Andhra Pradesh – World Travel

Warangal Andhra Pradesh India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:01:07 +0000

Warangal was the capital of the Kakatiya kingdom, which covered the greater part of present-day Andhra Pradesh from the late 12th to early 14th centuries until it was conquered by the Tughlaqs of Delhi. The Hindu Kakatiyas were great builders and patrons of Telugu literature and arts, and it was during their reign that the Chalukyan style of temple architecture reached its pinnacle.

If you’re interested in Hindu temple development, then it’s worth the trip to Warangal, which is also a friendly town, and Palampet. It’s possible – but not leisurely – to visit both places on a long day trip from Hyderabad, 157km away.

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Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 09:01:09 +0000

Visakhapatnam – also called Vizag (vie-zag) – is Andhra Pradesh’s second-largest city, though it feels more like an ageing beach-resort town. It’s famous for shipbuilding and steel manufacturing, and now it’s also an up-and-comer in the call-centre, software and film industries. But we love it for its kitschy coasts. The run-down boardwalk along Ramakrishna Beach has lots of spunk, and the beach at nearby Rushikonda is one of Andhra’s best. Vizag is also a base for visits to the Araku Valley.

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Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:01:10 +0000

Vijayawada, at the head of the delta of the mighty Krishna River, is considered by many to be the heart of Andhra culture and language. It’s also an important Hindu site, both for its Durga temple and the Krishna Pushkaram, held every 12 years, when Lord Pushkara is believed to reside in the River Krishna. Nearby Amaravathi, meanwhile, was a centre of Buddhist learning and practise for many centuries.

Vijayawada’s a big, bustling city and an important port, but it’s also surrounded by hills, intersected by canals, ringed by fields of rice and palm, and imbued with a charm that takes time to emerge.

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Tirumala And Tirupathi Andhra Pradesh India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:01:28 +0000

The holy hill of Tirumala is one of the most visited pilgrimage centres in India – and indeed the world: it’s said that Venkateshwara Temple eclipses Jerusalem, Rome and Mecca for sheer numbers of pilgrims.

There are never fewer than 5000 pilgrims here at any one time – the daily average is 40, 000 and the total often reaches 100, 000 – and darshan (deity viewing) runs around the clock. Temple staff alone number 12, 000, and the efficient Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (TTD; www.tirumala.org) administers the crowds. It also runs choultries (guesthouses) for pilgrims in Tirumala and Tirupathi, the service town at the bottom of the hill. The private hotels and lodges are in Tirupathi, so a fleet of buses constantly ferries pilgrims the 18km up and down the hill.

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Puttaparthi Andhra Pradesh India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:01:41 +0000

Prasanthi Nilayam (Abode of Highest Peace), in the southwestern corner of Andhra Pradesh at Puttaparthi, is the main ashram of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, who has a huge following in India and around the globe. He set up this ashram 40 years ago, and spends most of the year here.

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Nagarjunakonda Andhra Pradesh India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:01:37 +0000

The ancient remains at this site, 150km southeast of Hyderabad, were discovered in 1926 by archaeologist AR Saraswathi. In 1953, when it became known that a massive hydroelectric project would soon create the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir, which would flood the area, a major six-year excavation was undertaken to unearth the area’s many Buddhist ruins: stupas, viharas, chaityas (temples) and mandapas (pillared pavilions), as well as some outstanding examples of white-marble depictions of the Buddha’s life. The finds were reassembled on Nagarjunakonda, an island in the middle of the dam.

Prehistoric remnants suggest human activity began here around 200, 000 years ago. From the 3rd century BC until the 4th century AD, the Krishna River valley was home to powerful empires that supported the sangha (community of monks and nuns), including the Ikshvakus, whose capital was Nagarjunakonda. It’s estimated that this area alone had 30 monasteries.

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Hyderabad And Secunderabad Andhra Pradesh India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:01:41 +0000

Hyderabad and Secunderabad, City of Pearls, was once the seat of the powerful Qutb Shahi and Asaf Jahi dynasties. Today Hyderabad’s west side is, with Bengaluru (Bangalore), the seat of India’s mighty software dynasty; ‘Cyberabad’ generates jobs, wealth and posh lounges like she was born to do it. Opulence, it would seem, is in this city’s genes.

Across town from all this sheen is Cyberabad’s gorgeous and aged grandmother, the old Muslim quarter, with centuries-old Islamic monuments and even older charms. In fact, the whole city is laced with architectural gems (just like the garments of Asaf Jahi princesses threaded with gold) : ornate tombs, mosques, palaces and homes from the past are tucked away, faded and enchanting, in corners all over town. Keep your eyes open.

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Andhra Pradesh India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:01:35 +0000

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.

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.

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