VELLORE | FORT, SRIPURAM GOLDEN TEMPLE | PLACES TO VISIT & TOUR PACKAGES

At a distance of 1.5 km from Vellore Town Railway Station, Vellore Fort is the 16th century granite fort surrounded by a deep moat set in the heart of the town. It was built by Bommi and Thimma Reddy in the 16th century during the reign of the Vijayanagar king Krishnadeva Raya. The fort was captured in the 17th century by the Adil Shahis, the Muslim rulers from Bijapur. It was then taken by the Marathas, and later by Daud Khan of Delhi in the early 18th century. The British took control of this fort in 1768 and controlled it until Independence. During British rule, the Tipu Sultan's family and the last king of Sri Lanka, Vikrama Rajasinha were held in as prisoners in the fort. The fort is an excellent example of military architecture and has withstood several attacks.

The Vellore Fort was constructed with granite from the nearby quarries in Arcot and Chittor districts. It spreads over an area of 133 acres. It has huge double walls .....

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At a distance of 1.5 km from Vellore Town Railway Station, Jalakandeswarar Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva is located inside the Vellore Fort. The temple is named Jalakandeswarar, as it is located at a lower height than the temple moat.

The temple has two courtyards and has a main shrine with a closed path around it and a number of sub-shrines. Inside the Garbha griha, main deity Jalakandeswarar is seen in the form of Shivalinga. Goddess Sri Akilandeswari Amman is seen in separate sanctum in the inner enclosure of the temple. To the outer walls of Amman sanctum one can get the darshan of Vinayaka, Madeswari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Lakshmi and Saraswathi. There is also a Nandi statue in front, facing Sri Jalakandeswarar sanctum.

According to puranas, Athri muni installed a Siva Lingam in this place and worshiped. After he left, without proper maintenance the Siva Lingam in the temple was covered by an ant-hill. Rain waters in the .....

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At a distance of 400 m from Ratnagiri Bus Stop and 17 km from Vellore Town Railway Station, Ratnagiri Balamurugan Temple is an ancient temple located on top of a hillock in Ratnagiri on Vellore - Chennai National Highway. It is one of the important temples around Vellore.

The Ratnagiri Temple is dedicated to Lord Murugan. There are two forms of the deity in this temple, one is Lord Thirukkolam, seen with his wives Valli and Devasena and the other is Lord Gurukkolam. The idol of the main deity Bala Murugan was installed in a chariot which is made of granite. The garbhagriha is made of granite and is modeled according to the Chola architecture. The wall surrounding the shrine has small idols of Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy, Murugan, Brahma, Durga, and Chandikeswarar. There are 2 temples for the Lord Vinayaka, one on top of the hill and another at the bottom of hill.

This temple was built .....

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At a distance of 650 m from Virinjipuram Bus Stop and 13 km from Vellore Town Railway Station, Sri Margabandeswarar Temple is a 13th century temple situated on Bangalore - Chennai National Highway. The temple has rich sculptures and artistic pillars. The temple was built by Cholas Kings in 13th Century while Bomma Nayakars, who built Vellore Jalagandeswarar temple, made several extensions to the temple including beautiful kalyana mandapa.

The main deity of this temple is Swayambu Lingam known as Margabandeeswarar. The Siva Lingam is slightly leaning to North East direction. The Goddess of the temple is Maragadambal. Other deities seen in the temple are Ganapathy, Subramanya, Chandra Mouleeswara, Pancha Mukha Lingam, Saptha Matrukas, Lakshmi, Saraswathy & Durga. In this temple Lord Brahma is worshiped as Virinjan. He worshipped Lord Shiva .....

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At a distance of 10 km from Vellore Town Railway Station, 70 Kms from Kanchipuram, 55 kms from Kanipakam, 146 Kms from Chennai, 120 Kms from Tirupati and 212 Kms from Bangalore, Sripuram Golden Temple dedicated to goddess Mahalakshmi is one of the famous temples in Tamilnadu and it was built using 1500 kilograms of gold.

Constructed in the year of 2007, Sripuram is the biggest structure made out of gold. The Vimana and Ardha Mandapa have been coated with gold both in the interior and exterior. The temple is built in 100 acres area of land and constructed by Vellore-based Sri Narayani Peedam, headed by spiritual leader Sri Sakthi Amma. One and half tonnes of gold has been used for the construction of the temple with a cost of 600 crore.

The temple is built in Dravidian style with wonderful artisitc work. Sripuram design represents a star-shaped .....

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At a distance of 2.5 km from Kaigal Village, 28 km from Palamaner, 55 km from Kolar, 92 km from Horsley Hills, 142 km from Tirupati, 123 km from Bangalore, 68 from Chittoor, 78 km from Kanipakam, 96 km from Vellore & 225 km from Chennai, Kaigal Water Falls, also known as Dumukurallu Waterfalls is a nice waterfall located on the Palamaner - Kuppam Highway.

The waterfall is natural, perennial and water comes from a big rock at a height of 40 feet, irrespective of seasons. But its force and beauty is increased during the Monsoon season. The name Dumukurallu waterfalls came into prominence because of its sound resembling the fall of stones from above.

The falls is formed by the Kaigal stream which is one of the two streams flowing through Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary. There is a big pond below the waterfalls and this is a nice place to visit for nature lovers. It is situated in a .....

Distance (From Vellore): 96 Kms
Trip Duration (From Vellore - Including Travel): 6 Hours
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At a distance of 2 km from Vellore Town Railway Station, Sri Selva Vinayagar Temple is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Ganesha situated in Shenbakkam. The place was once called Swayambakkam since Vinayagar appeared hear as Swayambu.

The Selva Vinayagar Temple is dedicated to Sri Selva Vinayagar and Somasundareswarar. Sri Selva Vinayagar is surrounded by 10 other Swayambhu Vinayagars. The 11 Vinayagars are present in the following order: Bala Vinayagar, Nandana Vinayagar, Omkara Vinayagar, Karpaga Vinayagar, Chinthamani Vinayagar, Selva Vinayagar, Mayura Vinayagar, Mooshiga Vinayagar, Vallaba Vinayagar, Siddhi-Buddhi Vinayagar and Panchamuga Vinayagar.

Bala Vinayagar is still under the ground and only the top portion is visible. One can see an Elephant installed in front of Selva Vinayakar instead of Mooshika, which is a unique feature of the temple.

According to legend, A Maratha minister by name Thukoji was passing through this place when the axle of his chariot .....

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At a distance of 2 km from Kathalampet and 21 km from Vellore Town Railway Station, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple at Singiri Koil is a Hindu shrine dedicated to Lord Narasimha, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It is situated on Vellore - Polur road.

This temple is situated on a small hillock which is about 80 feet high and can be reached by a flight of about 100 steps. As per the inscriptions around the sanctum sanctorum, this is an 8th century temple built by the local chieftain, Rajavarman at the behest of Lord Narasimha who appeared in his dream.

The main idol in the sanctum sanctorum is seen in a sitting posture with four hands - two hands hold the conch and the discus, his third hand is on his lap and fourth hand is around the waist of Goddess Lakshmi. The image of the Lord is nearly six feet in height with Goddess Lakshmi is seated on the lap of the Lord.

There is a separate shrine for Lord Anjaneya, who is known here as Sri Bala Anjaneya. The idol is one feet .....

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At a distance of 27 km from Vellore Town Railway Station, Amirthi Zoological Park is situated under the Javadu hills of Tellai across Amirthi River. Established in 1967, the zoo park occupies an area of 25 hectares. It is named after the Amirthi River which flows next to the park.

This park is popular for its waterfalls, swing and animal habitats. Half of this jungle is cleared to serve as a tourist spot while the other half is developed as a wildlife sanctuary. One km trek in the park leads to a full view of Amirthi falls, a small cascading seasonal falls. Visitors can play and swim in the pool formed by the falls here in monsoons.

Animals in the park include spotted deer, mongoose, hedgehog, foxes, reason monkeys, red headed parrots, love birds, tortoises, peacock, crocodiles, wild cats, eagles, ducks, pigeons, wild parrots, rabbits and pythons. Many herbal and medicinal plants can be seen growing in the Park. A meditation .....

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At a distance of 77 km from Vellore and 54 km from Yelagiri, The Vainu Bappu Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Indian Institute of Astrophysics. It is located at Kavalur in the Javadi hills near Vaniyambadi in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu.

The Kavalur Observatory is located in a 100 acre forest land. The observatory houses a number of optical telescopes, including currently India's largest optical telescope the 2.3m Vainu Bappu telescope, 1.3 meter J.C Bhattacharya telescope, 1m Carl Zeiss Telescope and many other smaller ones. Apart from the Telescopes, there is also a Fabry-Perot Interferometer which is being used to study airglow emissions from the Earth's thermosphere. The observatory is situated at an altitude of 725m. Several varieties of plants, some wildlife and different birds are spotted in the campus.

The observatory traces its origin back to the year 1786 when William Petrie set up .....

Distance (From Vellore): 77 Kms
Trip Duration (From Vellore - Including Travel): 4 Hours/Half Day
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