannadigas as to who can claim him as theirs, KDR has an undisputed place in the heart of the Andhra people as one of the greatest patrons of the telugu language. When the Mughal Babur entered India, he listed this Raja of Bijanagar (Vijayanagara) as the greatest and most powerful of all Indian kings.

• Tenali Ramakrishna -One of Krishna Deva Raya’s ashtadiggajas (8 court gems), TRK represents the epitome of telugu wit and instant comebacks. This tradition is recalled in modern comedians such as Brahmanandam.

• P. V. Narasimha Rao-Considered by many to be the greatest Prime Minister of India, PVNR ushered in India’s economic reforms and laid the groundwork for it to become a nuclear power. He also drove its Look East policy. He was a scholar, author, and speaker of 13 languages (and fluent in 7).