[hillsnrains]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

i've got eDarshan booking for 3 of us at the 6pm to 7 pm slot on Jan 23rd. We need to report at SM 211. I'm not sure where this gate is. I'll be driving my own car, so need guidance on where to park, which is close to that entry gate.

The place where queue starts is called Sanku Mitta Cottage (i.e SMC stands for). Look for Sankumitta Road/SMC cottage sign boards. People are quite helpful in Tirumala, so don't hesitate to ask for directions.

Would I be right in presuming that the darshan will be over by 7 pm?

You are allowed to enter into the queue 1 hour before the slot i.e, 5 PM for you. There is no guarantee that your darshan will be over7PM, it depends on lot of factors like crowd, any VIP's visits at that time etc. In general darshan will be over by 4hrs from the time you enter into queue.

I've booked an AC room at Vishnu Nivasam, opp Rly Station via the TTD website. I heard that they have plenty of car parking. Anyone who stayed there can share their experiences?

No issue with parking place.

Is there any dress code for males and female adults?

Please follow the instructions on your ticket. There is dress code.

[vnabhi]

Here's an update from me. We reached Vishnu Nivasam, opp Tirupati Railway Station by 1 pm. There is plenty of parking space available in the basement, for which the charges are Rs 50. It took me only 15 minutes to get the room allotted from the online accommodation counter.
We proceeded to the 6th floor, where we were given the room keys. The room was an AC room with a bathroom that had a geyser. The room was spartan with 2 cots, pillows and comforters.

However, there were no wardrobes, nor were towels provided. Luckily we had our own!
For 800 INR, it was a steal, but we found later that the room was too noisy, with blaring horns from the old bus-stand below. Certainly not recommended for people who value silence. But the biggest advantage was car parking space, and proximity to railway station, Bhima's restaurant, etc.

[deemash]

I am planning to go to Tirumala for the first time. I have booked the 500 INR room for May14th and May15th.
I am planning to book for a Suprabhatham for May15th. Will reach Tirumala on May14th evening.

How are the 500 INR rooms ? We are 4 people going. Is it clean and neat ? Proper beds available?

Also, Suprabhatham persons will get good darsan of Lord for 10-15 minutes? Is this true?

[Grand Drive]

Originally Posted by deemash

I am planning to go to Tirumala for the first time. I have booked the 500 INR room for May14th and May15th.
I am planning to book for a Suprabhatham for May15th. Will reach Tirumala on May14th evening.

How are the 500 INR rooms ? We are 4 people going. Is it clean and neat ? Proper beds available?

Also, Suprabhatham persons will get good darsan of Lord for 10-15 minutes? Is this true?

The rooms will be clean, but don't expect to have a hotel like quality. The rooms are basic and proper cot with beds will be available.Suprabatham tickets will be in high demand and if you get the ticket, you can get a good Darshan.

[deemash]

Originally Posted by Grand Drive

The rooms will be clean, but don't expect to have a hotel like quality. The rooms are basic and proper cot with beds will be available.Suprabatham tickets will be in high demand and if you get the ticket, you can get a good Darshan.

OK thanks. But the Suprabhatham guys will get good Darsan for about 10-15 minutes is what I heard. Kind of they will be allowed to stand infront of the Lord for about 10-15 minutes, Is this true?

The online booking for May month seva opens on April 1st 11:00 AM IST. So waiting for that day. I hope I get the tickets for it.

[srimath]

Originally Posted by deemash

OK thanks. But the Suprabhatham guys will get good Darsan for about 10-15 minutes is what I heard. Kind of they will be allowed to stand infront of the Lord for about 10-15 minutes, Is this true?

The online booking for May month seva opens on April 1st 11:00 AM IST. So waiting for that day. I hope I get the tickets for it.

All the devotees holding tickets for Suprabhatam will be allowed into the Mantapa with the statues of Jaya - Vijaya. You will stand there for around 10 min while the Suprabhatam is recited with the curtain closed. After the recital, the curtain is opened and you can go inside for the darshan. To spend a long time in front of the diety, Thomala or Archana are better. But only 10 tickets of each per day only are released and its only on Tue/Wed/Thurs.

[deemash]

Originally Posted by Grand Drive

The rooms will be clean, but don't expect to have a hotel like quality. The rooms are basic and proper cot with beds will be available.Suprabatham tickets will be in high demand and if you get the ticket, you can get a good Darshan.

I was able to book the suprabhatham seva online for 4 people (using 2 ids) for May 15th (sunday). The quota opened today at 11.00 AM IST.
500 INR rooms are booked for 14th (afternoon onwards) and 15th. Planning to start from CBE by 5 AM on 14th April.
The whole booking episode reminded me of the Tatkal ticket booking (IRCTC) days.

Feeling lucky to get the tickets.

[daretodream]

We've just done ticket for this Wednesday 12:00 time slot for Special Entry Darshan.

Myself, wife, mother-in-law and our 4-year old son will be travelling.

We plan to leave from Bangalore(HSR Layout) by 04:30-05:00 AM.
Going by the road condition, I guess we will be reaching Tirumala by 11:00 AM with couple of breaks.

Our doubts:
1. Our queue entry point/reporting point is: ATC Car Parking Area
Can I drive right upto this area and park here? Or will it be too difficult to find parking here.
Since exit is from another point, is there another parking which is equidistant from exit and our entry point?
Are the cars safe enough to be left for hours?

2. What is the best-case, worst-case and most-likely-case we can expect to (a) be held up in one of those halls (b) once moving from halls, time to darshan

3. Do they provide food / milk (we've a small kid) when we're stuck in those halls.
4. Do they allow to take eatables inside (again, for kid's requirement)

[ravib]

Originally Posted by daretodream

We've just done ticket for this Wednesday 12:00 time slot for Special Entry Darshan.

Myself, wife, mother-in-law and our 4-year old son will be travelling.

We plan to leave from Bangalore(HSR Layout) by 04:30-05:00 AM.
Going by the road condition, I guess we will be reaching Tirumala by 11:00 AM with couple of breaks.

Our doubts:
1. Our queue entry point/reporting point is: ATC Car Parking Area
Can I drive right upto this area and park here? Or will it be too difficult to find parking here.
Since exit is from another point, is there another parking which is equidistant from exit and our entry point?
Are the cars safe enough to be left for hours?

2. What is the best-case, worst-case and most-likely-case we can expect to (a) be held up in one of those halls (b) once moving from halls, time to darshan

3. Do they provide food / milk (we've a small kid) when we're stuck in those halls.
4. Do they allow to take eatables inside (again, for kid's requirement)

Yes, if you start by 5 am, including breaks you can reach by 11 noon. But this time is not enough for you, because your darshan time is 12 noon, you have to enter the queue 1 hour in advance. There are driving time restrictions between Tirupati Alipiri toll gate (which itself will take some time for security checks) and then till you reach Car parking area and the take a short break before you enter the queue.
Since you have a kid, planned schedules won't be actuals My suggestion would be you travel previous day evening, stay overnight at Tirupati, after good rest, finish morning breakfast and drive up to Tirumala at 9 am or so. This will be more relaxed IMHO.

To answer your queries.

1) For Rs.300 ticket, this seems to be a new entry point. Earlier a month ago, it was SMC Cottage 211. Am not sure about the new ATC Car parking area. But one thing is for sure, be prepared to walk for long distance at least couple of kilometers including stairs, from the entry point till you reach Vaikuntam Q complex waiting halls.

I would suggest you to park your car around Venkateswara Musuem, which is a walk able distance about less than a kilometer, behind the Laddu distribution counter. After darshan, you eventually need to collect laddus and can reach car quickly. This is obviously not equidistant, but after you park the car, suggest you to take a Jeep for 50 bucks or so, as they can take you to nearest point where you Queue begins. Don't walk between these distances and spend your energy, as you need to reserve it for walking inside the Queue and waiting hours in the hall.

2) Best case, sometimes there will be no waiting at all and you keep walking in the queue. Worst case, 2 to 3 hours waiting. Most likely case, normally about an hour waiting. Once you exit the waiting hall, it will normally take about 1 hour to see the lord and another 30 minutes to exit the temple. After which, you have to proceed for collecting laddus.

3) In waiting halls, yes they do provide milk for everyone, but it is not always available. Since you have a kid, i would strongly suggest you to take a back bag and have biscuits, water and other basic items required for the kid.

4) Yes, they allow for kids. No problem at all. If asked, just tell them its for kid.

BTW, don't forget to wear Dhoti as you are going in Rs. 300 darshan ticket. Pants are not allowed. Please do read the dress code mentioned in the ticket, just in case, if you haven't noticed.

Have a good darshan

-Ravi

[daretodream]

@ravib - thanks a lot for your response. Really appreciate it.

We've planned this.
1. Start by 4 am
2. Reach directly to Tirumala
3. Park the car somewhere near Laddu distribution counter.
4. Take a jeep/auto to the actual entry point
5. After darshan and laddu collection, we'll come to Tirupati and visit Padmavati Temple. We might spend time to have food and buy some spiritual pics, threads etc
6. We've booked a 3-seater room at Hotel Fortune Select, Tiruchanoor Road, Tirupati
7. We'll check into the hotel and crash for the day.
8. Next morning, we'll have breakfast and drive back down to Bangalore.

Once I'm back, I will post how the visit was.

[daretodream]

We're back from Tirupati and we had nice Darshan of lord.

Our Trip Details:
1. Started from Bangalore(HSR Layout) at 04:35 AM on Wednesday(13th Apr)
2. Took the ORR until KR Puram Hanging Bridge onwards onto Old Madras Road
3. The journey until this Palamaner was uneventful. I could steadily do 70-80mph. There was traffic Jam at Palamaner RTO check-post - mainly due to trucks parked on main road and driver missing. We were stuck for ~25 mins in standing+crawling speeds before we could move freely.
4. As day broke, the local folks rose from their slumbers- I could see ample number of bikes, mopeds, sharing autos and overtaking them with oncoming traffic was a big pain. Also, folks crossing the roads randomly etc
5. We reached Nandi Food Plaza at 07:45 AM and took 30-mins break.
6. I decided to take the route suggested by senior bhpian @suresh_gs
7. I took the below route and boy did it change my drive!


The road was so sparse! 99% of the time I had no traffic 200 metres in front and behind me- oncoming traffic included! And the road was damn good for 95% of the route.
All this meant - stress free driving and nice country side views!

I sincerely thank @suresh_gs for suggesting this route.. I'm sure that I will take this route for my next trip.
I highly recommend fellow bhpians to try this route.

8. We reached Alipiri toll gate at 10:00 am. It took us 05:30 mins including a 30-min break and a small jam. Alipiri gate had no rush- I drove into an empty toll gate. The toll receipt clearly wrote: 28 mins for upward jouney. Journey started at 10:04 AM and Must not reach before 10:32 AM.
This meant I had to drive at 20-25 kmph speed - and it was indeed a struggle. The car begged to be driven faster.

9. Once we reached Tirumala, Our toll ticket was scanned and a large screen showed in Green: Reached after specified time. We saw lots of cars parked .5Km parked before toll... waiting out their time of 28 mins.

10. Tirumala road has been made one-way and we were forced to take right. I was kind of lost here- about parking and about entry for our darshan tickets. We asked someone for help.. he asked for Rs. 200 to help us get to our car-parking (assurance that car will be parked in shade and he will help us reach the entry point for Rs 300 ticket). We negotiated for Rs 150 and we took the below path:


11. We could actually park our car in proper shade of trees. Left our mobiles, footwear in our car and left by for darshan entry 10:45 AM.
12. We were allowed inside at 11AM even though our ticket was for 12:00 noon. We were in free-flow for sometime and by 11:15 we were in the queue of the halls. We were 3 halls(Hall # 22) before the walk-over bridge over Mada Street.
13. We were done with darshan by 12:15PM and proceeded to take laddoo. It was very very hot.
Yes! this was the fastest ever darshan I could get darshan in Tirupati in total 4-5 trips so far. We were so lucky!

14. We walked up the flight of stairs in front of the temple complex and proceeded to our car parking.
15. We immediately started for Padmavati temple - and reached there in ~1 hour 10 mins.
16. Also, on return trip- same ticket was in-scanned at top and out-scanned at foothills and the screen showed "Reached within scheduled time".
17. It was blazing hot here and we were dehydrated. We took Rs 200 ticket and could complete darshan in half-hour.
18. Immediately we proceeded to our hotel- Fortune Select - which was ~10 mins ride from Padmavati Temple.
19. We took rest for the day and soaked ourselves in the AC ambience which was such a relief after a very hot and exhausting day.
20. Next morning, we enjoyed sumptuous breakfast buffet spread and started for Bangalore by 08:15 AM. We were in HSR home by 1PM. I took the below route to avoid Chittor Traffic: The route was sparse and such a joy to ride here! We could see Mango Plantations all along the way. We even stopped and plucked couple of Mangoes!


21. I took the Hoskote-Hopefarm-Varthur-Marthahalli route to beat the KR Puram traffic.


Special Thanks to
ravib - for the guidance and helpful tips that helped us plan in advance!
suresh_gs - for sharing tip on the new route via kanipakam which made a huge difference

[prabhusati]

Originally Posted by deemash

I was able to book the suprabhatham seva online for 4 people (using 2 ids) for May 15th (sunday). The quota opened today at 11.00 AM IST.
500 INR rooms are booked for 14th (afternoon onwards) and 15th. Planning to start from CBE by 5 AM on 14th April.
The whole booking episode reminded me of the Tatkal ticket booking (IRCTC) days.

Feeling lucky to get the tickets.

Hi, the website was not reachable at 11.00am on the day tickets were released. How were you able to get tickets? I should say it is really an achievement. Which broadband connection did you use? I am asking this so that I can also try to book next time.

[deemash]

Originally Posted by prabhusati

Hi, the website was not reachable at 11.00am on the day tickets were released. How were you able to get tickets? I should say it is really an achievement. Which broadband connection did you use? I am asking this so that I can also try to book next time.

Hello:

I booked it from the US .

My wife tried to book the tickets from India and she managed to login only after 2pm.

I returned last Sunday!

[ravib]

Originally Posted by daretodream

Yes! this was the fastest ever darshan I could get darshan in Tirupati in total 4-5 trips so far. We were so lucky!

Special Thanks to
ravib - for the guidance and helpful tips that helped us plan in advance!
suresh_gs - for sharing tip on the new route via kanipakam which made a huge difference

Wow ! You seemed to be very lucky to get very quick darshan. I believe it may be due to mid week and also mid noon darshan times

One QQ: Since it is a wednesday, did they allowed you to have lagu darshan to go near the sanctum, then take a left U turn and return back, so that you could see the god little closer? Or you just had to take a 90 degree left turn to exit immediately?

-Ravi

[srimath]

Originally Posted by ravib

Wow ! You seemed to be very lucky to get very quick darshan. I believe it may be due to mid week and also mid noon darshan times

One QQ: Since it is a wednesday, did they allowed you to have lagu darshan to go near the sanctum, then take a left U turn and return back, so that you could see the god little closer? Or you just had to take a 90 degree left turn to exit immediately?

-Ravi

Except for Suprabatham, Thomala, Archana, Nijapada Darsanam, Abhishekam, Tiruppavada and VIP break, all other darshans are only Maha Lagu.