Telugu

Other Spellings / Synonyms : Telegu, Telugu people, Andhra people

Religion : Hinduism

Language : Telegu

Regional Spread : Andhra Pradesh (mainly) and neighboring states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. A significant Telugu population is also found in Malaysia, Bahrain, Fiji, Mauritius and the UAE.

Population : 66 million native, 80 million total

Food Habits : Andhra cuisine is a delectable mix of Southern and refined Deccani style of cooking. At some places influence of Mughlai food is quite noticeable. A large part of the Telugu population is vegetarian while people living in the coastal areas fond of sea food. Staple food of the people is rice. Food of Telugu people is known for its heavy use of spices and chillies. Curd is also a part of the meal and is used to neutralize the spicy nature of the food.

Marriage Preference : Prefer marriages within their own caste and community. In recent times inter-caste marriage are also taking place.

Related Ethnic Groups : Dravidian people, Brahui people, Kannadigas, Malayalis, Tamils, Telugus, Tuluvas

Famous Personalities

• Freedom Fighters : Alluri Sitaramaraju, Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu, Potti Sriramulu, Pingali Venkayya, Colonel DS Raju, Durgabai Deshmukh, Bhogaraju Pattabhiseetaramayya.
• National Politicians : Dr S Radhakrishnan, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, P V Narasimha Rao, VV Giri, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
• Sportsmen : Mohammad Azharuddin, Kodi Ramamurthy Naidu, Karnam Malleswari, V. V. S. Laxman, Venugopal Rao, Venkatapathy Raju, Pullela Gopichand, Harikrishna
• Artists : Tyaga Raja (Carnatic music maestro), Bapu (Sattiraju Laxminarayana), Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, SP Balasubramanyam, Jandhyala, Veturi Sundara Ram Murthy, Sirivennala Seetha Rama Sastry, Madhavapeddi Satyam, Acharya Aathreya
• Film Stars : Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao (encyclopedia of telugu film industry), T.L. Kantha Rao, Dr Prabhakar Reddy, Rao Gopala Rao, Krishnam Raju, Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh, Jayaprada, Chandra Mohan, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Bhanumati

About Telugu People :

The Telugu people sometimes, also referred to as Telugu are Telugu language speaking people. Telugu people are primarily located in the Deccan plateau of Indian subcontinent, specifically in Andhra Pradesh and enclave of Yanam of Pondicherry. There is also a very significant population in cities such as Chennai, Banglore, Mumbai, and parts of Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra (Areas bordering Andhra Pradesh). The general physical traits of the Telugu people are tall, round-headed, broad-faced, with a long arched forehead, thick and protruding noses, with straight hair and yellow skin.

Telugu people are one of the widely emigrated communities and can be found in several countries including the US, UK, Australia, Mauritius, Fiji and Malaysia.