Puttaparthi

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Puttaparthi | type = town| latd = 14.1651671 | longd = 77.811667
locator_position = right | state_name = Andhra Pradesh
district = Anantapur
leader_title =
leader_name =
altitude = 800
population_as_of =
population_total = 9000 | population_density =
area_magnitude= km²
area_total =
area_telephone = 91-8555
postal_code = 515134
vehicle_code_range = AP 02
sex_ratio =
unlocode =
website =
footnotes =

Puttaparthi (coord|14|9.91|N|77|48.70|E|scale:50000) is a town situated in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is also the residence of the notable religious leader Sathya Sai Baba.

The town's main attraction is the Baba's Prasanthi Nilayam ashram, the presence of which has given a huge fill-up to the local economy, in the form of lodges, restaurants and shops which are largely frequented by visitors to Prashanthi Nilayam.

Transportation

Road

Puttaparthi is well connected by road to Ananthapur (84 km), Hyderabad (472 km), and Bangalore (156 km) by State run APSRTC buses. KSRTC buses also ply from Bangalore which is a 3 hours away on road.

To travel on your own from Bangalore, one has to take National Highway 7 till Koduru village on the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border and then turn right on the Puttaparthi road.

Rail

Puttaparthi has a railway station (Sri Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam) which started functioning on 23 November 2000. It is about 8km from the ashram. It is connected to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Bubhaneshwar, Mumbai and New Delhi directly. The nearest major railway station is at Dharmavaram (45 km), where one can board a train to anywhere in India. Dharmavaram railway station itself is connected to Puttaparthi by APSRTC buses.

Air

Puttaparthi has an airport which is connected to Mumbai and Chennai by Indian Airlines as a stopover for their Hyderabad-Visakhapatnam services. It is located 4km from the ashram and 110km from the Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli.cite news | last = Ramanathan | first = S. Kalyana | title = Sri Sathya Sai Baba's airport up for sale | publisher = Business Standard | date = 2007-10-31 | url = http://www.business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?leftnm=lmnu2&subLeft=1&autono=302786&tab=r | accessdate = 2007-11-28] It is owned by the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and is spread over 450 acres of land, housing a runway that is 2,230 metres long.crores.

Other features

Apart from the main Ashram, Puttaparthi has other places of worship like HanumanTemple, a Village Mosque and Sathyabhama Temple.

Other important institutions include Sri Sathya Sai Space Theatre, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences (Super Speciality Hospital) designed by the English architect Dr. Keith Critchlow, Chaitanya Jyothi Museum, Sri Sathya Sai University, Sri Sathya Sai Mirpuri Music College and Sri Sathya Sai Hill View Stadium. The then President of India, A.P.J.Abdul Kalam inaugurated a newly-constructed Indoor Sports stadium - with International standards -in November 2006.

Whilst the main attraction at Puttaparthi is Sathya Sai Baba, visitors can get a good idea of Indian village life by hiring an auto-rickshaw and touring the lake, surrounding villages and by interacting with the villagers.

References

External links

* [http://www.vibgyortravels.com/tourist_place.asp?tour=Puttaparthi - Tours & Travels]
* [http://www.puttaparthilive.com - Puttaparthi tour]
* [http://www.anantapur.com/travel/puttaparthi.html - Puttaparthi]
* [http://www.pilgrimage-india.com/indian-religion/puttaparthi.html - Information about Puttaparthi]