Just back from a 3 day trip to Sri Sailam. We were 4 adults and 1 child in the Jazz CVT. Took Bangalore-Kurnool-Sri Sailam route. Since we had 2 senior citizens and 1 small kid, took it slow and didn’t drive all the way during onward journey. Trip update:
Day 1: (Bangalore to Kurnool-375kms): Started leisurely at 9:00AM & crossed Airport toll at 10:20AM. Took brunch break around 10:45AM at a restaurant on the highway.
After a sumptuous meal left at 12:15PM. Road was ultra smooth typical NH44 and you can maintain great pace.Could use cruise control(80-90kph) for a good part. Took 2nd pit stop around 4:30PM. This was around 40kms before Kurnool IIRC. Was short one for stretching and coffee/tea. Around 615INR was deducted in toll over 4-5 toll booths.
Will take ~6 hours for the 375kms(distance from my home) if you are doing typical 80-90kph average with 1 break. Reached Kurnool by 5:30PM & was greeted by mad hooligan traffic under the flyover. There was some rally, so some roads were blocked. We booked stay at Hotel Maurya Inn for the night. Nice 3* hotel with great service & ample parking.
Day 2:(Kurnool to Sri Sailam-180kms)
Started at 11AM after heavy breakfast. Kurnool onwards its a two-way traffic. Roads are good for first 80kms post which jungle twisties start. 2 check points collect 50INR each. Inside forest, roads are narrow and its good enough for only 1 bus at a time maybe. APSRTC buses ply heavily and they usually drive fast honking the daylights out of you. Its better to give them way if you love your car. But the route is ultra-scenic. Didn’t click any pictures as there was hardly any bays to park car safely but absolutely loved the scenery all the way till Sri Sailam. Due to ghats & Narrow roads will take 4-4.5 hours for the 180kms. Reached around 3:30PM
Sri Sailam Town: First thing that strikes you is how clean the town is. I was mighty impressed how beautifully it’s maintained. Jazzy blessed by Bholenath
Very limited options for stay though. AP tourism department has
HARITHA, that’s the only OK option. Booked the Deluxe AC rooms and they too are strictly Ok-ish. Government employees typical lazy behaviour is evident and sadly the rooms are not in great shape although they are very spacious with balcony and all. Parking space is fine, 10-12 cars inside the premises and enough space just outside as well. There’s a canteen in the premises which serves basic meals at specific timings(8-10AM breakfast, 12-3PM lunch, 7-10PM dinner). Freshened up, had lunch and were ready for temple visit by 6PM when the premises open.
Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple: Took the 300 INR sheegra darshanam ticket and it was quick. Reached the jyotirlingam within like 10 minutes but they won’t let you see the idol for more than 5-10 seconds like any other pilgrimage. If you want to do abhishekam, make sure you make online booking atleast 2 days in advance, I didn’t know about it and hence we couldn’t. Bhog is served in a huge canteen setup for free and it was very tasty(we had evening snack).
Returned hotel by 9ish, had dinner in the canteen & retired for the day.
Day 3:(Sri Sailam to Bangalore-555km)
Was up around 5:30AM , showered & got ready for early morning visit at 6AM. Being a Monday, crowd was expectedly high so again got the same sheeghra darshanam ticket. Took around 30 minutes this time. Post that headed to Sakshi Ganesh temple. A visit here is kinda ritual if you visit the main temple. Its a smaller temple and would typically take shorter time. You can do a puja here for 300INR.
Returned back to hotel at 8:30AM and finished breakfast (part of AC room package). Today the plan was to drive all the way. So we checked out around 10:30AM & started return journey.
Reached Kurnool by 3PM & took lunch break. Was a heavy meal as we didn’t want to take any more longer breaks.
Started at 5PM and by 9:30PM was close to bangalore airport. It was raining heavily for almost 60-70kms so took a short stretch break for tea/coffee. Post that entered bangalore around 10:15 PM and were greeted by usual airport traffic. Took another hour to reach home by 11:15PM.
Trip Stats:
Distance: 1100kms
Toll : 1230INR on fastag & 200INR in forest checkpoints
Note: There’s a dam on Krishna River & ropeway if you’re interested in sightseeing.