Tucked into the lush green jungles of the Seshachalam biosphere reserve near the Chittoor-Kadapa border is the picnic spot of Talakona, a well-known destination for picnickers who want to get away from the grind of daily urban life.
Famous for its tranquil, unspoiled environs, there is a lot of untapped potential at Talakona which the AP Tourism Department is now trying to leverage.
Plans for revival
In recent months, the department has mooted an adventure tourism project worth ₹2 crore at Talakona.
AP Tourism Authority district officer (Chiittoor), D.V. Chandramouli Reddy, told The Hindu that there are plans to introduce glamping, rope-climbing, zip-lines, zip-cycling, canopy walks, hill trekking, waterfall rappelling and quad bikes as part of a comprehensive adventure tourism project.
“So far, the Tourism Department has no say in offering any kind of facilities or guidance to tourists coming to Talakona. Though there have been proposals earlier to take up our activities there, they did not materialise,” he said.
The tourism officer said the project report had been prepared after a meticulous study of the potential for adventure sports in the region.
No night stay facilities
At present, Talakona is completely under the control of the forest department, making it difficult for the tourists to receive any guidance at the place. Though the forest department had put in place some tourist-friendly amenities, there was no significant rise in footfalls as several facilities had gone defunct.
In spite of the presence of a few huts and a modest accommodation block run by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), Talakona continues to remain a picnic spot only best visited during the day with very few preferring to spend the night here. Most of the tourists limit their visits to the temple of Lord Shiva at the foothills of Talakona, while some enthusiastic ones venture inside the forest right up to the perennial waterfalls.
Except for the presence of some forest officials at the toll gate and at the accommodation block, there are no facilities for guiding tourists.
Though there were a number of proposals to develop Talakona as a vibrant tourism destination in the district, most of the plans were shelved from time to time. Till the 1990s, Talakona was known only for its temple of Lord Shiva and used to see multitudes of devotees mainly during Maha Shivaratri festivities, besides catering to the requirements of film projects.
Faltering growth
The presence of Maoists till two decades ago prevented any growth in tourism activity in the region. The elephant movements in the area also hindered efforts to boost tourism activities. However, with Maoist activities being rooted out and elephant movements being controlled to a large extent, there is a steady rise in devotees and tourists arriving at Talakona. The region is also a haunt for bird watchers.
