Andhra Pradesh to host first ever full moon festival

The first ever full moon festival called the Punnami Orvakal Festival will be hosted in Andhra Pradesh by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) and is expected to attract many tourists. The festival is a three-day affair and the APTDC has plans of making it an annual event. The festival will be hosted at Orvakal, which is around 215 km from Hyderabad and is popular for its rock formations that are claimed to be three million years old. It would be a very spectacular view for the tourists when the full moon will be visible from the rocks. G Gopalakrishna, regional director of APTDC said that they have pitched up tents for the tourists to have a wonderful experience of staying under the full moon. The government has lent 200 acres of its land around the rock formations for the festival which will include live performances by award-winning singers besides hot-air balloon rides, rock climbing, indoor bungee trampoline and rappelling.  Around 10,000 tourists are expected to visit the moonlight festival. Tourists can also drive to a number of other locations like pre-historic rock paintings at Ketavaram, Belum Caves and Gandikota Fort which are within a two to three-hour drive.