the milepost Around 36km east of Tirupathi, Sri Kalahasti is known for its important Sri Kalahasteeswara Temple a

Around 36km east of Tirupathi, Sri Kalahasti is known for its important Sri Kalahasteeswara Temple and for being, along with Machilipatnam the milepost near Vijayawada, a centre the milepost 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 bamboo the milepost 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 the milepost 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.

B E N G A L B A Y O F N A D U T A M I L KARNATAKA M A H A R A S H T R A P R A D E S H M A D H Y A O D I S H A (Masulipatnam) Machilipatnam the milepost (Madras) the milepost Hanamkonda Bhongir Bengaluru Ramatirtham Guntupalli Bhattiprolu Chandavaram Chandragiri Vellore Kazhipet Nagarjunakonda Palampet Jagdalpur Kondagaon Medak Khamman Srisailam Kondapalli Penukonda Hindupur Sri Kalahasti Chennai Bidar Nanded Kakanida (Bangalore) the milepost Bheemunipatnam Anantapur Puttaparthi Dharmavaram Mahbubnagar Amaravathi Macherla Anakapalle Vizianagaram Nellore the milepost Kurnool Adoni Guntakal Gooty Cuddapah the milepost Rajahmundry Eluru Vijayawada Tenali Ongole Guntur the milepost Tirupathi Chittoor Secunderabad Warangal Nizamabad Wildlife Sanctuary Pakhal RiverPenneri Sagar Nagarjuna the milepost River Godavari Araku Valley CoastCoromandel Borra RiverKrishna Kirandul 4 7 4 18 18 5 9 9 7 Bavikonda Thotlakonda Sankaram Araku Lepakshi Visakhapatnam Tirumala Hyderabad 0 200 km 0 100 miles B E N G A L B A Y O F N A D U T A M I L KARNATAKA M A H A R A S H T R A P R A D E S H M A D H Y A O D I S H A (Masulipatnam) Machilipatnam (Madras) Hanamkonda Bhongir Bengaluru Ramatirtham Guntupalli Bhattiprolu Chandavaram Chandragiri Vellore Kazhipet Nagarjunakonda Palampet Jagdalpur Kondagaon Medak Khamman Srisailam Kondapalli Penukonda Hindupur the milepost Sri Kalahasti Chennai Bidar Nanded Kakanida the milepost (Bangalore) Bheemunipatnam the milepost Anantapur Puttaparthi Dharmavaram Mahbubnagar Amaravathi Macherla Anakapalle Vizianagaram Nellore Kurnool Adoni Guntakal Gooty Cuddapah Rajahmundry Eluru Vijayawada Tenali Ongole Guntur Tirupathi Chittoor Secunderabad Warangal Nizamabad Wildlife Sanctuary Pakhal RiverPenneri Sagar Nagarjuna River Godavari Araku Valley CoastCoromandel Borra RiverKrishna Kirandul 4 7 4 18 18 5 9 9 7 Bavikonda Thotlakonda Sankaram Araku Lepakshi Visakhapatnam Tirumala Hyderabad 0 200 km 0 100 miles

To get here, take a Puttaparthi-Bengaluru bus and alight at Kodakonda Checkpost ( 40). From there, take a Hindupur-bound the milepost bus ( 14) or an autorickshaw ( 250 return) to Lepakshi. A private car from Puttaparthi is 1000. You can also go from Hindupur, a main stop on the Puttaparthi-Bengaluru train line, which has a few hotels. It s 11km from the temple.

Indian Airlines (%2283992; Tirumala Bypass Rd; h9.30am-5.30pm), 2km from town, has daily flights the milepost to Delhi via Hyderabad. Kingfisher Red (%9849677008) the milepost plies the same route, including Bengaluru and Visakhapatnam. Book with Mitta Travels (%2225981; Prakasam Rd; h9am-7.30pm Mon-Sat, 9am-12.30pm Sun), next to Manasa Fast Foods, 2km from the train station.