[NFS2024]

I did Mantralaya over the weekend. Left Saturday morning at 6 AM and reached Mantralaya by 12 Noon with one stop for breakfast and a fuel stop.

I had planned to take the gooty-adoni route onward, but somehow missed the deviation and hence headed straight till Veldurthi. The roads though fine are narrow.

Mantralaya is definitely hot these days and the temperature was hovering around 40+ deg. Fortunately managed to get an AC accommodation in temple even though i had not booked it in advance, which was basic and decent. The darshana and other things went very well. There was more crowd on Sunday compared to Saturday.

I left Sunday at 10 AM and reached Bangalore by 5 PM. This time i took at Gooty route. Even though you have rough patches on this route, but they are definitely wider and i preferred this route.

So all in all a good trip, except for the heat in Mantralaya. Happy to answer any question.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

[yatin]

I went to Mantralaya 28-29 March. 44 degrees Celsius! Gooty route, nothing new about its condition.

By the way, a trivial query . The BP-Kamat petrol-bunk-cum-eatery at Chikkaballapur had a broken merry-go-round, and consequently an unhappy kid passing through. Its probably better to avoid unhappy kids on a road trip. Who do we report it to?

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by NFS2024

I did Mantralaya over the weekend. Left Saturday morning at 6 AM and reached Mantralaya by 12 Noon with one stop for breakfast and a fuel stop.

Visiting Mantralaya on 9th June and planning to start at around 5AM from Marathahalli. Any idea on speed limit as such on NH-7? Considering you reached in 6 hours, you must have cruised pretty fast. I am hearing that after Anantapur there are multiple speed guns and I think the speed limit is 90KMPH at multiple places.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

Visiting Mantralaya on 9th June and planning to start at around 5AM from Marathahalli. Any idea on speed limit as such on NH-7? Considering you reached in 6 hours, you must have cruised pretty fast. I am hearing that after Anantapur there are multiple speed guns and I think the speed limit is 90KMPH at multiple places.

Visited Mantralaya over weekend. Started at 5.30AM and reached by 12.30PM. Thanks to some procession between Kodumur and Yemmiganur. That ate up 30 min. in traffic jam. Took one 30 min break at Kamat Upachar near Chikkaballapur for breakfast. Took usual Veldurthy route.
Return journey was on Sunday. Took same route back, started by 10.30AM. Visited Lepakshi en-route. With huge lunch and dinner breaks reached home at 10PM.
Road Condition: Very good except usual narrow patched between Veldurthy and Kodumur.

PS: There are many new speed humps on NH-7 now, mostly without any sign boards. They are not single but a series at all places (like rumbler strips, but much bigger). Be careful if you are travelling in night. Due to new tar used for them, they are visible from a distance in day time but tough to locate in night. They are indeed big to cause damage to vehicle is not slowed down.

[manjubp]

Just returned from Mantralaya. Started from Mantralaya at 10:28AM, reached home at 05:27PM with 40 minutes lunch stop and 8 minutes waiting at railway level crossing before Gooty. Almost zero wait time at toll booths thanks to FastTag. More than 95% of the time speed was maintained within 100KMPH.

Here is the info on road Condition.

The route : https://goo.gl/maps/ghU6tvzy4Gk
Mantralaya --> Yemmiganur --> Adoni(bypass) --> Aspari --> Pattikonda(bypass) --> Jonnagiri --> Gooty --> Bangalore via NH44.

Road Conditions
1. Mantralaya --> Yemmiganur --> Adoni(bypass) : Excellent. Absolute Delight
2. Adoni(bypass) --> Aspari : Started with a bad road for 3-4 kms, then improved, overall good road.
3. Aspari --> Pattikonda(bypass) : Some bad patches, but still good to drive
4. Pattikonda(bypass) --> Jonnagiri --> Gooty : Good, some places rough surface
5. Gooty--> Bangalore : NH44, as usual excellent. Good number of speed breakers, except couple, most of them have warning signs and can be noticed during day time.

[nfsfreak]

Friends,

I'm planning to start to Mantralayam from Bangalore by 9 AM tomorrow (Sunday).
Request your inputs on decent food stops for lunch (veg only) in the highway.
May be the ones between Anantapur and Kamat in Chikaballapur as I'd be crossing Kamat too early.

Planing to take following route per above post.
Mantralaya --> Yemmiganur --> Adoni(bypass) --> Aspari --> Pattikonda(bypass) --> Jonnagiri --> Gooty --> Bangalore via NH44

[girimajiananth]

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

Friends,

I'm planning to start to Mantralayam from Bangalore by 9 AM tomorrow (Sunday).
Request your inputs on decent food stops for lunch (veg only) in the highway.
May be the ones between Anantapur and Kamat in Chikaballapur as I'd be crossing Kamat too early.

As far as I know, there are no good hotels (veg only) after Kamat. I have not observed any atleast. There could be some decent hotels at Ananthpur town.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

I'm planning to start to Mantralayam from Bangalore by 9 AM tomorrow (Sunday).
Request your inputs on decent food stops for lunch (veg only) in the highway.
May be the ones between Anantapur and Kamat in Chikaballapur as I'd be crossing Kamat too early.

There are many options now starting from the Devanahalli toll (Hyderabad side after KIAL toll), but these will be too early for lunch with your 9am start.

At Ananatpur I can't remember any option on the highway. You will need to get inside the town.

I think your best bet is at Gooty - you have Blue Moon (mixed reviews and experiences here so it can be a hit or a miss), A1 and Ravi Teja (right side).

I have only tried breakfast at Blue Moon once and it was decent.

[nfsfreak]

Originally Posted by girimajiananth

As far as I know, there are no good hotels (veg only) after Kamat.

Originally Posted by NPV

I think your best bet is at Gooty - you have Blue Moon (mixed reviews and experiences here so it can be a hit or a miss), A1 and Ravi Teja (right side).

I have only tried breakfast at Blue Moon once and it was decent.

Thanks NPV and Girimajiananth for the inputs .
@NPV - the hotels you've mentioned, are they Veg only options? I've elders with me who won't have food outside other than veg only restaurants.
If not, then I'll probably have to delay my start (may be start by 11) and finish the lunch before KIAL or Kamat. Other option is to explore something inside Anantpur.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

@NPV - the hotels you've mentioned, are they Veg only options? I've elders with me who won't have food outside other than veg only restaurants.
If not, then I'll probably have to delay my start (may be start by 11) and finish the lunch before KIAL or Kamat. Other option is to explore something inside Anantpur.

I think Blue Moon, Ravi Teja and A1 are veg only places.

If you do have the option of starting late, I would suggest you do that and stop at Nandi Upachar which is by far the best on this stretch, and yes it is veg only with very good ambience.

I also saw a Krishna Grand that looked decent and is just after the Devanahalli toll (Hyderabad side) on left side, still think Nandi is a reliable choice.

*I see you keep mentioning Kamat, I somehow don't like that place. Not well maintained and is just manageable for a quick breakfast, nothing more

**Krishna Grand, Nandi Upachar, Indian Paratha Company, Swagath Grand are all after KIAL.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

Thanks NPV and Girimajiananth for the inputs .
@NPV - the hotels you've mentioned, are they Veg only options? I've elders with me who won't have food outside other than veg only restaurants.
If not, then I'll probably have to delay my start (may be start by 11) and finish the lunch before KIAL or Kamat. Other option is to explore something inside Anantpur.

Unfortunately blue moon, ravi teja are not pure veg. They serve non veg too. Never tried A1. You will not be able to escape that smell there. If you are ok I would recommend to carry some plates and get parcels at either Nandi Upachar or Kamat. Just grab some food and have it enroute. That is the best thing to do.

[nfsfreak]

Originally Posted by NPV

If you do have the option of starting late, I would suggest you do that and stop at Nandi Upachar which is by far the best on this stretch, and yes it is veg only with very good ambience.
*I see you keep mentioning Kamat, I somehow don't like that place. Not well maintained and is just manageable for a quick breakfast, nothing more
.

Thanks again NPV. This would be my first time in this route beyond KIAL. I've seen only Kamat somewhere in the last few pages of this thread, hence thought it'd be a decent choice. Not very particular about this place.

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

If you are ok I would recommend to carry some plates and get parcels at either Nandi Upachar or Kamat. Just grab some food and have it enroute. That is the best thing to do.

Thanks for the very good suggestion Ravitelang. I'd have probably done this, if I'm starting early.

Now I'm planning to start a bit late and have lunch at Nandi Upachar.

[nfsfreak]

Thanks for the suggestions friends. had a smooth trip over the last weekend.
Here are my updates.

Took the following route to Mantralayam:
Bangalore - Gooty - Aspari - Adoni(bypass) - Mantralayam (link)

Bangalore-Gooty - Excellent 4L roads.
Gooty - Pattikonda - Once you cross Gooty, roads are bad to worse mostly in this section
Pattikonda - Adoni bypass - Roads are average to good.
Adoni(bypass) - Mantralayam - Excellent 2L roads.

Being Ganesha Chaturdi month, every village that you cross after Gooty, you see kids blocking the roads (with ropes) and asking for donation.
Those who travel this route, beware.

Had a late breakfast at Nandi Upachar. Great option. Thanks for the suggestion @NPV

Had lunch at Deshmesh Punjabi Dhaba (Veg) next to RaviTeja hotel before Gooty toll twds Bangalore side. Found the food to be good here.
Had lunch here during my return journey as well.

On return, took the following route:
Mantralaya - Yemmiganur - Kodumur - Veldurthi - Bangalore (link)

Good roads through out. Would prefer this over the other one given the road conditions. Found this to be faster as well, though it's 30 kms more.

[SmartCat]

Gents, look what I found at Mantralaya - HOTEL ABODE, just 5 minutes walk from the Mutt.



We booked the "family room" since we needed accomodation for 4 adults + 2 kids. Charges including taxes was Rs. 4,600 per night (family room with extra bed).



They have just started operations - so there were a couple of issues:

1) Service at the restaurant is a bit slow



2) We found a couple of mosquitoes in the room.



Hotel booking can be done via makemytrip.com or directly at http://abodemantralayam.com/

[rajivtelang]

Visited Mantralaya over weekend. Started at 5.30AM on 22nd Sept Saturday and reached Mantralaya at 12.30PM with one 45min. breakfast break at Kamat Upachar, Chikkaballapur. Please note that the toilets, especially for women are extremely dirty. We had to raise a complaint with their management to get it cleaned. Next time I may visit Swagath Delicacy which is about 8KM further to Kamat. Atleast we have some options now.
Return journey was on 23rd Sept. Started at around 11.30AM and reached home at 7.30PM with one big lunch break and slowed driving due to incoming Bangalore traffic.
On either sides I took the Bangalore-Veldurthy-Kodumur-Yemmiganur road since it is much faster, very less traffic and you get more highway to drive on. It will cost you one extra toll of Rs. 100/- but worth for the extra smooth tarmac you enjoy.
A little irritating part of the NH-7 contains a lot more speed humps now. They are all new and have made that constant speed sailing part diminished