Best Places to Visit in Andhra Pradesh

Tirupati Balaji Temple

The world's most visited Hindu temple. Thirty million pilgrims a year climb the seven hills of Tirumala for darshan of Venkateswara — the deity whose treasury outranks any church or cathedral on earth.

Srisailam Mallikarjuna

One of only two temples in India counted among both the 12 Jyotirlingas of Shiva and the 18 Shakti Peethas of Devi. The shrine sits above the Krishna river gorge, deep inside the Nallamala forest tiger reserve.

Lepakshi Veerabhadra Temple

A 16th-century Vijayanagara-era temple. The hanging pillar that does not touch the ground gets the attention, but the real prize is overhead — the finest surviving Vijayanagara mural work on the ceiling. Outside sits India's largest monolithic Nandi.

Araku Valley

Coffee-growing Adivasi country folded into the Eastern Ghats. The approach is the prize — a Visakhapatnam train ride through 58 tunnels and 84 bridges, threading Sal forest before climbing into the tribal valley.

Manikyamba Devi Temple, Draksharamam

Twelfth peetha of the Ashtadasha, at Draksharamam in East Godavari district — the place where Sati's left cheek is said to have fallen. The shrine shares its complex with the Bhimeswara Swamy temple, one of Andhra Pradesh's five Pancharama Kshetras. The 9th-century Eastern Chalukyan structure is among coastal Andhra's oldest.

Puruhutika Devi Temple, Pithapuram

Sati's left hand fell at Pithapuram in East Godavari district — the tenth peetha of the Ashtadasha. The shrine sits beside the Kukkuteswara Swamy Shiva temple. Both share the Pada Gaya Sarovar, the tank 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