[pypkmsrikanth]

The Mr. & Mrs Idli at Palamaner is a decent join to break for at about two hours from Bangalore

[sriturl]

New observations -
For food, A new upscale food court is open right opposite to Vasudev Adiga's/CCD on the left side going towards Tirupati (far end of Kolar by pass)
It has Maiyas, Dominos, McD etc.
Facilities(toilets, separate feeding rooms for babies etc) are great.

For fuel, Reliance bunks are open. One near Hoskote, one some where around palamaneru (both left side towards tirupati), another on the other side of bangarupalem (right side towards tirupati)

Chittoor-tirupati stretch of highway is not that great as it used to be. Some where after Chittoor, this stretch of highway is being repaired, and looks like being slightly expanded.
For those who have seen night mares of Chittoor by pass, its far better now.

[hillsnrains]

Originally Posted by rish27

- Has some one visited the 'Venkateswara Zoo',

Sorry for late reply.

Zoo is maintained quite nicely and worth visiting, especially if you have kids (two Giraffe's are there).
There you can hire a battery operated car (similar to ones we see in golf clubs, hospitals etc.) or you can drive your own car inside the zoo (after paying little extra charges). I prefer later option, you can roam at your convenience.

[rish27]

Thank you for helping me out with the itinerary.

Nothing new to report but yes a few things we did,observed and accompalished.

- Whilst going to Tirupati took our break at highway star, just ahead of Kolar; was pleasantly surprised at the facility with clean rest rooms, general hygiene and ofcourse good food outlets i.e. McD, Maiyyas, Baskin, Dominos etc.

- Zoo is definitely worth a visit. They also have a lion safari. Importantly you can take your car inside, or take a golf cart for a minimum charge.

- Marasa Sarovar was good, and the hotel kept its name. 'Word of Caution' - If you are visiting this property, please do not use Gmaps or any form of GPS. It routes you to a different, unknown road, which will take above average time for you to reach. Please select the way thru the 'Grand World' road opposite to the HP fuel pump.

Last but the best of all was our Darshan. It was simply 'Majestic' irrepective of a huge crowd gathered.

Thanks
Rish

[aroonanand]

Dear all,

Am driving to Tirumala from Bangalore this weekend and need some tips:

1. Route: Based on the earlier posts, I guess the best route is Bangalore - Hoskote - Kolar - Chittoor - Tirupati. What's the condition of the road? I believe it is 4 lane till Kolar and then a 2 lane road till Tirupati. Would ~4.5-5.0 hours be good to hit Tirupati? I will start from Whitefield and therefore can hit Old Madras Road quickly

2. I intend to leave home by 630 - 700 AM and guess that Highway Star beyond Kolar is the best place for a breakfast and clean restrooms

3. I have a darshan on Monday morning at Tirumala and intend to drive in my own car. Any tips / pointers that I should keep in mind? Based on posts on this thread and elsewhere, I understand that

- the ghat roads are one way, as in separate road to go up and another one to come down, and hence nothing to worry about narrow bends and oncoming traffic

- Minimum time restriction of 28 mins to go up and 40 to come down, to encourage sedate driving, else face fines

- Is anyone aware of parking facilities on Tirumala? My darshan is through the Supatham gate, so are parking facilities available closeby?

- I have to report at Supatham gate by 10 AM, i am thinking of starting from Tirupati downhill by 8 AM to buffer enough time for security checks, parking, walking etc. Would this be sufficient?

Anything else that I should be aware of? Thanks

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Dear all,

Am driving to Tirumala from Bangalore this weekend and need some tips:

1. Route: Based on the earlier posts, I guess the best route is Bangalore - Hoskote - Kolar - Chittoor - Tirupati. What's the condition of the road? I believe it is 4 lane till Kolar and then a 2 lane road till Tirupati. Would ~4.5-5.0 hours be good to hit Tirupati? I will start from Whitefield and therefore can hit Old Madras Road quickly

2. I intend to leave home by 630 - 700 AM and guess that Highway Star beyond Kolar is the best place for a breakfast and clean restrooms

3. I have a darshan on Monday morning at Tirumala and intend to drive in my own car. Any tips / pointers that I should keep in mind? Based on posts on this thread and elsewhere, I understand that

- the ghat roads are one way, as in separate road to go up and another one to come down, and hence nothing to worry about narrow bends and oncoming traffic

- Minimum time restriction of 28 mins to go up and 40 to come down, to encourage sedate driving, else face fines

- Is anyone aware of parking facilities on Tirumala? My darshan is through the Supatham gate, so are parking facilities available closeby?

- I have to report at Supatham gate by 10 AM, i am thinking of starting from Tirupati downhill by 8 AM to buffer enough time for security checks, parking, walking etc. Would this be sufficient?

Anything else that I should be aware of? Thanks

Till AP/KA border it is a 4 lane road. The moment you enter AP it is
very good 2 lane road.
For food you have options like Adigas that comes on your right when you drive towards Tirupathi
Also after completing your darshan of Lord balaji, do make it a point to visit Tiruchanoor (Goddess Padmavathi shrine). Ideally one should finish the darshan of Goddess first before having darshan of the lord in Tirumala.

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Till AP/KA border it is a 4 lane road. The moment you enter AP it is
very good 2 lane road.
For food you have options like Adigas that comes on your right when you drive towards Tirupathi
Also after completing your darshan of Lord balaji, do make it a point to visit Tiruchanoor (Goddess Padmavathi shrine). Ideally one should finish the darshan of Goddess first before having darshan of the lord in Tirumala.

Thanks. I intend to do Tiruchanoor on Sunday evening before the main darshan on Monday morning. Any idea on the Ghat roads or parking at Tirumala?

[sriturl]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Thanks. I intend to do Tiruchanoor on Sunday evening before the main darshan on Monday morning. Any idea on the Ghat roads or parking at Tirumala?

Ghat road is one directional traffic. two different ghats for up and down.
While coming down, even if you drive at slowest speed, you will reach in 30 mins. They factor in a halt at the Hanuman statue while coming down, so better stop there.

Not sure if you are staying up hill, parking is perfectly safe all over including common parking areas.
For darshan, I am assuming you have made booking for the 300 rs special darshan. If yes, best place to park is near museum, and its a 100-200 mts walk to entrance.
Alternatively, if you can park near annadanam (meals) complex, it will be closer to the exit. (main entrance of temple)

Just to add - There is no paid parking, it is just normal parking up the hill.

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by sriturl

Not sure if you are staying up hill, parking is perfectly safe all over including common parking areas.
For darshan, I am assuming you have made booking for the 300 rs special darshan. If yes, best place to park is near museum, and its a 100-200 mts walk to entrance.
Alternatively, if you can park near annadanam (meals) complex, it will be closer to the exit. (main entrance of temple)

Just to add - There is no paid parking, it is just normal parking up the hill.

Thanks a bunch; I am staying downhill at Fortune and will drive up for the darshan. I have booked the Kalyanotsavam seva for which I have been asked to report to the Supatham gate. Will google to see where this is and what's the best place to park

[Makin Rulesz]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Dear all,

Am driving to Tirumala from Bangalore this weekend and need some tips:

2. I intend to leave home by 630 - 700 AM and guess that Highway Star beyond Kolar is the best place for a breakfast and clean restrooms

Highway Star is your best option for the breakfast stop. I have stopped there yesterday for lunch and it has all the facilities for a highway pit stop: super clean washrooms, ample parking, kids play area and decent food options. As of now Maiyas, McD, Dominos and B&R, along with one juice center are open and many more are getting ready.
To reach here, it took me around 45 minutes drive from Hoskote, so you can calculate further based on your starting point.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by Makin Rulesz

Highway Star is your best option for the breakfast stop. I have stopped there yesterday for lunch and it has all the facilities for a highway pit stop: super clean washrooms, ample parking, kids play area and decent food options. As of now Maiyas, McD, Dominos and B&R, along with one juice center are open and many more are getting ready.
To reach here, it took me around 45 minutes drive from Hoskote, so you can calculate further based on your starting point.

Yes, it is a good place to stop. Its like a food court and agree it has super clean rest rooms, and ample parking space. Food is bit expensive, but that is how it is in other restaurants too.

Here is the actual gmaps location and it is bang opposite to Vasudev adigas restaurant on the other side.

https://goo.gl/maps/aEXVb1eGmaR2

-Ravi

[aroonanand]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my queries - I finished my weekend trip to Tirumala and here are some comments

- Started from Bangy from Whitefield around 730 AM and could reach Tirupati by 1245 PM, including a pitstop for breakfast at Highway Star. Good food and super clean restrooms (they also have shower rooms, business lounge etc) at par with airport standards.

- Amazing toll road till a little beyond Mulbagal (~100-110 kms from Bangalore) post which it becomes a 2 lane highway. Road condition is good and a few small speed breakers without any markers beyond Chittoor byepass, but a pain to overtake slow moving trucks. I encountered high truck traffic on the onward leg on Sunday. Last 10-15 kms before Tirupati is again 4 lane and butter smooth. There is a railway crossing where the gate was closed for a train and hence there was traffic build up for a few mins

- Ghat road from Tirupati to Tirumala is a breeze and even novices should find it easy to go, as the road is 2 lane and is one way. With normal driving, I could finish uphill in 28 mins. The computers at the toll plaza at Alipiri went kaput and hence we had to wait 10-15 mins before they issued manual passes for us to proceed

- Free parking was easily available at Tirumala. I had entry from Supatham gate so parked opposite Museum and Supatham entrance was 10-15 mins walk.

- Post darshan, realized that the exit was on a different side and was ~1.5 kms by walk to Museum, so was advised to take the free Tirumala bus to reach the museum. Managed to find a bus stop and the ride took ~10 mins to Museum. Had lunch at Hotel Saarangi - good ambience and tasty food

- Return drive to Tirupati from Tirumala was also easy, though there are ~35 hair pins, the one way traffic makes it easy. APSRTC buses are super annoying, always honking to try to overtake and once they do, they dont move. Best is to ignore them and drive at your pace of convenience. Stopped at the Hanuman deity for few mins and the overall drive from Tirumala to Alipiri at a very leisurely pace took ~38 mins

- We started from Tirupati around 6 PM and managed to reach Whitefield by 1115 PM, including a 30 min dinner break at Adigas (opposite Highway Star). Clean but not as good as Highway Star. I found traffic was lighter on the way back, perhaps as it was late and hence minimal 2/3 wheeler traffic. I tailed a KaSRTC Airavat for ~40-45 mins on the narrow highway - the bus served as a pilot vehicle for me and shielded me from glaring high beams on opposite and ensured there was no one in the opposite side trying to push me off the road during an overtake maneuver !

- The short distance private buses are the most arrogant drivers in these narrow highways, always trying to make overtake moves without any consideration for vehicles in the opposite side. They think with their headlights on, the morons can do anything and all vehicles should give them way ! On the hills, APSRTC takes the cake for the most irritating driving, trying to honk when there is no need and trying to make their presence felt (as if their screeching brakes which have not been lubricated for years, or grunting Tata engines wont alert drivers a mile away of their presence)

- Darshan itself was good (we had booked the Kalyanotsavam and hence everything was quite orderly till we finished the darshan) however getting out of the temple was a mess. Total chaos after people finish darshan and a lot of pushing / shoving to collect the prasadam. I wish the TTD puts some staff to control the crowd even on the way out, the same way they do on the way in.

[jkrishnakj]

We ( my wife, my son and I ) had a quick round trip to Tirupati. Surprisingly, the whole trip was planned only last week and i was really in awe when i saw the Rs 300 ticket available for the 30th late noon.

Our darshan was at 2 pm from the ATC parking area on the 30th. We left Bangalore ( JP Nagar ) at 7.30 am.

The ORR was a breeze and within 30 minutes we were up the KR puram steel bridge. Sedate driving continued and we halted at Vasudev Adigas's for a sumptuous break fast.

Food was good there , but the service was really slow to our liking. It took for ever for them to get a Rawa dosa and we spent almost 45 minutes over breakfast.

A non-stop sedate drive continued. The drive was slow and steady, largely due to the Two wheelers and truck traffic till the Chitoor Bypass. It was a pain at some places, and it wasnt easy to overtake the trucks, especially, if they both are driving with no gaps between them.

We finally breezed thru the Chitoor bypass, which was a good road. We then were on time ( 12.15 PM ) to reach our hotel to check in at Tirupati, at Marasa Sarovar. Check in was quick. Dumped our luggage, changed over the mandated dress code and we were on way to the Tirumala. The security was a breeze , and that gave a smile to my face, thinking that the crowd on top is less.

The 28 minutes mandated to go up was really a pain. You get tempted to push, but then are reminded about the time of 28 mins. We didnt halt anywhere, and i really drove up very slow and was happy to note when the display turned Green at the exit scanning junction.

I followed google maps to locate ATC car park and it took me around in circles. Finally, i relied on the tried and tested GPS, i.e. ask locals and managed to get a nice car park amidst some heavy rains. We stayed inside the car for about 12 mins and rains stopped, for us to do a brisk walk to the entry of Rs 300 special darshan. We literally sprinted all the way across to the X-ray and ticket scanning. No crowds at all. The sprint lasted till compartment 26, where we got locked in for 14 mins.

We then started the slow walk in the Q's to the main sanctom. We had a really quick darshan and all the pushes and shoves were forgotten when we had a glimpse of lord balaji. All in 90 mins flat. Wow ! The Q at the Ladoo counter wasnt there at all, and that was again a pleasant surprise.

The only thing i always suffer is to get back to my car park after darshan. I always lose my way, and with no mobile phones and GPS, its a bit of a struggle to walk back.

We went back to the room around 5.45 pm and relaxed the rest of the evening. The next morning was in visiting Kalahasti and Padmavati temples.

We left Tirupati at 12 noon, stopped at the Star food courts for a meal in between, and reached JP nagar around 5 PM.

Overall, yet another good trip to Tirupati. Good roads, better food options this time and a quicker darshan made it all the more memorable.

[suresh_gs]

Folks

I had been to Tirupati on Oct 31st with my family. The darshan time I booked was at 6 PM. I left my home in Bommanahalli by 6 30 AM . As I neared Kamat Upachar hotel to stop for breakfast, guess what THE POWER STEERING FAILED TO WORK IN MY CAR all of a sudden.
May be there was leak that went unnoticed. Moreover the car was serviced for 60K kms on Oct 13th. All said and done, I found it very tough to drive as my tyres are 165/65 R13, 10 mm increase in width compared to stock tyres.
I decided to continue my journey after breakfast and knowing the limitation of the car, i did not indulge in aggressive driving or overtaking.
The Tirumala ghat roads were a treat to drive and I found it a bit tough while negotiating the steep hair pin bends. I booked accomodation in Sri Vyasaraja Mutt through Bangalore one and reached the Mutt by 12 45 PM.
Then we proceeded to Varahaswamy guest house to get my 2 sons tonsured. After this we had lunch at Hotel Woodside and got back to the room to change the dress to the traditional one for adults.
We entered the queue at ATC car parking area b y 4 45 PM and we were out by 5:50 PM.
I had ample time to have darshan of the lord. He was dressed in Diamond and I believe this happens yearly once.
After collecting laddoos, we got back to the room. We had dinner at Hotel Vikas near to the room.
Next morning we checked out at around 8 AM and proceeded to Tiruchanoor. I took tickets for special darshan (Rs 100 each) and came out of the sannidhi by 10 30 AM
All in all we had a satisfying darshan of the lord and his consort.
For the return trip to Bangalore, I observed considerable lorry traffic and taking this point into consideration that overtaking will be tough due to gradient, I decided to come via Hosur road.
For this after reaching the intersection of NH4 and Tirupati by pass road, I took a left instead of a right. Then I took the diversion to Chennai and proceeded on this road for some distance, till I reached one more fork showing the diversion to Chennai and Vellore.
I took the road leading to Vellore via Katpadi before touching the GQ. Stopped for lunch at Sai sangeet near Vaniyambadi and reached home by 6 PM

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Then we proceeded to Varahaswamy guest house to get my 2 sons tonsured.

Thanks for the update Suresh

Even I will be travelling to Tirupati on Nov 26th, couple of questions for you

1. I have to get my 10 month old son tonsured, can you please send me the exact location of this place and is there any time-frame to get this done?

2. I have booked accommodation at Srinivasam in Tirupati and have booked special darshan for 12PM, so if I go around 10 to Tirumala, is 2 hrs sufficient to get my son tonsured and enter the special darshan queue.