Gudimallam

Gudimallam is a small village located in Srikalahasti Mandal, of the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. It is seven miles away from Renigunta Railway Junction of considerable significance. Gudimallam is just 30-km east of Tirupati.Though a small village, historically it is very important, because it has a beautiful Siva Temple which is popularly known as "the Parasurameswara Temple."

The main importance of the temple lies in the Linga which is housed in the Garbhagriha of the temple. This is supposed to be the earliest Linga discovered so far and it has been assigned to the 2nd or 1st century B.C. The name of the temple is mentioned as Parasurameswara Temple in the inscriptions.

                                                  

The floor of the sanctum is below the floor level of the Antarala and Mukhamantapa. The figure of Siva carved on the linga resembles a vigorous hunter. These two names however are not mentioned in the inscriptions. The village is referred as Viprapita (Brahmana Agrahara).

Surutupalli

This this the only temple in India where Lord Shiva is in maanava roopam i.e not as Linga . ABOUT 56 KM from Chennai, on the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border, is a small village called Surutapalli, which houses the only "Sayana Sivan" (sleeping Siva) called Pallikondeswarar.According to Sthalapurana , it is said that Asuras (demons) and Devas (Gods) decided to consume the nectar from Kseerabthi (the milk ocean) in order to live longer. Hence, they churned the ocean with the help of Vasuki (the celestial snake) and the hill Mandhara, with Gods on one side and demons on the other. Unable to tolerate the pressure, Vasuki spilled out the poison from his mouth.  The Gods and demons then approached Lord Shiva to save them from the harm of poison. Lord Shiva transformed himself into Vishabhakarana Moorthy and consumed poison. The situation was such that if Lord swallows the poison, the living creatures on the earth will die and if he does not, the Gods and Demons will be killed. He then started feeling little giddy. Fearing this, his consort, Goddess Parvati placed Lord’s head in Her lap and gently pressed His neck and the poison remained thus in His throat without affecting His body. Hence Lord Shiva got the name as ‘Neelakantha’ (‘Neela’- blue with poison and ‘Kantha’- throat) because of the accumulation of the poison in his throat and Goddess Parvati was called as ‘Amudhambigai’. On their way to Kailasa (Lord Shiva’s aboard), Lord Siva who was feeling little dizzy, rested on the lap of His wife for a while in the place where the village stands today. Hence the village got its name as Suruttapalli, Surutta meaning ‘Little dizzy’ and Palli meaning ‘Resting’.

Mr. K. S. Venkararama Raju, Chairman, Trust Board, Sri Pallikondeswara Swamy Devasthanam, Surutapalli, Dasukuppam Post, Nagalapuram M.D., Chittoor District Pin-517 588 (A.P.)
Darshan Time:
Morning : 6.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
Evening : 4.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.

ISCKON,Tirupati 

Iskon is located at a distance of 3 km from Railway station,Tirupati.It was in the year 1974-75; His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada made a visit to Tirupati-Tirumala as a special guest of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. During his stay at Tirumala, Srila Prabhupada was extremely pleased to have Darshan of Lord Sri Venkateswara. He was also pleased to see hundreds and thousands of pilgrimage devotees visiting the divine place daily.

During the course of his discussion with the then Endowments Minister of A.P., Sri Sagi Suryanarayana Raju, Srila Prabhupada pointed out that T.T.D.should take steps for propagating and reviving the message of Bhagavad-Gita, immediately on large scale. His Divine Grace said it is the only way to bring peace and harmony throughout the world. Since T.T.D. has the basic infrastructure it should work out some program and take the assistance of the devotees of the ISKCON to conduct vigorous preaching for the benefit of all.

On the 10 th April 1984, a small temple was inaugurated by installing the most beautiful ‘Archa Vigraha' if Sri Sri Radha Govinda.But now is a A HISTORICAL MONUMENT AT THE MOST FAMOUS RELIGIOUS PALCE IN INDIA-TIRUPATI. THE ABODE OF LORD SRI VENKATESWARA.

Karvetinagaram           

Karvetinagaram is near puttur at a distance of 58 km from Tirupati. The temple here is dedicated to Lord VenuGopalaSwamy with Rukmini and Satyabama. This was maintained by the Narayanavanam rulers in the olden days. It also houses a shrine with monolithic idols of Sita, Rama, Lakshmana and Anjaneya.

Appalayagunta

The Lord  Prasanna Venkateswara swamy is located at Appalayagunta, 15 km from Tirupati. Festivals like Brahmotsavam are being celebrated on a grand scale. The idols of Goddess Padmavathi and Sri Andal are also seen in the ancient temple. The temple is constructed by the Rajas of Karvetinagaram consists of shrine for Anjaneya. The imposing mammoth image of the wind-god is worshipped by devotees for relief from ‘Chronic diseases’.

Narayanavanam                            

Narayanavanam is a small town about 22 kms south east of  Tirupati. A shrine dedicated to Kalyana Venkateswara is located here. Puranas and legends claim that lord Venkateswara married Padmavathi Devi, the daughter of Akasa Raja, at this hallowed place and that to commemorate this great event, Akasa raja built the  Temple .

Srinivasa mangapuram

Srinivasa Mangapuram, a small village , is 12 kms to the east of Tirupati. Sri Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy temple is located South-east of this village. Legends say that Lord Venkateswara after his marriage with Padmavathi Devi stayed her for some time before proceeding to Tirumala . In srinivasa mangapuram there is way to Tirumala known as srivari Mettu , which is very shortest footway to Tirumala. According to puranas Lord has reached Tirumala after his marraige along with Padmavathi Devi through this footway.The shrine was renovated by Talapakka Chinna Tiruvengatanatha in the 16 th century .It is now under the Archaeological Department of India. Around the Srinivasa mangapuram there is a entrance for Chandra giri Fort, which was built by Vijayanagara emperors.

Alemelumangapuram (Tiruchanur)

Tiruchanur, also known as Alamelu Mangapuram, located about 5 kms from Tirupati is also known as ancient sacred place. The temple of Sri Padmavathi Devi, the consort of Lord Venkateswara is situated in this place. It is said that the visit to Tirumala is fruitful only after a visit to sriPadmavathi Devi Temple at Tiruchanur. Therefore after visiting the temples at Tirumala  and Tirupati , the piligrims proceed to Tiruchanur to worship Goddess Padmavathi Devi. The sacred tank adjoining the Padmavathi DeviTemple is called Padma Sarovar. The legend is that the godess revealed herself on a lotus in the sacred tank.

Sri Kapileswaraswami temple

This shrine for Lord Siva is located at about 3 km from Tirupati Railway station. here we can see the beautiful water falls , where water flows from Tirumala Hills. The falls is very beautiful to see during the rainy season. Inside there are many sub temples like Vinayaka temple, Kammakshi temple, Dakshana murthy temple, Subramanya swamy temple, agastheeswara temple,  navagrahams, VenuGopal swamy temple, Lakshmi narshima swamy temple, Alwar temple etc. Adjacent to it there is visiting place, Jungle Book manged by Forest Dept of India. As Kapila maharshi installed the Sivalinga  here, the God is called Kapileswara and the tirtham is known as Kapilatirtham.

Kanipakam temple          

Sri Vara sidhi Vinayaka Temple which is in Kanipaakam in Irala Mandal, Chittoor District. It is about 11kms from Chittoor town. "Kani" means wetland and "Pakam" means flow of water into wetland.The 'swayambhu' idol (the self-manifested) of Lord Vinayaka emerged from the swirling waters in a well.Even today the idol is in the original well and the springs of the well are perennial and the eternal. During the rainy season, the holy water from the well overflows even today.

Tourist Attractions

Sri Kalahasti temple        

SriKalahasti temple is located 36 km away from Tirupati. The inner temple is constructed around 5th century and the outer temple was constructed in the 12th Century.It is the abode of Shiva, from whose head, according to legend, the Ganges is said to flow.Kalahasti is the ‘Kailas of the South’.This temple itself is a great architectural piece of art.The inside pillars are fresh as they were hundreds of years back because they were hidden from degradation by nature. SriKalahasti got its name because in days of yore a spider (sri), serpent (kala) and elephant (hasti) elephant worshipped Shiva with great devotion.

Tourist Attractions

Sri Kalahasti temple        

SriKalahasti temple is located 36 km away from Tirupati. The inner temple is constructed around 5th century and the outer temple was constructed in the 12th Century.It is the abode of Shiva, from whose head, according to legend, the Ganges is said to flow.Kalahasti is the ‘Kailas of the South’.This temple itself is a great architectural piece of art.The inside pillars are fresh as they were hundreds of years back because they were hidden from degradation by nature. SriKalahasti got its name because in days of yore a spider (sri), serpent (kala) and elephant (hasti) elephant worshipped Shiva with great devotion.

Tourist Attractions

Sri Kodandaramaswamy Temple

This temple is dedicated to Sri Rama is situated within a distance of about 1 kilometer from the Tirupati Railway station. Opposite to this temple there is a Anjaneya swamy temple called as Bedi Anjaneya swamy.Inside the temple there is temple of Vishwaksena and Alwar. Sri Rama navami is celebrated here where the utsavam starts from Ugadi to Rama navami. The Temple was built to commemorate the visit of Sri Rama,Lakshmana and Sita to Tirupati, while returning from Lanka. According to inscriptions, the temple was built by one Narshima Mudalayar for the benefit of Saluva Narasahima in A.D  1480

Railway Time table

Trains from Tirupati

Train Number	Train Name	Train Source Stn	Source Dep. Time	Train Destination Stn	Dest. Arr. Time
0698	Tirupati Yesvantpur Express	Tirupati/TPTY	08:00PM	Yesvantpur Junction/YPR	04:30AM
2707	Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti Express	Tirupati/TPTY	05:45AM	H Nizamuddin/NZM	05:55PM
2733	Narayanadri Express	Tirupati/TPTY	06:25PM	Secunderabad Junction/SC	06:25AM
2763	Padmavathi Express	Tirupati/TPTY	05:05PM	Secunderabad Junction/SC	05:50AM
6054	Chennai Express	Tirupati/TPTY	10:05AM	Chennai Central/MAS	01:20PM
6058	Sapthagiri Express	Tirupati/TPTY	05:20PM	Chennai Central/MAS	08:35PM
7401	Tirupati Machilipatnam Express	Tirupati/TPTY	07:40PM	Machilipatnam/MTM	05:20AM
7405	Krishna Express	Tirupati/TPTY	05:25AM	Adilabad/ADB	06:15AM
7430	Rayalaseema Express	Tirupati/TPTY	07:15PM	Hyderabad Deccan/HYB	10:30AM
7480	Puri Express	Tirupati/TPTY	10:35AM	Puri/PURI	03:00PM
7482	Bilaspur Express	Tirupati/TPTY	10:35AM	Bilaspur Junction/BSP	06:20PM
7487	Thirumala Express	Tirupati/TPTY	08:50PM	Vishakhapatnam/VSKP	10:55AM
750	Vishakhapatnam Special	Tirupati/TPTY	09:00PM	Vishakhapatnam/VSKP	11:10AM

Govindarajaswami Temple

The Govindarajaswami Temple: This temple is the main attraction for the pilgrims at Tirupati and the biggest temple in town. Saint Ramanujacharya consecrated the temple in 1130 AD. This temple is in Tirupati and quite near from the railway station.The highlight of the temple is its outer pinnacle(Gaali Gopuram) which is visible from a quite a distance.Apart from Sri Govindaraja Swamy's ,The temple complex also houses the shrines of Andal Ammavaru,Sri Krishna ,Sri Ramanuja Thirumangai Alwar,Sri Vedanta Desika, Sri Lakshmi and Sri Manevala Mahamunlu.The Bramhotsavam of Govindaraja Swamy during the month of may-june( Vaisakha),attracts a large number of devotees every year.

transport

Road

Tirumala-Tirupati APSRTC Bus

Tirupati has direct bus services to nearby towns and major cities across SOUTH INDIA. There is a dedicated Bus Stand at Alipiri for buses (once in every 2 minutes) to . The town has a well planned network of roads with synchronized traffic control system.

 Tamil Nadu public transport corporation buses connect many cities in the state with Tirupati. KSRTC buses connect many cities in Karnataka with this holy city.


A number of buses are operated by the government-run APSRTC and private operators connecting Tirupati to other major cities and towns such as  and chennai,hyderbad,bangalore,vijayawada.

Politics

Tirupati is a major municipal corporation in the Andhra Pradesh. It contributes a member in central parliament and a member in state legislature in Indian politics. Chinta Mohan is the current MP from Indian National Congress (INC) and Konidala Chiranjeevi is the MLA from Praja Rajyam Party (Now in INC). Chandragiri is a suburb accounting to one more seat for the state assembly. Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) was established long back to develop the city. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) also contributes a maximum of funds for the development of the city. Major roads like the traffic-loaded Tirumala bypass and the rail underpass near the railway station was taken up by TTD along with TUDA.

Assembly constituency

1955 - R. Nadamunireddy (Indian National Congress) 1962 - R. Nadamunireddy (Indian National Congress) 1967 - A. Eswar Reddy (Independent) 1972 - V. Sikamani (Indian National Congress) 1978 - A. Eswar Reddy (Indian National Congress) 1983 - N. T. Rama Rao (Telugu Desam Party) 1983 - K. Symala (Telugu Desam Party) 1985 - M. Ramireddy (Indian National Congress) 1989 - M. Ramireddy (Indian National Congress) 1994 - A. Mohan (Telugu Desam Party) 1999 - Chadalavada Krishna Murthy (Telugu Desam Party) 2004 - M. Venkata Ramana (Indian National Congress) 2009 -Dr. Chiranjeevi (Praja Rajyam)(INC)

Parliamentary Constituency List of elected members: 1977 - Balakrishnaiah Tambura (Indian National Congress) 1980 - Pasala Penchalaiah (Indian National Congress) 1984 - Chinta Mohan (Telugu Desam Party) 1989 - Chinta Mohan (Indian National Congress) 1991 - Chinta Mohan (Indian National Congress) 1996 - Nelavala Subrahmanyam (Indian National Congress) 1998 - Chinta Mohan (Indian National Congress) 1999 - N. Venkata Swamy (Bharatiya Janata Party) 2004 - Chinta Mohan (Indian National Congress) 2009 - Chinta Mohan (Indian National Congress)

Tiruchanoor

Thiruchanoor is a large Suburban region in the temple city of Tirupati. It is recently clubbed with the Municipal Corporation of Tirupati and TUDA regions. The Suburban is also known as Alamelu Mangapuram.
                

The temple is home to the temple of Sri Alamelu (Padmavati), consort of Sri Venkateswara. It is believed that the goddess Alamelu, an Avatar of Lakshmi, was born the daughter of Akasha Raja, the ruler of this region, and wed Venkateswara of Tirupati.
Tiruchanoor attracts huge crowd throughout the year.It is said that a visit to Tirumala is complete only after visiting the Sri Padmavathi Devi temple.
Tiruchanoor is known for marriage halls. Tiruchanoor has quite good residential hotels. It is one of the fastest growing suburbs around tirupati;Land prices in tiruchanoor are becoming very high.Tiruchanoor is a potential place for real estate business.

So many buses(private & RTC), share autos run to Tiruchanoor from Tirupati.

EDUCATION

Tirupati is a major educational center in South region of Andhra Pradesh. It is home to several universities, including
  

• Sri Venkateswara University
• S. V. Medical College
• Sri Padmavati Mahila Viswavidyalayam (SPMVV) (one among two women universities in India)
• Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth
• Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth - Directorate of Distance Education
• Sri Venkateswara Vedic University
• Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University (SVVU)
• Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences university (SVIMS)

Apart from these universities, it has medical, pharmacy, agricultural colleges and also engineering colleges.
Around 22 engineering colleges and 5 pharmacy colleges exist in and around Tirupati.
Some of them are:

• Sri Venkateswara University College of Engineering (SVUCE)
• Sree Vidyaniketan Engineering College (SVEC) A. Rangempeta.
• Siddharth institute of Engineering & Technology, (SIETK) Puttur.
• Chadalawada Ramanamma Engineering College, (CREC) Tirupati.
• Seshachala Institute of Engineering & Technology, (SIET) Puttur.
• Rayalaseema school of Engineering, Tirupati.
• Sri Padmavathi School of Pharmacy (SPSP), Tiruchanoor.
• Vaishnavi Institute of Technology (VITT), Tirupati.
• Vaishnavi Institute of Technology for Women(VITW), Tirupati.

Tirupati also has several academic institutions offering degree programmes in Science, Arts, Commerce and Agricultural Sciences. Some of these colleges have been established more than 50 years ago. Some of them are:

• Sri Venkateswara Arts College
• Sri Govindarajaswamy Arts College
• Sri Padmavathi Women's College
• Sri Padmavathi Women's polytechnic
• Sri Venkateswara Government Polytechnic
• Sri Venkateswara Oriental College
• Sri Venkateswara Agriculture College

The Dairy Technology Programme under SV Veterinary University offering B. Tech (Dairy Technology) degree since 1983 has been elevated during the year 2009 to College of Dairy Technology, first of its kind in Andhra Pradesh.

ABOUT TIRUPATI

BEHIND THE NAME 

The word Tirupati is a combination of two words 'Tiru/Thiru' & 'Pati'. "Tiru/Thiru" (Tamil) or Sri ( The Telugu equiv.) is an eponym for the Goddess Lakshmi Pati means 'Husband/Lord' in Sanskrit. When combined Tiru+Pati comes to mean The Husband/Lord of  Lakshmi. 

AREA

The Tirupati city expanded to nearby areas, covering a total area of 450.sqkm TUDA area and is under TUDA (Tirupati Urban development Authority), which includes towns Tirupati,Tiruchanoor, Renigunta, Chandragiri, Avilala and some surrounding villages.

POPULATION

According to 2011 census Tirupati has a population of about 2,43,987 (with urban agglomeration, 3,98,776). Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. It has an average literacy rate of 87%, higher than the national average of 64.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 74%. 18% of the population is under 6 years of age.

CLIMATE

Tirupati has an extreme type of climate. Monsoon remains moderate and summer experiences temperatures ranging from 42 to 45 degrees Celsius (107.6 F & 113 F). In winter the minimum temperatures will be between 10 and 18 degrees Celsius ( 50 F to 64.4 F). Usually summer lasts from March to June, with the advent of rainy season in July, followed by winter which lasts till the end of February.

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The main aim behind the blog is to describe the things that are happening around the temple city TIRUPATI.