According to 2011 census, it has a population of more than 150,000 in the town and more than 200,000 in the metropolitan area. The town is a Grade I municipal corporation and is located 51 kilometres (32 mi) away from the district capital, Kadapa.
Places of worship
Temples
- Sivalayam: Located at the centre of the town. The shiva linga in this temple may have been worshipped by sage Agasthya, so this temple is also called Agastheshwaralayam. This temple is Maha-Kavi Saraswati Putra Putta Parthi Narayanacharya wrote his famous work "Shiva Tanadavam" in this temple. The main festival celebrated is Vijayadashami (Dasara). There is another smaller Sivalayam temple located in the outskirts of Narasimhapuram and Pedda Settipalli villages.
- Kanyaka Parameswari Aalayam (Ammavari Shala): Located on Yerraguntla Road.
- Rameshwaram Temple: Possibly the oldest temple in Proddatur and is also called "Dakshina Kasi". There is a saying that the people who visit Kasi should visit Rameswaram in Proddatur, to complete their holy journey.
- Ayyappa Swamy Temple: Beautiful Temple located on the bank of Penna river near Palakendhram Milk Factory (PMF) Quarters.
- Chenna Kesava Swamy Temple: Ancient temple located in Rajabata Veedhi near Old Market.
- Datta Peetham a.k.a Satyanarayana Swamy Temple: Located in Y.M.R colony. Temple has also the dieties of YogiRaja Vallabha Datta, Siva Panchayatana, Goddess Chamundeswari, Lord Hanuman and newly installed Yoga Naarasimha and Sudarshana idols. The Sudarshana idol is first of its kind in Andhra Pradesh. Avadhoota Datta Peetham (Mysore) took over the temple responsibilities in late 1980s.
- Sai Baba Temples: One located in Rameswaram road and another in Y.M.R colony.
- Lord Venkateshwara Temple: Located in Bollavaram on the way to Jammalamadugu. This temple got its recognition after reconstruction. During Pongal, many cultural activities take place at this temple.
- Nookalola Gudi: Located in Sastry Nagar on the way to Jammalamadugu. Rajarajeswari devi and Lord Venkateswara are the deities in this temple. Nookalola is the family name of the key devotee involved.
- Sri Ramalayam Temple: Located in Dwaraka Nagar (Acharla colony) on the way to Saraswathi Vidyamandir road.
- Sri Chowdeswari Temple: Located in Sri Venkateswarla peta in between Subbareddy road and Gita asramam road.
- Pandu Ranga Swamy Temple: Located on Mydukur road.
- Kodanda Ramaswamy Temples: One located in Vasanthapeta and another in Dwarakanagar (Acharla colony).
- Narasimha Swami Temple: Historical temple located in Narasimhapuram village, 5 km from Proddatur. During every Sankranthi festival and Narasimha Jayanthi, bhajans and events take place at this temple. It got its recognition after renovation in 2001. This village is also famous for Silk sarees.
- Veera Brahmendra swamy temple: Located in Achari colony.
Mosques
- Mecca Masjid: Possibly the oldest mosque in Proddatur and located on Power house road
- Noorani Masjid
- Siddique Masjid
- Nazurullah Math Masjid
- Khadar Hussain Masjid
- Mohammadiya Masjid
- Islampur Masjid
- Line Masjid
- Modempalli Masjid
- Ahale Hadees Masjid
- Jamiya Masjid
- Matti Masjid
- Dastagiri peta Masjid
Churches
- The Penthe kostu machine church, Auto nagar
- Shalom church, Gandhi Road
Higher Education Institutions
- Yogi Vemana University College of Engineering
- Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology
- Vignana Bharathi Institute of Technology
- Vaagdevi Institute of Technology and Science
- Gowthami Institute of Technology & Management for Women
- Balaji Institute of Technology & Science
Hospitals
- Priya Bhavana hospitals, Medinova Complex,Nehru Street,
- Prasad Reddy nursing home (Surgeon) at junction of Gandhi Road and Sreeramula Pet
- Naga Dastagiri Reddy hospital (Surgeon) in Holmespet
- Ramalinga Reddy Hospital (Pediatrician) in Holmespet
- Lakshmi Narasaiah Hospital (Surgeon) in Holmespet
- Sailaja nursinghome (Dr. N. Ranga Reddy - Pediatrician) in Subbareddy Nagar
- Swarup Eye Hospital and Laser Center (Dr. Ramamuni Reddy - Opthalmology, Dr. Swarup Reddy - Ophthalmologist, Dr. Dhana Lakshmi - Gynecology) on T.B Road
- Kathya nursing home (Dr. Naga Lakshmi - Gynecologist) on SWAYAM SEVAK STREET
- Govt General Hospital with 300 bed facility and Emergency Care on Yerraguntla Road
- Government Maternity Hospital (Kaanpula asupathri) in Sreeramula Pet
- Govt Hospital near S.C.N.R. Govt College for Arts in Devanga Pet
- Thyagaraja Reddy Hospital located on Jammalamadugu Road
- Abhilash Nethra Vaidyashala (Ophthalmologist) on Gandhi road
- Mahesh Hospital in Godown street (Giddangi Veedhi), Gandhi Road
- Sreekanth Children's Hospital in Vijayanagaram Street, Gandhi Road
- Padma Nursing Home (Dr. Koduru Prabhakar Reddy - Pediatrician) in Vedurla Bazaar
- The Dental Clinic (Dr. Sundarrami Reddy, Dr. Varun Reddy) in Sreeramula Pet
- Mahir Dental Hospital in Sreeramula Pet
- Latha Nursing Home
- Gautam Hospital in Gandhi Road near Nanda Medicals
- Sai Krupa Hospital (Dr. Ravi Chandra Reddy, General Med and Cardilogist on Geeta Ashram Road
- Ravi Nursing Home (Dr. Rajaram Mohan Reddy), Opp. SBI on Gandhi Road
Trivia
- This is the second largest town in Kadapa District.
- Legend states that Lord Rama installed Lord Shiva's Linga form of deity from the sand in the bank of Penna River. A temple was built over it and that area was named Rameswaram. Even today, the hand prints on the Shiva Linga is believed to be of Lord Rama.
- Dasara (Vijayadashami) is a special festival here with over a lakh of people visiting the town to witness the celebrations. It comes as the second city in South India to celebrate Dasara so grandly while Mysore comes first.
- It has the biggest Kanyaka Parameswari Temple in India.
- It is well known for its gold business and is also known as second Mumbai for this reason.
- It is also known for faction groups and grenades.
- It is known for Shukur Biryani, Irani Tea, Tanged Palley sweets (made using a special ghee)http://tangedupallisweets.yolasite.com/, variety of dosas and cold drink called sharbath (made from the roots of a tree).
- The veterinary college here happens to be the second one in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
- This is an industrial town with chemical and cement industries (Bharathi, Zuari, Dalmia, ICL).
- A major thermal power station, Rayalaseema Thermal Power Project (RTPP), is located close by.
- Both Proddatur town and metropolitan area have a near-perfect sex ratio of 1001 and 999 respectively.
- Origin of the town's name: The origins of the town’s name is not definitely known, but there are 4 possible origins:
- Sanskrit origin – The belief is that Sankara sent down a small flow of water from his rounded plaits (Jatas) where he stored the Holy Ganges, to this town of “Bhradhnapuri” which later was named Proddatur meaning almost the same in Telugu. Bradhna is Sanskrit for proddu in Telugu, which means Surya.
- Lord Rama’s stopping place – According to one legend, the origin of this town’s name is related to the great Indian epic Ramayana. The legend states that Lord Rama was on his way back to his homeland Ayodhya from Lanka after killing the demon Ravana. At the onset of dusk, Lord Rama decides to halt on the river bed of the river Penna. At sunset (which translates to poddu in Telugu, the local language) he asked his wife Sita to find a place for them to rest for the night. It is believed that this placed was henceforth called Podduturu or Proddatur.
- ”Bush Town” – Another possible origin of the town’s name is from the large bushes which used to cover the land. In Telugu, these are known as podalu. It was, hence, named 'podalu ooru' (podalu town), which became ‘Podalakuru’, and later ‘Proddaturu’.
- Sunflowers facing the sun – Yet another possible origin relates to the sunflowers which used to be quite common in the area. Sunflowers turn to face the sun during the day and poddu thirugudu in means tuning the face around in day time. This morphed into "Proddatur".
