• Visit the Sri Varaswamy temple before taking the darshan of Sri Venkateswara Swami. As per traditions and legend, Varaswamy owned the seven hills and agreed to give them to Venkateswara swamy on the condition that he is worshipped as well. Hence, Sri Venkateswara Swami asked his pilgrims to visit the Sri Varaswamy temple before visiting him

Respect

While in Tirumala don't

• Consume alcohol.
• Eat non-vegetarian food.
• Wear flowers - all flowers are for the Lord only.
• Spit or Litter or create any kind of Nuisance.
• Donot carry Mobile phone / Camera, while going for Darshan: They are bannned inside Temple only

Tirumala

Temples

• Sri Venkateswara Temple
• Sri Varahaswami Temple
• Sri Bedi Anjaneyaswami Temple
• Sri Anjaneyaswami Temple
• Swami Pushkarini

Holy water sites

• Akasaganga Teertham
• Papavinasanam Teertham
• Pandava Teertham
• Kumaradhara Teertham
• Tumbhuru Teertham
• Ramakrishna Teertham
• Chakra Teertham
• Vaikuntha Teertham
• Sesha Teertham
• Sitamma Teertham
• Pasupu Teertham
• Japali Teertham
• Sanaka Sanandana Teertham

Tourist attractions

• Silathoranam
• TTD Gardens
• Asthana Mandapam
• Sri Venkateswara Dhyana Vignan Mandiram
• Deer Park
• Sri Vari Museum

Tirupati

Temples

• Sri Padmavathi Ammavari Temple, Tiruchanoor
• Sri Govindarajaswami Temple, Tirupathi
• Sri Kodandaramaswami Temple, Tirupathi
• Sri Kapileswaraswami Temple, Tirupathi
• Sri Kalyana Venkateswaraswami Temple, Srinivasa Mangapuram
• Sri Kalyana Venkateswaraswami Temple, Narayanavanam
• Sri Veda Narayanaswami Temple, Nagalapuram
• Sri Venugopalaswami Temple, Karvetinagaram
• Sri Prasanna Venkateswaraswami Temple, Appalayanagunta
• Sri Chennakesavaswami Temple, Tallapaka
• Sri Annapurna Sameta Kasi Visweswaraswami Temple, Bugga

By plane

Vizag and Tirupati.

If you are lightly loaded, from Chennai airport, you can walk over to the local suburban railway station (Tirusulam) and take a train to Park Station. Park Station is about 5 minutes away from Chennai Central station, from where you can get regular train services to Tirupati.

By train

Tirupati is a major junction in South Central Railways. Gudur (100 km) as well. Frequent bus service is available between Tirupati, Renigunta and Gudur.

By bus/car

National Highway NH 205 passes through Renigunta and hence is accessible from Chennai (4-6hrs), Bangalore (6½+ hours), Hyderabad (10-12 hours) and other nearby cities.

• Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) - from Hyderabad or from within Andhra Pradesh

• Tamil Nadu State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) - from Chennai

• Karnataka State Road Transport Coroporation (KSRTC) - from Bangalore

Package tours

It is possible to go on a package tour from various places to Tirupati, with the operator taking care of transport, accommodation and sight-seeing.

From Chennai

Going from Chennai is not a bad idea as it is the nearest Airport which has international & Domestic connections.

• TTD Information Centre, V V R Dharmasala, 198 & 199, Peters Road Chennai - 600 014, 2) Manager TTD Information Centre 50, VenkataNarayana Road T Nagar Chennai – 600 017.) offers a package tour, but the person going on the tour has to do the reservation personally (and submit a photograph and fingerprints!) from one of the many TTD offices around the country

• Swarnandhra tours, from AP tourism +91 44 2433 3010, +91 44 2433 1977 (from Chennai. You will have to personally go and do the reservations.) [1] offers a two-day package tour from various places in the country, particularly from Bangalore and Chennai. Rs. 1,100 (For Chennai package tour, inclusive of accommodation and darshan at various temples.)

From Bangalore

• TTD Information Centre 16th Cross, Vyalikavel, Bangalore - 560 003, Ph:080-23445432/23315361

Tirupati to Tirumala

Pilgrims can reach the foot hill city of Tirupati from where TTD has bus service to Tirumala. The ticket costs Rs.22 (Express). Bus frequency is very high with one available every 2 minutes and the buses ply from 03:00 till midnight everyday. Pilgrims also can utilize private transport like cab, taxi and mini-vans to reach Tirumala. It takes less than an hour by road.

Another popular method of travel from Tirupati to Tirumala is walking (by foot) for pilgrims who wish to fulfill a vow - a hindu religious tradition. There are 2 paths (or sopanamargas)

• Path 1: Alipiri is a suburb at the foot of the hills and the starting location of a 11 km hill climbing route. Alipiri route is the most common route and used by pilgirms on most occasions. It takes about 4 hours at normal walking speed to climb the hill. The first hill consists of 2500 stairs and is the most difficult to climb. After the first hill, it is crossing the valleys till we hit the mokala parvatam (Kneecap Hill) which consists of another 600 stairs. In all, the overall distance of 9 km has approximately 3500 stairs. There are several shops selling soda (prefer salted lime soda for hydration), snacks, mineral water and soft drinks along the way. Usually the prices in these shops are higher than the maximum retail price indicated on the labels. As all the hills are very holy, do not walk with footwear. TTD has made arrangements to piligrims to transfer/transport the footwear on to the top. By the time, the piligrims reach Tirumala, the footwear also reaches.

• Path 2: A less common and short path used by the local people and traders isChandragiri. The path is only 6 km in length but is a more difficult route through the forest. Pilgrims are advised to avoid this path and prefer to stick to the Alipiri route.

Bans The Hotel,Chittoor a resort cum Water Park,70 kms to tirupati,40 kms to Sripuram Golden Temple and 7 kms to Knipakam. contact cell:09704771333 website:www.bansc.in

When visiting the greatest of temples of the Lord Sri Venkateswara, one must not forget to purchase an image of the lord; only two photos have been taken Sri Venkateswara in history. There is also a very holy sweet which one must not forget to purchase at the temple. This is the renowned Tirupati Laddu, which is the main offering to the presiding deity of the temple. Mind you it tastes quite well too, so make sure to get lots of laddu.But you can't buy more than the prescribed number of laddus there, for one Sudarshana Kankanam they will give only two laddus

Other than these two products which are renowned in the region, many holy articles can also be purchased and a shopkeeper shall be only too happy to assist you with that.

The SAPTHAGIRI magazine was started as a TTD bulletin in 1949. It is now being circulated all over the country as an illustrated, religious magazine, released monthly, in five languages - Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and English.

After seeking the Darshan of Lord Venkateshwara Balaji you get free meal coupans at the Srivari temple. the food is simply tasty with serving of rice,sambhar,sabji,chutney and rasam.

Tirupathi and Tirumala is a pilgrimage town. People on pilgrimage don't drink or eat non-vegetarian food. Consumption of liquor is prohibited in Tirumala. Smoking is also not allowed in Tirumala.

For Drinking it is advisable to use bottled mineral water only as the water available here might be sour in taste. As mentioned in the later section, the laddu of tirupati is "nearly" as famous as the deity himself. One should not fail to have a taste of this very special and holy sweet.

• Bhimas
• Mayura