Jun 27, 2014 03:09 PM
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I had gone with my family on the KSTDC one day tour to Tirupathi(The Sheegra Darshan plan) on a Wednesday in June 2014. Booked it through the KSTDC website. The cost of the tour comes to approximately 1750/ person(Excluding the food cost).
The tour was in a AC Volvo bus, which left Badami House, Bangalore punctually, at 09:30 PM. The bus driver and helper were friendly and the driving was good. The bus was well maintained and moderately clean. One point of disappointment was that there was no blanket/ water bottle provided in the bus. When some people asked for water, the helper proceeded to fill a used water bottle from the nearby water tap in the bus stop and actually sold it for a cost!
Reached Ramee Guestline Hotel in Tirupati at 3 AM, in a twin sharing room; after a brief rest and freshening up, proceeded to the Tiruchanur temple in the same bus. We were all asked to take a 25 Rs ticket for the Suprabhat Seva even though the temple was almost empty of devotees at that hour. After the darshan there, we were taken to Bhimas Residency for breakfast. The food was OK, seemed quite over priced though(55 Rs for 2 idli+1 vada).
At this stage, we were asked to take only minimum of things to go up to the Tirumala main temple.(That includes water, basic eatables, donations to the temple.) Electronics and other precious items are to be handed over to the driver of the Volvo bus after being properly tagged. The safekeeping also comes at a cost(20 rs for 2 mobile phones).
We were asked to board a APSRTC bus(a very old and dusty non-AC, State transport bus) for the route from Tirupati- Tirumala. That bus was quite a disappointment. After one checkpoint on the way(physical checking & handbag checking), we proceeded to Tirumala.
There was a knowledgeable guide who announced various programmes and guided us throughout the trip in Tirupati. We were guided by him till the main temple complex and made to sit near the entrance. The 300 rs ticket is all arranged by him and handed over at the appropriate time. After a 15-20 min wait, we were admitted in and proceeded with hardly any further queue waiting time. The queue kept moving patiently, through the Vaikuntam complex, the staircases, etc till the main temple, where the usual chaos took over!Had a blessed darhan of the Lord, for a few seconds, deposited out contributions in the Hundi, took the Puliyogare Prasad and were out of the complex within 45 minutes of entering the queue!
The Laddu was collected by the guide and handed over to us(2 laddus per person).We then had some refreshments there outside the temple. Left from Tirumala by 11:30, changed the bus at Tirupati where the guide concluded his portion of the tour. He was cheerful and well informed throughout and didn't hassle anybody for tips.The lunch break was at 1 in a nondescript restaurant, with poor quality food.
KSTDC should seriously consider stopping at a better restaurant on this route for lunch. The tea break was at Kamat Lokaruchi, which again didn't have great quality or cleanliness.Reached Badami house back by 5:15, at least 3 hours prior to the scheduled time!
I highly recommend this trip! Overall it was a lovely trip all within 24 hours, excellent darshan arrangements.
Only thing which could do with improvements: better restaurants & provision of water bottles.
Note:
Carry at least a couple of litres water per person since water is sold at a premium in Tirupati. The premium is anything between 50-80% premium per bottle!
Carry at least 1 photo ID per family within Tirupati.
Carry some light snacks like biscuits, chips, chocolates, water, etc into the temple at Tirumala in case the wait gets too long and exhausting.
