Tirupati Municipal Corporation is a major Municipal Corporation in Andhra Pradesh. Although Chittoor is the headquarters of the district, much of the business activities and major government establishments, and operations take place only in Tirupati. With improved infrastructure and due to various efforts by the state government, Tirupati is well turning into a business hub of southern Andhra Pradesh. Notable large and medium scale industries alongside a lot of small scale industries that call Tirupati as their home base, include the government owned Railway Carriage Repair Shop, Amara Raja Power Systems, Amara Raja Batteries, Grindwell Norton, Lanco Industries. There are plans to improve the infrastructure to set up IT service based organizations in Tirupati. Financial institutions like HDFC have set their back office operations in Tirupati. Tirupati is becoming the education hub for the nearby areas because of the strong presence of Educational Institutions and Universities. Being a pilgrimage center, the floating population is a major source of income. Considerable revenue is generated by travel sector. Strong expatriate/town’s non-residents’ money inflow and an emerging industrial scenario triggered a major real estate boom in the city in recent years and marched steadily, until before 2008–2009 Global Recession. It is a one of the highly developing city in Andhra pradesh.
Tirupati is a major municipal corporation in the Andhra Pradesh state. It contributes a member in central parliament and a member in state legislature in Indian politics. Chinta Mohan is the current MP from Indian National Congress (INC) and Bhumana Karunakar Reddy is the MLA from YSR Congress Party (YSRP). Chandragiri is a suburb accounting to one more seat for the state assembly. Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) was established long back to develop the city. It is involved in the construction of second fly-over in the city and extending all two lane roads to four lane. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) also contributes a maximum of funds for the development of the city. Major roads like the traffic-loaded Tirumala bypass and the rail underpass near the railway station was taken up by TTD along with TUDA.
Telugu is widely spoken here and it is also the official language of the City. Tamil also spoken here. Most of the temples in Tirupati have been built using Dravidian architecture. Most of the inscriptions in the temple complex are in Tamil inscriptions. Hinduism is the major religion here. Dhoti(Veshti/Panche/Mundu) and Sari(Cheera) are traditional attire of people here. Dresses like churidar and pants-shirt have become common in recent decades. Practices of tonsure and using tilaka are very popular among devotees of Lord Venkateswara. Songs and prayers of Lord Venkateswara are generally heard all over the town.Particularly, SriVenkateswara Suprabhatham and Keerthanas sung by Annamacharya on Lord Venkateswara in 13th century will be heard even today in every house.
Tirupati is famous for the richest temple Venkateswara Swamy temple dedicated to Lord Venkateswara, located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north west of Tirupati in the Tirumala hills at an elevation of 853 metres (2,799 ft). One of the most important pilgrimage centers in the World, the temple draws millions of pilgrims and is the busiest pilgrimage centre in the world. Tirupati City itself has several temples and is famous for its red wooden toys, copper and brass idols. Also, the city is a major economical and educational hub in the southern region of the state. Tirupati is also the largest Metropolitan city in Rayalaseema and Southern Andhra Pradesh, and is the 4th largest city in terms of stand-alone city basis.
Tirupati Airport has been declared as an International airport but is yet to operate direct international flights. Currently the airport has flights to Hyderabad, Vizag, New Delhi via Hyderabad. Additionally the airport offers flights to Coimbatore, Kolkata, Mumbai via Hyderabad. International Cargo currently connects to Dubai. The airport is located 15 km from the city centre. Closest international airport is located in Chennai, (Chennai International Airport) which is 130 km (81 mi) from Tirupati. The Tirupati airport is to be upgraded to an International Airport and the upgrade process is underway. On 2 September 2010 PrimeMinister Laid the Foundation Stone for building new terminal of International airport.
ISKCON Lord Krishna Temple – The temple has its own style of architecture with the towers coloured in gold and white. The carvings of Lord Narasimha Swamy, Lord Varaha Swamy and Krishna Leela are marvelous. Glass painting works on the windows depicting Lord Krishna’s playful acts and the ceilings decorated like Tanjore art reveals the colourful masterpiece in art work. Each pillar is decorated with ten avatars of Lord Vishnu. The temple inside the sanctum has Lord Krishna with beautifully dressed Gopis. There is a beautiful park surrounded with lot of flowers, ponds, fountains and with Krishna Leela idols. The temple is on the way to Tirumala Hills.
Renigunta junction which lies on the busy Chennai and Mumbai rail route, is just 10 minutes drive from Tirupati city,it has five platforms,it is second major junction after guntakal junction and every train has halt here including Duronto Express. From here one can catch major trains to almost every part of the Country. Himsagar Express, Kerala Express, Navyug Express, Ten Jammu Express are some of the trains to New Delhi(Via. Nagpur, Itarsi, Bhopal) that passes through Renigunta. Gurudev Express to Kolkatta (Howrah Junction).
Parasurameswara Temple – Gudimallam, 20 km from Tirupati. Though a small village, historically it is very important, because it has a beautiful Siva Temple which is popularly known as “the Parasurameswara Temple.” The main importance of the temple lies in the Linga which is housed in the Garbhagriha of the temple. This is supposed to be the earliest Linga discovered so far and it has been assigned to the 2nd or 1st century BC. The name of the temple is mentioned as Parasurameswara Temple in the inscriptions.
Tirupati is a major educational hub in South India.Tirupati is home to several universities,apart from these universities, it has state government and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam sponsored medical, pharmacy, agricultural colleges and also engineering colleges.Tirupati also has several academic institutions offering degree programmes in Science, Medicine, Arts, Commerce and Agricultural Sciences. Some of these colleges have been established more than 50 years ago.
Tirupati central bus terminal (Srihari bus station) is one of the largest in the state. Tirupati has direct bus services to nearby towns and major cities across South India.There are 4 bus stands in the city. There is a dedicated Bus Stand at Alipiri for buses (once in every 2 minutes) to Tirumala. The city has a well planned network of roads with synchronized traffic control system and being maintained by TTD itself, to cater the needs of the visiting pilgrims.
The town celebrates most Vaishnava festivals including Vaikunta Ekadasi, Rama Navami and Janmashtami with great splendor, while the Brahmotsavam celebrated every year during September is the most important festival in Tirumala when it receives millions of devotees over a short span of a week. Rathasapthami (Magha Shuddha Saptami) is another festival, celebrated during February, when Lord Venkateswara’s idol is taken in a procession around the temple chariots.
The site was an established center of Vaishnavism around 5th century A.D. during which Tirupati was praised by Alvars (Vaishnava saints); belonging to the Bhakti movement in Dravidian Land, who were known for their poems and literary works on Lord Venkateswara. Tirupati’s significance in Southern Vaishnava tradition is next only to Srirangam, and the temple rites were formalized by the Vaishnavite saint Ramanujacharya himself, in the 11th century AD.
Tirupati survived the Muslim invasions not only from South India but also from the British two times, unlike other temples such as the Meenakshi temple in Madurai and Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam. It is believed that during the invasions the deity of Sriranganatha from Srirangam was brought to Tirupati for safekeeping. To commemorate this event, a hall in Tirupati is still known as the Ranganatha Mandapam.
Tirupati Main is a major railway station which is well equipped and has five platforms and presently undergoing modernization, including three escalators. There are many trains travelling across the country with Tirupati as the starting point. Tirupati is well connected to major cities across India, esp. Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. It is connected by Chennai sub-urban railways in North-western line.
Tirupati is a major pilgrimage and cultural city in the Chittoor district. It is the largest city in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state Andhra Pradesh. It is located at the foothills of the Eastern Ghats, 550 kilometres (340 mi) south of Hyderabad, the capital of the state, 250 kilometres (160 mi) east of Bangalore, 65 kilometres (40 mi) from Chittoor, and 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of Chennai.
There is no clear history on the origin of the temple of Lord Venkateshwara, but it was maintained and upgraded by various kingdoms. These include the Pallava Kingdom around 9th Century AD, Chola Kingdom around 10th century AD and the latest one being Vijayanagara Empire around 14th to 15th century AD. It was during the rule of Vijayanagara Empire that the temple received increased contributions.
The Madras legislature passed a special act in 1933 whereby the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) committee was invested with powers of administration and control through a commissioner appointed by the Government of Madras. A Ryot Advisory Council was formed for the management of the estates of the TTD, and was assisted by a Religious Advisory Council with regard to religious matters.
Tirupati has extremes of climate. Monsoon remains moderate and summer experiences temperatures ranging from 42 to 45 degrees Celsius (107.6 F & 113 F). In winter the minimum temperatures will be between 10 and 18 degrees Celsius ( 50 F to 64.4 F). Usually summer lasts from March to June, with the advent of rainy season in July, followed by winter which lasts till the end of February.
Telugu newspapers – Andhra Bhoomi, Saakshi, Eenadu, Vaartha, Andhra Jyothi, Andhra Prabha, Andhra Voice and Prajashakthi and English newspapers – Deccan Chronicle, The Hindu, Indian Express, The Hans India are also available in the City. Most of the Telugu, Hindi and English television channels, Devotional channel SVBC and the local city cable are available.
Sri Mahati Auditorium is a major auditorium owned & operated by TTD. Exclusive for Cultural & Spiritual activities. There are several parks in Tirupati, of which Tirupati Municipal Park is notable, abutting the Kapilatheertham by-pass road in Tirupati. This park is ideal for an evening stroll. Dancing musical fountains here are a special attraction.