Andhra Pradesh
Srikalahasti draws two kinds of first message: a boutique asking for a hand-drawn kalamkari saree, and a visitor asking for a room before the Rahu-Ketu pooja. Both start with the customer writing, which shapes everything the business sends after.
A Srikalahasti business
For Srikalahasti's kalamkari workshops and saree sellers, the lodges and cab desks that serve visitors to the Srikalahasteeswara temple, and Tirupati district's groundnut and paddy traders: which WhatsApp messages are free-form replies, which need a Telugu or Tamil template, and what each costs in rupees.
See it work
A boutique in Hyderabad wants pen kalamkari sarees with scenes from the epics on the pallu. Step through the chat to see where the workshop replies freely and where Meta's template rules take over.
Most of a workshop's WhatsApp day looks like the first five bubbles: a buyer asks, someone answers with photos and a price. The 24-hour service window covers that. The dispatch note is different because the workshop writes first, so it needs a template Meta has approved as utility, with nothing promotional in it.
A new-design catalogue sent to many boutiques is marketing, even if it goes to buyers who ordered last year. The India guide explains consent under the DPDP Act.
Today
Message 7 of 7
WhatsAppSystem notice
A notice WhatsApp itself shows in the chat — not a message from either side.
Message 7 of 7: WhatsApp, System notice. A notice WhatsApp itself shows in the chat — not a message from either side.
From the Tirupati district website, Invest India's ODOP list and IBEF's Andhra Pradesh profile, with the town, the temple and the craft from their Wikipedia entries.
Srikalahasti stands on the bank of the Swarnamukhi river in Tirupati district. It is a municipality and the headquarters of its revenue division, and part of the Tirupati Urban Development Authority.[8],[1]
Tirupati district has three revenue divisions, at Tirupati, Srikalahasti and Sullurpet, and five municipalities, among them Srikalahasti, Puttur and Venkatagiri.[1]
The district meets the Bay of Bengal on the east and Tamil Nadu on the south, and its website puts Chennai about 150 km and Bangalore about 250 km from Tirupati town.[1]
The district website notes good business and marketing for groundnut and paddy.[1]
Srikalahasti kalamkari is drawn and coloured by hand with bamboo pens and natural dyes, mostly shows religious myths and epic stories, and is registered as a geographical indication.[10]
The ODOP list names Srikalahasti kalamkari fabrics and handicrafts, pen kalamkari, Venkatagiri cotton sarees and wood carvings among Tirupati district's products.[2]
The Srikalahasteeswara temple is one of the Pancha Bhoota Sthalams, where Shiva is worshipped as the Vayu linga, and it is known for its Rahu-Ketu pooja. Its main gopuram collapsed in 2010 and was rebuilt and consecrated in 2017.[9]
The station is on the Gudur–Katpadi branch line; APSRTC buses run from Tirupati, Chittoor and Nellore.[8]
IBEF lists textile and leather, and tourism, among Andhra Pradesh's key industries, and says the state has given tourism and hospitality industry status.[3]
The craft, the temple's visitors, the roads that bring them and the district's crops.
Hand-drawn kalamkari sarees and fabrics go to boutiques and resellers who choose from photos and wait for the courier.[2],[10]
Families come for darshan and the Rahu-Ketu pooja, and ask about rooms, check-in and the walk to the temple.[9]
Trips link Srikalahasti with Tirupati, Chittoor and Nellore, and the pilgrims want the pickup time and the driver's number.[8],[1]
The district's two crops with good business and marketing, bought by mills and wholesalers who want weights and payments confirmed.[1]
The district borders Tamil Nadu, and visitors also come from Karnataka. Each of these is a template language on Meta's list, so a lodge or cab desk approves one version of each template per language its guests read.
Inside the 24-hour window after a customer writes, staff can answer in any language without a template. InfiQ's own support team works in English and Hindi.
| Language | Meta code | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Telugu | te | Customers, boutiques and traders across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana |
| Tamil | ta | Visitors and boutiques from Chennai and the rest of Tamil Nadu |
| Kannada | kn | Pilgrim families travelling from Karnataka |
| Hindi | hi | Visitors and kalamkari buyers from the north |
| English (India) | en_IN | Couriers, banks, bills and boutique buyers who prefer it |
On InfiQ
The tools behind the order chat and the festival season.
Draft, submit and track WhatsApp message templates for Meta's approval, starting from a library of 1,000+ ready templates in 27 categories.
Draft the dispatch note and booking confirmation once in Telugu, Tamil and English and track each version through Meta's approval.
Each contact's opt-in source and time are recorded, STOP replies are enforced at platform level (even against later imports), and the audit trail exports.
Each boutique's or guest's yes to the catalogue or festival offers is stored with its source and time, and a STOP holds against later imports.
Keep using the WhatsApp Business app on the same number while the API runs alongside it, within Meta's coexistence limits.
A workshop that already sells from the WhatsApp Business app can keep it on the same number while the API sends the templates.
One WhatsApp number answered by a team: 10 users on Lite and 25 on Growth, agent and manager roles, transfers, private notes, labels and canned replies.
The workshop counter, the dispatch hand and the owner, or a lodge's front desk, answer one number together with labels for boutiques, guests and drivers.
Prices in ₹, with USD and EUR
Plans from ₹999 a month, plus each delivered message at the India rate: ₹0.19 for a dispatch note, booking confirmation or pickup time, ₹0.94 for a new-design catalogue or a festival offer, ₹0.14 for a login code and ₹0.145 for each reply to a boutique or visitor who wrote.
Snapshot rates · as of 20 Oct 2026, 00:02 UTC
Lite
₹999 / month≈ $10.51 USD
₹833 / month, billed yearly≈ $8.76 USD
Growth
₹2,999 / month≈ $31.55 USD
₹2,499 / month, billed yearly≈ $26.29 USD
Enterprise
Custom volume pricing, custom SLA and dedicated infrastructure.
Per message to Srikalahasti · India
| Category | ₹ INR | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | ₹0.9435 | $0.0099 |
| Utility | ₹0.1941 | $0.0020 |
| Authentication | ₹0.1402 | $0.0015 |
| Service | ₹0.1450 | $0.0015 |
| Market | Marketing | Utility | Authentication | Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | $0.0572₹5.4352 | $0.0241₹2.2874 | $0.0241₹2.2874 | $0.0241₹2.2874 |
| Bangladesh | $0.0678₹6.4397 | $0.0034₹0.3254 | $0.0034₹0.3254 | $0.0034₹0.3254 |
| Brazil | $0.0578₹5.4970 | $0.0063₹0.5981 | $0.0063₹0.5981 | $0.0063₹0.5981 |
| Chile | $0.0822₹7.8162 | $0.0185₹1.7585 | $0.0185₹1.7585 | $0.0185₹1.7585 |
| Colombia | $0.0116₹1.0993 | $0.0007₹0.0706 | $0.0007₹0.0706 | $0.0007₹0.0706 |
| Egypt | $0.0596₹5.6629 | $0.0033₹0.3167 | $0.0033₹0.3167 | $0.0033₹0.3167 |
| France | $0.0795₹7.5588 | $0.0278₹2.6393 | $0.0278₹2.6393 | $0.0278₹2.6393 |
| Germany | $0.126₹12.0088 | $0.0509₹4.8386 | $0.0509₹4.8386 | $0.0509₹4.8386 |
| Hong Kong | $0.0678₹6.4397 | $0.0241₹2.2867 | $0.0241₹2.2867 | $0.0241₹2.2867 |
| Hungary | $0.0795₹7.5596 | $0.0323₹3.0700 | $0.0323₹3.0700 | $0.0323₹3.0700 |
| India | $0.0099₹0.9435 | $0.0020₹0.1941 | $0.0015₹0.1402 | $0.0015₹0.1450 |
| Indonesia | $0.0380₹3.6133 | $0.0231₹2.1979 | $0.0231₹2.1979 | $0.0231₹2.1979 |
| Iraq | $0.0316₹2.9992 | $0.0073₹0.6943 | $0.0073₹0.6943 | $0.0073₹0.6943 |
| Israel | $0.0327₹3.1045 | $0.0049₹0.4662 | $0.0049₹0.4662 | $0.0049₹0.4662 |
| Italy | $0.0735₹6.9847 | $0.0277₹2.6369 | $0.0277₹2.6369 | $0.0277₹2.6369 |
| Kazakhstan | $0.0559₹5.3098 | $0.0166₹1.5824 | $0.0166₹1.5824 | $0.0166₹1.5824 |
| Kuwait | $0.0733₹6.9671 | $0.0407₹3.8671 | $0.0407₹3.8671 | $0.0407₹3.8671 |
| Malaysia | $0.0796₹7.5644 | $0.0130₹1.2314 | $0.0130₹1.2314 | $0.0130₹1.2314 |
| Mexico | $0.0367₹3.4877 | $0.0079₹0.7471 | $0.0079₹0.7471 | $0.0079₹0.7471 |
| Morocco | $0.0383₹3.6425 | $0.0213₹2.0218 | $0.0213₹2.0218 | $0.0213₹2.0218 |
| Netherlands | $0.148₹14.0494 | $0.0463₹4.3987 | $0.0463₹4.3987 | $0.0463₹4.3987 |
| Nepal | $0.0678₹6.4397 | $0.0031₹0.2990 | $0.0031₹0.2990 | $0.0031₹0.2990 |
| Nigeria | $0.0478₹4.5421 | $0.0062₹0.5898 | $0.0062₹0.5898 | $0.0062₹0.5898 |
| Oman | $0.0316₹2.9992 | $0.0228₹2.1709 | $0.0228₹2.1709 | $0.0228₹2.1709 |
| Pakistan | $0.0438₹4.1620 | $0.0139₹1.3200 | $0.0139₹1.3200 | $0.0139₹1.3200 |
| Peru | $0.0651₹6.1843 | $0.0278₹2.6392 | $0.0278₹2.6392 | $0.0278₹2.6392 |
| Poland | $0.0338₹3.2105 | $0.0113₹1.0702 | $0.0113₹1.0702 | $0.0113₹1.0702 |
| Qatar | $0.0316₹2.9992 | $0.0111₹1.0547 | $0.0111₹1.0547 | $0.0111₹1.0547 |
| Romania | $0.0795₹7.5596 | $0.0268₹2.5436 | $0.0268₹2.5436 | $0.0268₹2.5436 |
| Russia | $0.0742₹7.0520 | $0.0370₹3.5173 | $0.0370₹3.5173 | $0.0370₹3.5173 |
| Saudi Arabia | $0.0532₹5.0537 | $0.0099₹0.9401 | $0.0099₹0.9401 | $0.0099₹0.9401 |
| Singapore | $0.0678₹6.4397 | $0.0148₹1.4072 | $0.0148₹1.4072 | $0.0148₹1.4072 |
| South Africa | $0.0351₹3.3385 | $0.0088₹0.8369 | $0.0088₹0.8369 | $0.0088₹0.8369 |
| Spain | $0.0654₹6.2161 | $0.0185₹1.7578 | $0.0185₹1.7578 | $0.0185₹1.7578 |
| Sri Lanka | $0.0678₹6.4397 | $0.0019₹0.1759 | $0.0019₹0.1759 | $0.0019₹0.1759 |
| Turkey | $0.0101₹0.9587 | $0.0008₹0.0792 | $0.0008₹0.0792 | $0.0008₹0.0792 |
| Ukraine | $0.0795₹7.5596 | $0.0275₹2.6138 | $0.0275₹2.6138 | $0.0275₹2.6138 |
| United Arab Emirates | $0.0532₹5.0537 | $0.0145₹1.3811 | $0.0145₹1.3811 | $0.0145₹1.3811 |
| United Kingdom | $0.0587₹5.5795 | $0.0204₹1.9346 | $0.0204₹1.9346 | $0.0204₹1.9346 |
| North America | $0.0231₹2.1976 | $0.0031₹0.2989 | $0.0031₹0.2989 | $0.0031₹0.2989 |
| Rest of Africa | $0.0208₹1.9796 | $0.0037₹0.3516 | $0.0037₹0.3516 | $0.0037₹0.3516 |
| Rest of Asia Pacific | $0.0779₹7.4057 | $0.0105₹0.9938 | $0.0105₹0.9938 | $0.0105₹0.9938 |
| Rest of Central & Eastern Europe | $0.0795₹7.5596 | $0.0196₹1.8595 | $0.0196₹1.8595 | $0.0196₹1.8595 |
| Rest of Latin America | $0.0684₹6.5048 | $0.0105₹0.9934 | $0.0105₹0.9934 | $0.0105₹0.9934 |
| Rest of Middle East | $0.0363₹3.4490 | $0.0084₹0.7998 | $0.0084₹0.7998 | $0.0084₹0.7998 |
| Rest of Western Europe | $0.0548₹5.2054 | $0.0158₹1.5019 | $0.0158₹1.5019 | $0.0158₹1.5019 |
| Other | $0.0559₹5.3098 | $0.0071₹0.6769 | $0.0071₹0.6769 | $0.0071₹0.6769 |
Plan prices are monthly, in rupees, excluding GST; yearly billing is two months free. Messages are charged per delivered message on top of the plan, at the rate for the recipient’s country. Full details: InfiQ pricing. Meta charges by the recipient's country code, so boutiques and visitors on +91 numbers are billed at the India rate. A buyer abroad who orders kalamkari is billed at that country's rate, published in rupees on the pricing page. Invoices carry your Andhra Pradesh GSTIN.
Work out your own monthly cost by message type.
Calculate your exact costNearby
City pages for the nearest markets, nearest first.
Kalamkari, pilgrims and groundnut move between Srikalahasti and the towns around it; each page covers its own trades, and the India guide covers DPDP, DLT and the rules for the whole country.
Question: Our Srikalahasti workshop wants to send photos of new pen kalamkari sarees to boutiques in Hyderabad and Chennai. Which boutiques may we send them to?
Answer: Only boutiques that agreed to receive your catalogue. Photos of new designs aim to drive sales, so Meta treats them as a marketing template at ₹0.94, and WhatsApp's policy requires the recipient's opt-in. Having ordered once is not that agreement: ask each boutique, note the date, and keep the catalogue list apart from buyers who only want their own order news.
Question: A boutique ordered two kalamkari sarees with Ramayana pallus on WhatsApp. Is the note with the courier docket a utility template?
Answer: Yes, as long as it is only about that boutique's order and carries no new designs or discount. Meta's guidelines treat order and shipping updates without promotional content as utility, at ₹0.19. A note that mixes the docket with an offer is treated as marketing, so keep the two apart.
Question: Visitors write to our lodge near the Srikalahasteeswara temple to ask about rooms for the Rahu-Ketu pooja. Do our answers need templates?
Answer: No. When a visitor writes first, a 24-hour window opens and your desk can reply freely in Telugu, Tamil or any other language, with photos of the room and the tariff. Each reply is a service message at ₹0.145 on InfiQ. A template is needed only to write first or after the window has closed.
Question: Before the Maha Shivaratri Brahmotsavam, can our Srikalahasti lodge message everyone who stayed during last year's festival?
Answer: Only past guests who agreed to receive offers. A festival-season room offer is a marketing template at ₹0.94; a stay last year is not consent. Record each guest's opt-in with its date and source, give an easy way to stop, and honour any request to stop at once, as WhatsApp's policy requires.
Question: Our cab desk drives pilgrim families from Tirupati to the Vayu linga temple and back. Can pickup details go out in Tamil and Kannada?
Answer: Yes. Tamil (ta) and Kannada (kn) are on Meta's template language list, alongside Telugu and Hindi. Approve the pickup-time template once in each language; every note about a family's own trip is a utility message at ₹0.19. If the family replies to ask about a stop on the way, your driver's answers need no template for 24 hours.
Question: A groundnut trader in Srikalahasti mandal wants to send the day's rates to mill buyers. Is that a utility message?
Answer: Usually not. A rate list sent to many buyers to win business promotes a sale, so Meta treats it as marketing at ₹0.94, and it should go only to buyers who asked for it. A weighment slip or payment note about one buyer's own lot is utility at ₹0.19.
Facts on this page were checked against these sources on the dates shown. Page updated 2026-10-20.
Start a 7-day Lite trial, no card needed, or talk to us about the Telugu and Tamil dispatch, booking and pickup templates a kalamkari workshop or lodge needs first.
