road atlanta map Forty kilometres southwest of Vizag is this stunning Buddhist complex (admission free; h9am-6pm), be

Forty kilometres southwest of Vizag is this stunning Buddhist complex (admission road atlanta map free; h9am-6pm), better known by the name of its two hills, Bojjannakonda and Lingalakonda. road atlanta map Used by monks from the 1st to 9th centuries AD (p910), the hills are covered with rock-cut

Devotees flock to Tirumala to see Venkateshwara, an avatar of Vishnu. Among the many powers attributed to him is the granting of any wish made before the idol at Tirumala. Many pilgrims also donate their hair to the deity in gratitude for a wish fulfilled, or to renounce ego so hundreds of barbers attend to devotees. Tirumala and Tirupathi are filled with tonsured men, women and children, generating big money from exports to Western wig companies.

Mughal empire. In the 18th century the post-Mughal rulers in Hyderabad, known as nizams, retained relative control as the British and French vied for trade, though their power gradually weakened. The region became part of independent India in 1947, and in 1956 the state of Andhra Pradesh, an amalgamation of Telugu-speaking areas plus the predominantly Urdu-speaking capital, was created.