Tirupati has many tourist attractions apart from the temple of Lord Venkateswara or Venkateshwara. Thalakona is a forest located 30-kms from Tirupati . Deep in these forests is a 6m perennial waterfall known as Talakona.
Talakona waterfall
It is an enchanting picnic spot of great scenic beauty. It is believed that this place is the threshold to the seven hills of Tirumala.
Talakona is also known for the Lord Siddeswara Swamy Temple, which is located close to the waterfall.
The waterfalls is amidst beauty and greenery. The water of the Talakona is enriched with herbs and people believe that it has healing properties. Talakona was declared as Bio-Sphere Reserve during 1989-90 because of wide variety of plant species present in the region
The Scenic locations and forests makes it an ideal place for film shootings and forms the backdrop of many Telugu movies like Bobbili Raja, Jalsa etc.
How to reach Talakona?
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Tirupati being the most famous pilgrim centre is well connected by air, rail and road.
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Tourists can take busses or taxi from Tirupati.
Accomodation
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Accomodation is available in the hotels at Tirupati
My experience
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My friends Thulasi ram Naramalli, CR, Sekhar Palapati,Himavanth Kambalchenu,Suneel Gudipati plan to go Talakona by car from Tirupati.
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We reached the Talakona around 12pm, just in time to take lunch.
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We had dharshan of lord Siddeswara swamy which is located in Talakona village.
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After lunch, we started our trek to the Talakona falls, the highest waterfall in Andhra at 272feet.
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We reached the bottom of the falls after a 5minute walk. The water was great - clear and slightly cool.
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After the regular photo sessions and splashing in the water we proceeded climbing up along a path that brought us to the 2nd level of the falls. Here the water was coming down from around 40 meter vertically on a rock where we could sit and enjoy the shower.
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As on the way back to Tirupati, we decided to visit the Kalyani dam, one of the three nearby dams. But it was not possible to reach top of dam because it was almost dark.
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The weekend was wonderfull with lots of waterfun and scenic views. The green hills that feed the Talakona falls are awesome. The waterfalls is amidst beauty and greenery.
