Konaseema

Konaseema is the Godavari’s delta country. Below Rajamahendravaram the river splits into branches, and the land between them runs down to the Bay of Bengal. Canals cut through it, lined with coconut palms, banana plots and paddy fields. Since 2022 it has been a district of its own, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema. Its headquarters is Amalapuram, the largest town.

Come for slow drives along the canal banks and for the temples. Ainavilli has its Siddhi Vinayaka shrine and Muramalla its Veerabhadra Swamy temple. At Antarvedi, on the coast, the Vasishta Godavari meets the sea. On Kanuma, the third day of Sankranti, villagers carry tall, decorated prabhalu across fields and canals to Jaggannathota, a coconut grove at Mosalapalli. Tradition holds that the eleven forms of Shiva, the Ekadasa Rudras, meet there. Andhra Pradesh made it a state festival from 2026. On the drive in, stop at Atreyapuram for pootharekulu, the paper-thin rice sweet with a GI tag.