[ravib]

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

We did a Tirumal trip last Tuesday / Wednesday. No e-pass required/ asked for.
We had the darshan in 20 mins. (Entry to exit) No stopping anywhere.

I assume they are strictly checking and not allowing people above 65 years and kids below 11 years for Darshan as mentioned in the new website.
Are they stopping them at Alipiri gate itself or just before entering Rs. 300/- darshan queue?

-Ravi

[Rajesh K R]

Originally Posted by ravib

I assume they are strictly checking and not allowing people above 65 years and kids below 11 years for Darshan as mentioned in the new website.
Are they stopping them at Alipiri gate itself or just before entering Rs. 300/- darshan queue?

-Ravi

Actually, they did not check our docs at Alipiri Gate. We were also informed to keep our docs ready. Also, the vehicle checking was done in a quick manner.. all in all, we finished check point business in 5 mins and started uphill.

Maybe if they see any person who maybe above 60 or below 10 in the vehicle then they will ask the docs for proof of age

Our ID proofs were checked only at the entry point for Darshan & also at one more point in the middle where they scan the barcode on the ticket.

[ravib]

Completed a Bangalore-Tirupati-Tirumala-Bangalore same day trip for Rs. 300/- darshan.

Details of darshan are posted in below post:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post4952017 (Tirumala / Tirupati Seegradarshanam query)

Road Conditions

Short answer - Terrible/Horrible/In Shambles - DON'T EVEN THINK OF DRIVING IN DARK or RAINs or after SunSet

No matter what, we are NOT going to save time in current road conditions. Whether it is new road or old road, doesn't matter. It takes easily anywhere between 4 to 4.30 hours plus breaks.

Onward Journey
1) Started Bangalore C.V.Raman Nagar at 6.30 am and stopped at Maiya's for 30 minutes for breakfast, Tea & restroom break.
2) Was able to cover upto Chittoor Toll gate in overall 2 hours drive which is good. And after that the pain starts. It will take 2 hours from Chittoor toll gate to Tirupati and in return too.
3) After we turn left in Bangalore-Tirupati Bypass in chittoor, first couple of kms in new road are good. But then , we are greeted with a NO ENTRY board and is forced to take diversion as the New road is still under construction, However, next to the board, there is enough space for vehicles to go and i saw many vehicles entering and exiting. Google Maps was recommending this new road route via Kanipakkam. So asked the locals what is the state of the road and they said, road is good to go. So had to ignore "NO ENTRY" board and proceeded further to experiment.

This new 6L/8L road is still under construction and being layed, so "there exists a road" but we cannot drive through as gmaps is suggesting. So please don't go by Google completely. You need to take diversions via small village roads which are in bad condition , especially after rains and go via Kanipakkam temple road and then again take small village roads which is a single lane road with lot of slush and mud in sides, to join back the new road being laid. In these small village single lane roads, If there is a vehicle from opposite side, its dangerous to get into slush/mud as wheels can get stuck. So quite dangerous, and i was regretting why i took this road after rains, but i knew i was experimenting.

After driving through few kms again in new road (You also don't get a clear sense of direction you are heading to), you will be diverted again to old road that joins Chittoor-Puttalapattu road for couple of kms, which is okay.

Once you take left from Kanipakkam road towards Puttalapattu / Tirupati, the road condition worsens and is terrible till you take right from PUttalapattu towards Tirupati. But this is a short distance, so was kinda adjusting but the heavy vehicles and volume of traffic in this road, with so much pot holes makes very tough and is very time consuming. You end up driving in 30 kmph in 1st/2nd gear for many times behind a vehicle.

Once i took right, the initial few kms in that road with newly laid road is good, so i was hoping there will be good progress in road condition since my last trip on Feb 28th/Feb 29th leap day, just before covid. However, i was totally disappointed again as there is no significant proress, except for couple of bridges under construction. The worst part is the

So what we get is, too many diversions, no lane marking, opposite direction vehicles heading bang on to you, unmarked speed breakers, mix of old 2L road & new road, countless potholes and totally damaged old 2L road, too many vehicles, particularly 2 wheelers with minimum 3 people and mostly with a kid in between the seat, and a highly rash driving government/private buses.
So don't get tempted to increase the speed when you see new road as it is only for few kms before next diversion starts or a vehicle co

Imagine driving in the kind of road in dark and in rains. That's exactly what i ended up in return journey (barring rains), which i wanted to avoid while going itself. As my darshan was over little late than expected, i started at 5.45 pm from Tirumala and reached Alipiri around 6.30 pm. Followed google maps to reach the NH, but it took me all over to very bad small town roads, with water clogging and took me to join via Chandragiri. It is too dangerous to drive in dark in these roads. If it rains, with the countless potholes, its a nightmare especially in old 2L roads.

Strongly recommending to drive and reach in broad day light only.

Given my onward journey experience in under construction road , don't want to take the GMaps suggested Kanipakkam route , i ignored it (as it is dangerous to drive in dark via under construction road, small villages and there won't be any help, if something goes wrong) and stuck to old tested Puttalapattu-Chittoor road to join back Bangalore-Tirupati bypass road to join NH4 again.
OMG, though i knew bad road conditions from Tirupati road left turn off (towards chittoor) via Puttalapattu till Kanipakkam, even beyond, this road is expanded and under construction. However, we know the clear sense of direction where we are heading to at least in this road. Since i got used to driving in dark since Chandragiri all the way in dark, continued to drive in under construction road in dark till Tirupati bypass.

And then comes the "real fun". (#Sarcasm) There is literally NO ROAD between Chittoor-Tirupati by-pass start till we join NH4. With huge craters and extermely deep potholes, and so many HMV vehicles throwing huge dust with no visibility, you hate

So, don't take Tirupati by-pass and continue straight to Chittoor town, and drive further to join the road Chennai-Chittoor-Bangarupalyam by pass road.

With 6.30 pm start, Reached Nandi Food Plaza at Bangarupalayam (Phew!!!...What a relief after driving in so much bad/non-existent roads) around 8.30 pm to finish dinner and left at 9 pm and reached home at 11 pm. Phew!!!

Other Points to Note:

At Alipiri Check Post
1) Regular security checking is happening as-usual.
2) They sanitize car door handles !
3) No ticket checking or age limit checking (due to covid). Any one can travel.

At Tirumala entry/exit Checkpost
1) No time checking. The booth is dismantled and being renovated. They may start some time in couple of weeks/months.
2) No security check in the queue, just before entering Raja Gopuram during darshan.

HTH

-Ravi

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by ravib

So, don't take Tirupati by-pass and continue straight to Chittoor town, and drive further to join the road Chennai-Chittoor-Bangarupalyam by pass road.

-Ravi

I need to drive to Tirumala on 21st. I am also starting from C V Raman Nagar area. The route suggested by you was not clear to me. So, can you kindly confirm, if this is the route you are suggesting?

[ravib]

Originally Posted by kavensri

I need to drive to Tirumala on 21st. I am also starting from C V Raman Nagar area. The route suggested by you was not clear to me. So, can you kindly confirm, if this is the route you are suggesting?

Good to know you are going for darshan on 21st.

Remember there is NO GOOD ROAD for us. Its just a choice between horrible, worst, and bad roads.

Yes, i was recommending as you showed in the screenshot, with the hope that it will "not be extremely bad", but just bad (as i have not tried that route).

Alternatively you can experiment below route too, if you wish.

https://goo.gl/maps/sWnjyS8NR9UBWR3q6


One important thing i wanted to note is, if anyone is driving with a full load (4 people and luggage) hatchback of sedan with low GC, its going to be extremely difficult and damaging the car. I was able to manage with SUV with high GC, but wheel and tyres took all the brunt when i travelled.

-Ravi

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by ravib

Good to know you are going for darshan on 21st.

Hopefully I can make this time as i have already cancelled 3 times this year, for one or the other reasons.

Originally Posted by ravib

Yes, i was recommending as you showed in the screenshot, with the hope that it will be "not extermely bad", but just bad (as i have not tried that route).

Alternatively you can experiment below route too, if you wish.

https://goo.gl/maps/sWnjyS8NR9UBWR3q6

-Ravi

I will take the route that i had mentioned in my earlier message and if that route turns out to be bad, then i will take the route suggested by you while returning.
Thanks again for your response.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by kavensri

I need to drive to Tirumala on 21st. I am also starting from C V Raman Nagar area. The route suggested by you was not clear to me. So, can you kindly confirm, if this is the route you are suggesting?

Originally Posted by ravib

Good to know you are going for darshan on 21st.

Remember there is NO GOOD ROAD for us. Its just a choice between horrible, worst, and bad roads.
....
....

Ravi, if the normal route is indeed this pathetic, may I suggest this route which is only marginally longer (by about 20kms) but definitely more peaceful (better roads and less vehicles):
Bangalore - Go inside Chittoor town - Gangadhara Nellore - Pallipattu - Karveti Nagar - Puttur - NH716 - Elamandyam - Tirupati.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Hopefully I can make this time as i have already cancelled 3 times this year, for one or the other reasons.

I will take the route that i had mentioned in my earlier message and if that route turns out to be bad, then i will take the route suggested by you while returning.
Thanks again for your response.

As they say, we can't goto Tirupati as per our wish. Only when god permits, we can see him. It happens to thousands and lakhs of people. I wish you get your time and god's appoinment on Dec 21st

Originally Posted by srvm

Ravi, if the normal route is indeed this pathetic, may I suggest this route which is only marginally longer (by about 20kms) but definitely more peaceful (better roads and less vehicles):
Bangalore - Go inside Chittoor town - Gangadhara Nellore - Pallipattu - Karveti Nagar - Puttur - NH716 - Elamandyam - Tirupati.

Definitely can be tried and experimented. AFAIK, the roads are all bad due to recent rains and also Kosasthalai river overflowed during rains and damaged many roads in and around Pallipattu. But someone can try and give an update.

-Ravi

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by ravib

Definitely can be tried and experimented. AFAIK, the roads are all bad due to recent rains and also Kosasthalai river overflowed during rains and damaged many roads in and around Pallipattu. But someone can try and give an update.

-Ravi

I have my return trip planned this Saturday, will take the puttur road, will update after the trip. Let me know if any roads are closed due to the rains.

[jkrishnakj]

Can you please help with the gmap for this Puttur route ? I will be driving to Tirumala on 23rd and will use this route.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Can you please help with the gmap for this Puttur route ? I will be driving to Tirumala on 23rd and will use this route.

Here you go. This route adds up additional 20+ odd kms and time increase by 30 to 45 minutes, but if the roads are better, it is still worth to detour for goodness of our cars. It avoids all the under construction road sections from Bangalore-Tirupati bypass at chittoor, all the way till Chandragiri and also extremely bad roads.

I am aware that Chittoor town to Pallipattu is having good wide roads, but don't know how it is now after the rains. Once you join NH716, its the standard Madras to Tirupati route, so should be good to increase the speed and catch up with the time. However, again the caveat is the road condition.

Let us know how the roads are.

https://goo.gl/maps/zKVXLJR9SmrNocdh6

-Ravi

[srvm]

Originally Posted by SKC-auto

I have my return trip planned this Saturday, will take the puttur road, will update after the trip. Let me know if any roads are closed due to the rains.

SKC-auto: Did you travel on this route as planned? Are the roads in good condition after Nivar & Burevi cyclones?
A BHPian is planning to travel Bangalore-Bhubaneswar and has posted in that thread. Your inputs on latest conditions on this route will help both Tirupati and BBSR travellers. Thanks.

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by srvm

SKC-auto: Did you travel on this route as planned? Are the roads in good condition after Nivar & Burevi cyclones?
A BHPian is planning to travel Bangalore-Bhubaneswar and has posted in that thread. Your inputs on latest conditions on this route will help both Tirupati and BBSR travellers. Thanks.

I did not travel on the Puttur road, I saw red zones on Google map at 10pm friday, yesterday when travelling Google showed "Objects on the road", after travelling for 16 hours by then with a toddler, I did not take the risk where a road closure may make me travel back and forth. Do not know if I did the right choice as the actual Chittoor-Tirupati road was in horrible condition.

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by SKC-auto

Do not know if I did the right choice as the actual Chittoor-Tirupati road was in horrible condition.

I am travelling tomorrow. So, can you kindly be more elaborative on this? did you mean, the regular road (which bypasses the chittor city, which I have heard is really in bad condition) or the one which goes through the chittoor city?
Request you to suggest a route for me, based on your experience.

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by kavensri

I am travelling tomorrow. So, can you kindly be more elaborative on this? did you mean, the regular road (which bypasses the chittor city, which I have heard is really in bad condition) or the one which goes through the chittoor city?
Request you to suggest a route for me, based on your experience.

The regular road which bypasses Chittoor is in worst condition. I earlier travelled on Chittoor-Puttur-Renigunta road which is an excellent road before the rains check my review below. Now I am not sure what's the road condition of Puttur road. If you are travelling at day time and wanted to try an alternative to the regular road you may take Puttur road, where no one on this forum are sure if any small stretches were damaged due to recent rains.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post4900022 (Bangalore to Tirupati : Route Queries)