Travelling to Tirupati
Travelling by air / road / train
Tirupati is in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The town is 581 km from Hyderabad, 252 km from Bangalore and 125 km from Chennai. Pilgrims stay at the town of Tirupati which is 3 km from the base of the Tirumala Hill. The Venkateswara Temple is on the summit of the Tirumala hill and the journey up starts at Alipiri.
Air: Pilgrims travel by road from Chennai, Bangalore or Hyderabad. These cities all have airports connecting them to the rest of India. The nearest airport is Renigunta, 15km away but this is only connected to Hyderabad.
Road: Tirupati is well connected by buses from Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai run by the State bus services of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The shortest distance to Tirupati is a three hour drive from Chennai and then an hour drive to Tirumala. Tirumala is also connected to Tirupati by a regular bus service. Taxis can also be hired at Tirupati for Tirumala.
Rail: Tirupati has a broad service with trains connecting it to Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Howrah, Mumbai, Mysore, Puri and Trivandrum.
There is always a huge gathering of pilgrims at the Venkateswara Temple. However it is extremely crowded from February to November, all holidays and during the 10 day Brahmotsavam festival.
There are two queues for the darshan. The Sarvadarshan is free of charge. The Sudarshana is at the payment of a fee and takes less time. The Sarvadrashan may mean a wait from two to five hours, longer on some days.
