Puducherry, Kanchi, Tirupati, Horsley Hills and Mantralayam
My 9 year old son, Arnav had been asking to take him to Tirupati(not Tirumala though) to meet his friend who used to stay in Hyderabad and moved there 2 years back. The traveler in me got an idea, why not go on a road trip and started looking for places in and around Tirupati. After some research, finalized the places Mahabalipuram, Puducherry and Kanchi, Horsley Hills apart from Tirupati which was anyways the initiation point of this trip. Kids had summer vacation and I had taken a week leave. Luckily the weather was a bit cloudy because of the Monsoon and that gave us some courage to take up trip to that part of country in mid May. So here starts the 9 day trip.
Itinerary for the 9 day trip to Puducherry, Kanchi and Tirupati:
Day 1 : Hyderabad to Nellore via Addanki and Singarakonda
Day 2 : Nellore to Mahabalipuram to Puducherry
Day 3 : Puducherry local places and to Kanchi
Day 4 : Kanchi local places and to Tiruttani to Tirupati
Day 5 : Tirupati to Penchalakona to Venkatagiri to Srikalahasti and back to Tirupati
Day 6 : Tirupati local temples
Day 7 : Tirupati to Horsley Hills and local places in Horsley Hills
Day 8 : Horsley Hills to Kadiri to Mantralayam
Day 9 : Mantralayam local and back to Hyderabad
Day 1 : Started from Hyderabad around 10 am in the morning and reached Singarakonda temple near Addanki around 3.30 pm. Had Darshan and went to Addanki where my wife’s relatives stayed. Visited 2 houses and went to Nellore by 9.30 pm. Checked into a hotel room and had dinner in a near by restaurant.
Day 2 : In Nellore went to one more of my wife’s relatives home and then started off to Mahabalipuram. Had lunch in Chennai and went to Mahabalipuram via the ORR where it was raining heavily. Reached Mahabalipuram, which is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites around 4.30 pm. Visited the Shore Temple which was built by Pallavas around 700 CE and what remains today is ruins of the original temple but still grand. From there engaged an auto to visit Pancha pandav mandapam, Krishna’s butter ball, Ganesha Ratha, Rock cut Varaha temple and few other temples which were in the same complex.
After coming back, spent some time in the beach and started off to Puducherry around 6.45 pm. It was on the East Coast Road and it started raining heavily. Was in two minds whether to continue or stay back in Mahabalipuram but went ahead in that rain and reached Puducherry around 9.30 pm safely. Checked into a hotel and slept for the night after having dinner in a nearby restaurant.
Day 3: Went to Auroville in the morning around 10.30 am and it was a very good place spread across lots of acres filled with greenery. From there went to Sri Aurobindo Ashram and visited the Manakula Vinayagar temple nearby and also the beach. Had lunch in a restaurant by the sea and it was like a French colony there. Came back to the Hotel room and left for Kanchi around 6pm. It was again raining heavily for almost half of the way and hence went behind a Road Transport Corporation bus for most of the time. Reached Kanchi around 8.30 pm and checked in to a hotel, had dinner in a restaurant near by and slept for the day.
Day 4: Engaged an auto for travel within Kanchi for the whole day as he would know the roads better and would be easy for parking also. He was very knowledgeable, acted as a local guide and charged 500/- for the same. Started from hotel at 8.15 am and went to Kanchi Kamakshi Amman temple which is one of the 18 Sakthi Peetams. It was huge and took around 45 mins. From there went to Ekambaranathar temple which is one of the 5 Pancha Bhoota stalas. Went to Kailasanathar temple and Varadaraja Perumal temple which has the famous golden lizard after that.
After lunch, went for some shopping in 2 of the many silk saree show rooms available as Kanchi is very famous for silks. There are some 100s of shops in Kanchi that sell silk sarees at whole sale prices. After shopping, went to hotel room, checked out and started to Tirupati. On the way, visited Tiruttani Murugan temple which is one of the Arupadai Veedu(6 abodes of Lord Murugan). Reached hotel at 9.30 pm.
Day 5: Next morning, Arnav’s friend Varun came to the hotel and they were very happy to meet each other after a long time. Went to Penchalakona which is one of the 9 Nava Narasimha Kshetras by around 11.30 am. On the way back to Tirupati, visited Sri Mathrudevi Viswashanthi Ashram which was nearby and also Venkatagiri which is again famous for silk sarees. Did some shopping and had lunch in a Dhaba there. From there, went to Srikalahasti temple which is one of the 5 Pancha Bhoota stalas representing Air element and this was also a huge one. From there, went for dinner with Varun’s family. Kids went to their home for sleepover and we returned to the hotel.
Day 6: Went to the Sri Padmavathi Ammavari temple, Srinivasa Mangapuram temple in Tirupati and then went to Varun’s home and school. Had dinner on the way back and came to the hotel.
Day 7: Checked out of the hotel and started to Horsley hills. Varun and his mother also joined us in a separate car. Reached Horsley hills around 2.30 pm. Had lunch in a small hotel opposite the rooms in Haritha resort where we were staying. One more family from our society in Hyderabad joined us here and they had already reached from Bengaluru by the time we had gone. Went for sight seeing by walk and returned to the hotel room. Kids had a very good time.
Day 8: Started in the morning towards Mantralayam and went to Kadiri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple and Dharmavaram which is another place famous for silk sarees and had lunch there. Reached Mantralayam around 9 pm. Checked in to the hotel and had dinner near by.
Day 9: Visited the famous Raghavendra Swamy temple in Mantralayam which is on the bank of river Tungabhadra. From there went to Bichali and Panchamukha Anjaneya temple. Started back to Hyderabad and had lunch at Gadwal on the way. Reached home by around 10.30 pm and it was a memorable trip covering around 2300 kms in 9 days.
Please check here for my other road trips.
