[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

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

The worst is between Anathapur and Gooty.
Garladinne bypass has 3 intersections and all have speedbreakers

[deehunk]

I did a quick trip to Mantralaya on Saturday, wanted to try a new route and drove on the Bangalore-Koratagere-Madhugiri-Madakasira-Penukonda stretch before continuing on NH44 upto Veldurthi. The road condition is very good till Madakasira and there onwards doable till you join NH44 in Penukonda. I started at 7:30am from my home and reached Penukonda at 11:15am, then took a 40 minutes break at Nandi Restaurant, reached Veldurthi at 2:00pm and subsequently reached Mantralayam at 3:30pm. It was a deliberate slow driving for 8 hours as the temple opens at 4:00pm. I feel tolls are very expensive for the quality of road in its condition now. I took the NH44 route via Veldurthi for the return journey, started from Mantralayam at 5:00pm and reached Bangalore at 1:00am including three breaks of 30 minutes.

[n_naik]

I am planning to go to mantralaya on 2nd november from Bangalore via the normal route which most people take here in this forum. But while returning, I am going to my hometown Siddapura in interior Karnataka through this route:

Mantralaya - Manvi - Sindhanur - Gangavathi - Hospet - Harapanahalli - Harihara - Hirekerur - Siddapur. (Google map link)

If anyone knows whether there is a major bad stretch of road in the above route which is not worth traversing, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

(I am trying to avoid Bellary route since I have been told that the roads around Bellary, especially the Alur-Bellary section is horrible)

[rajivtelang]

Visited Mantralaya over weekend with q 2 days stay there. Started on Saturday morning at around 9AM and reached by 4PM with one lunch halt at Blue moon, Gooty. Return was on Monday wherein started by 1PM and reached Bangalore by 8PM with 1 halt again at Blue moon. It was extremely hot (43 degree) there but on Saturday evening it rained for a while making things better. On the way back near Gooty there was stormy weather with heavy to extremely heavy rain and thunders with lightning. Gusty winds were too heavy and made Ertiga to get dragged out of the lane a couple of times. A unique experience with 0 visibility in heavy rain.

[theleapyes]

We visited Mantralayam from Bangalore, after casting our votes this last weekend

For the onward journey, we took the Bangalore >> Chikkaballapur >> Penukonda >> Anantapur >> Gooty >> Pattikonda >> Yemmiganur >> Mantralayam route. Started at 9:30 AM and reached Mantralayam at 5 PM, with a leisurely breakfast and lunch break.

We had breakfast at Nandi Upachar, Devanahalli and lunch at Petals Veg, Anantapur. We also visited couple of temples in Penukonda.

Some observations on this route:

1. Very few options on the highway for breaks.

2. Till Gooty, it's a drive's delight, all the way.

3. The Gooty >> Pattikonda stretch is in decent condition, except for some monstrous road humps. There is also the infamous double railway crossing near Gooty, where we got stuck this time too. A rail over bridge is under construction, though.

4. From Pattikonda to Yemmiganur, the roads are very narrow. However, traffic is sparse. There is the occasional tractor/truck you will encounter, which needs slowing down under careful watch, as the sides of the road are not even. There are lot of autos plying on this stretch, thankfully, they give way to faster traffic

5. Yemmiganur >> Mantralaya is a breeze.

On the 2nd day of our stay, we visited Kallur Mahalakshmi temple. We took the Mantralayam >> Raichur >> Kallur route. The road is very good all the way, till you reach the actual Kallur village.

On the return journey, we visited Chippagiri (Vijaya Dasara Katte). It took us around 1.5 hours to reach Chippagiri from Mantralayam, the route we took was Mantralayam >> Yemmiganur >> Adoni >> Aspari >> Alur >> Chippagiri. Overall, It's a mix of very good roads, to the classic village roads, with those road-humps dotting the entry and exit to the villages. Absolutely no options whatsoever for taking breaks, on this route.

We then proceeded back to Bangalore, via Guntakal >> Gooty >> Anantpur >> Chikkaballapur.

There is a major work happening on the Guntakal -- Gooty route, which happens to be part of Ballari >> Nellore highway. There are a few unfinished parts, which can be challenging for low GC cars, but wherever the highway is finished, it's very good.

On hindsight, I would have taken the Anantapur >> Veldurthi >> Mantralayam route. GMaps, was suggesting this route to be 30 minutes longer, so we took the route as mentioned earlier in my reply.

[theleapyes]

And look what I saw near Anantpur.. KIA Motors plant

[mazda4life]

Planning to visit Mantralaya over the coming weekend , would be driving my car and accompanied with my family. Google suggests the standard Bangalore >> Chikkaballapur >> Penukonda >> Anantapur >> Gooty >> Pattikonda >> Yemmiganur >> Mantralaya route, any new developments that I need to be wary of ?.
Planning to leave Bangalore by saturday afternoon and return the next day post lunch, hope to cover the distance in 7:30 hours.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by mazda4life

Planning to visit Mantralaya over the coming weekend , would be driving my car and accompanied with my family. Google suggests the standard Bangalore >> Chikkaballapur >> Penukonda >> Anantapur >> Gooty >> Pattikonda >> Yemmiganur >> Mantralaya route, any new developments that I need to be wary of ?.
Planning to leave Bangalore by saturday afternoon and return the next day post lunch, hope to cover the distance in 7:30 hours.

I have not tried the road Gooty-Pattikonda-Yemmiganur-Mantralaya for a while now but instead I always take Gooty-Veldurthy-Laddagiri-Kodmur-Yemmiganur-Mantralaya. This has more highway part and single lane narrow road of about 7-8 KMs between Laddagiri and Kodmur. Rest is perfectly fine. I prefer this since it is faster (but a little longer by 20KMs) and you can enjoy more highway drive.
But since fellow BHPians have tried and tested the conventional Gooty-Pattikonda route, it should be OK.

PS: No railway crossings or other blockers are on this route. In the 7-8KMs narrow road, you need to be a bit careful while overtaking or giving road to incoming vehicle from other side.

[autospeaker]

Originally Posted by mazda4life

Planning to visit Mantralaya over the coming weekend

The route Google's suggesting is a safe option. Roads are mostly good and no problems whatsoever. Have a safe and pleasant journey!

[shashi792]

Originally Posted by autospeaker

The route Google's suggesting is a safe option. Roads are mostly good and no problems whatsoever. Have a safe and pleasant journey!

Just did a Temple run with my family. We started at around 11.00 from our house in Bangalore and reached Mantralayam around 20.00 (with few tea breaks). But, the road which google maps suggested are really bad. Beacuse of this experience, on my return journey, I asked few truck drivers as to which of these roads are good. The road which they suggested are Mantralayam - Adoni - Pattikonda - Gooty-Bypass - Ananthpur - Bangalore.


During my onward journey to mantralayam, eventhough the route was more or less the same. But, Mr. Google, inorder to save some 20-30Kms, suggests route which pass though very narrow roads between villages with Autos, bullock cart passing without headlights ON.

Sometimes It makes sense to add some stops on the google maps while selecting the final destination. I had entered direct Bangalore to Mantralayam .

[ampere]

Originally Posted by shashi792

Just did a Temple run with my family. We started at around 11.00 from our house in Bangalore and reached Mantralayam around 20.00 (with few tea breaks). But, the road which google maps suggested are really bad. Beacuse of this experience, on my return journey, I asked few truck drivers as to which of these roads are good. The road which they suggested are Mantralayam - Adoni - Pattikonda - Gooty-Bypass - Ananthpur - Bangalore.

Was this the Mantralayam-Yammiganur-Pattikonda stretch which was bad? Many on this forum used to take that option Yammiganur. Hence good to know if that stretch has gone bad.

[shashi792]

Originally Posted by ampere

Was this the Mantralayam-Yammiganur-Pattikonda stretch which was bad? Many on this forum used to take that option Yammiganur. Hence good to know if that stretch has gone bad.

Yes, the Pattikonda-Yammiganur road was also bad. But, Just after few kms from Pattikonda (~ 15-20 km) Google Maps suggests you to make a right turn deviating from the main road. There is even a highway sign board pointing towards Mantralayam. But, this road is really bad. Let me dig my dashcam for some logs for the route which was captured.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by shashi792

Yes, the Pattikonda-Yammiganur road was also bad. But, Just after few kms from Pattikonda (~ 15-20 km) Google Maps suggests you to make a right turn deviating from the main road. There is even a highway sign board pointing towards Mantralayam. But, this road is really bad. Let me dig my dashcam for some logs for the route which was captured.

Did anybody check on the Bangalore-Veldurthi-Laddagiri-Kodumur-Yemmiganur-Mantralaya road recently? Not sure about that road post heavy rains this year but since it was seldom used, it used to be always in good condition throughout the year. May try that road shortly.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

Did anybody check on the Bangalore-Veldurthi-Laddagiri-Kodumur-Yemmiganur-Mantralaya road recently? Not sure about that road post heavy rains this year but since it was seldom used, it used to be always in good condition throughout the year. May try that road shortly.

Please post an update if you happen to try that route.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Please post an update if you happen to try that route.

Planning for a quick trip to Mantralaya on this Sunday. Will start at around 4AM and return by night. Will be taking the Veldurthi road.

Does anyone know if there are facilities for people who come for a day trip such as change rooms, toilets etc. Every time we book a room and make an overnight stay. This is for the first time we are going for a day only. Please let me know if there are such facilities. I have a young kid with me and may need it.