Talakona Water Falls......

Talakona is famous for the temple of Sri Siddheswara Swamy and beautiful waterfalls. Talakona Waterfalls is 40 km from Tirupati. People from Chittor district and neighboring districts will gather on 1st January and Mahasivaratri festival days and weekends to pray god and enjoy the water falls. Puranas says that those who do not have children come here and pray god for children and name their children as Siddaiah or Siddamma. The water falls are four km from the temple.

This waterfall is considered as the entrance to the hills of Tirumala on which the shrine of Lord Venkateshwara is located. This 270 ft cascade is a perennial one and famous for its medicinal effects. November to January is the best season to visit.

The water is rich in minerals which flows through herbs and it has healing & increases our immune resistance. Talakona was declared as Bio-Sphere Reserve since variety of herbs and plant species avaliable plenty.

Film shootings will be going round the year, you have resorts and cottages avialable to enjoy your plesant stay. It is advised to visit during the months Dec - March, Jan and Feb will be ideal.

Sri Ashtalakshmi Sametha Sri Lakshmi Narayana Swamy Group Temples-Vepanjeri .....

Vepanjeri means a sacred place. Vem+Pancha+Hari = Vem, Pancha, Hari means, Vem = Sins, Pancha = Five, Hari = that removes; a sacred place that removes five sins. And in course of time Vem pancha hari became Vepanjeri.

Vepanjeri is a village situated 15km east of Chittoor in AP. Except the sacred image of the Lord Lakshminarayana with the Goddess Lakshmi Ammavaru seated on te left side of the Lord's lap, most part of the temple was non-existent. 1986 saw the religious exercises in the newly constructed temple with necessary masonary support. After His re-emergence since 1986 and onwards the wishes of the people are fulfilled consequently drawing more and more devotees to narrate th esame experience of fulfilment justifying the name "Kalpavruksha" and Venpanjeri steadily emerged as a subcentre of pilgrimage.

Lord Lakshminarayana in His sublime bounty is here to assist te humanity by participating in various religious components. The temple management has to plan to facilitate participation of the individals in the Nitya Kaikaryams of the Lord.

Puligundu - About 1000 feets from the Ground......

This place is about 18 kms from Chittoor district center. It is on the way to a small town called Penumur.

Puligundu is a dual rock mountail with a height of about 1000 feets from the ground. From a distance it looks like a huge Shiva Lingam. It has a very narrow peak with the temple of Puli Gunteeswara (Lord Shiva) at the basement. On the rock top, an Ayyappa temple is under construction. There was no supporting aide available all these years to climb up these steep rocks. But with the support from govt, tourism department has installed metal ladders at places to help people to reach the peak now. Even then it is not an easy task, steepness will make anyone to shiver a bit for sure! This doesn’t happen at at just one instance, there are atleast 3-4 such points to test your fear factor for sure! There is a small and very narrow railing that paves path to move between these two rocks at the top.

Nearby villagers come to the Shiva temple at the base of this rock to offer special pooja during Makar Sankranti time, on the ‘Kanumu’ festival day. This day usually falls on January 15th of every year. One gets to see huge crowd of people coming here on that special day. Otherwise, hardly anyone goes there during rest of the year. People do make the adventure of reaching the peak and it is a breath holding experience out there.

Chittoor-The Mango City.......

Chittoor Commonly called as Mango City, this city exports mango to other countries from its market yards in Bangarupalyam and Penumur Mandals and Damalcheruvu - it is a great market center for mangoes.

In one season more than 58 varieties mangoes were sold here. Today, the mangoes grown here are exported to all over India and to some parts of the world as well

Most Famous Jaggery From Aragonda.........

Aragonda is predominantly an agro-market place. It has major production for mango, tamarind, coconut, grain, sugarcane, jaggery and peanut.The jaggery comes in two categories, the white or golden yellow colored, mostly from Aragonda or western region is for consumption. and fetches a better price. Farmers have increasingly taken to adding bleaching agents such as sodium thiosulphate, (Hydros) which is prohibited for human consumption. The second variety is of darker even black colour due to the nature of the soil. Generally, soils which are alkaline will give rise to paler jaggery, which though attractive by look is not as sweet as the darker one.It is mostly meant for brewing illicit liquor.


Jaggery is used as an ingredient in both sweet and savory dishes across India and Sri Lanka. For example, a pinch of jaggery is sometimes added to sambar, rasam and other gravies which are staples in India.

Jaggery is a concentrated product of cane juice without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in color. It contains up to 50% sucrose, up to 20% invert sugars, moisture content of up to 20%, and the remainder made up of other insoluble matter such as ash, proteins and bagasse fibers.

Jaggery is a rich source of iron due to the process involved, using iron utensils, it retains more mineral salts. Moreover, the process does not involve chemical agents. Indian Ayurvedic medicine considers jaggery to be beneficial in treating throat and lung infections; Sahu and Saxena found that in rats jaggery can prevent lung damage from particulate matter such as coal and silica dust. Gandhi felt that jaggery was healthier than refined sugar, as it was not introduced into the blood as rapidly. As such, he used it in his own personal diet and recommended it to use in his invented goat-milk diet (and all other diets/eating styles) as well.

Notable personalities from Chittoor district........

• Chittoor V. Nagaiah, Actor in First TELUGU film was born here, popularly known as Chittoor Nagaiah .did a great contribution to early Telugu film industry

• Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy, Educationalist, Founder & Vice-chancellor of Andhra University,Visakhapatnam

• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (the then President& Vice president of India) had completed his school education in P.M.high School, near by Gajulamandyam,Renigunta in this district. Before becoming the president he was the Vice Chancellor of Andhra University, Visakhapatnam

• Jiddu Krishnamurti, World Renowned philosopher and Popular Spiritual preacher is from Madanapalle town.

• Sri. K. Sabha (Noted Writer, Poet, Journalist and Social worker)

• Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

• Chittoor Subramaniam Pillai, a Carnatic musician who studied under Kanchipuram Naina Pillai was born in Chittoor. He was renowned for his unfaltering laya and had a rich and powerful voice.

• Prathap C. Reddy, Chairman of Apollo Hospitals

• Krishna A Maddipatla, Director, NY State Education Department (BPSS)

World Famous Tirumala..........

Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala is regarded as the world's richest temple with an estimated annual income of over 300 crores. The hill temple, which received a stream of royal benefactions, has a fabulous collection of very rare and precious ornaments whose antique value is beyond anybody's guess. It also has crores of rupees worth assets in the form of land and buildings spread across the country. The main source of income is derived from the "hundi" which netted an all time record of Rs.116 crores in the year 1997-98 by way of cash offerings. During the period the hundi also received 450 Kg of gold, 3,200 Kg of silver articles, diamonds weighing 2.430 Kg besides more than 2 Kg of pearls, loose stones, corals and other precious offerings. There is no dearth of funds for the sacred temple as philanthropists from all over the country and abroad queue up to make fabulous donations in fulfillment of their vows. Lord Venkateshwara who according to the mythologies is "self-manifested" (svayambhu) is regarded as the most revered Hindu God today. On any given day the main deity is adorned with not less than a hundred Kg of gold, diamond and pearl ornaments

The Tirumala Hill is 3200 ft above sea level, and is about 10.33 sq miles in area. It comprises seven peaks, representing the seven hoods of Adisesha, thus earning the name, Seshachalam. The seven peaks are called Seshadri, Five persons are allowed for Shrivari Darshan. Laddus will be given after darshan. Laddu Padi tickets are sold at Vijaya Bank. Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrishabhadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri. The sacred temple of Sri Venkateshwara is located on the seventh peak, Venkatadri (Venkata Hill), and lies on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini. There are several legends associated with the manifestation of the Lord in Tirumala.

The name Tirupati, meaning the 'the Lord of Lakshmi should have been appropriately applied to the village on the Venkata Hill, the abode of the Lord. However, it has been popularly assigned to the Municipal town at the foot of the Hill, while the village around the Hill near His temple is called Tirumala (the Sacred Hill).

Most Famous Kanipakam........

Kanipakam is a small village on the bank of Bahuda River.

"Kani" means wetland and "Pakam" means flow of water into wetland. According to the legend of the temple there were three brothers and each one had a handicap. Viz., Dumb, Deaf and Blind. They were earning out their livelihood by cultivating a small piece of land.

In olden days water was drawn from the well by way of 'Piccota System'. As one of them used to irrigate the field through the channels, the other two used to ply on the Piccota. On one such operation they found that the water in the well got dried up and they could no longer continue their job. One of them got into the well and started digging it up. He was taken aback to see the iron implement hitting a stone like formation.

Later, he was shocked to see blood oozing out from it. Within in a few seconds the entire water in the well, turned blood red in colour. Thus, startled by this divine sight, all the three became normal getting rid of their deformities. As soon as the villagers came to know about this miracle, they thronged to the well and tried to deepen the well further. But their attempt proved futile because the 'swayambhu' idol (the self-manifested) of Lord Vinayaka emerged from the swirling waters.
Ultimately they offered many number of coconuts with all prayers- modesty kneeling before the new idol afford “MAGALHARATHI” etc. They declared the ideal of “SWAYAMBHU” and tendered number of coconuts. The coconuts water flowed into the channel to a distance of more than one and a quarter acres. The indication of this led to the modification in the usage of the Tamil word “KANIPARAKAM” and later pronounced as KANIPAKAM. Even today the idol is in the original well and the springs of the well are perennial and the eternal. During the rainy season, the holy water from the well overflows even today.

Another striking and strange feature of the idol is that it is still growing in size. At present, we can see the knees and the abdomen of the idol. Smt. Lakshmamma, an ardent devotee had offered a 'Kavacham' (Armour) to the Lord, fifty years ago but today it is out of size and doesn't fit the idol. The holy water from the well is offered to the devotees as theertham.

The legend behind Bahuda River
Long ago there lived two brothers Sankha and Likhita. They were on a pilgrimage to Kanipakam. As the journey was tiring, the younger brother Likhita felt hungry. Disregarding the advice of the elder brother he plucked a mango from the mango grove. Sankha felt bad and reported this to the ruler of that area and pleaded for punishment for the sin committed during the pilgrimage. Thus Likhita was punished severely being deprived of both arms.

Later they took bath in the river near Kanipakam temple. Lo Behold! The chopped arms were restored to Likhita as soon as he had a dip in the sacred waters of the river. These incidents lead the ruler to rename the river as 'Bahuda' (Bahu means human arm). Thus the river beside Kanipakam temple is now known as 'Bahuda River'.

Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka as up-holder of 'Truth'
The swayambhu idol of Kanipakam is the up-holder of truth. Day to day disputes between people is resolved by taking a 'special oath'. The people in the dispute take a holy dip in the temple tank and swear before the lord. It is taken as gospel truth.

There are instances when the person who committed that sin voluntarily agrees as soon as he had the dip and much before entering the temple itself. It seems the Lord lawns invisibly on the sinner and makes him repent & feel guilty for his sinful deeds.

Thus the glory of Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka spread far and wide and the honorable courts uphold the 'special oath' in their judicial pronouncements.