Culture

Cultural institutions
Andhra Pradesh has many museums, including the Archaeological Museum at Amaravati near Guntur City that features relics of nearby ancient sites, the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad, which features a varied collection of sculptures, paintings, and religious artifacts, the Visakha Museum in Vizag (Visakhapatnam), which displays the history of the pre-Independence Madras Presidency in a rehabilitated Dutch bungalow and Victoria Jubilee Museum in Vijayawada, which has a nice collection of ancient sculptures, paintings, idols, weapons, cutlery, and inscriptions.



Cuisine
Main article: Andhra cuisine
The cuisine of Andhra Pradesh is reputedly the spiciest of all Indian cuisine. There are many variations to the Andhra cuisine depending on caste, geographical regions, traditions etc. Pickles and chutneys, called pachchadi in Telugu are particularly popular in Andhra Pradesh and many varieties of pickles and chutneys are unique to the state. Chutneys are made from practically every vegetable including tomatoes, brinjals, and roselle (Gongura). The mango pickle Aavakaaya is probably the best known of the Andhra pickles.

Rice is the staple food and is used in a wide variety of ways. Typically, rice is either boiled and eaten with curry, or made into a batter for use in a crepe-like dish called attu (pesarattu) or dosas.

Meat, vegetables, and greens are prepared with different masalas into a variety of strongly flavored dishes.

Hyderabadi cuisine is influenced by the Muslims who arrived in Telangana in the 14th century. Much of the cuisine revolves around meat. It is rich and aromatic, with a liberal use of exotic spices and ghee. Lamb, chicken and fish are the most widely used meats in the non-vegetarian dishes. The biryani is perhaps the most distinctive and popular of Hyderabadi dishes.




Dance
Telugu dance
Kuchipudi, the traditional dance of AndhraJayapa Senani (Jayapa Nayudu) is the first person who wrote about the dances prevalent in Andhra Pradesh. Both Desi and Margi forms of dances have been included in his Sanskrit treatise 'Nritya Ratnavali'. It contains eight chapters. Folk dance forms like Perani, Prenkhana, Suddha Nartana, Carcari, Rasaka, Danda Rasaka, Shiva Priya, Kanduka Nartana, Bhandika Nrityam, Carana Nrityam, Chindu, Gondali and Kolatam are described. In the first chapter the author deals with discussion of the differences between Marga and Desi, Tandava and lasya, Natya and Nritta. In the 2nd and 3rd chapters he deals with Angi-kabhinaya, Caris, Sthanakas and Mandalas. In the 4th Chapter Karnas, angaharas and recakas are described. In following chapters he described the local dance forms i.e. desi nritya. In the last chapter he deals with art and practice of dance.

Classical dance in Andhra can be performed by both men and women; however women tend to learn it more often. Kuchipudi is the state's best-known classical dance forms of Andhra Pradesh. The various dance forms that existed through the states’ history are Chenchu Bhagotham, Kuchipudi, Bhamakalapam, Burrakatha, Veeranatyam, Butta bommalu, Dappu, Tappeta Gullu, Lambadi, Bonalu, Dhimsa, and Kolattam.


Festivals
Sankranthi in January.
Maha Shivaratri in February/March.
Ugadi or the Telugu New Year in March/April.
Rama Navami celebrated in March/April 9 days after Ugadi.
Varalakshmi Vratham in August.
Vinayaka Chavithi in August.
Dasara in September/October.
Atla Tadde 3rd day in bright half of Aswiyuja month (falls in September/October in Gregorian calendar)
Deepavali in October/November.
Bonalu in Sravanam. (Celebrated in Telangana region).
Bathukamma celebrated during September/October in Telangana region.

Literature
Telugu literature
Telugu literature is highly influenced by Sanskrit literature and Hindu scriptures. Nannayya, Tikkana, and Yerrapragada form the trinity who translated the great epic Mahabharatha into Telugu. Bammera Potana is another great poet from Orugallu (Now Warangal) famous for his great classic Sri Madandhra Maha Bhagavatamu, a Telugu translation of 'Sri Bhagavatham' authored by Veda Vyasa in Sanskrit. Nannayya derived the present Telugu script(lipi) from the old Telugu-Kannada script. Emperor Krishna Deva Raya wrote Amuktamalyada and also made the famous statement : "Desa Bhashalandu Telugu lessa". Philosophical poems by Yogi-Vemana are quite famous. Modern writers include Jnanpith Award winners Sri Viswanatha Satya Narayana and Dr. C. Narayana Reddy. Revolutionary poets like Sri Sri and Gaddar are popular.

Urdu literature
Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah was the first Deewan Shayar of Urdu Literary History. Makhdoom Mohiuddin regarded as revolutionary poet. Many classical writers like, Wali Mohammed Wali Dakhni, Amjad Hyderabadi, Charagh Hyderabadi, Aqeel Hashmi, Suleman Athhar Javed, Aslam Farshori, Ahmadnisar, Barq Kadapavi, Qamar Ameeni, and many others.


Movies
Telugu Cinema
Andhra Pradesh is the state with the most cinema halls in India, at around 3000 The state also produces about 200[citation needed] movies a year. It has around 40% (330 cinema halls out of 930 DTS cinema halls in India of all the Dolby digital theatres in India. Now it also houses an IMax theatre with a big 3D screen and also 3-5 multiplexes. It is also the largest movie industry in India, producing more movies than any other industry.


Music
The state has a rich musical heritage. Many legends of the Carnatic music including Trinity of Carnatic music (Thyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri) were of Telugu descent. Other great composers include Annamacharya, Kshetrayya, and Bhadrachala Ramadasu. Folk songs are also popular in the rural areas of the state.