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Tirupati and Tirumala

The holy temple town of Tirupati houses the world`s richest temple. The presiding deity at the hilltop shrine of Tirumala is Lord Venkateswara, who is also worshipped as `Balaji` by North Indians.

With at least 40,000 pilgrims visiting the shrine on even lean days, it is the busiest shrine in the world. While Tirumala and Tirupati are mentioned in the same breath, there is a clear demarcation: While the hill where the shrine is situated is called Tirumala, the town at the base of the hill is called Tirupati.

Tirumala itself is one of the seven peaks of the Seshachalam hill range. This has led to it being compared to Rome, which is built on seven hills.
The seven peaks of the Seshachalam hills are believed to represent the seven hoods of Adi Sesha, the magnificent snake on which Lord Vishnu reclines.

Highlights

Sri Kalahasti
Situated 36 km from Tirupati, is Sri Kalahasti. The presiding deity at the shrine is Lord Shiva who is represented in the form of a 'Vayu linga'.

Legend has it that the linga was worshipped by a spider (Sri), which built its web over it, a snake (Kala), who placed a gem on the linga and an elephant (Hasti), who washed the linga with water. The name of this place is derived from this legend.

Chandragiri Fort
Built on a huge rock, Chandragiri was a base of the Vijayanagar royal families. The Raja and Rani Mahal there, are remnants of the royal splendour of the Vijayanagar empire.

The sound and light show in the evenings, draws crowds of tourists.

Getting There

By Air
At the time of writing flights to Vijayawada had ceased.

By Road
The enormous bus stand on Bandar Rd is 1.5Km from the train station. It`s well organised with dormitories, waiting rooms, a cloakroom and restaurant. Signs here are in Telugu, but for non-Telugu speakers there is a helpful inquiry desk.

By Rail
Vijayawada is on the main Chennai to Calcutta and Chennai to Delhi lines and all express trains stop here. The quickest train from Vijayawada to Chennai is the Coromandel Express (Rs 135/471 in 2nd/1st class, seven hours). The same train to Calcutta (20 hours) costs Rs 280/992.