Araku Valley is a hill station in

Alluri Sitharama Raju district Alluri Sitharama Raju district, also known as Alluri district and by its initials as ASR district, is a district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The headquarters of the district is located at Paderu. Named after Alluri Sitarama Raju, a re ...

in the Indian state 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 ...

, lying 111 km west of

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museu ...

city. This place is often referred to as ''Ooty of Andhra''. It is a valley in the Eastern Ghats inhabited by different tribes, mainly Araku Tribes.

Geography

Araku is located in the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut ...

about from

, close to the

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

state border. The Anantagiri and Sunkarimetta Reserved Forest, which are part of Araku Valley, are rich in biodiversity and are mined for

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO ...

. Galikonda hill rising to a height of is amongst the highest peaks in Andhra Pradesh. The average rainfall is , the bulk of which is received during June–October. The altitude is about 1300 m above the sea level. The valley spreads around 36 km.

Economy

Coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

was introduced in

in 1898 by British in Pamuleru valley in

East Godavari district East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajahmundry. As of census 2011, it became the most populous district of the state with a population of 5,151,549. In the Madras Pre ...

. Subsequently, it spread over to Araku Valley in the early 19th century. After independence, the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department developed coffee plantations in the valley. In 1956, Coffee Board appointed Andhra Pradesh Girijan Cooperative Corporation Limited (GCC) for promoting coffee plantations in the valley through local tribal farmers. In 1985, the plantations were handed to A.P. Forest Development Corporation and GCC promoted Girijan Coop. Plantation Development Corporation (GCPDC) exclusively to develop coffee plantations in tribal areas. All the plantations developed by GCC and GCPDC were handed over to the tribal farmers at two acres per family. Apiculture farms have been widely spread in Araku, several types of flavoured honey is being made commercially.

Transport

A view of Araku Valley, a hill station in Visakhapatnam district

Araku is connected through both rail and road to Visakhapatnam. Araku railway station is located on the

Kothavalasa Kothavalasa is a Suburb in Visakhapatnam city but present in Vizianagaram district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Kothavalasa mandal of Vizianagaram revenue division. It is located 30 km from the city of Visakhap ...

Kirandul Kirandul is a town and a municipality in Dantewada district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. It is located roughly 400 km south of Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh and 41 km southwest of Dantewada-the district headquarters. The wa ...

railway line of Visakhapatnam division of the

East Coast Railway The East Coast Railway (abbreviated ECoR) is one of the 19 railway zones of Indian Railways. It came into existence on 1 April 2003. The headquarters of the zone are at Bhubaneswar, Odisha History Consequent upon the parliament's approval, Ea ...

, on the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

network. RTC Buses to Visakhapatnam every half an hour.

In popular culture

Many

Telugu films Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

including ''Happy Days'', ''Katha'', ''Darling'', ''Life Is Beautiful'' and ''

Parugu ''Parugu'' (), titled ''In the Name of Love'' in the UK, is a 2008 Indian Telugu-language romantic action film written and directed by Bhaskar. The film stars Allu Arjun, Sheela Kaur and Prakash Raj. The film is produced by Dil Raju on Sri Venka ...

'', were shot in Araku.

Gallery

A view of Araku Valley hill station in Andhra Pradesh

A local church entrance at Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh

References

External links

ARAKU VALLEY COMPLETE TRAVEL GUIDE
{{Wikivoyage, Aruku Valley
Araku Valley
Pictures of Tribal museum, horticulture nursery, tribal dancing & Borra caves
Katiki Water Falls
Chaparai Water Cascade Valleys of India Hill stations in Andhra Pradesh Tourist attractions in Andhra Pradesh Landforms of Andhra Pradesh Uttarandhra Mandals in Alluri Sitharama Raju district