An Ankanam is a unit of measure similar to an

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

. It is used mainly in regions of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Nellore Nellore is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of the district, as well as Nellore mandal and Nellore revenue division. It is the List of cities in ...

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and

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is refe ...

. An Ankanam is measured as , (mostly in the Nellore District) and, in some places (such as

), . In

, one

equals 605 Ankanams, and 1 ''cent'' amounts to 6.05 Ankanams. This unit is very popular, presumably because it is easier to calculate the cost of a piece of land.

Etymology and definitions

Ankanam is related to the words anga and adugu in dravidian languages (meaning foot). In “Kannada-English Dictionary by Rev.

Ferdinand Kittel Reverend Ferdinand Kittel was a Lutheran priest and indologist with the Basel Mission in south India and worked in Mangalore, Madikeri and Dharwad in Karnataka. He is most famous for his studies of the Kannada language and for producing a Kannada ...

”. “Ankana” is defined as follows. “The (small or large) space either between any two posts or pillars in a wall that support the roof, or between any two beams”. Also from the reference of Hindu temple architecture 'Ankana' is defined as distance between pillar and pillar on one hand, and between one pillar and another (wall) on the other. Hence it has no definitive measurement.Kannada-English Dictionary by Rev. F. Kittel, page no .7.

Comparison with other units

1 Acre = 100 cents = 0.405 hectares = 605 Ankanas 1 cent = 6.05 Ankanas = 48 Sq.Yards 1 Ankana = 8 Sq. yard = 72 Sq. Feet 1 Tirupathi Ankana = 4 Sq.yard = 36 Sq. ft (in Tirupathi) 1 Sq. Yard = 9 Sq. Feet. 1 Yard = 3 feet.

References

{{Reflist Units of area Customary units in India