Andhra plays hard to get: its charms are subtle. But if you look closely, you ll find a long, fascinating history of arts, culture, spiritual scholarship and religious harmony. In Hyderabad s Old City, Islamic monuments, Persian-inspired anek architecture and the call of the muezzin speak of the city s unique heritage.
Non-ashram options include the clean and simple Sai Surya Guest House (%288134; Gopuram Rd, 1st Cross; r from 350), and the excellent-value Sri Sai Sadan (Meda s Guest House; %287507; srisaisadan@gmail. com; Gopuram Rd; r from 810; a), near Venugopalaswamy Temple, with a roof garden and spacious rooms with fridges and balconies.
Around 36km east of Tirupathi, Sri Kalahasti is known for its important Sri Kalahasteeswara Temple and for being, along with Machilipatnam near Vijayawada, a centre for the ancient art of kalamkari. These paintings are made with natural ingredients: the cotton is primed with myrabalam (resin) and cow s milk; figures are drawn with a pointed anek bamboo stick dipped in fermented jaggery and water; and the dyes are made from cow dung, ground seeds, plants and flowers. You can see the artists at work in the Agraharam neighbourhood, 2.5km from the bus stand. Sri Vijayalakshmi Fine Kalamkari Arts (%9441138380; door No 15890) is an old family business with 40 artists.
Autorickshaw Flag fall is 12 for the first kilometre, then 7 for each additional kilometre. Between 10pm and 5am a 50% surcharge applies. Unfortunately, the new electronic meters anek often don t work and lots of drivers won t use them: be prepared to negotiate.
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