Tirupati is a major pilgrimage city located in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located at the foothills of Eastern Ghats at a distance of 550 kms south of Hyderabad, the capital of the state and 100 kms north of Chennai.
Tirupati is famous for the Venkateswara Swamy temple dedicated to Lord Venkateswara, located about 10 km north west of Tirupati in the hallowed Tirumala hills at an elevation of 853 m. One of the most important pilgrimage centers in India, the temple draws millions of pilgrims and is one of the busiest pilgrimage centres in the world. Tirupati town itself has several temples and is famous for its red wooden toys, copper and brass idols. Also, the town is a major economical and educational hub in the southern region of the state.
Religious sites
There are many temples in Tirupati and Tirumala. Some of them are:
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Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu as Venkateswara (also known as Balaji and Srinivasa) attracts followers from a wide range of Hindu traditions. |
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Alamelu Mangamma Shrine in Alamelumangapuram also called Thiruchanoor |
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Padmavati Temple |
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Govindaraja Swamy Temple |
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Kodanda Rama Swamy Temple: Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana are the presiding deities of the temple. Lord Anjaneya Swamy is seen near the foot of Lord Rama. The temple is in the heart of the city. There is also another temple dedicated to Lord Anjaneya Swamy opposite to Kodhanda Rama Swamy Temple. Prasadams are offered daily to pilgrims. |
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Srinivasa Mangapuram |
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Kapila Theertham: This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and Parvati. There is a beautiful waterfall near the temple. |
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ISKCON Lord Krishna Temple - The temple has its own style of architecture with the towers coloured in gold and white. The carvings of Lord Narasimha Swamy, Lord Varaha Swamy and Krishna Leela are marvelous. Glass painting works on the windows depicting Lord Krishna's playful acts and the ceilings decorated like Tanjore art reveals the colourful masterpiece in art work. Each pillar is decorated with ten avatars of Lord Vishnu. The temple inside the sanctum has Lord Krishna with beautifully dressed Gopikas. There is a beautiful park surrounded with lot of flowers, ponds, fountains and with Krishna Leela idols. The temple is on the way to Tirumala Hills. |
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Lord Shiva temple at Yogimallavaram, near to Tirupati is very old and is very famous. |
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Hanuman temple at Tirumala is where Hanuman's mother Anjana did penance. |
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Avanakshamma temple - 42 km from Tirupati |
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Sri Venugopala Swamy Temple in Karvetinagaram, 40 km from Tirupati |
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Sri Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy Temple - Narayanavanam, 48 km from Tirupati |
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Sri Prasanna Venkateswara Swamy Temple - Appalayagunta, 20 km from Tirupati |
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There is also another small temple for Lord Vishnu. The place is on the foothills of Tirumala. Giant Nandikeshwara statue is seen at the entrance of the temple. There is a rock garden in Tirumala called as Shilatoranam. |
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| Other |
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Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park is the second of its kind in the Andhra Pradesh. It has many species of animals and plants which are being conserved. Nearly 10 to 15 tigers are present in this zoo |
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Regional Science Center is a science center and also has a planetarium which grabs huge amounts of crowd.
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