"Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf. " ~ Tagore

There are also shrines of Kothandarama Swamy built by Ramanujacharya in the 12th century and Padmavathiamman (Consort of Lord Venkateshwara)- about 5 kms from the the city at Tiruchanur.

The main temple facing the east, is a masterpiece of Dravidian architecture and the Vimana and Dwajasthamba are fully gold plated. This is the third richest pilgrimage centre in the world after the Vatican and Mecca. Lakhs of devotees throng to the temple throughout the year and their belief and faith in this god is stupendous. The annual collections from the votive offerings is ploughed back into various welfare schemes. The specially constituted Devasthanam Board oversees the administration including maintenance of roads from Tirumala to Tirupati, guest houses, cottages, etc.

In the Garba Griha, the 7 ft idol of the Lord is made of granite stone standing majestically on a high lotus pedestal. The crown is 20 ft high and the Shanka and Chakra studded with diamonds on both hands dazzle the eye. Many devotees tonsure their hair here in sacrifice.

One can also visit the Varahaswamy temple, Akashaganga Falls (9 km). >From the wee hours of the morning, people form exceedingly long queues for darshan of the Lord. A provision has been made for special darshan on payment of entrance fee. The Dharma (free) darshan goes on throughout the day, but in between people who do sevas like Kalyanstavam, Thomala seva and many other sevas are given preference.

Kalahasti
38 kms to the South of Tirupati is another important pilgrimage centre dedicated to Lord Shiva. Here the Ling is "Swayambhu" and considered to be in the form of Vayu (wind). In this temple, the lamp inside the sanctum keeps flickering despite the lack of any air inside. Nearby is the temple dedicated to Kannappa - a great devotee of Lord Shiva.

Konai Water Falls:
On the Tirupati-Uthukollai-Madras road is the Konai Waterfalls which is a calm peaceful spot. It is about 90 kms from Madras.

Vishakapatnam
Vishakapatnam, popularly known as Vizag is a natural harbour 640 kms from Hyderabad. From Tirupati it is 746 kms. It is also a naval base and has a modern ship building yard. It has some excellent beaches.

Simhachalam
About 20 kms north of Vizag is th ancient Vishnu temple of the 11th century built in the Chalukyan and Orissa style. The Varahanarasimha (The 6th incarnation of Lord Vishnu) temple has as many as 525 inscriptions. The earliest epigraph dates to 1087 A.D. The deity here is the combination of Varaha and Narasimha, who appeared before his devotee Prahalada. It is also called "Ahobilam". The deity here is always covered with sandal paste, and is supposed to be "Ugra Murthy". (The ferocious one)

Arakku Valley
74 kms from Vishakapatnam is the beautiful Arakku valley. Its scenic wooded forests are attractive indeed.

Vijayawada
About 270 kms from Hyderabad, this town is situated on the banks of the river Krishna. 2000 years ago, it was an important Buddhist centre and the remains of the Stupas can be seen even today. It is an important railway junction on the South Central Railways. Being a major town of coastal Andhra, it is well connected by air, rail and road.

The museum here which houses the black granite statue of Buddha is worth visiting. The Kanakadurga temple on the top of the hill, Hazrat Bal mosque and the Prakasam barage attract tourists.

From Vijayawada, there are many interesting places within reasonable distance:-

The Mogalarajapuram (3 kms east of Vijayawada) has some interesting cave temples of the 5th century. The Ardhanareeshwara idol found here is the only one of its kind in South India.

Nearby is the town of Undevilli in Guntur district, where some beautiful cave temples are located. The idol of Vishnu in a reclining form is found in one of the temples.

Mangalagiri
This place of pilgrimage 12 kms south of Vijayawada is famous for the Narasimha (Vishnu) temple.

Kolleru Lake
This vast fresh water lake is the refuge of pelicans and other birds. This sanctuary is 95 kms from Vijayawada.

Kondapalli
15 kms away from Vijayawada, traditional wooden toys are made here, based on mythology.

Manginipudi
From Vijayawada this is 83 kms away and is a beautiful beach resort.

Chilakalapudi
Close to Manginipudi and about 71 kms from Vijayawada, this small town is well known for its temple of Pandurangaswamy (Vishnu).

Kuchipudi
60 kms away from Vijayawada, Kuchipudi is the birth place of the pure classical dance form of "Kuchipudi" which has now become very popular. Siddendra Yogi the creator of this dance form was born here. A school of dancing of this style is run here in memory of this great teacher and is called the "Siddendrakala Kshetram".

Bhadrachalam On the banks of the river Godavari, 181 kms away from Vijayawada, stands this famous temple dedicated to Rama. Well-known musicians like Annamacharya have sung in praise and glory of the Lord. This temple is associated with the name of Bhakta Ramdas. As legend goes, he was employed as the Tahshildar of Golconda Durbar, but being a great devotee of Rama, he spent all the revenue collections on renovating the temple. Angered by this, the Tansha of Golconda imprisoned him for twelve years, but motivated by a divine vision of Rama and Lakshmana, the Tansha released Ramdas and gaided him in further improving the temple.

Other interesting tourist spots near Vijayawada are Movva (55 kms), Draksharama and Satyanarayana temples.

Machilipatnam
This coastal town of Andhra Pradesh , 80 kms from Vijayawada is well known for its "Kalamkari" textiles and paintings using vegetable dyes. As a Kalam (pen) is used in the technique of painting, it was called "Kalamkari Painting". During the 17th century western traders were attracted by this art ,.

Around Machilipatnam, there are some places of tourist interest:-

Ghantasala
21 kms from Machilipatnam, it has the remains of an old Buddhist stupa.

Gudivada

North west of Machilipatnam visitors are attracted by the old ruins of the stupas.

Further up the coast of Machilipatnam there are five temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. These ancient temples are located at Amravati, Samalkot, Bhimavaram, Draksharama and Chebrolu.

Lepakshi
About 95 kms from Bangalore (Karnataka), is the popular pilgrim centre of Lepakshi with its Veerabhadraswami temple built in the Vijayanagar style. This temple with its innumerable paintings and the colossal monolithic Nandi (the Celestial Bull) is very impressive. Tourists can reach this place from Hindurpur which is 16 kms away.

Puttaparthi
The ashram of Sri Sathya Sai Baba is located here and thousands of devotees flock here to have darshan of the Baba who many believe is the incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba. Puttaparthi is 250 kms from Bangalore and 30 kms from Dharmavaram. Sathya Sai Baba has written several books on Hindu philosophy and religion.

Manthralaya
On the banks of the river Tungabhadra stands the temple of Sri Raghavendra Swamy. 60 kms from Kurnool and part of Kurnool district it has good road connections from Andhra and Karnataka.

The Hindu Saint Raghavendra Swamy, who lived here 300 years ago, attained samadhi in the "Brindavan" (sacred tomb). Hundreds of devotees visit this Brindavan and have great faith in this saint. A large number of journals and books have been published by the devotees about their amazing experiences.