Eluru

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Eluru ( Telugu: ఏలూరు; formerly anglicised Ellore ) is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of the district of West Godavari and has around 214,000 inhabitants ( 2011 census ). Eluru is situated on the National Highway 5 between Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam and on the railways of the Kolkata - Chennai. The nearest airport is in Gannavaram 40 kilometers away.

The Kolleru Lake, a 245 square kilometer freshwater lake, is located near the city.

In historical times it was known as Helapuri and had a rich cultural and political history; once it was said to be the capital of the empire of Ostdekkan Vishnukundina Dynasty.

Eluru is since 1976 a bishopric of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Eluru.