Feb 25, 2009 10:31 AM
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(Updated Feb 25, 2009 10:42 AM)
Tirupati is connected by air via Chennai and Hyderabad.
By train via Renigunta Junction, which is 10 Kms. from Tirupati. Full taxi charges Rs. 250(peak season) and Rs. 150(non peak season) from Renigunta to Tirupati. Bus charges Rs. 40 from Renigunta to Tirupati. These start just outside the station.
By bus from Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and other cities.
DARSHAN TICKET: There are various centers across India that issue you a Rs. 50 sudarshan pass(ticket) that authorizes you to stand in queue for darshan which takes about 3 to 4 hours till you reach in front of the Lord for a glimpse of few seconds before you are pushed away and out of the temple. Do not expect a darshan of more than 5 seconds.
The VIP passes are available if you have a letter from an authority in Government of India or political leader for the officer of Treasury or TTDC. Even with VIP pass you will be standing in queue for 2 to 3 hours excluding the 1 hour time required for completing the formalities to obtain ticket(similar to sudarshan ticket).
If for any reason, you do not want to have darshan but want the laddus(prasad) on your tickets, you still need to stand in queue till you reach the security check and get your ticket stamped, come out of queue, and walk down for 500 mts to prasad counter queue to claim your laddus. Do not forget to buy polybags for Rs. 2 each that are available in bag counters for storing your laddus.
Whichever ticket you are holding, you will only get the benefit in the “waiting time” in queue only. As soon as all the queues reach the temple entrance, all the queues seize to exist and there is chaos, pushing, pinching, jumping and all sorts of acrobatics in an effort to jump ahead of the person in front of you. People with small children will have to face hell for protecting their children.
HOW TO OBTAIN DARSHAN TICKET:Darshan tickets are available in TTDC counters in various cities across India. All devotees are required to be personally present in these counters for giving photograph, finger print, and cash of Rs. 50 for obtain a sudarshan ticket for the date of your choice, but darshan time of their choice for your date. IF you want to get this ticket in Tirupati, then you can easily get this from Sreenivasan complex next to bus stand. There is not much rush on these counters.
WHERE TO STAY AND SHOP IN TIRUPATI: For convenience and economy,Sreenivasan Complexis is the best as it has all the facilities that you require right from accommodation to getting sudarshan tickets. Facilities include taxis for Rs. 35 per head for going to Tirumala, buses for Rs. 25 to Tirulama, non- AC room for Rs. 200, AC rooms for Rs. 400, food and snacks at low rates, shopping for religious things in Leepakshi showroom at ground floor that has best prices, even lower than Tirumala shops.
Much hyped hotel Bhima Paradise was very dirty with bed bugs and lot of disturbance by chiller noise and passing trains during the night. The staff was too greedy for tips, and the restaurant is high priced with mineral water for Rs. 15, tea for Rs. 15, chapatti for Rs. 18 and vegetables in range of Rs. 80 to Rs. 120. Service very slow but food very good. This hotel never responds to the e-mails and also they have given all wrong numbers in their website…shows that they are too careless. Room is priced at Rs. 850 for non-AC, Rs. 1500 for AC.
There are good hotels in Tirupati like Hotel Bliss, Bhima Residency on higher priced range, while Hotel Aishwarya is very economical and good. There are plenty of hotels and most of them are clean neat and low priced. But by staying at Sreenivasan Complex in Tirupati, you get all facilities at doorstep, so I will strongly advise a budget traveler to prefer this place.
There are no private hotels in Tirumala, but accommodation is available through TTDC by standing in queue or booking at least 2-3 months before the date of visit. Accommodation here ranges from Rs. 25 to Rs. 1200. The details of accommodation are best given on the website http://www.balaji.net and http://www.omnamovenkatesaya.com
WHAT TO DO IN TIRUMALA FOR DARSHAN:First thing to keep in mind is that don’t carry your cell phone with you else you will have to stand in a very, very long queue just to deposit the cell phone. You also have to deposit your footwear in the counters and get token number. If you have your own vehicle, it is advisable that you leave these in your vehicle to save time. Stand in the queue meant for your ticket, and keep moving till you get few seconds darshan after 3-4 hours.
There are benches for taking rest but people prefer not to sit for the fear of losing their position in the queue. Always prefer morning darshan so that you have time to visit many other interesting places in Tirumala before you return back to Tirupati in evening. Full taxi will charge Rs. 600 to show you all the 5-6 important spots in Tirumala.
Accommodation is available on first come first served basis by standing in queue meant for accommodation. All these queues and counters are near the Vijaya Bank area, which is close to parking areas.
HOW TO OBTAIN PRASAD: Prasad counters are on left of exit gate of temple complex. First stand in queue to get a poly-bag for Rs. 2. Then stand in the prasad counter queue meant for your category of ticket. Hand over the poly bag and your stamped ticket at the counter, and you will be given laddus. Remember that prasad is given only on stamped tickets.
The ticket is stamped at security check when you are in the darshan queue. If you do not want to have darshan but only want prasad, then you need to come out of the darshan queue after getting the sudarshan ticket stamped and walk to the prasad counters which is 500 metres away from the queue area.
As soon as you come out of the temple, you will come across “Free prasad” queue where you will get some prasad like khidi, etc free of cost. This is the only FREE single item that you get in Tirumala apart from pushes and jostling that you get in plenty.
