[ramzsys]

Originally Posted by #win

So plan the route well. I suggest a 3.00 am start unless you know the route pretty well.

I have planned to start in another one hour. So that i can reach by 12 or 1 AM. Will post the updates.

[ramzsys]

Took the trip and the distance turned out to be 370 km.

Hosakote-Chintamani(byepass)-Madanapalle-Rayachoti-Kadapa-Allagada-Ahobilam.

The road is good only till the Chikkaballapur-Kolar road(SH 96) crossing. After that, 4 lane work starts and it is a rough drive @ 20-30 kmph for about 18 km till Chintamani town byepass is reached.

Road is a little rough after Chintamani and then it is great till Madanapalle. 2 km stretch after Madanapalle is crater zone and after a railway crossing, it becomes smooth again till Rayachoti.

Kadapa to Allagada is again 4 laning work, but not there's no need to reduce speed. Just a little caution at the 'take diversion' spots.

There is a signboard indicating a right to Ahobilam well before Allagada itself.

Attached photo: road before Chintamani

[rohitrag]

Originally Posted by ramzsys

Road is a little rough after Chintamani and then it is great till Madanapalle. 2 km stretch after Madanapalle is crater zone and after a railway crossing, it becomes smooth again till Rayachoti.

Which route did you take from Madanapalle to Rayachoti? did you go via Pileru or took the route via Kurbala Kota and Gurram Konda?

[ramzsys]

Originally Posted by rohitrag

Which route did you take from Madanapalle to Rayachoti? did you go via Pileru or took the route via Kurbala Kota and Gurram Konda?

Kurbala Kota route only. Barring the initial few kms of broken roads, it was traffic free and good throughout*

*early 2012

[Stryker]

We went to Ahobilam over the weekend and the route we followed was:

Bangalore - take AH 43 up to Gooty. 250 kms. Amazing road, we covered the distance in 3 hours flat, counting from the Airport.

Just before Gooty there is a turn off to Pyapilli (shown as Peapully in Google Maps)

Take that road Banaganapalli. 85 kms. This road is bad in patches, due to the many cement lorries using this road. Road is strictly one lane only and you will have to get on the shoulder when you encounter a vehicle from the opposite direction. Low slung sedans please take note, the shoulders are not easy. But generally the road is good and this stretch was covered in about two hours.

Banaganapalli to Allagadda via Koilakuntla. 43 kms. This road is absolutely amazing due to the fact that you are driving nearly arrow straight for most of the time and the paddy fields on either side stretch all the way to horizon! For me, this was the best stretch of the whole drive. The road condition is really good, except for a few bad patches here and there. Took us about 40 minutes to cover the distance.

Allagadda to Ahobilam. 30 kms. Very good road, although only single lane. Again we covered this distance in about 30 minutes.

So, the route is:

Bangalore - Gooty - Pyapilli - Banaganapalli - Koilakuntla - Allagadda - Ahobilam.

Total distance: 413 kms.

Time taken (from Airport): 3 hrs + 2 hrs + 40 mins + 20 mins = 6 hrs

There was a Tempo Traveller filled with other family members along with us and they took a different route:

Bangalore - Hoskote - Chintamani - Madanapalle - Kadapa - Allagadda - Ahobilam.

Although that route is shorter in terms of distance (355 kms vs 415 kms), they were behind by about two hours in spite of starting at the same time. That could be because I was averaging a much higher speed (I was crusing at 120 - 130 kmph most of the time and hit 180 kmph in stretches on AH 43), but I heard that the road condition was pretty good along that route too.

The XUV just eats up the distance and I am sure it will be very happy to cruise all day at 120 - 130 kmph in 6th gear. The vehicle is amazingly well behaved and driving it is an absolute pleasure. No strain on the back or legs or feet at all, in spite of the some bad stretches, off the road onto the shoulder driving in places, driving in very heavy rain on the way back, etc.

[ravib]

Bumping up this old thread !

Anyone who traveled recently on this route from Bangalore to Ahobilam?

Can you please update road conditions.

Also, any inputs on Food options on the way will be much appreciated !

-Ravi

[rockyb4u]

Ravi- Did you travel by any chance to Ahobilam after posting this? I am planning for one and looking for inputs on Road conditions.

Originally Posted by ravib

Bumping up this old thread !

Anyone who traveled recently on this route from Bangalore to Ahobilam?

Can you please update road conditions.

Also, any inputs on Food options on the way will be much appreciated !

-Ravi

[ravib]

Originally Posted by rockyb4u

Ravi- Did you travel by any chance to Ahobilam after posting this? I am planning for one and looking for inputs on Road conditions.

Hey rockyb4u, no i haven't had chance to travel to Ahobilam yet. Guess time hasn't come. Hope i will do it soon.
Incase, if you are traveling, please do post updates

Thanks
-Ravi

[ravib]

Finally I had god's permission to visit Ahobilam last weekend successfully. Looking back, am surprised to see that it took 1 year and 1 month to complete this trip. I will post a travelogue ASAP.

-Ravi

[rockyb4u]

Hey Ravi

Am back thinking to take this trip. Could you provide some details please.

Originally Posted by ravib

Finally I had god's permission to visit Ahobilam last weekend successfully. Looking back, am surprised to see that it took 1 year and 1 month to complete this trip. I will post a travelogue ASAP.

-Ravi

[ravib]

Originally Posted by rockyb4u

Hey Ravi

Am back thinking to take this trip. Could you provide some details please.

Hello @rockyb4u,

Sorry for the delay in response. Hope you are yet to take the trip.

Here is my trip details which i went in 15-Oct-2016.

For onward journey, i took below route.
Bangalore-Bagepalli-Kadiri-Pulivedula-Jammalamadugu-Ahobilam

https://goo.gl/maps/9sahhf1YVUR2

Frankly, I would NOT recommend this route, unless you have plenty of time in hand, patience to slow down and bear all the millions of unmarked speed breakers and traverse using GPS. Though it is great to see beautiful country side, but driving effort wise and time wise simply not worth it. Also there are no major break facilities (decent restaurants/rest rooms), especially if you travel with ladies.
On top of it when i travelled, there was road construction going on in multiple places and since i left bangalore after 2 pm, i ended up going through the difficult and dangerous parts after dusk.

So for return journey decided to take the NH route. This is recommended as it eases the driving effort a lot although kms/distance wise longer but time wise almost same.
Ahobilam-Koilkuntla-Banaganapalli-Vengalam Palle-Gooty-Anantapur-Bagepalli-Chikka Ballapur-Bangalore
https://goo.gl/maps/jBFLW82yR622

Road conditions wise, absolutely there are no problems and road conditions are good. However till you reach and join NH you would need GPS in certain places. After you hit NH, you can do great speeds to reach Bangalore in really quick time as the roads are excellent.

Strong recommendation : In both the ways travel, finish your meal (breakfast or lunch) and then leave the place, more particularly when you leave from Ahobilam. From Ahobilam till we reached chikkaballapur near BIAL, we could not find a decent veg only restaurant in NH. You may have to get into Anantapur if you want to break for food.
However for rest rooms, after you cross Gooty Toll plaza and before Anantapur, on the right side (when traveling towards Bangalore) you will see "Blue Moon Highway" where you can break. You get non-veg food there and some snacks, but for vegetarians after a temple visit, this place may not be a likeable one IMO.

At Ahobilam, for food, there are not great options. Only basic facilities are available. We had food at "Sri Guru Raghavendra Udipi Brahmana Hotel" which serves karnataka style vegetarian food and is good and at reasonable rates.
Location here: https://goo.gl/maps/TPTpUcbRKMC2

Regarding darshan, not sure if you are planning to see all Nava Narasimha swamy temples. If yes, you would need easily 1.5 days minimum or 2 days depending on the energy levels and age of pilgrimage.
Otherwise, it is easy to see Lower Ahobilam Lakshmi Narasimha swamy temple + 3 Narashima swamy temples near Lower Ahobilam + 1 temple on
the way to Upper Ahobilam + 1 main temple at Upper Ahobilam. That is totaling to 5 narasimhaswamy temples out of 9. Remaining 4 temples are in thick forest and needs trekking. One of them can be seen with little trek, but 3 others are super difficult.
If you are planning to trek to Ugrasthamba, you need another separate half a day to 3/4th day only for that as it is extremely difficult trek.

For food at Upper Ahobilam, there are two annadana chatrams (one is brahmana chatram and other is arya vysya chatram IIRC). We had food at Brahmana chatram where they serve free piping hot tasty food with Sambar, Rasam, Buttermilk. You can donate any amount, in case if you willing to. In case of lot of people, better to inform them upfront for them to arrange food.

Carry sufficient water as it will be quite tiring to trek. And the good part is there is no mobile tower signals, so we really get time to speak to people near to us instead of keep checking the mobile phones every now and then and also to focus on divine prayers.
But given all the difficulty, i can guarantee if you will indeed have excellent darshan the moment you see the lord.

Hope this helps.

PM me, if you need more details. Have a great darshan

-Ravi

[rajivtelang]

Visiting Ahobilam from Mantralaya next month. The route planned is from Veldurthi to Nandyal and then to Ahobilam. Any idea on this road condition between Veldurthi to Ahobilam?

[ravib]

Thought of sharing suggested sequence to visit all Narasimhar temples (except ugrasthambam) based on my experience in Oct'2016. Made some quick notes based on what i recollect.

I've added notes in brackets for quick reference.

Day-0
Finish lunch, leave Bangalore and reach Lower Ahobilam by evening/night, Finish dinner and take sufficient rest.

Day-1

1) Lower Ahobilam main temple (Car parking available - auspicious to see early morning 6 am viswaroopa darshan with cow)
2) Karanja Narasimhar (On the way to Upper ahobilam. Car parking space available)
3) Upper Ahobilam main temple - Ugra Narasimhar ( Last place where car can be parked in packed area - beyond this point only walking/trekking possible. From car parking you have to climb steps for about 15 minutes to reach Upper Ahobilam main temple)

Note:

(a) Ensure on the way to upper ahobilam main temple, while climbing steps stop by "Sri Brahmana Nitya Annadana Satram" and inform them about number of people who wish to have lunch there.

(b) Carry sufficient water and biscuits in back bag and wear comfortable clothes.

(c) Please do not litter water bottles anywhere in the forest.

(d)Most of the temples close by evening as they are in very thick forest. So enquire in each temple before you trek each temple.

4) Varaha Narasimhar (One km walk from Upper Ahobilam main temple - Little easy to reach comparitively)
5) Jwala Narasimhar ( Quite difficult trek - will take about an hour to reach after Varaha Narasimhar)
6) Malola Narasimhar (When climbing down from Jwala Narasimhar - take the other route to make it as a circular path. Don't take the route which you climbed up after Varaha Narasimhar)

Return to Upper Ahobilam main temple area and Finish Lunch at "Sri Brahmana Nitya Annadana Satram". Strongly recommend to donate whatever you can, just because for the great & humble service and tasty food they serve in a place where facilities are extremely minimal.

7) Pavana Narasimhar (Extremely difficult 6 kms Trek for 2+ hours one way in other direction by taking right once crossing Upper ahobilam narasimhar temple. Needs half a day for only this temple by trek. Alternate option is to take 4x4 jeeps which is super costly and almost takes same time. But needed for those who can't trek)

Note: If you wish to cover Ugrasthambam, then it may not be practical to see Pavana Narasimhar on same day. You have to climb down from Jwala Narasimhar and climb adjacent hill to reach Ugrasthambam. I didn't do it due to lack of time and also we wanted to cover all temples. Ugrasthambam is clearly visible from most of the places, so we prayed from distance only.

Return to Lower Ahobilam room, finish dinner and take rest.



Day -2 : Remaining temples in Lower Ahobilam

8) Yogananda Narasimhar (Car can go - parking space available)
9) Chatravata Narasimhar (Car can go - parking space available)
The above two temples are just in two sides of the road with short 15 minutes drive from Lower Ahobilam temple.

10) Bhargava Narasimhar (Only 4x4 jeep or auto can go. Park the car in safe place in lower ahobilam and take an auto. Suggest to keep this as last temple because they open quite late in the morning).

Finish lunch and drive back to Bangalore.

Added Sequence number (e.g. #1, #2 etc) in google maps to match the numbers i mentioned above to visualize the circular path to visit all the temples.

Hope this helps!
-Ravi

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by ravib

Thought of sharing suggested sequence to visit all Narasimhar temples (except ugrasthambam) based on my experience in Oct'2016. Made some quick notes based on what i recollect.

Great information. A quick query on over night accommodation. Where did you stay near the temple? I searched but could not get proper information and was planning to make a stay at Nandyal, but the hotels there are most horrible.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

Great information. A quick query on over night accommodation. Where did you stay near the temple? I searched but could not get proper information and was planning to make a stay at Nandyal, but the hotels there are most horrible.

I stayed in Haritha Hotels by AP Tourism.
There are very limited options available to stay in Ahobilam. Below are the ones that i am aware of.

1) Ahobilam mutt
2) Haritha Hotels by AP Tourism department.
3) Malolan tours run by private people (the stay includes food as package, but quite costly. Definitely better place to stay than Haritha)

Haritha Hotels have very basic rooms and a basic restaurant. You can book online from their site. But you have to book well in advance.

http://www.aptdc.gov.in/haritha_kurnool.html
Scroll down for Ahobilam accommodation in the site.

Good thing is they have a big car parking space.
To reiterate, don't expect anything hifi or decent accommodation place in haritha. Its is just a very very basic place to stay.

For those who are traveling for first time, it is extremely important that you book your accommodation first before you start your trip. Ahobilam is not a place, where there are lot of lodges or hotels, where you can walk-in and stay even in 2018.

-Ravi