[dass]

Not sure if this is the right thread to post this question as i do not see too much activity. I am planning for a trip to Tirupati sometime in March/April and will be travelling with my family and a 11 month old son. He is the purpose of this visit. The plan is to drive up to the foot of the hills and walk up the hills. The question I had was, where do I park the car and is it allowed and is it safe to park as there would be some luggage left in the car as I have plans of an onward journey from Tirupathi.

Mods, please repost this question to the right forum, if this is the wrong thread. I apologize

[ravib]

Originally Posted by dass

Not sure if this is the right thread to post this question as i do not see too much activity. I am planning for a trip to Tirupati sometime in March/April and will be travelling with my family and a 11 month old son. He is the purpose of this visit. The plan is to drive up to the foot of the hills and walk up the hills. The question I had was, where do I park the car and is it allowed and is it safe to park as there would be some luggage left in the car as I have plans of an onward journey from Tirupathi.

Mods, please repost this question to the right forum, if this is the wrong thread. I apologize

Are you not going to take hotel accommodation at Tirupati, since you plan to walk up to Tirumala?
Having a kid, I would strongly suggest you to take accommodation at Tirupati, leave your car & luggage there, take only minimal required stuff (mainly for kid) with you because you are walking up through stairs. Finish your darshan and the rituals and the return back.

-Ravi

[dass]

Originally Posted by ravib

Are you not going to take hotel accommodation at Tirupati, since you plan to walk up to Tirumala?
Having a kid, I would strongly suggest you to take accommodation at Tirupati, leave your car & luggage there, take only minimal required stuff (mainly for kid) with you because you are walking up through stairs. Finish your darshan and the rituals and the return back.

-Ravi

I will get accomodation for sure in tirumala in one of the matts, so was not thinking of taking accomodation in Tirupathi. I read somewhere that the luggage is transferred to the top of the hill by TTD officials, not sure if that option is still available. So, the plan was to take the car, park it near the foot of the hill, walk up, stay in Tirumala overnight, take early morning darshan and then come back by bus and then the car.

[sureshurs]

Originally Posted by dass

Not sure if this is the right thread to post this question as i do not see too much activity. I am planning for a trip to Tirupati sometime in March/April and will be travelling with my family and a 11 month old son. He is the purpose of this visit. The plan is to drive up to the foot of the hills and walk up the hills. The question I had was, where do I park the car and is it allowed and is it safe to park as there would be some luggage left in the car as I have plans of an onward journey from Tirupathi.

Mods, please repost this question to the right forum, if this is the wrong thread. I apologize

Walking up to Tirumala will take you abt 3.5 hrs to 5.50 hrs based upon the pace of walking. I would budget for 7-8 hrs of time for walking up, darshan and coming down by bus/ jeep.Hence I would park in the hotel ( if you are staying back in Tirupthi for the night or park in railway station for 8 hrs max.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by dass

I will get accomodation for sure in tirumala in one of the matts, so was not thinking of taking accomodation in Tirupathi. I read somewhere that the luggage is transferred to the top of the hill by TTD officials, not sure if that option is still available. So, the plan was to take the car, park it near the foot of the hill, walk up, stay in Tirumala overnight, take early morning darshan and then come back by bus and then the car.

Transferring the luggage from foot hills to tirumala is still available & you can make use of it. However, IMO it is risky & not safe to leave the car for longer hours (almost 15+ hours easily ) anywhere else other than hotel. Railway station parking is also not a good choice. But I leave it to you to decide. Just my 2 cents...

-Ravi

[dass]

Visited Tirumala over the weekend. Based on the feedback received from some of you, went into Tirupathi directly and then tried my luck in the sreenivasam complex, luckily got accomodation in the Madhavam complex, in a QC room for Rs.800. We were 4 adults and my 11 months old son and I was pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness and the maintenance of the room. Stayed overnight, left the car there itself and went by walk to Tirumala. Took a bus to the foot of the hill and then the climb took 6 hours to the point. I had also booked accomodation in Karnataka Bhavan, which was a mess to put it mildly. Unless you get a confirmed AC accomodation there, avoid it completly. Finished the head tonsuring and went for Darshan immediately, and again as luck would have it, less rush on Monday the 26th, we finished Darshan in 1 hour flat. Went in at 5pm and came out at 6pm. Went back to the room and checked out and came down to Tirupathi and again took accomodation in Madhavam for overnight stay. Left the next day, had breakfast in Bheemas Residency, nice but VERY costly and returned to Bangalore by Evening. More details to follow in a later post, but thought to post the bits here first. One point to note, Seegra darshan has different times on each day, Mondays, its from 9am to 5pm, Tue,wed,thu its 8am to 2pm and Other days its 8am to 5pm I believe. Please check the timings before you visit the temple. Nothing much has changed inside the temple, they still push you around.. :-)

[sabsubs]

Hi All, I am planning for a trip to Tirumala on 26th this month. I would like to stay at Tirumala, are there any good lodges on top of the hill. Is driving from foot hill to Tirumala allowed?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Hi All, I am planning for a trip to Tirumala on 26th this month. I would like to stay at Tirumala, are there any good lodges on top of the hill. Is driving from foot hill to Tirumala allowed?

Not sure about Tirumala, but Tirupathi has good hotels including car parks. Much better an option to stay at Tirupathi and commute to Tirumala by bus.

[sabsubs]

Originally Posted by ampere

Not sure about Tirumala, but Tirupathi has good hotels including car parks. Much better an option to stay at Tirupathi and commute to Tirumala by bus.

Hi ampere, thanks a lot for the response. I would be going for my son's head tonsuring so would like to stay in Tirumal preferably however if accommodation is not available then I can opt to stay at Tirupati. Is it not possible to drive to Tirumala on one's own transport? Could you please suggest some good lodges at Tirupati?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Hi ampere, thanks a lot for the response. I would be going for my son's head tonsuring so would like to stay in Tirumal preferably however if accommodation is not available then I can opt to stay at Tirupati. Is it not possible to drive to Tirumala on one's own transport? Could you please suggest some good lodges at Tirupati?

Its definitely possible. But parking woes is something which I was not comfortable. Even I had been for by kid's tonsure.
D1 : Went by noon to Tirupathi (Started in the morning)
D2 : Took a bus to Tirumala. Finished Darshan and tonsure. Came back. That day evening went to Alamelu Mangai. (Or you can do it on first day also)
D3 : Returned back to Bangalore leisurely.

Just had to add one more day along with weekend. I found it much more relaxed.

[Rajeevraj]

Had a couple of questions. My mom is interested in going to Tirupati. But I have heard for any kind of Darshan, several hours in the queue is needed. Is this correct? Is there any senior citizen darshan where the walking/waiting time is limited? Also is 2 days sufficient for the trip?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Had a couple of questions. My mom is interested in going to Tirupati. But I have heard for any kind of Darshan, several hours in the queue is needed. Is this correct? Is there any senior citizen darshan where the walking/waiting time is limited? Also is 2 days sufficient for the trip?

Rgd. time taken for darshan it's not a constant as each day is different
Weekdays are usually better than weekends and Seegra Darshan (Rs.300) can take upto 3-4 hrs on a 'normal' day.
Senior citizens do not have to go in the queue and are allowed to enter from near the main entrance just a short distance away from the main deity (unlike the other queues that start from other points around the periphery of the temple). Also, if I remember correctly one person is allowed to accompany each senior citizen so if it's just 2 of you, you can enter together from the Senior citizen entry point.
However, I'm not sure about the ticketing process (how/where) for senior citizen entry.

[sabsubs]

There's a raging forest fire near Tirumala. Read it on TOI and other news papers. Has TTD stopped all pilgrims going towards Tirumala? Anybody who visited Tirumala recently encounter any inconvenience due to the forest fire? Please update on it here.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by NPV

Rgd. time taken for darshan it's not a constant as each day is different
Weekdays are usually better than weekends and Seegra Darshan (Rs.300) can take upto 3-4 hrs on a 'normal' day.
Senior citizens do not have to go in the queue and are allowed to enter from near the main entrance just a short distance away from the main deity (unlike the other queues that start from other points around the periphery of the temple). Also, if I remember correctly one person is allowed to accompany each senior citizen so if it's just 2 of you, you can enter together from the Senior citizen entry point.
However, I'm not sure about the ticketing process (how/where) for senior citizen entry.

To add to what NPV mentioned, senior citizens queue is the best option for elders who are above 60+ years old. You need to carry ID/Age proof to enter temple via senior citizens queue. Better to go on a weekday instead of weekend. 2 days is more than sufficient for the entire trip.

IIRC the temple authorities open this queue once in every 2 hours to allow senior citizens and differently abled after blocking all other queues, so that they can have more peaceful darshan without push. However, in all practical purposes even the senior citizens queue is quite crowded along with those who accompany them. Which ever queue is taken (Senior citizens or Rs. 300/0 or any other darshan queue is), the last leg in the queue after crossing dwajasthambam and entering Silver door, there will be lot of chaos and push & pull in the crowd to enter the sanctum sanctorum. So be mentally prepared for it.

I don't think there is any ticket cost for senior citizens, however, i think you can optionally pay Rs. 20/- to get 2 laddus. The entry for senior citizens is right in front of Main entrance (Maha dwaram) where they have put Iron sheet shed with chairs for senior citizens to sit and wait in the queue. There are lot of police/security officers who can guide, incase if you are lost.

HTH

-Ravi

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Hi ampere, thanks a lot for the response. I would be going for my son's head tonsuring so would like to stay in Tirumal preferably however if accommodation is not available then I can opt to stay at Tirupati. Is it not possible to drive to Tirumala on one's own transport? Could you please suggest some good lodges at Tirupati?

Yes, you can drive to Tirumala in your own vehicle. However remember that there is a minimum travel time limitation is there for 27 minutes, so once you cross the checkpost at Alipiri (downhill) don't reach tirumala before 27 minutes.

For staying in Tirumala, there are no private lodges that you can directly book like you do in Tirupati. Hence ampere and me are suggesting you to stay in Tirupati. If you still want to book a lodge in Tirumala, you have to book accommodation using TTD website well in advance. All lodges are maintained by TTD and just be aware that they have bare minimum facilities in all the lodges and so nothing fancy or great you can expect.

If you want to stay in Tirupati, there are umpteen options depending on your budget. Look at tripadvisor and choose one. If you can afford 2k+ per night, then Bhimas Residency, Mayura are few options. There are lot of lodges at 1k per night available. PLR Grand behind bus stand decent enough for family stay.

I just heard about the forest fire due to hot sun in Tirumala. Looks like they are not allowing pedestrians who walk up the hill, but am not very sure. But vehicles do ply from Tirupati to Tirumala, so it should not be a problem mostly.

-Ravi

[sabsubs]

Thanks a lot for valuable information Ravi. I checked TTD website for accommodation however everything is full so the only option is to try out at Tirupati. I have zeroed on Blis and Bhimas Residency, will finalize today on the stay. Hope the forest fire is doused early.