[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by binand

That helps. It seems on Thursdays the Seeghra Darshanam token issue starts at 9 AM; so I'm assuming if we turn up at around 7:30 AM or so we should be out by noon after the darshan?

This depends upon luck that you exit by noon. I had darshan in 45 minutes from the time we purchased Seegradarshan Tickets. But in this page itself someone spent 9 hours in queue for Seegradarshan.

My guess is you will be having quick darshan as it is weekday.

[vinay_tw]

True. It is better to choose days when you can get in early for Seegradarshanam. The wait would be longer anytime after 8 am. My personal preference is early morning by 6 am. Having said that, I have experienced quick darshan after 2 pm. So, that's an option that you can look at too.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by vinay_tw

True. It is better to choose days when you can get in early for Seegradarshanam. The wait would be longer anytime after 8 am. My personal preference is early morning by 6 am. Having said that, I have experienced quick darshan after 2 pm. So, that's an option that you can look at too.

I remember the time when AAD (Archananantara Darshanam) was available. We would go in at 4/4:30 am and be out by 6/6:30 am tops. The ticket used to be INR 200, and at the time there used to be no INR 300 service - or maybe there was very minimal overlap between the INR 300 Sudarshan and AAD. Now they have stopped AAD, else this would still be my most preferred way of obtaining the darshan.

Regards,
spadix

[binand]

Well, I had a relatively painless darshan at Tirumala, but there were other gotchas, details of which might help folks planning this trip. We were 10 people in a Force Traveller (13-seater) with a driver (our other option was to go in 2 cars which I vetoed because of my dread of night-time driving on single carriageway roads).

There were two things that threw our budget completely off-track.

1. I had not budgeted for the AP entry tax on contract carriages. It is a hefty Rs. 220 per seat - so I had to shell out close to Rs. 3000 at the Palamneru RTO checkpost.

2. I was also not aware that vehicles with > 12 seats are not allowed up to Tirumala. So we had to hire a separate vehicle (a very cramped Innova) at Rs. 1800 to take us up.

The day was known to everyone in Tirumala as a 6-hour day, but me and my wife + kids could manage a 1.5-hour darshan due to the fact that our daughter is less than 1 year old. The rest of our party stood in the line stoically for the full 6 hours.

We started from Bangalore at 6 PM of 7th, hit OMR at about 7:30 and Tirupati at 12:15 AM on the 8th. We had bookings at Hotel Sindhuri Park - a very nice hotel. Their main attraction is a 24-hour checkout system, so we could retain our rooms till we got back down from Tirumala.

In the return direction, we started at around 9PM after dinner and reached home at 1:30 AM on 9th (today).

[ravib]

Originally Posted by binand

Well, I had a relatively painless darshan at Tirumala, but there were other gotchas, details of which might help folks planning this trip. We were 10 people in a Force Traveller (13-seater) with a driver (our other option was to go in 2 cars which I vetoed because of my dread of night-time driving on single carriageway roads).

There were two things that threw our budget completely off-track.

1. I had not budgeted for the AP entry tax on contract carriages. It is a hefty Rs. 220 per seat - so I had to shell out close to Rs. 3000 at the Palamneru RTO checkpost.

2. I was also not aware that vehicles with > 12 seats are not allowed up to Tirumala. So we had to hire a separate vehicle (a very cramped Innova) at Rs. 1800 to take us up.

The day was known to everyone in Tirumala as a 6-hour day, but me and my wife + kids could manage a 1.5-hour darshan due to the fact that our daughter is less than 1 year old. The rest of our party stood in the line stoically for the full 6 hours.

We started from Bangalore at 6 PM of 7th, hit OMR at about 7:30 and Tirupati at 12:15 AM on the 8th. We had bookings at Hotel Sindhuri Park - a very nice hotel. Their main attraction is a 24-hour checkout system, so we could retain our rooms till we got back down from Tirumala.

In the return direction, we started at around 9PM after dinner and reached home at 1:30 AM on 9th (today).

Thanks for very useful information. Surprised to hear per seat AP entry tax which is extremely expensive.

Rs. 1800 for trip from tirupati to tirumala is also way too expensive. You could have opted for 2 jeeps in which they charge about Rs. 40 or 50 per person, which would have worked out cheaper.

-Ravi

[binand]

Originally Posted by ravib

Rs. 1800 for trip from tirupati to tirumala is also way too expensive. You could have opted for 2 jeeps in which they charge about Rs. 40 or 50 per person, which would have worked out cheaper

Hmm. I just picked a cab from the hotel's travel desk. Would these jeeps stay with you at Tirumala, ferry you around locally, and bring you back down at the end of the day?

[ravib]

Originally Posted by binand

Hmm. I just picked a cab from the hotel's travel desk. Would these jeeps stay with you at Tirumala, ferry you around locally, and bring you back down at the end of the day?

Oh, if you picked from hotel's travel desk, that is why they charged spencer rate.

Its hardly about 30 km drive one way, so if you can bargain the Jeep guys can ferry around in tirumala for little more price. I would not say, its better to keep the jeep with you at tirumala. You will get lots of Jeeps in tirumala itself to see local sightseeing or to drop back to tirupati, so no point in holding a single jeep guy.

What I used to do is, after darshan is over in Tirumala, I used to hire a jeep at tirumala to go directly to tiruchanur/alamelumangapuram and then drop back to Tirupati at our hotel, which always works out cheaper when we are more than 5 people.

-Ravi

[binand]

Originally Posted by ravib

Its hardly about 30 km drive one way, so if you can bargain the Jeep guys can ferry around in tirumala for little more price. I would not say, its better to keep the jeep with you at tirumala. You will get lots of Jeeps in tirumala itself to see local sightseeing or to drop back to tirupati, so no point in holding a single jeep guy.

Well, I felt it was prudent to keep the hotel cab around. Since we went for darshan in different batches via different queues, we used the cab driver (rather, his mobile) for coordination. I was not really aware of conditions up the hill.

In any case, if you say the Jeeps would charge Rs. 40-50 per person one way, and if we were 10 people, we'd have paid about Rs. 800-1000 plus whatever the Jeep would charge for local rounds, is it not? Say a total of Rs. 120 per person, or Rs. 1200 total?

[rakirank]

Is there any improvement in the Chittoor bye pass road?

I understand that this stretch of road is pretty bad. Some have suggested that it may be better to drive through chittoor town to aviod this.

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by rakirank

Is there any improvement in the Chittoor bye pass road?

I understand that this stretch of road is pretty bad. Some have suggested that it may be better to drive through chittoor town to aviod this.

Fifteen days back when we drove on tis stretch, it was as bad as ever. I did not see any activity to suggest that the stretch will be impoved. It may be as bad as it was.

[vinay_tw]

Originally Posted by rakirank

Is there any improvement in the Chittoor bye pass road?

Please avoid this stretch at any cost. It is real hell to travel on this road. The potholes at some places are so huge that they can even topple your car. Not worth the effort to save a few miles. Please go through Chittor town albeit you add additional distance and time.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by vinay_tw

Please avoid this stretch at any cost. It is real hell to travel on this road. The potholes at some places are so huge that they can even topple your car. Not worth the effort to save a few miles. Please go through Chittor town albeit you add additional distance and time.

A couple of points I want to share from my trip through this route:
1) Both Shree Shanthi Sagar (2 kms before AP Border; Nangli Village) and the AP Tourism Hotel just before Palamaner (Madanappalle turn-off to left) are good options for food break
2) If you are in a mood to do some country-side driving on good roads that pass through some famous & healthy mangroves and palmgroves on either sides, breathing some fresh air enjoying good scenaries, forget both Chittoor town and Chittoor bye-pass. Instead, try my favourite route of Palamaner->Bangarupalam(left)->Aragonda(15kms)->Kanipakam(15kms)->Putalapattu(about 20kms after Chittoor)->Tirupati turn-off. There is no additional distance if you check on your odo even though googlemaps show an additional single-digit increase.

Aragonda being famous for Hilltop Anjaneya temple & Apollo Hospital and Kanipakam famous for Ganesha temple have better road conditions as well.

[vinay_tw]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

forget both Chittoor town and Chittoor bye-pass. Instead, try my favourite route of Palamaner->Bangarupalam(left)->Aragonda(15kms)->Kanipakam(15kms)->Putalapattu(about 20kms after Chittoor)->Tirupati turn-off. There is no additional distance if you check on your odo even though googlemaps show an additional single-digit increase.

Aragonda being famous for Hilltop Anjaneya temple & Apollo Hospital and Kanipakam famous for Ganesha temple have better road conditions as well.

Thanks Ajith, I will try out this option on my next trip. This route sounds interesting and it has some temples on the way as well. Great way to avoid the Chittoor bypass and the town.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

Aragonda being famous for Hilltop Anjaneya temple & Apollo Hospital and Kanipakam famous for Ganesha temple have better road conditions as well.

Thanks, I was never able to remember the name Aragonda and would always refer to it as the hilltop Hanuman temple place.

The route you have posted is a beautiful option for those who can afford a slightly extended trip and cover all 8 major temples in this circuit (Tirumala main, Govindarajuswamy temple in Tirupati town, Padmavathi ammavaaru at Tiruchanoor, Srikalahasti, Srinivasamangapuram, Talakona, Kanipakkam, Aragonda) in one trip.

Regards,
Prashanth

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by vinay_tw

Thanks Ajith, I will try out this option on my next trip. This route sounds interesting and it has some temples on the way as well. Great way to avoid the Chittoor bypass and the town.

As mentioned in the previous post, this is a great choice of a route to
cover all 8 major temples in this circuit (Tirumala main, Govindarajuswamy temple in Tirupati town, Padmavathi ammavaaru at Tiruchanoor, Srikalahasti, Srinivasamangapuram, Talakona, Kanipakkam, Aragonda) in one trip with an overnight stay at Tirupati/Tirumala.

Each P2P in the stretch is about 15 kms apart and will take 15 mins only. So Bangarupalam(left)->Aragonda(15kms)->Kanipakam(15kms)->Putalapattu(15kms) can be covered in about 45 minutes. And passing through Chittoor will be about 40 kms for Bangarupalam->Putalapattu stretch. You may look at googlemaps and realize the comparative analysis without even considering the hell of Chittoor bye-pass and the unpredictably traffic-prone Chittoor town as well as Chittoor->Puttalapattu stretch(being an overlay of 2 main highway roads from Chittoor, one to Tirupati and the other to Kadapa/Kurnool/Hyderabad & beyone).

There is no chance of getting lost in this route as well. Once you take left from Bangarupalam, just continue straight on the main road for about 12-13 kms till you reach a T-junction with a n Anjaneya/Hanuman statue on the LHS. Take the right road here and in about 1-2 km, you will reach the entrance arch of the hilltop temple on the LHS. Left road (with a nominal entry charge) is to ascend towards the temple and straight road is Aragonda->Chittoor road. Continue straight and immediately you will cross Aragonda town that has the famous Apollo Hospital and the popular Apollo School of Nursing, both on the RHS. After about 7-8 kms, you will see a major left road with some good signage board with directions and distance(I think, it was 2 kms) to Kanipakkam. Take left for Kanipakkam/Putalappattu and the straight road goes to Chittoor only. In a couple of minutes after you take left, you will the arch for Kanipakkam on your LHS. From here, if you go straight for about 2-3 kms, you will get right turn where most of private pilgrimage vehicles will be taking and that is the Kanipakkam->Putalappattu->Tirupati road. Take right here and in about 10 kms, you will join the Chittoor->Putalappattu->Tirupati highway. Join the highway and in about 2-3 kms, you will get the right turn-off to Tirupati.

Hope this is clear and helpful.

Note: Aragonda is also known as Ardhagiri, and both the name mean the same thing, in Telugu and Sanskrit respectively. Here are a few links to help you to start planning for these 2 places:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardhagiri
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aragonda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanipakam