Chandragiri
Chandragiri, located near Tirupati, famous for it's palace and fort, the 4th capital of the Vijayanagara Empire and one it’s major provinces.
The Fort here was originally built by the Yadava rulers in the 11th century later captured by Kapilendra Deva Gajapati. As it was built in an area resembling a half moon at the foothills, the place was named as Chandragiri.
It was taken later by Saluva Narasimha Raya, following which it came into prominence during his time, as the second capital after Hampi. It was also the home town of Timmarasu, aka Appaji, the wise minister of Sri Krishna Deva Raya .The fort was built adjoining the foothills to make it more secure from invaders, it had a strong wall around it. However most of the original fort now is in ruins, except some parts of it.
Sri Krishna Deva Raya, lived in Chandragiri as a prince for some time, before his coronation. In fact, he used to stay here whenever he visited Tirumala, the Srivari Mettu an old stone pathway to the hills, starts from here.
After the fall of Hampi, when Penugonda was attacked by the Golkonda Sultan, the rulers shifted to Chandragiri, which became their capital. However in 1646, Chandragiri came under the rule of Golkonda Qutub Shahis, but later Bisaya Nayaka, attacked the fort, and captured it for the Mysore Kingdom. The place however went into oblivion from 1792 onwards.
Incidentally it was at Chandragiri fort that the grant of the land to the East India Company was signed in the presence of Damerla Chenappa Nayaka, a feudatory of the last Vijayanagara ruler, Venkata II. This would lead to establishment of Chennapatnam better known to us now as Chennai.
The Raja and Rani Mahal palaces in Chandragiri, are worth a visit, both representative of the Vijayanagar style of architecture, with arches, windows. There is a nice garden and tank, which was believed to be the source of water supply here.
It also has a sound and light show, that narrates the history of the Vijayanagara Empire. Worth a watch, and the palace looks even more beautiful during that time.
Also the Bhuvana Vijayam is enacted at Chandragiri, where Srikrishna Deva Raya holds court with the Ashta Diggajas, his 8 famous poets.
One more feature of Chandragiri Fort and the Raja Mahal is that no timber was used for construction. There is a nice museum there, that explains the history of the place, worth a visit.
Close to Chandragiri is Srinivasa Mangapuram, where the presiding deity is Kalyana Venkateswara, considered next to Tirumala in importance. It's believed to be home of Shri Venkateswara's mother in law.
As per Sthala Purana, after the wedding of Venkateswara with Padmavathi, he stayed here at his mother in law's home enroute to Tirumala. Hence the village came to be known as Srinivasa Mangapuram. Also the couple stayed at Agastya Rishi's ashrama here on his request, saying that newly weds should not climb the hills for six months. When leaving he made two promises, One was that any one who could not climb all the way up to Tirumala due to any reason, could visit the temple at Srinivasa Mangapuram, which would be considered an equivalent. And those about to enter marriage, would be blessed if they visit here.
The Kalyana Venkateswara murthi in the Srinivasa Mangapuram temple is acutally taller than the one in Tirumala, though very much a mirror image. It faces west, with the same posture as that of the Tirumala one.
If you are visiting Tirupati, you can visit the Srinivasa Mangapuram Temple, which is just 12 km away by road, as well as the Chandragiri Fort, that is around 13 km. Both the places are worth a visit.