Day 2 in Tirupati
Important/famous temples and Places visited: Padmavathi amma temple, Parasareshwara Swamy temple, Kalyana Venkateshwara Swamy temple, Vakula mata temple, Srivari mettu, hill climbing to reach Tirumala
Tirupati Day 2 we got fresh and completed our breakfast by 8.30 am. Then we have vacated our room by 9 am. we have hired a taxi with an understanding that he will take us to all the above-mentioned places and drop us at Sri Vari mettu.
Please be noted that Taxi drivers may not know all the places. Before hiring clearly mention the places and ask whether they know the places or not and then go for price negotiations. We have kept all our luggage in the taxi and started to goddess Padmavathi ammavari temple. Distance from VishnuNivasam, Tirupati to Tiruchanoor is 5km.
Padmavathi Amma temple – Tiruchanoor, Tirupati
Legend/history/story: When King Akasharaja and his wife were ploughing the land to perform Yagna, the couple found a child in a thousand petal lotus. A divine voice urged the king to bring up the child. The child was named Padmavathi as she was found in a lotus (Padma). When Padmavathi amma grew up Lord Venkateshwara came in search of her.
Then the marriage of Lord Venkateshwara(Srinivasa) and Padmavathi amma happened in a grand way. There is also another version that Padmavati amma emerged from the golden lotus located at the center of Puskarini. The temple(devasthanam) was constructed by Tondaman Chakravarthi, who is the elder brother of Padmavathi amma. Below you can see the image/picture of Padmavati amma temple
We got down from the Taxi near the temple. In front of the temple(mandir) you can find beautiful lotus flowers. You can buy them to offer to Padmavathi amma. We entered the queue line and it took us around 2 hours to complete the darshan of Padmavathi amma. You will get a blessed feeling once you had the darshan of amma.
Then we sat some time inside the temple and bought some laddu’s(prasad) and came out of the temple. Due to lack of information, we have not visited the Padmasarovaram (Temple tank of Padmavathi amma) and Lord Surya Narayana Swamy temple opposite it. So please do visit these places as well.
Padmavathi amma temple timings: 5am to 9.30 pm
From there we went to Yogi mallavaram to visit Shri Parasareshwara Swamy temple, which is around 1 km from there.
Shri Parasareshwara Swamy temple – Yogi mallavaram, Tirupati
Story/history/legend: This is the place where Lord Shiva gave Pashupati Astra to Arjuna. Yogi mallavaram name is derived from Yogi (Arjuna) & Mallu (Lord shiva, who came in the form of a hunter). Here Lord shiva is called parasareshwara because Parasara Maharshi installed the shiva lingam here.
By the time we reached there, the temple was closed as it was almost 12 noon. After seeing the temple I felt that it was not properly developed. But the temple was peaceful and hardly there are any people. Beside the temple, there are some cows. we have spent some time there and started to Kalyana Venkateshwara Swamy temple which is around 15 Km from there.
Shri Kalayana venkateshwara swamy temple – Srinivasamangapuram , Tirupati
History/legend/story: After the marriage with Padmavathi amma Lord Venkateshwara visited sage Agasthya’s Ashram to seek the blessing. Over the wish of sage Agasthya, Lord Venkateshwara along with Padmavathi amma stayed at the ashrama for 6 months. This Ashramam now became a famous temple. Below you can see the image/picture of Shri Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy temple
We reached the temple by around 1.30 pm. As usual, like other temples, this temple is also big with a koneru in front of the temple. After the darshan, we started for the Vakulamata temple. Actually, it comes before the Kalyana Venkateshwara Swamy temple but since the taxi driver doesn’t know that place we went back a little. The distance between the Vakulamata temple and Shri Kalyana Venkateshwara Swamy temple is 6 km.
Vakulamata temple – Peruru, Tirupati, Andhrapradesh,India
Vakulamata (mata Yasodha in Dwapara yuga) was the mother of Lord venkateshwara . Earlier it was a tradition that people used to visit the Vakulamata temple before the darshan of Lord Venkateshwara.
We reached the temple by searching on google maps. Temple is on the hill and it was almost destroyed. Even there was no way to go nearby temple. I heard that the temple was destroyed because of the mining mafia. But recently, the high court has given an order to reconstruct the temple. We should say thanks to swami Paripoornananda for taking up this issue. So now TTD is in the process of renovating the temple. So try to get information and if it is renovated please visit the temple. Below you can see the image/picture of vakulamata temple
From there we have started to the Srivari Mettu starting point which is around 12 km from vakulamata temple . If you go from Kalyana Venkateshwara Swamy temple then the distance will be only 6 km.
There are 2 ways to climb the Tirumala Hills(famously known as edukondalu or seven hills). One is from Alipiri and the other is from Srivari mettu.
Alipiri
Total walking distance – 9km
No. of steps – 3550
Alipiri walking path timings: 24 hours opened.
since Alipiri steps will be opened for 24 hours pilgrims can start their journey any time. The distance from Alipiri to Tirupati bus/railway station is 4km. In this way, you can find many temples and also many refreshments.
Srivari mettu
Total walk path distance – 2.1 km
No. of steps – 2388
Srivari mettu walking path timings: from early morning around 6 am to 5 pm
Srivari mettu hill way path will be closed by around 5 PM but the security vigilance will be there for 24 hours. 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler vehicles can be parked here. The distance from Tirupati railway station to srivari mettu starting point is 17 km. This is the way used by lord Venkateswara (balaji) to climb the hill. So please avoid footwear while climbing up the hills.
You have luggage counters at both Alipiri and Srivari mettu, where you can drop your luggage before going to Tirumala by walk and can collect it after reaching the hilltop. It is a free service offered by TTD. Please note that you should lock all the bags before giving them to the luggage counter. For us, they didn’t allow one bag as it was not locked. So we bought a lock there and locked it.
The drinking water facility will be there along both paths. you can also carry one water bottle for safety. Both Alipiri and Srivari mettu path almost have rooftop so we can walk in shade. There will be a special darshan (Divya darshan) for devotees who climb the hill. Currently, this special darshan was not available on Saturday and Sunday. So please check the TTD official site for information on Divya darshan availability.
We reached Srivari mettu at around 3 pm and dropped our luggage at the luggage counter except for our mobiles, purse, and a small bag. There was no facility for lunch there, so we had some biscuits and started our walk by giving arati to the initial steps. Below you can see the images/pictures of srivari mettu steps walkway
Climate will be very pleasant and you can hear the god bhajans with slow sounds playing on speakers. It will be an awesome experience. Since it passes through the forest the scenery will be very good and you can feel close to nature. Don’t climb the steps in hurry. Go slow & steady, enjoy the nature. Govindanamas will be written on the side pillars try to read them while climbing the steps. We reached Tirumala (hilltop) by around 6 pm. we have taken some pics there and taken some rest. Then we collected our luggage.
Since we didn’t get online advanced room booking we started searching for a room. We first went to the queue line. Already there are some hundreds of people standing there to get a room and TTD has already placed a no vacancy board. we have waited there for 1 hour. After that, it became clear to us that we are not going to get any room there. We also tried going to ashram’s to get a room but didn’t get any room. so we have decided to get a locker.
we went to Madhavanilayam and took a locker there. It is almost free of cost but you need to show your ID card. Along with a locker, they will also provide mats, so that you can sleep in the hall. Everything was maintained well and we didn’t face any problem except the washrooms. Washrooms were so crowded that TTD staff were not getting time to clean them. It might not be the same all the time.
So if you are planning a trip to Tirupati please try to book accommodation online in advance. Because if you go directly to the hill without advance booking you might face some problem. If you don’t get the room you can always go to madhavanilayam or some other buildings like madhavanilayam which provide lockers. With this, we have completed our second day in Tirumala Tirupati.
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