Tekkali

Tekkali టెక్కలి
Census Town
Tekkali Location in Andhra Pradesh, India
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Andhra Pradesh
District	Srikakulam
Area
• Total	13.58 km2 (5.24 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	28,631
• Density	2,100/km2 (5,500/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Telugu
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	532201
Telephone code	91–8945

Tekkali is a census town in Srikakulam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Tekkali mandal in Tekkali revenue division.

Etymology

The town derives it's name from Telugu word for the medicinal tree Latin: botanical name is 'Clerodendrum phlomides Linn', of the family 'Verbenacae' called 'Tekkali' chettu in Telugu.
The Tekkali chettu(tree) is known by various alternate names too in various regions of Telugu lands, some of which are
Nelli నెల్లి (from which
(a) Nellore City in Nellore district, southern coastal Andhra Pradesh, and
(b)Nellimarla Town in Vizianagaram district, northern coastal Andhra Pradesh are said to derive their names), and
Tauki is another to name of the same tree, to name a few.

Geography

Tekkali is located at . It has an average elevation of 27 meters (91 feet).

Transport

The nearest Airport is the Visakhapatnam_Airport, which is at a distance of 150 km. NH-5(chennai-kolkata) passes through the town. It is well connected with the nearest towns of nandigam, palasa, meliaputti, chapara, sompeta, mandasa, kaviti, itchapuram, narasannapeta, pathapatnam, paralakhemundi and the district capital srikakulam. Tekkali is 50 km distance from srikakulam.

There is a Railway station in the tekkali . The another nearest railway station at Naupada Jn.(NWP), on Visakhapatnam to Howrah track. Naupada Jn. is 4 km from the tekkali and has frequent transport facility.

Demography

According to The Imperial Gazetteer of India Tekkali in 1901 was a Zamindari tahsil in Ganjam district of Madras province. It lies on the coast of Bay of Bengal with an area of 275 square miles. The population was 124,626 compared with 115,553 in 1891. The tahsil consists of Tekkali town and about 350 villages. Tekkali town with a population of 7,557 is situated on the Naupada-Paralakhemundi-Gunupur broad gauge railway. Formerly the place is known as Raghunathapuram before usage of Tekkali became popular. For over a century weekly sandy day is Tuesday and it continues even now. Local Zamindar had telephone and electricity to elite houses in the early part of the 20th. century. Doctors in Satapasti family of physicians had developed and supplied patented medicine for liver related problem of infants and young children. These medicines were sold very popularly throughout India and more so locally. Earlier many medical shops used to display a board indicating that they stock Tekkali Liver Medicines.