[viggienomad]

The seed for the trip:

We went for a 2 day package trip to Ahobilam in July 2023. There we came across people from bus package trips doing Srisailam, Mahanandi & Ahobilam. Sadly they are not experiencng Ahobilam at leisure. Just went to 4 temples accessible by road & hop on to next destination. We certainly don't prefer such hurried trips. But the seed for Srisailam & Mahanandi visit was planted in our minds!

How it germinated:

Couple of months went by, I started gathering info on Srisailam, Mahanandi & nearby places. Found that a half-day boat trip to Akkamahadevi Caves through Krishna river can be taken from Srisailam. And also places like Yaganti, Belum Caves & Gandikota Grand Canyon are not far away from Mahanandi.

Also came to know that we can touch & worship - Sparsha Darshan - of the Shivalinga in SriSailam (a Jyothirlinga temple) and also at Mahanandhi (a Swayambhu linga temple). The interest to the trip increased manifold.

Possible alternatives explored:

The travel time to Srisailam is 11+ hours from South Bangalore. Since doing it in leisure is our preference, continuous drive was ruled out. We have to stay enroute at Kurnool & reach Srisailam the next day. Our search couldn't find any ancient temples in Kurnool city, so it's just a stay. There were couple of river sangamas near Kurnool, one almost within the city - but mainly has a crematorium nearby, another one where Thungabadra merges into Krishna is important. I learned about this only at the last moment & it will take up at least half day. The list is already long, & roads on 2nd & 3rd day already are all narrow 2 lanes & even single lanes, so decided to skip it.

So we also checked Bus/Train options. By train we can go up to Markapur Road station & have to take 2 and 1/2 hour bus ride. This was ruled out as 2+3 seater(per row) mofussil bus ride on forest & hill roads will be tiresome.

There is an overnight sleeper bus by KSRTC. There are also a few private omni buses, later learnt that they only go up to Markapur & send Srisailam pilgrims on a Tempo Traveller from there.



Only KSRTC sleeper bus seemed good. But from Srisailam to Nandhyal (for Mahanandi) there are only 3 ordinary APSRTC mofussil buses & timings were not comfortable for our plans. If we go by bus we can do only the Srisailam trip & have to do other locations in another trip. So car trip seemed the only preferable option.

We also stumbled on a few temples closer to Bangalore. They can be covered in a day trip from Bangalore. However, since this will be a temple trip, decided to add them in this itinerary. It gives welcome breaks in otherwise just a long drive to Kurnool.

Our ride:

Our ride will be our 2017 Maruti Baleno Zeta that was just 200kms short of 1 lakh KMs in Odo. It did more highway run than city commute. I would say 80% highway & 20% city so far. It covered the roads extensively in Karnataka, Kerala & Tamilnadu. Not much in AP except couple of Tirupati trips. That will change to some extent in this trip.

And, the final plan:
OK, here was our plan before start.
Day 1 Start from Bangalore 6.30am
Breakfast after Yelahanka,
Reach Viduraswatha Temple by 10 am
Start by 11 am
Lepakshi temple by 12pm
Start from Lepakshi by 1pm
Lunch at Anantapur by 2.45pm
Reach Stay in Kurnool by 6.30pm
Dinner & rest

Day 2 Start from Kurnool 5.30am
Reach SriSailam by 10.30 am
Get Stay & Refresh
Visit Temple

Lunch & rest

Sakshi Ganapati Temple
Panchadhara -
Sivaji museum

Day 3 Pathaalaganga
Akkamma Cave

Lunch & Start from SriSailam by 2pm
Reach Nandyal 6pm
Dinner & rest

Day 4 Mahanandi Temple – early morning
Leave by 7am - Reach Yaganti by 8.45am
Yaganti Temple - leave by 10.30am
Reach Belum Caves by 11.45pm
Belum Caves
Leave Belum Caves by 2.45pm

Reach Tadipatri by 3.45pm & get stay
Lunch & rest

Visit Bugga Rama & Chintala Venkatramana Temples

Day 5 Start to Bangalore 5.30 am
Return to Bangalore by 12pm.



Actual trip had some changes. We made an impromptu detour to Ghati Subramanya Temple on Day 1 & dropped Belum Caves & Tadipatri at fag end as we grow tired & decided to return on Day 4 itself. Both these locations can be clubbed with Gandikota Grand Canyon & may give us a reason for a separate trip

Now the actual trip...

[viggienomad]

Day 1: Ghati Subramanya Temple, Viduraswatha, Lepakshi

We started early on 24th June 2024 - 5.45am. A good 45 minutes ahead of schedule. The lighter early morning traffic on Bangalore's outer ring road helped. We turned left from Hebbal - Airport Road at Yelahanka by 6.30am. (Just 45 mins! Peak hours it would easily take 1:45hrs to 2hrs!!) The baleno's odo showed 99843 Kms. Just 137Kms short of 1 lakh kms, which we will cross today! Reset the trip meter, but forgot to take a click.

Had a quick breakfast at a fast food joint 21kms after Yelahanka. Food was average, but the place had sufficient parking space. https://maps.app.goo.gl/nFdYSB3gLFMA7sCc7

Detour to Ghati Subramanya Temple
While leisurely cruising towards Viduraswatha Temple (our first destination), we noticed an arch on a road branching out on the right with the name 'Ghati Subramanya Temple'. That name rings a bell!

Quickly pulled over & checked in Google Maps, it was indeed the Subramanya Temple we planned to go some 5 years ago, but slipped by over the years. After a quick discussion, decided to make the detour as we have ample time on Day 1. It was just 10kms from the arch, on a small hillock.



The temple is unique as the deity is Subramanya Swamy in front & Narasimha swamy on it's back. The main temple is one level below the road in front. As it was not even 8am, the temple & the parking in front is not crowded. Avoided the persistent street hawkers & had a peaceful darshan. Interestingly, the front gopuram also have sculptures of Subramanya & his family (Shiva, Parvathi, Ganesh) in front and Avatars of Vishnua & related characters in the back.

Seems most people will come back on the same road. Since we have to pass through, we took the road on the other side. This road connecting back to the NH is even more scenic & clearly a road less traveled.

Viduraswatha Temple
Reached Viduraswatha temple by 9:15am. A place near the temple is called 'South Indian Jalianwala bagh' and a national monument. Some 30 peaceful protestors were shot by British forces similar to Jalianwala bagh. It was a lazy week day with no visitors & the monument campus was just getting opened, we decided to go to the temple first & then come back to the monument.


Memorial entrance. Tickets Rs.20/person

This temple is also unique in the sense there is only a Peepal tree (Aswatha tree) at the centre & a small shrin in front. This place was said to be an asramam of Maitreya Maharisihi & the rishi asked Vidura, an important scholar in Mahabharatha to stay & worship in that place. Vidura said to have attained salvation under the tree, hence the name Vidhuraswatha. The temple hosts thousands (if not lakhs) of Naga devatha statues. Local belief is that installing naga statue will ward off any Naga dosha. It was indeed an interesting view!




Two different cars!

Coming back to the monument, it has a memorial at the site where the farmers bodies were lying. And a museum nearby that displays lesser known freedom struggle heros of Karnataka and also from all over India. It's indeed a poignant moment to walk back in history. The place is peaceful & well maintained. Should come with a plan to spend more time here. This is very close to the Penna river.


The history


Ofcourse



Salute to the martyrs

LePakshi
Next we started off to LePakshi. This is some 40 minutes away & a few KMs after crossing AP border. This is a well known archeological site & we've visited some 9 years ago. Reached by 11.45am, had a relaxed visit with ample photos & videos to revamp our memories.


The famous lepakshi shot.


Interesting looking dining plates on the rock.

From LePakshi, the 15km road to reach the 4 track Bangalore - Hydrabad highway at Kodikonda is now well laid & have better intersection than we saw 9 years ago. From then on, it's cruising in the 4-track highway towards Kurnool.


Forgot to watch the odo for 1 lakh KMs. When we remembered, it's already some 60kms more than 1 lakh. So my wife clicked the speedo while I was driving. Traffic-less roads after Anantapur.

Had lunch at Vivaha Bhojanambhu in Anantapur bye-pass. They have a chain of restaurants in Hyderabad, Tirupati & Chennai. Limited options for vegetarian cuisine. Felt the prices are on higher side.

Their lunch thali meal plates had a unique design, but reminded me of rock-cut LePakshi plates!

Reached our stay at Kurnool by 5.45pm. Our original choice Hotel Primelands (within Kurnool railway station campus) was fully booked online. So booked at Triguna Clarks Inn near the bus stand. Reasonably good for the price (around 2.7k / day). After a simple dinner, just rested for the day.

Distance travelled: 419 Kms

[viggienomad]

Day 2: Kurnool - SriSailam

Start of Day 2

Started a little late than planned. Took the car from the basement parking, checked out of the hotel. It was 7.30am on 25th June 2024. Filled up the tank at a Nayara petrol bunk. Petrol prices in AP are Rs.10 more than in KA.

Distance from Kurnool to SriSailam is only 180kms, but will take more than 4 hours. Immediately after Kurnool, the road to SriSailam is 2-laned. Road widening to 4-track is going on & had crawl in a few minor diversions.

Had breakfast on a small non-descript hotel in a small town Nandikotkur. We always liked such tiny hotels in small towns. They are usually sincere & food is safer. That said, we carefully pick these eateries though. Currently there is only one highway hotel 'Hotel Geetha Bhavan' in Kurnool - Srisailam route. It is after Atmakur & just before the forest road starts. Since we started late, we couldn't reach this hotel for breakfast & had to pick a tiny eatery on the way.

The entrance of forest road has a toll gate manned by forest guards. Only cash is accepted. Rs.50 for cars. It's a single lane road in the forest. Have to give way for heavy vehicles coming in opposite direction. Cars have to fight for road space while crossing. SUVs have a better chance. We gave way readily! Traffic was light on weekday, so not a big hardship.

All photos on the road were screengrabs from videos taken by my wife in passenger seat. She is a prolific YouTuber! And believes in taking videos vertically, as it is easy to snip & post as shorts. Also her viewers mainly view them in phones! So the screenshots were small. Sorry for the smaller & slightly blurred photos.

Single road in forest


Had to completely get down from road for trucks


Not so much for cars/SUVs!


Single road & light traffic is bliss!


The fight for road space by a car against a truck.


Buses are rare. As usual, they don't get down from the road easily.


Thankfully, the ghat section in forest is 2 laned

After the forest, we turned left at Dornala. This is a busy & relatively bigger town. Pilgrims from Vijayawada side will join here. Traffic is significantly more. After this, we again enter into the forest. The forest toll gate also charge Rs.50 in cash for cars, however when I showed the toll ticket we got earlier, they waved us past.

Forest road again

Before entering Srisailam, the road from Hyderabad joins. View points & pilgrimage spots start from 8kms before SriSailam. A view point to see Srisailam in a hill top. Falls named Paladara, Panchadara in 5kms before Srisailam. And then the Sakshi Ganapathi temple. The tradition is to visit this Ganapathi temple after darsan is Srisailam, as he will be the witness for our pilgrimage!!

Srisailam township has a tollgate just before the town. Rs.100 is the toll & fastag works here. Reached Srisailam by 1pm.

After the SriSailam toll entry


Once a forest,now a bustling township

SriSailam
We got our pre-booked accommodation in a devasthanam stay. Reviews of devastanam accommodation were scary, many recommended AP tourism's Harita hotel, but that was fully booked. The devasthanam's air-conditioned rooms are big but very spartan. Thankfully the A/c & geyser worked. While getting the room keys from the allotment counter, one person was complaining/arguing for a different room as A/c was not working in his room.

The devastanam rooms check-in, check-out times are 8AM. However since we came after 12pm, they manually wrote checkout time as 10AM in the room receipt.

We already booked for Sparsa Darsan at 9PM. So had a lunch, rested for a while as the climate is harsh. A casual chat by my wife with another family in the stay revealed that they had Sparsa darsan around noon & they were not allowed to enter the sanctum or touch the shivalinga. We kept our fingers crossed & hoped that our timings being late at night, we might be lucky.



Decided to explore the surroundings by 4pm. Reached temple entrance & slowly went around the temple, a temple parikrama! Heard from street vendors that crowd is very light as this is a week day.


A small temple just outside of Srisailam temple complex. The Vimana of SriSailam Mallikarjunaswamy temple inside the complex also has the same pattern.


Motifs on the compound stone walls


A modern art from scrap

The temple outer walls have interesting motifs on stone. There is a laser sound & light show, the location showed is within the temple complex. Found the ticket counter for this laser show at the back of the temple, near the western entrance. Seems this is the guided exit from the temple. The ticket counter was closed & a security guard nearby said that all tickets are sold.



North west corner view of Temple complex


Srisailam North Gopuram


An interesting motif


Renovation works going on at the temple pushkarni. After completing the parikrama, went through the rows of shops opposite to the temple.


Colorful shops

Chenchu Lakshmi Tribal Museum



Chenchu Lakshmi - A tribal warrior

As it was not yet dark, we decided to visit Tribal museum. It is about 2kms away, so hopped on to an Auto visited there. This is indeed an eye opener. I recommend visiting this museum at leisure. It depicts most tribal communities in South & Central India. Each have a distinct identity & specific set of traditions and livelihood practices. One thing that was common among themselves is that they speak at least 2 - 3 languages, including one of their own.



It was still 7pm. So came back to the room, had tea & rested for an hour. Visited the temple by 8.30pm. Only traditional clothes, no mobiles, camera or luggage allowed. Can carry handbags though. The free darsan queue was closed. Seemed ony Sparsha darsan is available at 9pm. Went through the queue. The crowd was less, so no pushing around & the climate was also much better. Had a peacful darsan & all were allowed to touch the linga one by one.

This is the only temple where a Jyothirlinga & a Shaktipeet exists in a single temple complex. The Shaktipeet temple is near south-west corner of the complex. Had a good darsan there also & came out through the western entrance.


Shaktipeet Vimana, photo taken from outside during walk-around in the evening.

A relaxed stroll back to the stay, had a light dinner at one of the restaurant nearby & rested for the day.

Distance traveled: 184kms

[viggienomad]

Day 3: Akkamadevi Cave, SriSailam - Mahanandi

Day 3 - Start

Planned to visit Akkamadevi Caves. It is an hour's boat ride on Krishna river & in the forest. AP Tourism runs this boat service. Ticket booking will open early morning & boat service will be around 10am. Reviews suggested to be in queue by 5.30am to get a seat as it will be quickly filled. Since this is a lean week day, we decided to take it easy.

Checked out early by 6.30AM & reached the ropeway to Pathalaganga. The boat booking & ropeway counter are the same & run by AP tourism. The man in counter said we should've come early, but counted the tickets & noted down my name, phone number. Apparently boat tickets are not issued here, they only note down the details & tickets are issued only near the boat at 10AM.


Srisailam dam view from rope car start point

We came out & had breakfast at a road-side eatery. Strolled around, explored the entrance of steps to Pathalaganga. After spending some time, took the ropeway to Pathalaganga. The AP tourism boat jetty is near the ropeway. The Pathalaganga is some 300meters away.


A new fad. Shivalinga shaped forehead sign.


Ready to ride


Dam view from rope car


Opposite side rope cars climbing up

Pathalaganga
This is also called Akashaganga. The river bank of Krishna. The Srisailam dam is visible from here. Boat rides to go near the dam is available by private boats.


Puja offerings to Pataleswara. On banana stem bark. Some light the wick & float this in water.

Original tradition was to first visit this river bank, have a bath, worship Pathaleswara at the footsteps and then visit the SriSailam temple. It's a good 5KMs away from the temple though.


Patalaganga steps & private boats. Private boats only for joy rides. Not to cave

The AP tourism boat counter was opened only around 10AM. People who booked earlier were all assembled in front. The booking process took time. As they check the name & no. of persons from the pre-booked list, they also check the Aadhar card for the first person. They enter the name & Aadhar card number for 1 person & the names of others in each group in their computer. The ticket is Rs.650 for the entire trip. Payments to be done by Rs.150 in cash & remaining can be made in UPI. All this causes commotion at the counter as people scramble for cash + upi, fising out Aadhar card etc. Thankfully people behaved better.

AP tourism also sold packed meal (Lemon rice, Curd rice) here (from their own Harita restaurant). They informed us that there wil be no shops in Akkamadevi cave as it is deep inside the forest & suggested to buy food here itself. The trip takes about 4 hours & we will be back by 1.45 - 2PM, so we decided against carrying food. Can have lunch after return.


AP tourism boat jetty. The orange top is our boat. Water level is low. So have to hop & jump.


View of steps from the jetty. Rope car landing port is in the background.


Lastly, the metal gangway to jetty


Driver cabin of another boat, perhaps for joy rides in the vicinity

The boat ride
They called it as a speed boat that can seat 100 persons. It looked sleek & said to have more power than regular ferry boats.


Driver sitting in a perch


Controls for speedboat driver


Driver window screen


The seats look rudimentary, but actually quite comfortable & sturdy. Numbers for persons to sit. Driver arranged the tourists to sit on specific numbers. But almost everyone got up & started shooting videos in mobiles when the boat started moving. Boat was stable & no oscillations even when people rushed to the sides.



The entire trip is between high mountains on both sides & have forests. Very scenic ride & there were 2-3 tribal hamlets along the banks, in the forest, with 1 or 2 boats docked nearby. Mobile signal was available up to 3/4th of the ride. Envied the tiny hamlets as they had no power, no mobile signal & only boats to reach the civilisation. It will be a different world indeed.


Natural wall like raised cliff runs along both sides.


Interesting looking natural walls that intersect almost 90degrees!


Google map of starting & ending point shown in arrow marks. Our location shows we completed about 3/4th the distance. No mobile signal after this point.

Highly recommend this boat trip to people visiting SriSailam. The boat service will be cancelled on heavy rainy days or when floods occur in Krishna river.

The Cave:
As the boat docked to the floating jetty near the cave, the driver-cum-guide gave instructions to the tourists. He can speak only in Telugu, he gave a video in Hindi for people who cannot understand Telugu.


Approaching the cave jetty


Climbing up from cave jetty.

From the jetty, some 100 steps need to be climbed to reach footpath. The steps count will be less if the water level rises. Temporary hand rails fixed on both sides of steps, will be removed when water level is increased.


Then a walk alongside the river.


And a curated path into the forest

It's a refreshing feeling to walk in silence, surrounded by mountains & forest. The cave is not far away. The entrance has a big naturally formed long arch - called Sila Thoranam in Telugu.


Natural arch - Sila thoranam just before the cave.

The driver/guide narrated the legend behind the place. The cave is pitch dark & narrow. He gave clear instructions on how they will manage us in queue, and need torches. People use their phone torches. We brought a handy torch for the purpose. It was very helpful for many others as the phone torches were not sufficient.


Pitch dark inside cave. Phone torches felt insufficient.


On return, we found that a second boat arrived. It's a normal ferry boat. Our boat looks too small - but easily seats 100.


Leaving the cave jetty

Return boat ride was even more relaxing as the tourists became casual with others. Took the ropeway back. Had lunch at a restaurant in SriSailam & started our way to Mahanandi.


Just the mountains & river.

Towards Mahanandi
Along the way stopped at Sakshi Ganapathy Temple, had a quick darsan. Went through the same forest routes. It rained after Dornala when we are in the forest route. It was all the more interesting. The truck drivers are more cautious on water pools in road & it was easier to overtake them.


On the way out of Srisailam

After the forest road, we stopped at Hotel Geetha Bhavan for tea. It was very average. After less than a km, turned left at Atmakur for Mahanandi. Again encounted narrow roads as these were marked as forest. No tollgate here though.

Reached Mahanandhi by 8.30pm. The entry toll for Mahanandhi is Rs.80 for cars. Several touts try to intercept for rooms. One even rode along on a bike, trying to have a conversation with me. Since we already booked in AP tourism's Harita resort, I drove straight into it's parking area. It's right in front of the temple.

After checking in, had a stroll into the front porch of the temple. It was 9pm & temple will be closed by 9.30pm. Confirmed with the temple guards that Sparsa darshan can be had in the morning if arrived by 5.30am.

Had dinner in a hotel opposite to the temple & rested early. We need to be up early tomorrow.

Distance traveled: 183kms (in car. Boat & rope way ride not included )

[viggienomad]

Day 4: Mahanandi, Yaganti - then to Bangalore

Mahanandi Temple
Got ready & reached Mahanandi temple by 5.30am. Sparsha darsan tickets are Rs.200 per person. We were allowed to take bath in the inner pond, directly in front of the main temple. The water said to be coming from under the main linga. Early morning climate was pleasant & the crystal clear water felt like a dense liquid.

We were told that people coming after 6.30am are not allowed to take bath here. They have to take bath in the two ponds outside the core temple (but after entering the main door). One pond for ladies & another for gents. Water to these ponds comes from the main pond within the core temple. It's a tradition here to take bath in pond before having darsan.

Devotees must change cloths before entering the sanctum, no entry with wet clothes. There were about 10 people (about 4 families) for the sparsha darsan. Gates to main temple were opened at around 6.15am & each family can sit behind the linga, touch & have an archana. The linga looked like a tree base & felt soft. A very peaceful & immersive experience altogether.

Prasad of puliogare & curd rice distributed to all after darsan. As the crowd was very less, they called each one & gave multiple servings happily.

The lingam will be covered with silver shields, draped & decorated with sandal & flowers after this. The original form can be viewed in early morning. The AP tourism's Harita resort in front of the temple is very convenient for this early morning darsan. The room was mediocre but good for the pilgrimage stay.

Coming out of temple, collected our mobiles & shot some photos outisde of temple. Had a morning coffee & went back to room for some rest.


Two corridors and the outer gate.


New statue


Temple car (Rath) shed has a painting & became a selfie-point! The mandapam in front is to board & alight the rath.


There is a road to go around the temple (Nallamala forest & hill behind). But it is barricaded, perhaps to avoid Vans & Buses from parking/ / cooking in that secluded area.

Got ready, checked out, had breakfast & ready for next destination.



Even though we are taking it in leisure, the last 3 days & today's early morning were all very soul fulfilling and also tiresome. Our minds are already filled with experiences & didn't wanted to have too much. There were also calls from home & work. So we decided to return back to Bangalore after Yaganti.

Belum Caves & Tadipatri temples can be clubbed with Gandikota grand canyon. It will be reason for another AP trip!

Mahanandi to Yaganti
Google map suggested a route avoiding Nandyal. It was initially into narrow village roads & a bumpy railway crossing, then a 4 lane road (NH 544F) for just about 3 kms. Then branched to NH540, but it's mostly a single lane road. Roads were good, traffic is light & we were able to cover distances quickly.


Road to Yaganti from NH

Yaganti temple was some 4kms to the right of the NH. The roads are good. Yaganti entry toll is Rs.60. Many renovation works are going on in front of the temple. The platforms & steps towards the temple and the area around the temple pond were all being revamped.


Temple appears on the hill side


A temple on the side of a hill. Street vendors said it's a new temple.

Yaganti - Sparsha Darsan & Caves
There is tall cave on a mountain to the right side of temple. There is one more cave called Agastya cave. It's a bit steep.


Pond in front


Water flows above Nandi before entering pond


Yaganti Temple front


Crowd was almost non-existant. Darsan tickets were Rs.10. We were not aware of other tickets as the board was only in Telugu & we couldn't read it. At the sanctum we noticed that some people are entering & praying behind the linga. Upon enquiring the priests we learnt that sparsha darsan is also possible here any time with a ticket of Rs.75/person. Got the tickets & entered the sanctum.

It's a swayambu lingam, a naturally formed one with uneven shape. We can touch & close our eyes while priests are doing archana. It was a great experience indeed.


Pond on the side of temple, close to the mountain. Water flows from Nandi - source unknown. This water seem to be reaching the main pond in front.


Nandi - said to be growing as it almost flows out of the mandapam.


Ornate dwaja stambam outside of temple. In open space.


Monkeys snatch everything.


Popular Yaganti Cave


View from inside. Wire mesh to keep out the monkeys.

After the temple, we also climbed the steps to visit the main cave. The steps were steep & handrails are both ends & also at the center. Climbing down will be more tricky & have to carefully come down.


Steep steps are risky while climbing down


Renovation work reveals multiple stack of stone slabs underneath. Workers are removing them & storing separately. Not sure why it was built like that earlier.

As we prepare to start our journey we learnt that Annadanam is available near our car parking. As the crowd was less there were no jostling. The meal they served was a pleasant surprise.It started with a sweet & a full thali meal. They obliged with multiple servings too. It was much better than the hotel meals we had in Srisailam last 2 days. We have to wash our plates & tumbler, wipe them before placing it in a stack. Very happy with the procedures, we made a donation for a specific day & left.

Return to Bangalore:
Reached NH144 in an hour, just before Anantapur. Remaining travel is a regular cruise on highway. Crossed Devanahalli after 6.30pm and the peak city traffic took us 2.30 hours to reach our home in South Bangalore.

Distance travelled: 419 KMs

[viggienomad]

Summary:

Total distance covered: 1204.6Kms in 4 days.
Think the ride is a fitting tribute to completing 1 lakh KMs of our Baleno.



The car went for 1 lakh service at Suraksha Car Care Nexa, E.City, the next day. While delivering back, the SA said they found a puncture each on both rear wheels & fixed them. The car felt fresh & back to it's original self after the service.

Walking Sticks
As we had to climb up or down quite a number of steps in this trip, we carried walking sticks. It's a practice we learnt in Sathuragiri & Ahobilam trekkings. In Ahobilam trek, they rent out bamboo sticks for Rs.5, and many opt for this irrespective of their age. Also learnt that climbing down will put more pressure on the tissues in knee caps and having a third support - a stick - will greatly reduce the impact.

Some people, especially elders were surprised on seeing us carrying sticks, politely inquired on our age as obviously we are not struggling to walk as much. Better not to have a taboo on carrying walking sticks.

Another advantage is monkeys avoid us as we have sticks!

Reflections on the tour by my wife:
After coming back & reflecting on the trip the next day, my wife remarked that we clubbed 3 tours in one!

1. The first one - Ghat Subramanya, Viduaswatha & Lepakshi are all closer to Bangalore & can be a 1 day (or half-day) trip. This is totally different from the other temples.

2. Srisailam can be a sleeper bus trip & 2 full days for the temple & the Akkamahadevi Cave visit.

3. Mahanandi & Yaganti on a separate visit on a train.

As we are in our late 50s, I tend to agree. But the experience of driving in single lane roads are priceless. I do have a good share of riding (Bullet & RX100) in single lane roads in 1980s (including very open & non-barricaded Berijam lake rides in Kodaikanal!) and then driving single/double lanes in 90s (No 4-tracks then). This seems one of the last bastions of single lane highways. Happy that we were able to do it at least now. In another 10 years, we may only opt for trains & sleeper buses.

Thanks for reading!

[KarthikK]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[akhil_007]

Thank you for the detailed travelogue

The kind of finer details that you have put in encourages lot more people to visit and get the blessings from the Lord. Please do post more threads about your travelogues.

Also, your car has aged pretty well for a 1 lakh km driven vehicle. Looks like it is a good time to get the detailing done for the exterior.

[ampere]

An amazing log! Lots of new locations and some old ones. The start was surely interesting. Explore places around Bangalore and then close the day at Kurnool. Did you not plan the Alampur temple at Kurnool?

[HappyWheels]

An amazing travelogue!

Very well detailed and a pleasure to read.

Thanks for sharing and i hope to do a similar trip in the near future.

[viggienomad]

Originally Posted by ampere

... Did you not plan the Alampur temple at Kurnool?

Thanks for the comments.

We came to know about Alampur temple only on the day before the journey when we noticed that Thungabadra merges into Krishna river here. Haven't had time to check the route conditions & the timings.

Since we already booked rooms in Srisailam & Mahanandi decided not to take a major detour. Definitely would be part of the trip if we found this earlier.