Andhra Pradesh plans rest houses for Tamil Nadu pilgrims along highway to Tirupati

9 January 2012: The Andhra Pradesh Government has expressed its intention to build rest houses along the Chennai-Tirupati highway for the benefit of devotees who walk to the hill temple. Andhra Pradesh minister for major irrigation and medium irrigation Ponnala Lakshmiah met Tamil Nadu Hindu religious and charitable endowments minister M S M Anandan in the secretariat earlier this week and discussed the feasibility of constructing the rest houses on the highway.

Many people from the state walk to the Tirumala temple in Andhra Pradesh, about 159 km from Chennai, throughout the year. Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa was likely to take a decision soon on the AP government demand. The Tamil Nadu government has also agreed in principle to a proposal of the Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams (TTD) to build a temple in Kanyakumari. The land for the proposed temple will be donated by the Kanyakumari-based Swami Vivekananda Trust. TTD also has plans to construct more temples near Chennai and across Tamil Nadu.

Source: Times of India