[ravib]

Back from a very quick trip to Tirupati/Tirumala.

Started from C.V.Raman Nagar at 3 pm on Friday 28th Feb evening. Took the straight forward Chittoor-Puttalapattu route and reached Tirupati at 7 pm and Tiruchanoor at 7.15 pm including a 15 minute tea break. Finished darshan in Tiruchaanoor on friday and called it a day. For people those who take Rs. 100/- or Rs. 200/- darshan tickets in Tiruchanoor, please note that the process is changed and there is little more waiting time now in Tiruchanoor too in basement waiting hall (formerly it was the annadanam hall). So it takes longer than earlier to get quick darshan in Alamelumangapuram.

Road conditions are good till Palamaner. From Palamaner to Bangarupalayam bypass to Chittoor-Tirupati by-pass its quite a bumpy drive.
Once you enter the Chittoor-Tirupati bypass, then all the way till Tirupati Road construction is going on with many deviations and unmarked speed breakers. (except the old road stretch when you take left in Katpadi-Puttalapattu stretch till Kanipakkam exit).

Recommendation: Strictly avoid night driving. Its absolutely not safe and truly a nightmare to drive in the dark. If you are driving in the day time, you can take either Kanipakkam route or Chittoor route. People who hate driving in small & narrow MDR roads better stick to Chittoor route. Otherwise, who straight forward route is okay to drive in day time.
Good news is that the new road being layed from Chittoor bypass to Tirupati route goes closer via Kanipakkam and is a very very broad 6L road. Almost 50% of the road is ready and active work is going on. Once this road is opened for public, the driving time to Tirupati will come down between 3 to 3.5 hours. Currently Google Maps can't show the new road under construction, so maps are not useful if you take the Kanipakkam route.

I booked break darshan on Saturday morning 5 am reporting. After about 2 hours, was lucky to have a mesmerizing darshan in very close proximity to beautiful lord in awesome flower alankaram on leap day of 2020. Ever memorable! Totally divine and satisfying feel which is significantly different from seeing from a good distance in Rs. 300 darshan. Very difficult to explain the feel in words as it is difficult and i was weeping as we get closer when you go inside the sanctum sanctorum. OMG!

Drove down to Tirupati and after a brief rest, started return journey at 11.30 am. Traffic inside Tirupati town is messy now due to ongoing flyover construction inside the town as part of smart city development. Hit the Bangalore highway at 12 and reached Kanipakkam temple at 1.15 pm. After a very quick darshan, left Kanipakkam at 1.45 pm drove back non-stop to Bangalore and Reached C.V.Raman Nagar at 4.15 pm.

Overall, it was once again a memorable trip to see the lord.

-Ravi

[csateesh]

Originally Posted by ravib

Back from a very quick trip to Tirupati/Tirumala.

If you are driving in the day time, you can take either Kanipakkam route or Chittoor route. People who hate driving in small & narrow MDR roads better stick to Chittoor route. Otherwise, who straight forward route is okay to drive in day time.
Good news is that the new road being layed from Chittoor bypass to Tirupati route goes closer via Kanipakkam and is a very very broad 6L road. Almost 50% of the road is ready and active work is going on. Once this road is opened for public, the driving time to Tirupati will come down between 3 to 3.5 hours. Currently Google Maps can't show the new road under construction, so maps are not useful if you take the Kanipakkam route.

If you don't mind can you share the google maps link that you can roughly draw? And it is indeed good news that the road is close to Kanipakkam as it will help us reduce the detour.

Glad to hear that it is a very very very broad 6L road. Hope they have enough checks in place to prevent over speeding

[ravib]

Originally Posted by csateesh

If you don't mind can you share the google maps link that you can roughly draw?

I tried to draw it to best of my memory with RED line, but this may not be accurate. The point is that between Kanipakkam temple to Puttalapattu, google maps shows current known route. Only for initial and last stretch you drive in old road, and remaining 95% of them are in broad 6L road.

-Ravi

[audioholic]

Updates from my trip:
As I had mentioned earlier, we did a trip to Tirumala this weekend. My trips usually have a stopover in Kolar. A few short updates on the trip:

• From Bangalore to Nangli is business as usual except that there are more of barricades around Kolar and Nangli. Due to the corona virus scare the three toll booths Hoskote, Mulbagal and Nangli were empty and I just passed through the Fastag lanes without braking to halt.
• As we enter Andhra and the concrete road begins, the pace increases but the surface quality isnt so good especially in the edges of the roads. But we maintained good pace in this stretch until chittoor bypass. Stick to the middle lane especially on bridges since the right edge is a bit rough as well as not completely finished. The grade level roads are fine. The concrete road is completely done until Chittoor bypass and IIRC I only had to brake once near palamner and then Chittoor and all along I was doing a consistent 110-120.
• Chittoor bypass is being remodelled as RaviB mentioned and there is a new road being constructed for those travelling towards Tirupathi or Northwards towards Pileru. Hence, this stretch is widened only partially and later you take the old bypass which is in a pretty patchy state. This along with too much slow moving traffic is a bad stretch.
• As usual after Chittoor bypass till we take right turn at Rangampet Cross, its horrible as usual with the narrow road, loads of vehicles of all types and people trying to drive all over the road and pavement. It spoils the pleasant experience of driving till Chittoor.
• Same thing even after we turn right towards Tirupati. The road work is patchy with a lot of diversions. I will wait for the road work to complete before I would go again in this route.
• From Tirupati bypass its business as usual.

We had a pleasant darshan owing to lesser crowd and also because we had availed Arjitha Seva -Vishesha Puja. This is performed on Mondays only and tickets are limited. There is practically no wait in queue. After we report at Supatham entrance tickets are verified and we are directly led to the Kalyanotsavam mantapa with the rest of the queues stopped. There we sit for an hour while the seva is performed. Immediately after that we will be let into the temple at the Vendi Vakilu right behind the break darshan devotees. This will ensure you do not have any rush and pushing and we were able to have darshan at our leisure

• On the return leg we started from Tirumala at 11AM, descended down the ghats in 30 minute(most probably we would be fined next trip when we enter Tirumala but we dont have plans to take the same car again if things go as per plan) and reached Kolar at 230PM.
• However during return my dad was driving and within a short distance from Tirupati he got fed up of repeated gear changes, overtakes and confrontations from opposite side since people are all over the road. Hence, we chose our previous trips route and diverted via Penmuru. I have given details of the route in my earlier post here https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post4623755 (Bangalore to Tirupati : Route Queries)
• The interior route also saved time since these roads are practically empty and you can maintain consistent speeds. A part of it is narrow road but in this 11km of narrow road, we had to slow down three times due to oncoming vehicles or overtakes. Hence its a very relaxed drive instead of having to fight it out on the conventional route.
• After that it was business as usual on Chittoor bypass and then a breeze of a drive to Kolar with lesser traffic. I think the average speed and the top speed was not much different thanks to the new road and the lack of traffic.

The new road coming up between chittoor bypass and Rangampet is not complete but will make a huge difference once it is done and whoever planned this, must be applauded. All these years no one bothered to even add a shoulder to the stretch between Nangli and Chittoor and the road was so narrow. Same case with the bypass. But now we have a near six lane concrete road and a completely new way to bypass Chittoor and head straight towards Tirupati.

Originally Posted by csateesh

If you don't mind can you share the google maps link that you can roughly draw? And it is indeed good news that the road is close to Kanipakkam as it will help us reduce the detour.

Glad to hear that it is a very very very broad 6L road. Hope they have enough checks in place to prevent over speeding

I have attached the image of the new road coming up. Not sure when it would open.

[damodar]

Originally Posted by csateesh

If you don't mind can you share the google maps link that you can roughly draw? And it is indeed good news that the road is close to Kanipakkam as it will help us reduce the detour.

I usually take the Chittoor bypass till Hotel Bans and take a left there towards Kanipakam. This road is decently wide 2 lane with no truck traffic till Puthalpattu junction. And one can avoid the horrible condition of the Chittoor bypass especially after dusk. From my previous post
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post4757530 (Bangalore to Tirupati : Route Queries).

[damodar]

I traveled towards Vijayawada via Tirupati today, starting from Hebbal at 6:15 am. It was smooth sailing till Bangarupalem but from there on encountered a lot of heavy truck traffic.
I am posting the photos from where the new four lane ends and the start of Chittoor bypass. The third photo shows the new bypass under construction and the fifth one is of the junction after Bans hotel, where taking left here leads to Kanipakam. The last photo is of the really winding but excellent condition road leading towards Kanipakam arch. This is the same route taken as mentioned by me in my previous post.

[sairamboko]

Did the Hosur - Tirupati trip last friday. I took the Hosur- Vellore- CHittoor- Tirupati route. Till Vellore its all butter smooth. Post that Katpadi to Chittoor is still work in progress. Chittoor to Tirupati is also work in progress. I took the Google maps route and it took me via Chittoor city. Overall 6 hrs journey. I parked the car near SMC circle in Tirumala. We had booked the Rs300 darshan for 12 noon. We arrived early. We entered at 11:10am and we were out by 11:35 am! Had a quick but relaxed darshan. All precautionary measures in place due to corona virus situation. On Saturday we visited Govindaraja Swamy temple in Tirupati. Again relaxed darshan. Thanks to audioholic and others for their guidance!

[srvm]

Originally Posted by csateesh

If you don't mind can you share the google maps link that you can roughly draw? And it is indeed good news that the road is close to Kanipakkam as it will help us reduce the detour.

Glad to hear that it is a very very very broad 6L road. Hope they have enough checks in place to prevent over speeding

Originally Posted by ravib

I tried to draw it to best of my memory with RED line, but this may not be accurate. The point is that between Kanipakkam temple to Puttalapattu, google maps shows current known route. Only for initial and last stretch you drive in old road, and remaining 95% of them are in broad 6L road.

-Ravi

Originally Posted by damodar

I usually take the Chittoor bypass till Hotel Bans and take a left there towards Kanipakam. This road is decently wide 2 lane with no truck traffic till Puthalpattu junction. And one can avoid the horrible condition of the Chittoor bypass especially after dusk......

Cross-posting my post from another thread for the benefit of Bangalore-Tirupati travellers:

I had done Bangalore-Bangarupalayam-Kanipakam-Putalapattu-Tirupati twice last year: in daylight in July-2019 and after sunset in August/Sept 2019. This is definitely doable in daylight/twilight if you are a careful driver.
Roads are mostly excellent. Don't use google maps in this section. Whatever Google shows as unfinished section of highway (in Satellite mode) between Chigarapalle/Bhaskar Naidu Garden and Heritage Sale Point (GARUDADHRI DAIRY PARLOUR) is actually a smooth-very wide tarmac since last year. You should get off this road section near Kichannagaripalle (OK Naidu Gardens) and join Kanipakkam arch near Putalapattu Police station. Take right at Putalapattu junction and roads are mostly ok up to Tirupati with deviations
with speed breakers.

Route in Google plus code:
Bangarupalayam bypass exit (take left here): 6W48+PH
Aragonda junction (take right here): 7WXR+G3
Enter Kanipakkam road (take left here): 727X+2C
Take right here: 72VQ+8C
Take left and join superb, W-I-D-E highway segment here: 72WW+VG
Take right and exit the W-I-D-E highway here: 83MG+7G
Kanipakkam arch (take left here): 83RW+C8
Putalapattu Junction (take right here): 935M+PJ

[audioholic]

Anyone travelled recently on this route? How is the work between Chittoor and Tirupathi progressing? I wanted to visit Tirupathi but had expected this work to be done by the time I do my next trip. Are we already there or should I wait longer? Someone has promised an exclusive, socially distanced and elaborate darshan and we dont want to miss the opportunity.

[damodar]

Originally Posted by srvm

Take right here: 72VQ+8C
Take left and join superb, W-I-D-E highway segment here: 72WW+VG
Take right and exit the W-I-D-E highway here: 83MG+7G
Kanipakkam arch (take left here): 83RW+C8
Putalapattu Junction (take right here): 935M+PJ

I am unable to follow these last 4 directions. Can you post a Google map link to this?

[srvm]

Originally Posted by damodar

I am unable to follow these last 4 directions. Can you post a Google map link to this?

I'm sorry, I misunderstood the way Google plus code works. See if this helps:

Route in Google plus code:
Bangarupalayam bypass exit (take left here): 6W48+PH Gollapalle, Andhra Pradesh
Aragonda junction (take right here): 7WXR+G3 Gandupalle, Andhra Pradesh
Enter Kanipakkam road (take left here): 727X+2C Patnam, Andhra Pradesh
Take right here: 72VQ+8C Kothapalle, Andhra Pradesh
Take left and join superb, W-I-D-E highway segment here: 72WW+VG Chigarapalle, Andhra Pradesh (13°17'48.9"N 79°02'59.3"E)

Take right and exit the W-I-D-E highway here: 83MG+7G Kichanna Gari Palli, Andhra Pradesh (13°20'07.5"N 79°04'41.5"E)
Kanipakkam arch (take left here): 83RW+C8 Oddepalle, Andhra Pradesh
Putalapattu Junction (take right here): 935M+PJ Thenepalle, Andhra Pradesh

Please see the above waypoints in Google Maps Satellite mode.
GMaps thinks there is no road here. Hence, I'm unable to make a map link for this.

[rajinibm]

Travelled to Tirupati yesterday from Bangalore. Left from Home at 11 AM and took the Hoskote - Kolar route.Followed Google maps the entire way and reached Tirupati at 16 00 pm. No stops on the way.

The Darshan timing was booked for 6 PM. Reached Tirumala by 445 pm and parked the car and saw less than half a dozen cars in parking. Proceeded to the Darshan entrance thinking would be stopped for an hour as I was early but was let through.

Social distancing norms procedure are red strips /lines drawn every 2 feet. Was extremely surprised at seeing just 5-6 devotees in the entire walk till the place where we pray.

For the first time in my life the room where the God is present I spent close to almost a minute there . No pushing or jolting -- no one shouting and had an amazing Darshan!

Took hardly max ten mins to finish the Darshan and come out.

Came directly to the parking and left by around 17 30 pm and home by 1030 pm.

Again followed gmaps while driving back and this time it navigated via a different route and the roads were horrible and literally filled with craters and extremely high lorry traffic. The roads were really bad.

Did not stop anywhere while going or coming back. Did not eat or drink the entire day as didn't want to stop at any restroom and use them to be on the safer side.

Also roads are being relaid on the way up to tirumala and need to be a little cautious.

The ticket we buy before we start the climb to Tirumala which was scanned once we reach the top is not done as the ticket scanning structure is demolished and being rebuilt and the same on the way down so there is no time check either ways and could see some fast and furious drifting TTD buses on the way down.

Amazing drive after a real long time and the best Darshan ever!!

Note -- There was just one check post on the way.This is just before AP and the car was stopped and they just ask where your destination is and no epass was enquired about. No other checking anywhere else.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by rajinibm

Travelled to Tirupati yesterday from Bangalore. Left from Home at 11 AM and took the Hoskote - Kolar route.Followed Google maps the entire way and reached Tirupati at 16 00 pm. No stops on the way.
.....
Social distancing norms procedure are red strips /lines drawn every 2 feet. Was extremely surprised at seeing just 5-6 devotees in the entire walk till the place where we pray.
......
Again followed gmaps while driving back and this time it navigated via a different route and the roads were horrible and literally filled with craters and extremely high lorry traffic. The roads were really bad.
....
Amazing drive after a real long time and the best Darshan ever!!

Note -- There was just one check post on the way.This is just before AP and the car was stopped and they just ask where your destination is and no epass was enquired about. No other checking anywhere else.

Thanks for this update. Can you please tell us what route you took during onward and return journeys?

[SKC-auto]

From my post of Bangalore to Vizag route queries

I drove yesterday from Bangalore to Vizag.
Here is my update on the road conditions.

Bangalore - Renigunta: After reading many posts on this forum I was most worried about the Chittoor- Tirupati stretch. Bangalore to Chittoor was quiet easy, except the bumpy ride due to concrete roads.

From Chittoor I had taken the Puttur road(as suggested by srvm, thanks again) the initial 5 kms had too many speed breakers, was thinking whether I took the right decision or not. After that the road was very good, very wide, no much traffic at 6am, I was easily doing 100kmph, except for speed breakers at towns( which can be classified as scientific compared to Bangalore's unscientific speed breakers). This road is also scenic, driving through calm villages.

From Puttur to Renigunta is a tolled 4 lane Highway.

I would greatly recommend this road, trust me not a single pot hole. The best 2 lane road in my memory.

[damodar]

Originally Posted by SKC-auto

From Chittoor I had taken the Puttur road(as suggested by srvm, thanks again) the initial 5 kms had too many speed breakers, was thinking whether I took the right decision or not. After that the road was very good, very wide, no much traffic at 6am, I was easily doing 100kmph, except for speed breakers at towns( which can be classified as scientific compared to Bangalore's unscientific speed breakers)..

Is this Puttur a wide 2 lane road? Also how is the traffic while crossing Puttur town? I drive a Hexa and in some situations i do face problems crossing narrow underpasses like in Arakonam. Also how much time did it take for you to from Chittoor to Renigunta via this route?