Allur, Nellore district

Allur అల్లూరు
Town
Ramakrishna Junior College Entrance
Country	India
State	Andhra Pradesh
District	Nellore
Elevation	3 m (10 ft)
Population  (2004)
• Total	52,925
Languages
• Official	Telugu
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	524315
Telephone code	+91-8622
Sex ratio	26,584:26,341 ♂/♀

Allur is a Town in Nellore district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also the headquarters of Allur Mandal.Allur is also called as Pantala Allur as it is famous for its rice production. The rice produced in Allur is also called as Nellore Rice throughout India. Poleramma goddess temple in Allur is a very well known temple in Nellore district. Every year in January first week a very big festival is celebrate praying Poleramma goddess.

Etymology

The word Allur is combination of two Telugu words Allu+ooru. Allu means a seeded grass plant that gives Kodo millet (also known as Arikalu or Aruga in Telugu and Varugu in Tamil) and Ooru means Village. Kodo millet grows on rain fed dry soils and is used as human food and fodder. The grain can be kept good for two years and hence it is used as famine reserve, though it is inferior to rice.

Geography

Allur is bounded by Bay of Bengal on east, by Bitragunta Mandal on north, Vidavalur Mandal on south and Dagadarthi Mandal on west. Part of the area is served by Pennar canals and the rest of the area is served by rainfed tanks. Most soils are red soils and low in Nitrogen, medium in Phosphorus, high in Carbon and high in Potash.,

Allur village, seat of the Mandal, is located at 14°41′N 80°3′E. It is about 25 km north of Nellore and 25 km south of Kavali.

History

History of Allur is only available from Nellore District gazettes and few biographical notes from Christian missionaries. According to gazettes published during British time, Allur was largest land revenue generating town in district. It raised 53,000Rs/- in 1901. It was home for 3,677 people in 1873 and the population increased to 7,527 by 1901.

It was a station of a deputy tahlsidhar and sub megistrate in Nellore Taluk till 1910 and became part of Kovur Taluk after 1910. It had a jail used for short sentence prisoners up to a month and it was one of the 17 sub jails in the district. A sub registrar office to register documents and deeds was established in 1871 and it was one of the 14 sub registrar offices in district.

There were only pial elementary schools that teach Telugu reading, writing, poetry and basic math till 1868. In 1868, the British government established a secondary school under 1864 Education Act and system of payments on results is introduced to increase school attendance. A dispensary was started in 1872. Boarding school for boys was opened in 1907.

Christian missionaries John E. Clough and Dr. Jewett visited Allur in 1869. A dwelling house and few acres of land were purchased for 1100 Rs/- and old travelers bunglaw was bought for 350 Rs/- and Allur was chosen as the fourth mission after Nellore, Ramayapatnam and Ongole in the district. An American Baptist church with 44 members was established in 1872 by Mr. Bullard. Mr. Bullard abandoned Allur mission in 1876 and made Allur as the outstation for Nellore mission. Resident missionaries were specially appointed to work at church since 1893. Rev W. S. Davis worked for two decades and according to his 1908 report, the total number of converts was 472.

Village has one ancient Siddeshwara or Siva temple and one ancient Gopalaswamy or Vishnu temple. There are illegible inscriptions on a pillar in front of the temple of Siddeswara and on the flooring in front of Gopalaswamy temple. A woman called Perantalamma died in Sati sacrifice and a temple was constructed in her memory.

Mosque was built in 1910. Communal troubles arose around 1924 over the right of Hindu processions to play music before Mosques until Hindus got a decree for permission in 1928. Gandhi visited Allur on December 30, 1933 as part of his coastal Andhra trip after Salt Satyagraha revolution.

Economics

The main occupations of the village are agriculture, salt business and aquaculture. Crops are dependent on water from Allur tank with sources of water from rain in catchment and excess water from Pyderu. Its aquaculture and salt business is mainly centered at adjacent villages Iskapalle and Gogulapalle. Many hotel and real estate industrialists settled now in Hyderabad were raised in this area. Allur is also like a bridge between the surrounding villages and the rest of the world by providing banking, government offices and bus facilities to Nellore and Kavali.

The economical growth of Allur over decades is nominal and stagnated for many reasons. It is dependent on rains and monsoons, and is far from river Pennar. So people can not cultivate profitable crops like sugar cane etc. It has less storage facilities for rice or salt and so farmers are forced to sell out immediately for cheaper rates. Because of adjacency to Bay of Bengal, cyclones and floods do unexpected damage to crops and fisheries. It is also not located on national highway and has no train facility. So it did not attract any industries and did not see any growth in real estate. Most people are not educated and so depend on agriculture and labour. Few educated migrate away to Nellore, Hyderabad or Bangalore to work in hotel and real estate industries.

Government and politics

Divisions (Villages in Allur Mandal)

It is a major panchayat and headquarters of a mandal (code 31).

1. Allur
2. Alluru Peta
3. Ananthabotlavari kandrika
4. Batra kagollu
5. Beeramgunta
6. East Gogulapalli
7. West Gogulapalli
8. Graddagunta
9. Indupuru
10. Isakapalli
11. Kalambotla Khandrika
12. North Amuluru Gollapalem
13. North Mopuru
14. Purini
15. Singapeta
16. Velicharla
17. alli madugu

Demographics

The population of the village is around 45,000. Total population of Allur Mandal is 52,925 according to 2004 election results. Male population is 26,584 and females are 26,341, and children are 6,485. Literates are 28,377 and males among them are 15,788 and female literates are 12,589.

Culture

People speak only Telugu, though English is understood in parts of the place. Men wear traditional wear like Dhoti/Lungi as well as urban dress and women wear mostly Sarees.

It is really not a village by statistics. It is a place where both the environment of villages and towns will be seen. The festival celebrations, religious activities and mass holy sea baths during eclipses, traditions, rice fields, lakes and serene coastal areas give village appearance. Its telephone and communication facilities, schools, being the shopping center and business place for adjacent villages, size of the area and population, interest in politics, lifestyle and attire make it look like a town. Since it is a major village consisting of educated people, the people from this village participated in freedom struggle enthusiastically and the village got its place in the history of Nellore district.

Allur is famous for rice cultivation and so some people call it as Pantala Allur to distinguish it from other places with same name. Rice produced from Allur and nearby villages is exported to neighbouring states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Festivals

Sankranti, Diwali, Sivaratri, Hanuman Jayanthi, Sreeram Navami and Dasara are celebrated. Several local temples organize special programs on such festival days. Traditional art forms like Hari Katha, Burra katha,Bhajanans, Bharat Natyam, music programs and other folk dances will also be organized.

People of Allur celebrate a special festival for praying Poleramma, village goddess, on a Tuesday in January every year. The floors are decorated with rangavalli and village is decorated with lights and flowers. A heap of cooked rice is offered along with Neem leaves in the morning. The deity is placed in a palanquin on a tiger or a swan and taken in a procession. People of Allur also celebrates Pushpayaga a prestigious event for praying Hindu Gods Sita, Rama, Lakshmana & Hanuma at Maruthi Ashramam, on second day of the annual hanumath jayanthi festival in May or June every year. Nearly 25 types of various flowers weighing half a tonne offered to Gods through a ritual process. A huge crowd address this event very enthusiastically.

Education

It boasts a school and Junior college named Ramakrishna Jr. College since 1930 and has been providing education for students for forty villages surrounding it. Rama Krishna Degree College is annexed in 1999. In addition, many upper primary schools provide education from 1st to 7th grade students.

List of High schools

• Ramakrishna Degree College,Allur
• Ramakrishna Jr.College and Higher secondary school, Allur
• Sri Vivekananda Upper Primary school(S.V.U.P),Allur
• Siddhartha English Medium High school,Allur
• Holy Cross English Medium High school,Allur

Assembly Constituency

Allur is an assembly constituency (seat 126) in Andhra Pradesh from 1978 to 2009. There are 1,36,127 registered voters in Allur constituency in 1999 elections. As part of reorganization in 2009 and Allur Mandal became part of Kavali assembly constituency and Bucchi and other areas became part of Kovur assembly constituency.

List of Elected Members till 2009 :

year	name
1978	Giddaluru Sundara Ramaiah
1983	Bezawada Papireddy
1985	Jakka Venkaiah
1989	Katamreddy Vishnuvardhan Reddy
1994	Jakka Venkaiah
1999	Adala Prabhakar Reddy
2004	Katamreddy Vishnuvardhan Reddy
2009	Beeda Masthan rao(B.M.R)
2014	Ramireddy Prathap Kumar Reddy

Gram Panchayat

Allur is a major panchayat in Andhra Pradesh.

Transport

Nearest railway station is 8 miles (13 km) away at Bitragunta. The national highway is 8 miles (13 km) away at Kodavaluru. The sea is 3 miles (4.8 km) away at Iskapalle. Nearest airport is Tirupati for National Flights and Chennai for International Flights. The best way to reach Allur is by road from Nellore or Kavali. The Andhra Pradesh state road transportAPSRTC runs lot of buses daily from either place to Allur. The proposed domestic Nellore Airport is 7 miles (11 km) from Allur.

In earlier days the local transport in the village is by bicycles or bullock carts, but nowadays autos and taxis are available.

External links

• Manual of Nellore district in Madras presidency Vol 4 by John Alexander Corris Boswell
• Gazetteer of the Nellore district brought up to 1938 by Government Of Madras Staff, Government of Madras
• Gazetteer of South India, Volume 2, W. Francis etal