Rajahmundry or Rajamahendravaram is located on the banks of the Godavari River at an elevation of about 46 feet in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh The city has a total population of 3,40,000, a literacy rate of over 83% and serves as a municipal corporation and as the headquarters of the Rajahmundry Rural and Rajahmundry Urban mandals. It is the seventh most populous city in Andhra Pradesh where Telugu is the native and most spoken language. According to the 2011 census, the total population of the district is over 5 million, the literacy rate is over 70% and 40 percent of the districts population belong to the working age. The biggest group of workers i.e. 69 percent, are involved in the agriculture sector, 2 percent are engaged in the household industry and the remaining 29 percent are engaged in services and industry. Rajahmundry functions as one of the largest bullion markets in India and there are a large number of gold, silver and platinum shops throughout the city. The city is historically quite significant not just because it was ruled by many leading dynasties but primarily also because Telugu language is said to have originated from here, with the Telugu script and grammar evolving from the pen of the city-born poet, Nannayya, also referred to as Adi Kavi (the first poet) of Telugu. A number of freedom fighters are from Rajahmundry including Nyapathi Subba Rao and Kandukuri Veeresalingam, who participated in the first meeting of the Indian National Congress that was held in Bombay. Subba Rao, the founder of the Hindu Samaj, was one of the six founders of Indias noted English daily The Hindu. The Dutch built a fort here in 1602, which was converted into a central jail by the British in 1870. This Cultural Capital of Andhra Pradesh is also one of the major Hindu pilgrimage sites, where holy congregations called Pushkaram are held once every 12 years. The Kotilingeswar Ghat temple on the banks of Godavari river is one of the Shakti Peethas. Other sights of interest is the bridge over the River Godavari, which is considered to be one of the longest and Sir Arthur Cotton Museum, which is the only museum of civil engineering in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
