tirupati in a day - worth it?

discoross

I'm going to be in Hampi/Hospet in April. I could either:

• Catch an evening train to Tirupati, arrive in the morning, then the next evening catch another overnight train to my destination in Kochi, OR
• Spend an extra night in Hampi, catch the morning train in sleeper class to Goa (which I've heard is spectacular), then the overnight train from Goa to Kochi. This might also be a problem if the Hospet-Goa train is late (it comes from Kolkata), since I might miss my connection to Kochi
• Completely different option: Instead of doing a DEL-hyderabad flight then overnight train to hospet (then after my time there, the above question follows), I could miss out on a few hours exploring the old city in delhi, instead fly to tirupati (arriving 13:40) then I could have until 19:15 to explore tirupati, then catch a train to hospet, allowing the Goa train as well. Then the question is whether or not 5 hours is enough

Is it worth it to spend a day in Tirupati? Or 5 hours? Most/all of my other train journeys while I'm in India will be overnight, so I feel like I should fit in a daytime one at some point to appreciate the countryside, but if Tirupati can be seen in a day or 5 hours, I might reconsider.

RWeHavingFunYet

.
.
.
.
.
It all depends upon what exactly you're planning to see in Tirupathi?

It is a very small town. Hindu people visit here for pilgrimage to visit the temple, which is up in the hills. I don't think white people are allowed inside. I could be wrong.

Back to the question. What is your purpose of visit to Tirupati?

discoross

Really, I'm only trying to find a nice way to piece together a bunch of other places I wanted to visit. Tirupati has a train station and an airport, and many different possibilities brought me here. Plus, I don't like cities much so I thought it was a better connection point.

I heard the Govindarajaswamy temple (open to non-Hindus = me) is a 5 minute walk from the train station, so it seems like a 5 hour stay is somewhat possible, although not entirely rewarding...

Manzey

Tirupathi is the richest Indian god and the number of visitors visiting the templed sometimes exceed one lakh people per day. You have to stand in the long queues four couple of hours (sometime more and depending on which queue you are)to have a darshan of the Lord Venkateshwara. There are different tickets available to make the queue shorter and obviously the longest time taken is for the free darshan and be ready for some pushing in the queue.
Everytime I go there and stand in the queue, I always think I will not come back here again (b'cos of all the pushing while standing in the queue, but once you see the god, you will forget everything......I feel there is something special here which attracts the crowd and that's the reason people come back here again and again.

If I am not mistaken, I have seen quite a few whites in the queue.

RWeHavingFunYet

Tirupathi is a temple town full of pilgrims visiting the Tirumala hills for Lord Venkateshwara Temple. You could as well take the spectacular bus ride up the hills and back. You could also hang out there for a while; if you plan well, there is stuff to see.

If you decide to spend a day, you could hike up the hills (~3hrs up) and take a bus ride down. If you hike up, you'll run into a spotted deer park, which are used to handouts. You can feed'em with vendors. It is an amazing temple with a shimmering Gold Dome. You can see the dome from outside; you don't really need to visit the temple.

The Temple in Tirumala Hills is claimed to be the busiest in the world -- eclipsing Jerusalem, Rome and Mecca in the sheer number of pilgrims (Ref: LP India).

RWeHavingFunYet

.
.
.
.
.
some pictures from the hike up the hills.
.
.

Attached Thumbnails

     

edwardseco

This so very hard to answer for someone else. I don't know if the average tourist would get much out of it. I went with my infant and everyone seemed delighted that the Indian boy had a gora bearer (backpack carrier). Indians love children in a truly special way. I caught some of the reflected glory and it was a great trip..

steven_ber

Tirumala didn't really do it for me, it seemed almost like a Temple disney land, but do consider that I was a bit 'templed out' and tired as I'd come all the way from Varanasi, and I was horrified to find out we can't smoke cigarettes in Tirumala, so for this reason, I only spent a couple of hours looking around, looking back, I really should have spent more time in Tirumala, there seemed so much to see.

The bus ride up the hill is wonderful, but absolutely terrifying on the way back down as the bus accelerates into corners.

5 hours is not enough, and the whole day is probably about the right amount of time.


However, make sure you allow enough time in Hampi, you really want 3 full days there, I had 3 and a half and was never bored (amazing for me) yet still didn't manage to see everything.

If you'd planned on only 2 days, have the extra day, then either get an overnight train to Bangalore, then a flight to Kochi, or the daytime train to Goa, then a flight to Kochi.

__________________
.
How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions.


Train information.


RAC & Waitlists explained.

rangss

I always felt exactly the same

__________________
...and I took the road less travelled.

varmaqs

I have been to Tirupati like 15 times. There is nothing much in Tirupati. but there is a holy town called Tirumala on top of the hills. The trek to the top is good which takes around 3 hours. its a holy place for hindus.
Once u get down at tirupati go straight to Tirumala. I recommend the trek route up. I think one day is enough for Tirumala.
Sorry if my reply confused u, please let me know if u have any questions.

delhiwala

Tirupati is no countryside. It's a big pilgrimage centre for Hindus.

your Hampi-Goa-Kochi, plan is also not sound. You won;t be able to see anything at Goa in such a compressed time. Goa deserves at least a week.

__________________
Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone. - The Dhammapada

rajee87

people visit tirumala out of religious interests, true. but if you could spend a day at tirupati/tirumala, the memories of beauty of nature & serene surroundings will definately stay with you for a long time.
Govindarajaswamy temple is awesome (tirupati). and either a bus ride on a beautiful ghat road or a moderate trek up hill is really enjoyable.
and once you are uphill, if you have advance booking of darshan, you can go inside the main temple or otherwise just roam around the streets of tirumala and you can go to kapila thirtham Akasa ganga (bothwater falls), Sila thoranam (a 1500 million years old natural rock formation)
and you can try a mini trek to Jabali Hanuman (hanuman temple not quite popular with masses)which you can cherish, i bet. actually you can even meditate there.
have a nice trip

junglejux

i always felt triupati wasn't ment for tourists from other countries. there just one temple there that you will probably never get to get up close. skip it, is my opinion. theres better spot to see.

__________________
Positive Energy Activates Constant Elevation

edwardseco

Good point, I was allowed in on the logic that the shona baba was Hindu & therefore the bearer had to provide. Whether that works if you don't have a baby of obviously Hindu heritage I don't know. Like Steven I tend to be otherwise quite "templed out"...

junglejux

these morden places of worship are exactly like what you said religious "disney land". too much confusion, too many people. there a nice spot in delhi not far from the city, its a huge area thats a protected wildlife sanctuary, and there a cluster of small temples dedicated to different gods. theres also a small hut where two bengali sadhus stay who take care of the place, they smoke massive amount of weed and only eat fruits and drink chai. its really a nice place with peacock roaming wild and alot of other animals, you can visit the temples, ring the bells, smoke some pot and walk around the sanctuary. i'll try to remember the name of the place.