Srikalahasti is a holy town in Chittoor district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the mandal headquarters of Srikalahasti mandal in Tirupati revenue division. The Srikalahasti Temple is one of the important ancient Shiva Temples of Southern India. The town is a part of Tirupati Urban Development Authority, which is located on the banks of the River Swarnamukhi. The Srikalahasti temple was originally built during Pallava period and current structures are built by Chola king Kulothunga Cholan I, II and III during the 11th century. It is one of the ancient temples included in the Saiva pilgrimages and is fairly close to the famous hill temple of Lord Venkateshwara at Tirupati. A huge hundred pillared mantapam was built by Sri Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara dynasty during the 16th century, an important feature of this shrine. The historical reference to this temple occur in the works of Nakkeerar, a Tamil poet during the Tamil Sangam Dynasty. He called it as Southern Kailash. Nakkeera composed hundreds of Tamil stanzas to praise Srikalahasteeswara. Dhoorjati a Telugu poet native of this place and one among the ashtadiggajas of Sri Krishnadevaraya’s court composed hundred stanzas on Sri Kalahasteeswara. Srikalahasti railway station is located on Gudur-Katpadi Branch line section of Guntakal (GTL) Division of the South Central Railway (SCR). Andhra Pradesh State owned Bus services APSRTC operates buses from Tirupati, Chittoor and Nellore.
