[vittal]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Very nice travellogue. Thanks for sharing. Pilgrimage focused travelogues are not very common especially to the level of detail you have penned down. Will be invaluable for people looking to do similar circuits. Still remember reading your Divya Desam travelogue. Was immensely informative.

Thanks once again.

Thank you very much for your encouraging words. Our purpose of writing travelogue with details is served if it helps others to plan their travel.

Regarding our Divya Desam trip, we still have 2 more left to cover, one Gokul and other Muktinath. We are waiting for our trip to Delhi to cover these 2 temples.

[vittal]

Day 5: Simhachalam to Srikurmam

Summary of the Day:
Date: 20-Mar-2018
Day: Tuesday
Distance Travelled: 237 Km
Time Taken: 2:30 hrs one way
Route Taken: Gandhigundam, Vemulavalasa, Thagarapuvalasa, Bhogapuram, Chilakapalem, Srikakulam (bypass), Srikurmam
Places visited: Srikurmam temple at Srikakulam





We decided to make an early day trip to Srikurmam from Simhachalam, starting at 6:00 am. It was a 118 km drive on way to Srikurmam temple via Srikakulam. We had idlis again at Srikakulam. We could not find any full-fledged restaurant enroute, but small idli shops provided for the same.

We reached the temple at 8:30 am. There was a hearing and speech impaired person at the temple counter issuing sewa tickets. A small gate leads us to the inner sanctum, where there is a swayambhu idol of the Kurma Avatar. We had a very good darshan and the priest briefed us the legend or puranam of this temple. We had a sudden light feeling, that the Lord Kurma is the one bearing all.

The temple has a small praharam, which had a sanctum of Godess Lakshmi. The temple premise also has a habitat built for tortoises which people feed with Ash gourd, and spinach. The flower vendors also sell ash gourd pieces as we walk towards the temple.

We finished darshan, had a second round of breakfast and drove back to Simhachalam. We reached simhachalam at 12.30 pm. We had lunch and rested as the weather was getting hot. We enjoyed our evening tea having a good view and pleasant windy evening at Simhachalam hill.


We were welcomed by larger than life Sri Kurmam




Our XUV at the entrance gate of Sri Kurmam




Temple entrance of Sri Kurmam




With the view of temple Gopuram




Sthala puram or legend of temple in Telugu




Swayambhu of Sri Kurmam




damage caused by invasions at the temple




Dasa avarathams platform at the temple




the first dwajastambha at the temple




Temple in the background with the 2nd dwajastambha




the story behind the 2nd dwajastambha at the temple




damage caused by invasions




Pillars at the temple praharams




the temple teertham





the 1st dwajastambha at the temple entrance




The habitat of tortoises in the temple praharam




At the entrance Gate of Sri Kurmam temple

[vittal]

Originally Posted by Kams_cars

Sir, unbelievable.
How do you take out time and find energy to visit those many places.

Which is your preferred means of transportation.

Do you plan these during off peak season mostly?

Dear Kams Cars,

thank you so much.

Time is definitely a real constraint with all of us, with our busy life. Energy is due to support from my wife in our travel and travel is a passion for both of us. We look forward to travel to different places of our interest. I normally plan well in advance for preferred places to travel based on our interest. Recently we have visited places that were planned 5 to 7 years ago.

Our car has been the mode of transport and we prefer to self-drive to all the places that I mentioned. We rarely take flights or train. We might end up spending more driving by our car but gives us a comfort and relief and no need to haggle from local transport.

We have travelled to all the corners in India in our car Up north till Amarnath, West till Dwarka, South till Rameswaram (or till Kanyamumari), East till Ganga Sagar (beyond Calcutta).

We normally prefer off-peak season but sometime have also been to places during peak season (like Dwarka once and had to face difficulty to get a decent accommodation). Having said that, we might take off whenever we are able to get some time off from work.

[vittal]

A brief note on Srikakulam

The town of Srikakulam is located at the banks of the Krishna River and is placed on the northeast corner of Andhra Pradesh. This town came under the kalinga region of ancient India and is known for its various ancient temples. The town has one of the longest coastlines in the state of Andhra Pradesh and its various beaches are also worth visiting. The various historic temples, monuments and beaches are deserving of a definitive visit.

The village Srikakulam houses the Andhra Maha Vishnu temple. Legend says that this temple was constructed by the great Krishna Deva Raya of the Vijayanagara Kingdom.

The holy place of Kürmakshetra, is a temple dedicated to Sri Kurmanatha, which is the second avatar of Lord Vishnu, Kurma Avatar (Tortoise). This is the only temple of Kurmanatha in India.

[vittal]

Day 6:
Summary of the Day:

Date: 21-Mar-2018
Day: Wednesday
Distance Travelled: 320 Km
Time Taken: (from 5:20am to 19:00 hrs)
Route Taken: Simhachalam to Sabbavaram, Anakapalle, Narasingapalli, Tuni, Annavaram, Pithapuram, Samarlakota
Places visited: 4 out of 5 PanchArama Temples (Sri Kumararama Bhimeswara Swamy Temple - Samarlakota, Bhimeswara Temple Manikyamba Shakti Peeth - Draksharamam, Kotipalli Someswara Swamy Temple, Sri Someswara Temple - Bhimavaram) Ksheera Rama Lingeswara Swamy Temple - Palakollu





We had an early start at 5:30 am checked out from Simhachalam and drove down to Pancharama temples enroute to Hyderabad. First of our Pancharama temples enroute was to visit Sri Kumararama Bhimeswara Swamy Temple - Samarlakota. This temple at Samalkot, is a 12 feet lingam, the spans across to two floors of the temple. Devotee will have the feet of the linga at the ground floor and head at the first floor. There was live music sewa going on at the temple and my wife also was blessed to do sangeet sewa with an offering of couple of Kritis on Lord Shiva.

During the planning phase we were contemplating on our stay for the day and preferred to stay at Kakinada which was close to the 1st of the pancharama temples on our route. We had to retrace back from our 3rd temple visit to Kakinada.

Initially we had plan to cover 3 of the 5 pancharama temples in a day due to the distance between the temples and its closure during afternoon. We were quite thrilled to notice that Kotipalli temple opens at 2:30 pm which gave us sufficient time to have our lunch and wait at the temple. This helped us to cover 4 out of 5 pancharama temples in a day, thereby getting into Hyderabad a day early for our symposium. We then decided not to go back to Kakinada but to go further to the 4th Pancharama temple in our plan.


Here is a brief write-up on Pancharama Temples from templenet and Wikipedia sites which gives an insight to the sthala purana.

Pancharama Temples
Groups of temples constitute pilgrimage clusters all over India. Thus we have the Pancha Bhoota shrines dedicated to Shiva, the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines all over India, the Alwar Nava Tirupati shrines of Tirunelveli district in Tamilnadu, Arupadai Veedu shrines of Skanda, Char Dham in Uttaranchal, Char Dham of India (Dwarka, Badrinath, Puri Jaganath, Rameswaram) and so on. Temples in each group are linked through a common thread of legends and beliefs. The Pancharama temples in Andhra Pradhesh constitute an example of one of these groups of pilgrimage centers.

Several puranic legends are associated with these five shrines and the foremost of it has to do with the destruction of the demon Tarakasura by Skanda.

Legend has it that when Subramanya or Skanda killed the demon Tarakasura, the Shivalingam in his throat broke and fell in five different spots, which became the Pancharama kshetras. The foremost of these is Amareswara at Amaravati where Indra and the Devas are believed to have worshipped Shiva. The others are Draksharama, Kumararama at Kotipalli, Bheemarama at Samalkota and Ksheerarama or Palakollu.

Some beliefs refer to Amararama, Draksharama, Somarama at Bhimavaram, Bhimarama or Kumararama at Samalkota and Ksheerarama at Palakollu as the five Pancharama Kshetras, while some even refer to the Chalukya Bhimeswara temple at Bhimavaram as Bhimarama. Thus we also have Draksharama, Amararama, Kumararama at Kotipalli, Ksheerarama at Palakollu and Bhimarama at Bhimavaram constituting the five Pancharama kshetras.

By all accounts Draksharama, Amararama and Ksheerarama housing tall columnar Shivalingams fall in to the scheme of all classifications. Kumararama at Samalkota houses a tall Shivalingam too and so do Somarama and the Bhimeswara temples at Bhimeswaram. Thus six temples fall into this classification with unique features common to the Pancharama temples. Although sources refer to Kotipalli as Kumararama, its legends related to the river Godavari outweigh references to the Tarakasura vada myth.

It is believed that the Shivalingam that shattered into five pieces was a huge one, and the biggest of the five pieces is a fifteen foot long column of white marble which is worshipped as Amareswara at the Amaravati temple (this is very similar to the ten feet high Shivalingam at the Draksharama temple).

While the Arupadai veedu shrines represent the Soorasamhaara mythology (Skanda) in Tamilnadu, the pancharama shrines are linked with the Taaraka vada mythology again related to Skanda.

Yet another legend has it that when Shiva destroyed the three Tripuras (Tripura Samharam), all that was left was a Shivalingam, and that he divided it into five pieces and placed them for worship at the Pancharama shrines.

Yet another legend links the pancharama kshetras. The five Shivalingams worshipped at these shrines are said to be a part of a single Shivalingam said to have been created by Surya or the Sun God. This original Shivalingam is said to have been held in worship by the seven rishis - Kasyapa, Atri, Gowtama, Kousika, Bharadwaja, Vasishta and Jamadagni. These rishis are believed to be present in the seven tributaries of Godavari, of which the Bharadwaja, Kousika and Jamadagni Godavaris are not in existence anymore. It is believed that the seven rishis brought water into the Godavari river from their points of origin. It is also believed that the waters from the seven tributaries constitute the water sources in the temple tank.

[vittal]

Originally Posted by grkonweb

Sir, You are a very blessed person to undertake so many pilgrimages. Thanks for sharing this travelogue which is a definitive guide for anyone planning to visit these pilgrim centers. I loved reading your Divya Desam travelogue in one go.

Please keep writing!

Thank you so much GRK. Appreciate it.

Writing Divya Desam travelogue took a while to pen down the details. We have now embarked on 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams and am yet to write the travelogue.

Surely will share the details on team-bhp forum.

[vittal]

Continuing our travelogue of Day 6

Distance Travelled: 178 Km
Time Taken: 3:45 hrs
From: Simhachalam to Samarlakota





We had an early start at 5:30 am checked out from Simhachalam and drove down to Pancharama temples enroute to Hyderabad. First of our Pancharama temples enroute was to visit Sri Kumararama Bhimeswara Swamy Temple - Samarlakota.


The drive from Simhachalam to Sri Kumararama Bhimeswara Swamy Temple, Samarlakota was 3:45 hrs, reaching the Samarlakota temple at 9:00am. On the way filled diesel at BP CoCo Anakapalli.

This temple at Samalkot, is a 12 feet lingam, the spans across to two floors of the temple. Devotee will have the feet of the linga at the ground floor and head at the first floor. There was live music sewa going on at the temple and my wife also was blessed to do sangeet sewa with an offering of couple of Kritis on Lord Shiva.

Continuing brief write-up on the Pancharama temples
Samalkota: The Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari temple (Kumararama, one of the Pancharama Kshetras) is located about 1 km from the railway station. The presiding deity at this temple is Lord Shiva, known as Kumara Bhimeswara. Maha Sivarathri is the most important festival which is celebrated in this temple. Located in East Godavari District.
Bhimarama or Kumararama at Samalkota houses a temple to Bhimeswara with interesting sculptural work.

Google Name: Sri Kumararama Bhimeswara Swamy Temple, Jaggamma Garipeta, Samarlakota, Andhra Pradesh.


Enroute I was happy to find a factory of Heritage and we stopped over to have flavoured milk. The price of products sold in these factory outlets are MRP and they dont offer any discounts. Whereas we get discounts if these products are purchased at the Dmart etc.




Our vehicle XUV 5OO in front of the Heritage parlor




The entrance gate to the temple of Samarlakota




The entrance to the temple of Samarlakota




The close-up of the entrance to the temple of Samarlakota




The praharam of the temple




The Dwaja stambha or flag post of the temple




Pooja being performed by the devotees at shiva linga in the outer praharam




a huge old tree at the temple entrance




Nandi statue at the entrance of temple





Temple entrance - also note the first floor. there is a separate entrance to the first floor which is usually with full of devotees during festivals / peak pilgrimage season




The stairs to the first floor of the temple





There was no crowd in the temple, and we did not have to stand in any queue.

[vittal]

Continuing travelogue of Day 6

From Samarlakota to Draksaharma
Distance Travelled: 41 Km
Time Taken: 1:10 hrs




It was an early darshan at Samarlakota and we drove to Draksharama, which is close to Kakinada. We had darshan of the lingam that had a greenish tinge to the sphatic. We

had a very relaxed darshan of the Lord and Goddess Parvathi. We finished darshan, around past noon and as per our plan we were to stay at Draksharama (as going to Kakinada to stay would mean retracing 25 km).

We enquired at the temple but could not get temple accommodation at Draksharama and decided to drive to kotapalli, which was nearby.



Brief write-up about the next temple

Draksharama: The main deity is known as Lord Bheemeswara (Lord Siva) and is one of the three main temples of Telugus (Trilinga Desam). Located in East Godavari District. Legend has it that the Shivalingam held by the demon Taraka, splintered into five pieces and fell at the five Panchaaraama kshetrams one of which is Draksharama. One of the Pancharamas. 45 km / 1:15 hrs from Rajahmundry.


Google Name: Bhimeswara Temple Manikyamba Shakti Peeth, Draksharamam, Andhra Pradesh.


A beautiful drive from the villages, lush green fields all along





The entrance gate to the temple city of Draksharama





The Draksharama temple in the background





The flag post or Dwaja Stambha of the temple

[vittal]

Continuing our travelogue of Day 6

From Draksaharma to Kotapalli
Distance Travelled: 13 Km
Time Taken: 0:30 hrs





After our darshan at Draksharama, we enquired at the temple but could not get temple accommodation at Draksharama and decided to drive to kotapalli, which was nearby.

While enquiring about the road condition, on the way one of the locals driving a Maruti car mentioned to take a long route (i.e. to continue on the highway & then take a turn after driving 25 km), stating that small cars can go through the village route and not big cars like yours. I found this to be quite a long route and that we would be losing on time to reach the temples planned. I decided to take this short route through the village; the roads had bumps but were not so bad. This helped us meet our target of visiting the Pancha Arama temples, covering 4+1 temples during the day.

At Kotapalli the temple was closed when we reached there and we waited outside for an hour or so. The temple was to open at 2.30 pm (a very unusual time for temples to open). We had a good darshan at kotapalli - we got to know that Kotapalli is believed to be one of the sapta Godavari temples. We left Kotapalli at 3:00 pm.


A brief write-up about the temple

The temple is located on the banks of Gowthami river which flows towards Yanaam to merge into the ocean, Bay of Bengal. The surroundings are quite rural with coconut trees and gardens. Just in front of the temple there is Soma Pushkarini with a beautiful statue of Shiva sitting in meditating posture.


There are two Shivalingas in the temple namely Koteswara Swamy Linga and Someswara Swamy Linga. Koteswara Swamy Linga was installed by Lord Indra and Someswara Swamy Linga by Lord Soma to get rid of the curse. Sri Siddi Janardhana Swamy, Goddess Sridevi and Goddess Bhoodevi installed by Kasyapa Maharshi are the Kshetra Palakas of this temple. There is a separate shrine for Goddess Raja Rajeswari Ammvaru. The other deities in the temple are Lord Anjaneya, Lord Kalabhairava and Navagrahas. The Holy River is very famous for its sacred water. It was brought by Gowtham Maharshi. As per Gowthami Mahatyam, if any person takes a bath in this Holy Water will be purified from all kinds of sins. Koteswara Lingam is a Yoga Lingam and Someswara Lingam is a Bhoga Lingam.

[vittal]

Continuing our travelogue of Day 6

From Kotapalli to Palakollu
Distance Travelled: 65 Km
Time Taken: 1:45 hrs




We left Kotapalli at 3:00 pm, and drove further down to Palakollu which was a good 1:45 hrs drive, reaching the next destination at 16:45.



Palakol: Main tourist attraction of Palakol is the Ksheera Rama Lingeswara Swami Temple with its 36.6 Mts high tower (Pedha Gopuram). It was built by the (Reddy Rajulu) who ruled this place during 15th century. A 15th century temple built for the Hindu God Shiva. It is one of the five Pancharamas. Located in West Godavari District.


Google Name: Ksheera Rama Lingeswara Swamy Temple, Main Rd, Palakollu




The golden bright gopuram of the temple





The temple praharam









In the temple praharams













Depicting 18 Shakti peethams




The nandi, bull





Temple flat post




Entrance of the temple, has beautiful carvings




Shiva's statue in the temple




Dwadesh or 12 Jyotirlingas in India




Depiction of pancharama temples




The temple gopuram

[vittal]

Continuing our travelogue of Day 6

From Palakollu to Bhimavaram
Distance Travelled: 23 Km
Time Taken: 0:45 hrs





We left Palakollu at 05:20 pm, and drove further down to Bhimavaram, 0:45 min drive, reaching the next destination at 06:00 pm.

We had a good darshan of the Lord. We spent time calling hotels for accommodation, but were surprised that Bhimavaram was a busy place and had a lot of travelers.


We finally retired at Hotel Ananda Inn. As we were guests with direct check-in i.e. not via any travel site, they charged us the same full tariff. They allocated a room which had issues with the AC and sofa. On complaining, they changed the room. These kinds of struggle just for our night stay at the hotel, did not find it value for money at this hotel.


Bhimavaram: It is one of the Pancharamas (Somaramam). In the name of Moon god, who first worshipped after performing Shivakshetra, named this place as Somaramam and Lord Shiva as Someswara swamy. Built by Chalukya king Bhima I. Located in West Godavari District.

In the sanctum Lord Shiva is in the form of a beautiful Shivaling. Shivaling in this temple is small unlike in other Pancharamas. There is a specialty in this temple: Shivaling will change its color according to Lunar aspect. At the time of Pournami (full moon nights) shivaling will be in white color and during Amavasya days (dark nights) its color shades black.

Here Lord Shiva is known as Someswara Swamy. The consort of Lord Someswara is Sri Rajarajeswari Ammavaru. The Sivalinga at this place is installed and established by Lord Chandra. Maha Shivaratri and Sarannavarathri are the main festivals celebrated at this temple.

The temple has many sculptures. In the hall of temple there is a big statue of Nandi. After crossing hall there is a room in front of sanctum. In that room there is a temple of Annapurna mata.


Google map name: Sri Someswara Temple, Gandhinagar, Bhimavaram



We noticed more number of CoCo (specifically BP Ghar) on this route of costal Andhra Pradesh. They are easy to locate and one can be of sure of both quality & quantity of diesel filled. Also BP Ghar has basic aminities like toilets (which are well maintained and neat), restaurant (serves non-veg food as well) bot not popular like A2B in TamilNadu.

[ksrchowdary]

Originally Posted by vittal

A brief note on Srikakulam
===
Attachment 1761181

Dear Vittal,

A small correction, above description of Srikakulam is about a village in Krishna district (near Vijayawada), not about the district head quarters you have passed through during your visit to Srikurmam temple.

Srikakulam Town: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srikakulam
Srikakulam Village: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srikak...ishna_district

Srikakulam town has a famous Sun temple and comes towards right while going to Srikurmam. Hope you have visited.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suryan...le,_Arasavalli

[vittal]

Originally Posted by ksrchowdary

Dear Vittal,

A small correction, above description of Srikakulam is about a village in Krishna district (near Vijayawada), not about the district head quarters you have passed through during your visit to Srikurmam temple.

Srikakulam Town: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srikakulam
Srikakulam Village: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srikak...ishna_district

Srikakulam town has a famous Sun temple and comes towards right while going to Srikurmam. Hope you have visited.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suryan...le,_Arasavalli

Thanks for correcting.

[vittal]

Day 7:

Summary of the Day:
Date: 22-Mar-2018
Day: Thursday
Distance Travelled: Total-541 Km (a) Bhimavaram to Amaravathi 150 km, (b) Amravathi to Hyderabad Airport 321 Km, (c) Airport to Kamalapuri Colony via Nehru ORR 70 Km
Time Taken: 4 hrs to Amaravathi, 6 hrs to Hyderabad Airport, 1 hr to Kamalapuri
Route Taken: (a) Bhimavaram, Mudinepalli, Gudivada, Vijayawada, Amaravathi
(b) Amaravathi, Vijayawada, Ibrahimpatnam, Nandigama, Kodad, Suryapet, Narketpalli, Via Ramoji Film City, Nehru ORR, Hyderabad Airport
Places visited: Sri Amareswara Swamy Vari Devasthanam – Amaravati and Hyderabad






We left for Amarvathi from Bhimavaram at 06:30 am. We drove via the newly laid roads along the villages that lead to the Capital city of Amaravathi. There were stairs that lead to the temple sanctum.


Krishna River in front of the Amararama Temple



Entrance to the temple of Amararama





Drive to Amaravati via lush green fields




Prosperous Andra Pradesh, Feeling abundance at the paddy fields




Drive along the hilly region of Andra Pradesh





The entrance gopuram of the temple





At the entrance of the Amararama temple






Ample parking space at Amararama Temple




Entrance gopuram of Amararama Temple





The temple has various darshan queue. However, we did not find any crowd in the temple and had an easy and peaceful darshan.




The golden Nandi at the temple






Stupa at the temple praharam





Dwadash Jyotirlingas





A brief write-up of Amaravati
It is famous for its Amareswara temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple is one of the famous Pancharamas. Amaravati, also known as Dhanyakataka / Dharanikota was the site of a great Buddhist Stupa built in pre-Mauryan times. It was also the capital of Satavahanas, the first great Andhra kings who ruled from the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE, after the downfall of Maurya empire. Located in Guntur District. Legend has it that Rama offered worship to Shiva at Ksheerarama enshrining Ramalingeswara.

Nagalinga Flower used for the worship of Lord Shiva




Nagalinga Flower Tree at the temple Praharam




The temple entrance seen from the praharam




We had darshan by 11:00 am and started to Drive to Hyderabad. Although google directed us to take the long route via another bridge crossing from inside Vijayawada, we realized that there is another bridge to cross the Krishna River as soon as we enter Vijayawada. I did enquire from the traffic police who answered in affirmative that the bridge is very much functional and the vehicles are allowed to cross. This helped us to save time by not cutting across the city of Vijayawada. I have indicated the route taken by us by red arrow in the map.








We had an early lunch along the highway at a traditional eating joint where home food was served. It was delicious meal with a good spread of the all Andhra cuisine.



We drove to Hyderabad along the neat toll roads, reaching Hyderabad by 5:00 pm. We picked up our relatives at Hyderabad airport at 7:00 pm. We took the Nehru ORR to reach our relatives home near banjara hills. Our relatives were very courteous and we had a good stay with them for the day. Our family also joined us at Hyderabad for the trip to Ramoji Film City.

[vittal]

DAY 8


Summary of the Day:
Date: 23-Mar-2018
Day: Friday
Distance Travelled: 127 Km
Time Taken: 12 hrs approx (8:00 am to 9:00 pm)
Places visited: Ramoji Film City






We were told that busses are available from within the city of Hyderabad to travel to Ramoji Film City. We chose to drive to Ramoji Film City to save time and to reduce the wait time both ways. Ramoji Film City is in the outskirts of Hyderabad towards Vijaywada route, drive for about a km when you get off from Nehru ORR.

Even after chatting for long time at night with our relatives, we managed to start by 8:00 am. We had a quick breakfast on the way and reached Ramoji Film city by 9:30 am. The star package was well guided and we had a good time with family at a commercial destination which we rarely make plans for. It was a welcome change and we became children once again with tourists and family.

The set at the vast film city was a new experience and some of the shows are worth watching.




Tips:

• Try to start early from your home, avoid the traffic and also Ramoji Film City is quite far from the city limits.
• Plan to reach the Ramoji Film City by 9:00 am. This gives us an advantage to see few places without much crowd and also we can cover as many places as feasible during the day.
• There is ample parking facility at Ramoji Film City and the parking charges are Rs50.
• Avoid going to the Ramoji Film City on heavy rush days, in particular during Weekends and Holidays. It is a famous destination for tourists and hence you will find too many heads during weekends / holidays. Even on a Friday, we found quite a good number of people visiting the place.
• Try to book your tickets online, avoiding waiting at the ticket counter.
• Outside food is not allowed to be carried inside the Film City. Water is available but one needs lots of water to keep cool during summer season. Though we visited this place during end March but found it to be quite hot. We drank lots of water, especially during lunch.
• One day to visit all the sets / shows is not sufficient in this magnificent, vast Film City. One can plan to visit the place multiple times or one can opt to stay in the hotel at Film City for couple of days.
• Try to do research online before you visit to place. Select the spots / places you will be interested to visit rather than trying to “follow the crowd”.
• Returning back and traversing through the traffic is a real challenge in Hyderabad. To reach Kamalapuri colony, it would take 2 hours. So we took a long route via Nehru ORR, avoiding traffic jams in the evening.

The entrance to Ramoji Film City




The Premium Lounge entrance of Ramoji Film City




With sheru




The Garden inside the film city




The Bahubali set




The clock













The King's throne








With Laurel and Hardy




Filling Tank full at the Ramoji Film City











The entrance Gate of Ramoji Film City




Drive through to the parking lot