[condor]

Travelled to Srisailam last weekend. Had planned a 4 day trip, leaving BLR on Thursday morning and returning to BLR on Sunday night.

Thursday morning: BLR-Mahanandi.
Route taken: BLR-Anantpur-Gooty-Pyapili-Banganapalli-Mahanandi.
Distance: 406 km
Start from BLR: 8.30 am
Reached Mahanandi 5.30 pm

On NH44, between Anantpur and Gooty:


A fort along the highway:




Topped up at a HP COCO on NH-44 before Gooty, before going ahead. FE was about 19.5kmpl.

The normal route would have been BLR-Kurnool-Nandyal-Mahanandi. But I thought may not harm to take the short cut to avoid Kurnool, exiting the NH-44 at Pyapili after Gooty, and going through Banganapalli further to Nandyal. The thought was that even if the roads were not good, it would not be too much of bad roads in terms of distance. The result was mixed, since the roads passed through some nice country-side.

Sun-flower fields along the road:






But this lovely country-side scenery was over-shadowed by the typical patchy rural roads.

A typical section of the road: single lane, small rough patches at almost regular intervals, and the occasional section dug-up to be re-done.


In 2-3 places, there were huge pot-holes that even trucks would have avoided.

Stopped for lunch along the way at about 2.30 pm, and had some food that we had packed from home. Resumed after the 15 minute break, to the same kind of roads.

Some sections were being re-done, and one particular such section was almost 2km long. Saw this truck coming down the road, raising so much dust that it reminded me of the 1971 Hitchcock movie "Duel". Pulled over to let him pass, not because of the movie plot, but because there wasnt much space on the road for two vehicles - definitely not with the way the truck was barrelling down the road at a pretty good speed.



The road improved after this, and we soon reached Banganapalli. Continued further towards Nandyal, where we joined SH-40. One look at the road made me think if I should have just come via Kurnool itself. But no regrets

Passed Nandyal at about 4.30 pm. The roads were good, but I was more searching for a cup of tea. Finally found a Punjabi Dhaba attached to a bunk. The tea was good enough for a second cup. Resumed after this, and soon reached Mahanandi at about 5.15 pm. Asked for directions to the APTDC's Haritha Hotel which I had booked more than a week back.

The hotel was opposite the temple, and was partly under construction. The room was small, and quite clean. Tarriff- 850/- for the A/c room.

Had quick darshan at the temple in the evening. This gave us an idea of what to do the next morning. Had food at small local hotel. Food wasnt great, though.



Day 2: Friday:

Mahanandi has a lovely, old temple dedicated to Mahanandeeshwara. The other highlight of this temple is water flowing from an under-ground spring into a tank inside the main temple. There is a Shiva linga in the middle of this tank. The water in this tank is neck deep. This water further flows into two tanks outside the main temple area, but again inside the outer compound wall of the temple.

Friday morning, we complete the Pooja's at the temple, and a quick break fast before we started off for Srisailam. It was almost 11 am before we started off.

I had initially planned to take Mahanandi - Nandyal - Atmakur- Doranala - Srisailam route. But when I asked the hotel receptionist, he suggested going via Cumbum & Markapur. Decided to take this, and it was a good choice, as was seen later.

Retraced the route back towards SH-40. An irrigation canal, with water from the previous night's rains. (the canal was dry the previous evening)



Continued further, and came across this old-style stream crossing, where the water would pass over the road surface when over-flowing. The stream had sufficient water from the previous night's rains, which meant some lovely pics.







At this point, happened to meet people in a Trax Cruiser who were from near our native. They had come from Srisailam and were heading to Tirupati. Asked them about the road conditions to Srisailam via Atmakur, and they said that some stretches were bad. It then became an easier choice to go via Cumbum & Markapur. A few more pics later, we started off again.

A little further down the road, saw this Panchmukhi Hanuman temple:


Reached SH-40 and turned left towards Markapur. The lovely 2 lane roads soon became a gradual climb up the mountains.



A few more kilometers on, and we chanced upon these tall structures, 3 each on either side of the valley. Wondered what these were - tall, and trying to span the large valley:



Looking at the top of these towers, one can see a smaller section at the top. These are often seen on top sections of pillars of a bridge supporting railway tracks, and these towers too were possibly built for the same. It looks like the idea of a bridge was abandoned for two reasons - the length of the longest section, and the stability / safety of any train that would pass during rains/heavy winds. It could even be that they could not bridge the section between these two pillars ! Architects & structural engineers can tell better, but would an arch bridge have been better here ?



A measure of the height of these structures: look at the Tata Ace at the bottom of the tower. Would have been an engineering feat if this had been successfully completed and safely used.


The Ikon against the backdrop of the tower. Notice the truck at the base of the tower, to give another measure of the enormity of these towers


A little further up, a lovely view of the valley far away:


Descended the ghats and and continued towards Cumbum & Markapur. The roads were good, with mild traffic. A view of a quiet railway crossing, waiting for a train to pass by.


We stopped for lunch in the car itself, on the road a little before Markapur. We reached Dornala after passing some more lovely sections, but some patch roads along the short-cut between Markapur and Dornala. At Dornala, found a petrol bunk to inflate the front tyres, both of which were under-inflated. Neither tyre had puncture, so the only reason I can think of was that the petrol bunk attendant who inflated the tyres did not do it right.

Had tea at Dornala, and started off on the last section to Srisailam. A glimpse of the valleys that we were to pass, and drive along the next two days that we stayed there.


Reached Srisailam at about 5.30 pm, and checked into the APTDC's Haritha Hotel. The A/c deluxe room costing 1600/- was quite spacious, with a TV, A/c, and a geyser. But this was marred by the baby cockroaches we also saw in the room.

Went upto the temple to enquire about the pooja's. Made arrangements for the pooja's the next day, and then headed over for dinner. Back in the room by about 8.30 pm, and soon called it a day.

Distance covered: approx 180 km.

[condor]

Day 3: At Srisailam.

Woke up early and headed to the Mallikarjun & Bramarambha Devi temple for the pooja's. Completed these by about 8 am, and headed back to the hotel and for break-fast. A nap turned into a good 2 hour sleep. Refreshed, we had lunch at the hotel itself. The food was quite good.

For the rest of the day, we had two options- take the rope-way down to the water and then a boat ride to the Akka Mahadevi caves, or - drive down to the dam site, across the river and to Patalganga. The trip to the caves would have been a 4 hour round trip, but since it was already 2 pm when we finished lunch, this was ruled out. So we headed over towards Patalganga.

A view of the valley en-route:


And a flower we saw along the road:


Forlorn looking Srisailam Dam: almost nothing when compared to the glory one can see when all the gates are opened:




The bridge across the river Krishna: look at the marks on the pillars to see how high the water often is.


Saw a man fishing - he threw his net, only to catch 3 fish. Idle boats along the water's edge:


Another view of the river - The water in the dam is so low that no water is being let out down the river :(


A view of the reservoir, from a view point further up the road:



Day 4: Sunday. Heading home.

Checked out of the hotel early, and started off by 7 am after tea. Soon stopped at this point 7 km away from Srisailam. It is called Shikaram, and there is a Shiva temple at the top. There is a view point on top of the temple, and a small cheerful Nandi there.



The road between Srisailam and Dornala runs through forest reserves. There are boards indicating some wild life, too:




Two more views of a valley before Dornala:




And another view .. I dont seem to get enough of these


Stopped at APTDSC's Haritha hotel before Dornala for breakfast. And a stop for tea at Dornala before heading towards Atmakur & Kurnool at about 9.15 am.

The Dornala- Atmakur section is quite bad, even before the wooded /forest section. There is some construction going there to build large tunnels for water. The road is gain patchy, with pot-holes at almost regular intervals. Occasionally, the road seems to get better, but before one can settle into any steady speed - even 50kph, another rough patch is ready to greet you.

A view of a better section of this road:


The Ikon, at one lovely spot between some bamboo trees:


The single-lane width of this section:


Some sections are pretty bad, with hardly any shoulder to use. Rain water has cut thru the soil on the sides to such an extent that even a vehicle with large wheels would get stuck if it were to get off the tarred surface/ section. One has to be real careful when passing / overtaking other vehicles.

Further down the road, a lovely view of the valley:


We soon reached the plains, and headed towards Atmakur and then to Kurnool at about 1.15 pm. At Kurnool, we missed any good places for lunch, and hence headed to NH-44 and then towards Bangalore.

Stopped an hour later at a IOC bunk for some fuel, and a quick nap. Refreshed, resumed the drive towards Bangalore - and a search for lunch. But none found :(

Had some snacks & juice we were carrying, and continued on the highway. Some time after Atmakur, we ran into heavy rains. A pic before the rains:



The rains were so heavy that we could hardly make out other vehicles, unless they had their hazard lights on. We pulled over and waited for the rains to subside. 2-3 more cars pulled over too. Waited for about 15 minutes before driving slowly, with hazard lights on.

Atleast 3 times, had to drive thru some water logged spots. Each time I passed through such a spot, so much water was thrown on the car that the car seemed to be completely surrounded by water and it was like I didnt know what was happening.

The rains finally cleared as we approached the border:




The search for food finally ended at Kamat Upachar near Chikballapur. Had some snacks & tea, and resumed the drive at about 5.30 pm. Reached home at about 7.45 pm, closing the day at 540 km.

Total distance covered during the trip: 1200 km. The Ikon also crossed the 35k mark on the return journey.

[condor]

Day 1: Bangalore to Mahanandi:


Day 2: Mahanandi - Srisailam.


(Images of route taken is from Google maps)

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!

[gajadonga]

Nice writup and some good pictures.
Srisailam dam seems to have not received the normal flow of the water during this month
you visited.
The first place you visit before Srisailam is the Shikaram temple then you go towards
Srisailam.
Good travelogue thanks for sharing

[mobike008]

Srisailam is one of my favorite destinations during the monsoon season as everything around that area turns into lush green and driving on the ghat section during this time is an experience in itself.

Did you go to the waterfalls before Srisailam where you need to walk down 100+ steps to reach the falls?

[ampere]

Wow! What green is this place! The water bodies look very nice indeed, even though
their levels may be low!

[aryasanyal]

Lovely account of your travel.
I'd love to drive down those beautiful, green hills.
Aren't those part of the Eastern Ghats?

Another question - can't we bypass Gooty and take the Tadipatri route to reach Nandyal?
Anantapur to Tadipatri is a lovely drive and the road is excellent. Is the Tadipatri-Nandyal section not that good?

Originally Posted by condor

Saw this truck coming down the road, raising so much dust that it reminded me of the 1971 Hitchcock movie "Duel".

Sorry for the nitpick, but Duel was a Steven Spielberg movie. Actually his debut directorial effort.

[condor]

gajadonga :The first place you visit before Srisailam is the Shikaram temple then you go towards Srisailam.

Thanks, Gajadonga - you are correct. Though we did not follow this :(

mobike008 : Did you go to the waterfalls before Srisailam where you need to walk down 100+ steps to reach the falls?

No, we didnt. This would be the second stop (Shikaram is the first) before we reach Srisailam ?. (The 3rd is the Sakshi Ganapati temple ? )

aryasanyal : Aren't those part of the Eastern Ghats?

Yes - though some distance away from the coast.

aryasanyal : can't we bypass Gooty and take the Tadipatri route to reach Nandyal?
Anantapur to Tadipatri is a lovely drive and the road is excellent. Is the Tadipatri-Nandyal section not that good?

I am not sure how good it will be, until we drive that way. If my experience with the non-highway routes (State / National) in this trip is anything to go by, the roads in this section would not be great. But now that you say, may be I will try it sometime !

aryasanyal : Sorry for the nitpick, but Duel was a Steven Spielberg movie. Actually his debut directorial effort.

Actually, thanks for that You are correct, it was Spielberg. And it's been a long time since I saw that.

[Schoudhury]

WOW. awesome .
Reminded me of our team outing trips to Srisailam trip when i was @ hyd .I still remember on one friday night a simple long drive plan ended in a trip to srisailam.
And those small round boats, i will never forget these, the way we were spinned, it scared the hell out of me.

Cheers.

[dhuli]

Invaluable information of Srisailam and surroundings. Thank you for sharing in detail. The pics really help get the picture. That you mentioned Cumbum, it is interesting that there is one near Bodi-Theni in Tamilnadu enroute to Thekkady. Both seem similar in landscape!

Did you notice that the local water (presumably Krishna river) is so outstandingly sweet and tasty? Well, when I visited here some 10 years back, that is the one memory that remains strong!

[frequentflyer]

I am visiting Srisailam and will be approaching it from Raichur. Is it a better idea to go through Mehboobnagar or through Kurnool Atmakur Srisailam? After Srisailam I will be heading for Hyderabad. My travel dates are first half of Feb 2013. The distance/roads/natural beauty all will count in making the route choice. Car is a Honda City.

[PVS]

Condor - those are some nice pics that you got there! The pillars that you saw enroute were from the old Metre Guage Railway alignment between Dhone Jn & Nandyal. There used to be an amazing suspension bridge on these piers that was dismantled and sold to scrap somewhere around 2001. The new BG railway track between Dhone and Nandyal completely by-passes this place.

[naveencp]

Hi all,

I am planning a Bangalore Nandavaram trip by road this weekend. Nandavaram is on Banaganapalli - Nandyal road and closer to Banaganapalli. What would be your suggestion for the route? And the road condition?

I am thinking I will take this route
- NH7 till Gooty.
- Continue on NH7 till Pyapili
- Take Right and continue to Banaganapalli
- From Banaganapalli go towards Nandyal
- Reach Nandavaram

Could you please let me know if this is a good route to take? Any idea on the present road condition? Also, how much time would I require for this journey (assuming I start at 5AM from BLR).Any good breakfast place in Hindupur/Anantapur on the way?

An early response would be really great since I need to travel Saturday morning.

Thanks,
Naveen