One or two days is enough for most visitors. Spend a day on the Mirchi Yard, the old city temples and a plate of gongura mutton, then add a second day for the Amaravati stupa site, Mangalagiri saris and temple, or a climb up to Kondaveedu Fort.

Helium was first spotted in Guntur. During the total solar eclipse of 18 August 1868, French astronomer Jules Janssen observed the Sun from Guntur and recorded a bright yellow line in its spectrum. That line turned out to belong to a new element, later named helium.

Guntur is famous for chillies because the surrounding district grows huge amounts of them, including the long, fiery Guntur Sannam variety. The city’s Mirchi Yard is the largest chilli market yard in Asia, and much of India’s chilli exports pass through it, earning Guntur the title Chilli City of India.