[daisyb]

Originally Posted by rnidumolu

Hai,

A very nice write up. If I have to suggest, there are four more places you would have visited along with these -

1. Alampur - Jogulamba Temple - One of the Shakthipeet
2. Akkanna Madanna Caves - Srisailam - You have to travel 16KM in the Krishna river to reach this place
3. Mallela Theertham - Waterfall near Srisailam
4. Banaganepalli - You could have visited/explored this place more.

Thanks,

Thanks Ravi. We will include these next time. Banaganepalli - what are the places to visit. It appeared to be a very small connecting town.

[NPV]

Excellent trip, great detail in the travelogue and some superb pictures, thanks for sharing
Could you also share the information of where you stayed ? What options for stay are available for one wanting to visit these places ?

[justwheels]

A very nice, short and crisp travelogue. Thanks for sharing. Some really nice places covered en-route. Nice to see someone plan trips like these.

South India surely pampers you with great places and wonderful tarmac to drive on.

Happy mile crunching even further.

[daisyb]

Originally Posted by NPV

Excellent trip, great detail in the travelogue and some superb pictures, thanks for sharing
Could you also share the information of where you stayed ? What options for stay are available for one wanting to visit these places ?

Mantralayam - We got acco in the Mutt managed by the authorities. There are many private hotels around the mutt as an alternate. http://www.mantralayam.com/cottages.htm

Srisailam - Srisailam Devasthanam enabled online booking for Accommodation and pujas. We booked the room and Abhishekam also online. They charge a nominal fee for online booking. Below is the link. Most of the accos are very close to the temple at a walkable distance. We stayed in Gowri Sadan. It is decent. http://www.srisailamonline.com/sri/i...ooking/booknow

Ahobilam - APTDC Harita has their resort in Ahobilam, it can be booked online at APTDC website . Ahobilam Mutt contact details - Malola guest house, Ahobila Mutt, Mr. Badri Narayanan, PH:-08519-252045/252024, 9490515284. If you plan a sudden trip, and could not get acco in Ahobilam, Allagadda (AV lodge) which is at 25 kms from Ahobilam can be tried. However we could not get accommodation at any of these places.

Gandikota - APTDC Harita has their resort. Online booking is not available. Can be booked by calling the care taker at 9959 659353. We did not stay there, and returned to Bangalore.

[mpksuhas]

daisyb, an excellent trip. You have covered most maximum points in the best possible ways.
Thanks for the stay details in previous post. Will help others who are planning the same places.

[rki2007]

Very nice writeup daisyb. Thanks for that.

Couple of years back we have visited Mantralaya and then went to Nava Brindavanam.

Nava brindavanam is in Anegundi near Gangavathi in Karnataka. This place is basically an island where nine samadhis (tombs) of Madhavacharya saints are located. You will have to travel by a motor boat to reach this place. The saints are said to be predecessors of Sri Ragavendra Swamy.

The place is pristine and beautiful. I would strongly suggest that people planning to visit Mantralaya should also visit this place.

God bless all.

[nischaltopno]

Good travelogue - nice and crisp write-up along with good photos.

Can you please add the time in your distance chart (post #8).

Is the road between Kodumur and Kurnool relaid as it was not in good shape last October.

Haritha/APTDC guest house accommodation is available in Ahobilam, you could have booked there.

Did you take a guide in Ahobilam? How long did it take to cover the temples?

[daisyb]

Originally Posted by nischaltopno

Can you please add the time in your distance chart (post #8).

Tried putting it approx. Here you go. Doesn't include time for BF and lunch breaks. Includes time taken for photo stops etc.

Originally Posted by nischaltopno

Is the road between Kodumur and Kurnool relaid as it was not in good shape last October.

It is mostly widened and relaid and is good now, at few places they are still widening.

Originally Posted by nischaltopno

Haritha/APTDC guest house accommodation is available in Ahobilam, you could have booked there.

Did not get it, it is full.

Originally Posted by nischaltopno

Did you take a guide in Ahobilam? How long did it take to cover the temples?

Yes, we took a guide. We did 6 of the temples, it took us around 2.5 to 3 hrs.

[rnidumolu]

Originally Posted by daisyb

Thanks Ravi. We will include these next time. Banaganepalli - what are the places to visit. It appeared to be a very small connecting town.

Banaganapalli is the place where Sri Potuluri Veerabrahmendra Swamy has written the "KALAGNANAM".

There is a cave near the city in which he has written it. It is said that there are four ways in the cave which connects you to four places like 'Varanasi', 'Srisailam', 'Yaganti' and the fourth one I forgot. You can enter the cave and visit a temple inside the cave and the place where he has written the KALAGNANA.

Also there is "Sri Veerappayya Swamy" temple in the city, in which the items used by Sri Veerabrahmendra Swamy are kept and are intact. Along with this you can visit his house, which is converted to museum.

[nischaltopno]

Originally Posted by daisyb

Tried putting it approx. Here you go. Doesn't include time for BF and lunch breaks. Includes time taken for photo stops etc.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by daisyb

Did not get it, it is full.

I meant you could had done the advance reservation since you had a planned trip.

[daisyb]

Originally Posted by nischaltopno

I meant you could had done the advance reservation since you had a planned trip.

Although we have been thinking of Srisailam for sometime now, the dates and other places were decided only a week before the trip. By that time, APTDC Ahobilam is already full. Their online website showed the status as 'Not Available'. We were later told that during weekends, the rush is huge and generally acco gets booked.

[LoneRidder]

a detailed write-up. Thanks for sharing those accommodation details. Would help fellow travellers (i could be one soon!!!)

[poised2drive]

That is a nice and perfectly planned travelogue. Though we visited most of the places , I never heard of Yaganti and I am still surprised that how could I not know of a place which sounds so mythical and interesting. And also the pics of Gandikota gorge and structures seem exotic.

And I have decided - this is gonna be on my next drive.

Thanks for your travelogue and the interesting places on which you have shed light !

[BeantownThinker]

Wow. Talk of the world being a small place!!! A bunch of us were on a roadtrip covering Belum and Hampi on 25th and 26th Jan. We were in fact there at Belum Caves on 25 Jan between 12 noon and 2pm.

From what I see in your pictures there is not much of a crowd. Did you go in the early hours? When we landed, there were 2 bus-loads of visitors and the place was pretty crowded. It was damn near difficult getting a clean shot in the caves without being photo-bombed by someone.

[daisyb]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

From what I see in your pictures there is not much of a crowd. Did you go in the early hours? When we landed, there were 2 bus-loads of visitors and the place was pretty crowded. It was damn near difficult getting a clean shot in the caves without being photo-bombed by someone

We were the first batch on that day. We were there at Belum caves 5 to 10 min before the opening time of 10AM. yeah, by the time we came out, I could see crowds.