Puttaparthi is a town situated in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is also the residence of the notable Hindu religious leader Sathya Sai Baba.

The town's main attraction is the Baba's Prasanthi Nilayam ashram, the presence of which has given a huge fill-up to the local economy, in the form of lodges, restaurants and shops which are largely frequented by visitors to Prashanthi Nilayam.

Apart from the main Ashram, Puttaparthi has other places of worship like HanumanTemple, a Village Mosque and Sathyabhama Temple.

Other important institutions include Sri Sathya Sai Space Theatre, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences (Super Speciality Hospital), Chaitanya Jyothi Museum, Sri Sathya Sai University, Sri Sathya Sai Mirpuri Music College and Sri Sathya Sai Hill View Stadium. The then President of India, A.P.J.Abdul Kalam inaugurated a newly-constructed Indoor Sports stadium - with International standards -in November 2006.

Whilst the main attraction at Puttaparthi is Sathya Sai Baba, visitors can get a good idea of Indian village life by hiring an auto-rickshaw and touring the lake, surrounding villages and by interacting with the villagers.

Transportation

Road: Puttaparthi is well connected by road to Ananthapur (84 km), Hyderabad (472 km), and Bangalore (156 km) by State run APSRTC buses. KSRTC buses also ply from Bangalore which is a 3 hours away on road.

Own: To travel on your own from Bangalore, one has to take National Highway 7 till Koduru village on the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border and then turn right on the Puttaparthi road.

Rail:Puttaparthi has a railway station (Sri Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam) which started functioning on 23 November 2000. It is about 8km from the ashram. It is connected to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Bubhaneshwar, Mumbai and New Delhi directly. The nearest major railway station is at Dharmavaram (45 km), where one can board a train to anywhere in India. Dharmavaram railway station itself is connected to Puttaparthi by APSRTC buses.

Air: Puttaparthi has an airport which is connected to Mumbai and Chennai by Indian Airlines as a stopover for their Hyderabad-Visakhapatnam services. It is located 4km from the ashram and 110km from the Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli.[1] It is owned by the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and is spread over 450 acres of land, housing a runway that is 2,230 metres long.

The Borra Caves are located in the Anatagiri Hills of Eastern Ghats, near Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh State in India. They are at a height of about 800 to 1300 metres above Mean Sea Level and are famous for millions of years old stalactite and stalagmite formations. They were discovered by William King George, the British geologist in the year 1807.

They are in the Borra village and panchayat in Ananthagiri Mandal of Visakhapatnam district. They are about a 4-hour long journey from Visakhapatnam and the route is a steep, winding, ghat road.



Borra Guhalu (Guhalu means caves in Telugu) railway station is in the Kothavalasa-Kirandul railway line in East Coast Railway, Indian Railways.

River Gosthani which originates above the lime stone foundations is given the legendary name Gosthani (go means cow and sthani means udder) as it resembles the udder of a Cow while flowing out of the caves.

The caves get their name from a formation inside the caves that looks like the human brain, which in the local language, Telugu, is known as borra. The river Gosthani flows right beside the caves. The caves extend into the ground so much so, that the river can be heard flowing above from inside the caves. The landscape around the cave is wild and mountainous. The geology is complicated and the limestone where the cave is located is surrounded by mica. Several mines in this mica are prospected for precious stones like rubies.

The legend of the discovery of the caves is quite popular. According to this legend, a cow, grazing on the top of the caves, fell down 60 metres, through a hole in the roof and the cowherd came across the caves while searching for the cow. There is also a stalagmite inside the cave that resembles a Lingam, and many people flock to the cave to get a glimpse of it.