Trip to Tirupati

We recently had opportunity to visit lord Balaji at Tirupathi. We visited towards the end of may (29-05-2019), it was too crowded. This post is about our one day trip  to tirupathi.

Tirupathi Darshan ticket booking:

First thing we have to do is to book special entry darshan, which cost rs. 300/- There is also free darshan but it may too crowded

Register and book Spl Darshan  http://www.tirumala.org/SpecialEntryDarshan.aspx (Book it well in advance - at least few months before)

Our Darshan time was at 4:00 pm 

Travel/Train Booking

We were travelling from Chennai (Ambattur), so we booked Sapthagiri Express which departs at 6:15 am reaches tirupathi at 9:40 am

Accommodation Booking

Tirumala (uphill): Book through tirumala.org website only (no private accommodation)

Tirupathi (near to railway / bus station): Can be booked through tirumala.org or any private hotel. You can also book hotel after reaching there.

Which one to book? 

If you are planning to visit temples in tirupathi -  I recommend you book hotel in tirupathi, refresh after reaching tirupathi, drop your languages in hotel, then visit temples then later move to tirumala, and after comeback take rest, then plan your return.  We can find many hotels near by bus stand. If you are booking hotel after reaching there, take a look at the rooms before you book.

If your plan to stay in tirumala, and roam around all the temple/places in uphill, plan an accommodation in tirumala - through tirumala.org

We reached tirupathi around 10:00 am. It was my first visit. I roamed few places, few hotels were full during our visit, and we finally booked a two bedroom A/C room, it was quiet big and good but bit costly, charged around rs 2000/- (4 ppl, and 2 kids).

Tirupathi :

We had planned to visit few temples to visit, but due to hot sun we decided to take rest in room and after lunch we started our journey towards tirumala

There are Buses, Jeep, Taxis available from tirupati to tirumala. It is an 1 hr journey.
We took Bus, as we felt it as safest and cheapest. we reached tirumala around 2:30 pm. The hill journey is one way, and pleasant one.

Tirumala:

I thought we can just walk down to the special entry darshan, but later realized we have to cover some distance, so we took a taxi to the special entry darshan.

We made a mistake of getting down Adhi varahar temple, unfortunately it was too crowded, from  there we had a tough time to reach special darshan (we weren't sure where to leave our luggage/chappal). we had to walk some distance to reach special entry darshan location. My advise is, if you are travelling by taxi first go to special darshan, then later after visiting Balaji if you have time visit rest of temples.

Tradition wear is must (Men - Dhothi, Women - saree or chudidhar)

Free Locker: After reaching special entry, you can leave your luggage (if any), mobile phones,  chappals there

We were standing with crowd to darshan Balaji.. It was crowded but we got to see people of different culture.. it was fun :) It was Chennai T-Nagar crowd like experience... I enjoyed it.

Follow the crowd, after getting through few gates, we finally got good rich darshan of lord Balaji...
Though it was crowded, it was still free flowing.. A well maintained temple.

Ladoo will be distributed to each. After you come out, one of member can go and collect the ladoo with online ticket and aadhar card (any id proof as submitted in ) & carry bag(or can purchased in one of the counter). Special darshan ticket has 3 ladoo for a person. If you want more pay and get extra ladoo.

We visited lord Hanuman temple, then came out around 6:00 pm.
Don't forget to collect your luggage.


Free Food: Anadhanam counter is there, free food provided by tirumala trust. I believe it is available all time. They provided good kichadi during our time of visit.

Free Bus: Tirumala Trust provide free buses to bus stand, from there we can catch our bus to tirupathi. We reached Tirupathi around 7:30 pm.

Back to Hotel:

We walked back to hotel(walkable distance), refreshed a bit, and we vacated the room around  8:30 pm. On the way back to bus stand had dinner.

Return to chennai:

Busses are available 24hr from tirupathi to chennai. Most of the buses will go to madhavaram, but there are some chennai MTC/volvo busses which goes to koyambedu. We got into ordinary MTC bus (11:00 pm) with good breeze in calm night and reached chennai koyambedu around 2:30 am.

Check list:

1. Special darshan ticket print out
2. Travel ticket
3. Aadhar card (or any valid id proof)
4. Traditional wear only (Men - Dhoti, Women - saree or chudhidhar)

Notes:

1. From tirupathi to tirumala, it may take around 1 to 1.5 hours
2. If you reach tirupathi early, dont worry about timing just go and stand in the queue. I dont think they look at the timing rather the ticket is sufficient, but try not to be late
3.  Even if you are booking return ticket, ensure it is at least 4-5 hrs from your darshan time