Kadapa (alternatively spelled Cuddapah) is a city in the Rayalseema region of the south-central part of Andhra Pradesh, India . It is the district headquarters of YSR Kadapa district. As of 2011 Census of India, the city had a population of 344,893. It is located south of the Penna River. The city is surrounded on three sides by the Nallamala and Palkonda Hills lying on the tectonic landscape between the Eastern and Western ghats. Black and Red ferrous soils occupy the region. The city is nicknamed Gadapa ('threshold') since it is the gateway from the west to the sacred hills of Tirumala.