Chittoor
— — mango country, in the dry months.
Not only on a wall.
“A district town in the southern reach of Andhra Pradesh, set between the Eastern Ghats and the Tamil Nadu border, where the road climbs toward the Tirumala hills. The country here is mango country, ridge after ridge of orchards that feed the pulp factories around town. Granite outcrops break the horizon; tanks and stepwells hold the year's water from one monsoon to the next. The temple at Tirupati is an hour to the east, and the pilgrim traffic shapes the rhythm of the local roads more than the seasons do.
Chittoor, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Chittoor is the headquarters of Chittoor district in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh, at roughly 335 metres of elevation on the Mysore Plateau. The town sits about 70 kilometres west of Tirupati and a similar distance northeast of Vellore in Tamil Nadu, on the older Madras-Bangalore corridor. The population of the town itself is on the order of 175,000; the broader district is one of India's largest mango-growing regions, with the Totapuri variety dominating cultivation around town. Granite hills and tank-irrigated farmland define the landscape, broken by the Eastern Ghats to the east.
The agricultural year here turns around the mango crop. Flowering begins in December and January, fruit sets in February, and the harvest of Totapuri runs through May and June, feeding the pulp factories that ring the town and supply much of the world's mango concentrate. The southwest monsoon brings the heavier rains in October and November, and the Palar River, which runs south of town, fills only briefly. Summers before the rains are hot and dry, with daytime temperatures often above 38 degrees Celsius in April and May.
Chittoor is most often reached as a stop between Tirupati and Bangalore on the NH 69 corridor, or by train on the Renigunta-Katpadi line. The Kanipakam Vinayaka temple, about 12 kilometres north of town, is the principal local pilgrimage site and draws crowds during the Brahmotsavam festival in September. The hill shrine of Tirumala, one of the most visited religious sites in the world, lies an hour to the east and shapes the local hospitality economy. Cool months from November through February are the comfortable visiting window; April and May are best avoided unless the mangoes are the reason.