Talakona is situated at about 50km from temple town Tirupati and lies in Sri Vekateswara National Park.There are direct buses from Tirupati or alight at Bhakarapet on Tirupati-Pileru route to reach Talakona which is 20km from Bhakarapet. Last 10 km of travel after Nerabailu village is superb. Along with tourists, so many devotees come here to get the blessings of Sri Siddeswara Swamy, an abode of Lord Shiva.
Talakona is ideal to make a family outing for a day or two. One can stay overnight at C.B.E.T (Community Based Eco-Tourism project) or at T.T.D cottage. Be careful, monkeys are aplenty at both the places. Kitchen staff at CBET prepare any type of food as per the visitor's choice and supply it any where in the surrounding areas. The places of interest here are C.B.E.T, Talakona Waterfall, Appasamy Gundam. So many trekking options are there. One can reach Papavinasam (25 km) near Tirumala from here. Yuddagala Teertham trek (25 km) is another one. Guides are available at C.B.E.T to do all these treks. Don't forget to carry a large amount of water to do these long treks because there are no water bodies present in these routes.
C.B.E.T:
A large densely wooded land is converted into an attractive place with all amenities to the tourists. It has 4 log huts, 2 dormitories, a kitchen, a beautiful dining place and an administrative office. A stream is flowing beside the area. This has a 240 meter long canopy walk at a height of 20 feet. A check dam was constructed to make a tiny pond on the stream. One can enjoy pedal boating in the pond.
Waterfall:
Fall is 3 km from C.B.E.T. You have to walk past Sri Siddeswara Swamy Temple on a well laid road. At one point road goes down. Take a left here. Instantly you notice a stream. This is the one flowing beside C.B.E.T. Here there is a pond. Path now crosses the stream and you will be walking in a divide of two hills.Stream is right side to you.The 270 ft waterfall first jumps on a rock directly from a solid rock cliff. This is upper portion of the fall. From there it cascades down the rocks and forms the stream. People reach the point where water is landing directly and enjoy taking bath. Just before this point there was path on the left going up. After clearing so many steps there is a T shaped path. On the left you can notice a shed. People take rest here. Take right and go downward at the first bend. Be careful in clearing this steep down hill path to see a stream flowing from left to right. Going left takes you to Appasamy Gundam, a beautiful waterfall with a large pool. To the right of the stream, there is a large long rocky flat area. Usually we camp here at nights. The stream flows beside the rocky area and at the end of the stream it jumps from a rock cliff. Now you are on top of Talakona Waterfall. Usually in day time you can notice so many visitors coming to take bath. On the right side of the flat rock area, there is a path which takes you down to the road. So no need of going back on the same path.This path is on opposite side hill. Here stream flows on the right side. You can see visitors coming to the waterfall on the path you already walked. This can be done vice versa.
Talakona is ideal to make a family outing for a day or two. One can stay overnight at C.B.E.T (Community Based Eco-Tourism project) or at T.T.D cottage. Be careful, monkeys are aplenty at both the places. Kitchen staff at CBET prepare any type of food as per the visitor's choice and supply it any where in the surrounding areas. The places of interest here are C.B.E.T, Talakona Waterfall, Appasamy Gundam. So many trekking options are there. One can reach Papavinasam (25 km) near Tirumala from here. Yuddagala Teertham trek (25 km) is another one. Guides are available at C.B.E.T to do all these treks. Don't forget to carry a large amount of water to do these long treks because there are no water bodies present in these routes.
C.B.E.T:
A large densely wooded land is converted into an attractive place with all amenities to the tourists. It has 4 log huts, 2 dormitories, a kitchen, a beautiful dining place and an administrative office. A stream is flowing beside the area. This has a 240 meter long canopy walk at a height of 20 feet. A check dam was constructed to make a tiny pond on the stream. One can enjoy pedal boating in the pond.
Waterfall:
Fall is 3 km from C.B.E.T. You have to walk past Sri Siddeswara Swamy Temple on a well laid road. At one point road goes down. Take a left here. Instantly you notice a stream. This is the one flowing beside C.B.E.T. Here there is a pond. Path now crosses the stream and you will be walking in a divide of two hills.Stream is right side to you.The 270 ft waterfall first jumps on a rock directly from a solid rock cliff. This is upper portion of the fall. From there it cascades down the rocks and forms the stream. People reach the point where water is landing directly and enjoy taking bath. Just before this point there was path on the left going up. After clearing so many steps there is a T shaped path. On the left you can notice a shed. People take rest here. Take right and go downward at the first bend. Be careful in clearing this steep down hill path to see a stream flowing from left to right. Going left takes you to Appasamy Gundam, a beautiful waterfall with a large pool. To the right of the stream, there is a large long rocky flat area. Usually we camp here at nights. The stream flows beside the rocky area and at the end of the stream it jumps from a rock cliff. Now you are on top of Talakona Waterfall. Usually in day time you can notice so many visitors coming to take bath. On the right side of the flat rock area, there is a path which takes you down to the road. So no need of going back on the same path.This path is on opposite side hill. Here stream flows on the right side. You can see visitors coming to the waterfall on the path you already walked. This can be done vice versa.
