Ubalanka

Hospitality & Culture

People from Ubalanka can easily be identified by their characteristic Godavari Telugu accent. They have gained a reputation for being hospitable, polite and cultured. People from Ubalanka frequently uses a common suffix word "andi" just like a word "ji" in Hindi, which offers respect to the person corresponding to.

The Godavari Telugu accent places emphasis on respecting elders and strangers. To achieve this, people of this region normally use the grammatical forms of Telugu that convey respect which is not found in Telugu usage in other parts of the Andhra Pradesh. The educated and the young understand English and use it as a mode of communication with people outside the state.

As a rural area the people here are dependent on agriculture, and other general business besides job holders. Their way of life is more traditional in nature. Though the people here are progressive in thought, but they prefer traditional way of life. The common dressing habits are pants and shirts for men and saree for women.

Telugu is the most common language that is spoken in Ubalanka. The major form of entertainment in the village is movies. People in this region love watching movies of various kinds.

Colloquial terms used in Ubalanka

• Revu - A place on bank of the river to get onto the boats. • Godaari - River Godavari. • Lanka - Island. • Dibba/Tippa - Small piece of land formed in rivers (Small islands). • Metta - Very small islands, when grown in size referred as Tippa/Dibba. • Peta/Palem - Village/Town • Kotha - Soil erosion. • Aatu - High tide. • Potu - Low tide. • Aay - Meaning Yes • Pantu - A corruption or adoptation of word Pontoon into Telugu. It is a raft which is used to transport people and even big vehicles across the river.

Infrastructure

This Village is very well structured and maintained. All small streets will have a connection to One main street(pedda veedhi) and that street to Main road. As like any other gram panchayat it is also having clean cement roads and drainage system. Two water tanks have been arranged for the water supply across the village. with one Anganvadi, veterinary Hospital, Dist co-operative bank this village is having all facilities that a gram panchayat have to.

In earlier days like 1970 & '80s houses here were constructed with clay, bricks and gutter tiles. After the '90s all these houses are being replaced by concrete buildings. With high financial development in the village now you can find here some of the most expensive and beautiful houses with rich interior decorations and furniture.

Demographics

As per the census of India, 2011 the number of households in this village is 1935 with a total population of 7,700. Out of this 3900 are male and 3800 female.

Air

The nearest airport is located at Korukonda road, Rajahmundry, about 40 km from Ubalanka has services to Banglore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Vijayawada. Truejet , Jet Airways and Spice Jet are the airlines operating here. The nearest major airport is at Vijayawada at a distance of 170 km and Visakhapatnam at a distance of 220 km and has the services of many airline operators to major cities in the country.

Rail

The nearest railway station is at Tanuku with limited connectivity and major railway station is at Rajahmundry, about 35 km from Ubalanka has services to all major cities and towns across the country.

Road

Ubalanka is well connected to all parts of the state. NH-5 passes 2 km far from this place. With one national highway it has excellent road connectivity to all important places like Annavaram, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Banglore, Chennai, Bhubneswar, Kolkata.

Nearby places

Education

Several good educational institutes exist in Ubalanka along with Government High School with good infrastructure facilities and rich educational quality. In last few years it ranked well in both mandal and district in SSC exams. With no higher secondary education facilities in this village, students in the village depend on Ravulapalem for colleges and higher education.

Food

East Godavari is famous for traditional Andhra cuisine and Ubalanka is no different: pickles Aavakaay made from mangoes, chicken, shrimp, mutton or even fish. Some people here swear by the pungent aroma and the lingering taste of dried fish (Endu Chepa) and shrimp (Endu Royya).

Ubalanka is also one of the few areas in the entire Andhra Pradesh where Chekkarakeli aratipandu (banana)is Produced and supplied. And also famous pootarekulu is a sweet made of thin sugar wafers.

Agriculture

As a rural area the people here are dependent on agriculture, the major crops that are cultivated here are Rice, Banana, Sugercane. Along with one major canal (Pedda Kaluva) and a small canal (Chinna kaluva), the water resources are very high for the need of cultivation in this area.

Religion

People in this village are very religious and traditional. They have very strong belief in god and they do and attend all spiritual pooja's in house and as well as at temples. On Monday they go to Lord Shiva temple, on Thursday's to sai baba temple and on Saturdays to Lord Venkateswara Swamy Temple.

Some famous temples located here are:

Festivals

Majority of the people in this village are Hindus, so they celebrate all Hindu festivals in a traditional way. Deepavali(Diwali), Dusheera, Ugadi( Telugu New Year) and major & big festival Sankranthi(Pongal). Celebrating sankranthi as a 3-day festival with first day as Bhogi, second day as Sankranthi and third day as Kanuma. On third day the village goddess (Grama devatha) Sri Mahalakshmi utsavam will be done with roaming around the main streets of village along with Garaga("Garaga" a specially decorated bronze monument) carried by persons on their head and cultural activities beside. All people in the village take the blessings of the goddess and they feel that it brings happiness and rich health and wealth to their families.

Castes

So many castes are found in this village, but all live like one family under different roofs. Living in an area where caste is given a prominent place without having any hesitations or quarrels in the village is an example for the nature and kindness of the people here.

Some Major castes found in Ubalanka: