Best Places to Visit in Andhra Pradesh

Tirupati Balaji Temple

The world's most visited Hindu temple — 30 million pilgrims a year climb the seven hills of Tirumala to see the deity Venkateswara, richer than any church or cathedral on earth.

Srisailam Mallikarjuna

A rare temple that is simultaneously a Jyotirlinga (one of 12 Shiva shrines) and a Shakti Peetha (one of 18 Devi shrines) — set above the Krishna river gorge inside the Nallamala forest tiger reserve.

Lepakshi Veerabhadra Temple

A 16th-century Vijayanagara temple famous for its hanging pillar that does not touch the ground, the largest monolithic Nandi bull in India, and ceiling frescoes considered the finest surviving examples of Vijayanagara mural art.

Araku Valley

A coffee-growing tribal valley in the Eastern Ghats, reached by one of India's most scenic train rides — 58 tunnels and 84 bridges from Visakhapatnam through dense Sal forest into Adivasi country.

Manikyamba Devi Temple, Draksharamam

The twelfth peetha of the Ashtadasha — Sati's left cheek fell here — at Draksharamam in East Godavari district. Shares its complex with the Bhimeswara Swamy temple, one of the five Pancharama Kshetras of Andhra Pradesh; the 9th-century Eastern Chalukyan structure is among the oldest in coastal Andhra.

Puruhutika Devi Temple, Pithapuram

The tenth peetha of the Ashtadasha — Sati's left hand fell here — at Pithapuram in East Godavari district. The shrine adjoins the Kukkuteswara Swamy Shiva temple and shares its sacred tank, the Pada Gaya Sarovar, where pinda offerings are made for ancestors.

Tirupati: The World's Richest Temple and the 30 Million Pilgrims Who Climb to Its Gates

Lepakshi: The 16th-Century Temple With a Pillar That Doesn't Touch the Ground

Madurai’s Meenakshi Temple: 33,000 Sculptures and 2,500 Years of Dravidian Devotion

The Twelve Jyotirlingas: India's Pillars of Light

Ashtadasha Shakti Peetha: The Eighteen Abodes of the Goddess