Introducing Andhra Pradesh
Aside from tens of millions of pilgrims, not many people make the trip to Andhra Pradesh. But Andhra’s a place with subtle charms, quiet traditions and a long history of spiritual scholarship and religious harmony. The state is 95% Hindu, but you wouldn’t know it in the capital’s Old City, where Islamic monuments and the call of the muezzin are more ubiquitous than the garlanded, twinkling tableaux of Ganesh. The city’s rich Islamic history announces itself in Hyderabad’s huge, lavish mosques, its opulent palaces and the stately Qutb Shahi tombs – but also, more softly, in a tiny spiral staircase in the Charminar and in the sounds of Urdu floating through the air.
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Meanwhile, in the city’s north, a 17.5m-high statue of the Buddha announces another Andhran history: the region was an international centre of Buddhist thought for several hundred years from the 3rd century BC. Andhras were practising the dharma from the time of the Buddha (rumour has it that he even once visited). Today ruins of stupas and monasteries defy impermanence around the state, especially at Amaravathi and Nagarjunakonda.
Travelling here is like a treasure hunt: the jewels have to be earned. The stunning Eastern Ghats near Visakhapatnam only emerge after hours on a broad-gauge line. A family workshop filled with exquisite traditional paintings appears after a meander through Sri Kalahasti. And the most famous wait of all, through a long, holy maze filled with pilgrims at Tirumala, is rewarded with a glimpse of Lord Venkateshwara, who, if you’re lucky, will grant you a wish.
Last updated: Jan 7, 2010
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Andhra Pradesh
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Andhra Pradesh Overview
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Our Top Picks For Andhra Pradesh
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1 Laad Bazaar
Buy an old drum and more bangles than you need while soaking up centuries-old ambience at Hyderabad’s colourful Laad Bazaar
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2 Hyderabad, Nagarjunakonda and Amaravathi
Receive loving kindness from Buddha statues in Hyderabad, Nagarjunakonda and Amaravathi
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3 Araku Valley
Enjoy the beauty of the spectacular Eastern Ghats as your train chugs through the mountains to the Araku Valley
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4 Tirumala
Find devotion you didn’t know you had for Lord Venkateshwara and mingle with the pilgrims at Tirumala as they shed their hair for their deity
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5 Golconda Fort and royal tombs of the Qutb Shahi kings
Picnic atop the ruins of the 16th-century Golconda Fort and then wander in and out of the royal tombs of the Qutb Shahi kings in Hyderbad
Fast Facts about Andhra Pradesh
- When to go
October to February
Our favourite Andhra Pradesh Blogs (beta)
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Around Tirupati - Chandragiri
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 30 December 2010
On our ten day Tirupati visit, we visited temples galore, waterfalls, museums, a zoo and even a science centre! The last place we visited was a fort, to round it off, so to speak! I would call the Chandragiri fort more of a palace than a fort, and that too, a rather simple palace, on the whole.
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Around Tirupati - Sripuram Golden Temple
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 29 December 2010
The Sripuram Golden temple at Vellore was one temple I had been hearing a lot about, but had no plans of visiting on my Tirupati trip. For one thing, it wasn’t an ancient temple which draw me much more than anything else, and secondly, I felt it would be a better idea to make a visit from Chennai rather than Tirupati. However, as it happened, we found ourselves taking the APSRTC package tour to Kanipakkam and Sripuram, thanking our stars for the decision, since it poured constantly all day long, and we saw flooded roads all along the route.
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Around Tirupati - Kanipakkam
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 28 December 2010
The temple of Varasiddhi Vinayaka at Kanipakkam is one I have seen grow over the last few years I have been there. When I visited the temple this time, I found myself wishing that I had taken photos of the temple on my earlier visits (which, incidentally were before I began blogging!), for this time I was advised to leave the camera in the vehicle itself!
