3 day trip to Srisailam and Mahanandi

Date of travel   : 23 - 25 Dec 2012
Vehicle             : Toyota Innova
Total distance  : 750 kms

Day 1: Started at 9 AM from Hyderabad, took the ORR and reached Srisailam at 1:30 PM. We travelled with minimal stops, stopping at 2 check posts (Mandatory for vehicle entry), view points before and after Srisailam dam, Saakshi Ganapati darsanam. The road is excellent and one can enjoy the drive. However caution needs to be exercised in the ghat section particularly after crossing the dam which has few steep curves. Distance covered is 215 kms.

Visited temple, collected tickets and pooja material for abhishekam to be performed the next day.

Day 2: Performed Abhishekam, took rope way to Paatalaganga, visited Phaladhaara Panchadhaara and Hatakeeswaram.

Day 3: Started at Srisailam at 7:30 AM and reached Mahanandi by 12: 30 PM. Route Srisailam - Sikharam- Dornala - Atmakur - Nandyala - Mahanandi. Distance 175 kms with stops at Sikharam, Sunflower plantation en route Atmakur and at Atmakur for breakfast.  

Had lunch at Karivena Anna dana Satram at Mahanandi and after Darsanam of Sri Nandeswara and Sri Kameswari Devi, visited Nandi park.

Started at 5:30 PM at Mahanandi and reached Shamshabad by 10:00 PM. Route taken was Mahanandi - Nandyala - Kovuturu - Paniem - Kudravaram - Kurnool.  The route is good apart from few pot holes. Lot of work is going on this road for laying 4 lane roads. Reached Kurnool at 7 PM. Distance 90 kms. Stopped for fuel and a quick break.

We hit the NH7 at 7:15 PM and reached Shamshabad by 10 PM where we stopped for dinner and reached home by 11 PM. Distance covered is 220 kms. 

P.S : There are few links in this blog post with more details and pictures. If you missed them, please look out for links on Srisailam, Mahanandi and Sikharam.

Srisailam trip

Started at 9 AM on a Sunday morning from Hyderabad in a hired Innova. Reached Srisailam at 1:30 PM, took ORR and drove non-stop apart from making entries at 2 check post, till we reached the view points near Srisailam dam. One can spot lot of monkeys on the way and we can we people slowing the vehicles and dropping food which is not a good idea. Request you folks not to continue the trend. Travellers should be careful not to run down the monkeys specially baby monkeys.





 






Visited the first landmark temple of Srisailam which is 2 km from the main temple. Had a quick darsanam of Sri Sakshi Ganapati and proceeded to Srisailam. Checked in APTDC Haritha resort (pre-booked online) and proceeded to first darsanam of Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy Jyothirlinga and Maha Sakthi Bhramaramba Devi at 2:00 PM. 

It is customary to visit the temple immediately after reaching Srisailam which is called Dhooli Darsanam. In spite of being a Sunday and Vaikunta Ekadasi, we had a considerably quick darsanam and came out in 1 hr which included darshans of Mallikarjuna Swamy, Vruddha Mallikarjuna Swamy, Sri Rama pratishta Sahasra Lingam,  Triphala Vruksham, Sri Veerabhadra Swamy, Pandava pratishta Siva Lingas, Sita pratishta Sahasra Lingam, Sri Bhramarambha Devi, which are all in the same temple compound. The temple is usually closed at 3 PM and will be opened again at 5:30 PM.

day view of main gopuram

night view

The restaurant in Haritha offers buffet lunch from 12:45 PM to 3 PM and dinner from 7:30 PM to 10 PM. The food is decent, served hot and is priced at 70/-.  It was 3:15 by the time we reached the resort and the restaurant was closed. Luckily, we had packed food to be on safer side and had it for lunch. We planned to visit Ishta Kameswari temple but was informed that the temple has been closed for few days. After relaxing for a while we proceeded to Patalaganga rope way which is about 1.5 km from the resort but could not get into as it was too crowded and same was the case with Srisaila Sikharam.

We had booked tickets online for rudra abhisekham and kumkuma pooja few days before the trip. The ticketing counter usually opens at 6:30 PM where we exchanged our online vouchers to get printed tickets. There is a counter to get pooja material with these tickets which was closed for most of the time due to their inability to handle huge crowd thronging the counters for abhisekham tickets. Finally we managed to get the pooja material at 9 PM, after making few rounds and struggling in the crowded line for 30 mins. 

Haritha resort is well maintained resort and is strongly recommended for everyone who is seeking accomodation in Srisailam. The only drawback is, hot water is available only from 4 AM to 6 AM. Since we had abhisekham at 7 AM, we managed to get ready by 6 AM and reached temple by 6:30 AM. Since it was a Monday, the temple was too crowded. We had to wait for almost 2 hours for our 1 minute chance to be the presence of Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy. However, we rejoiced every second of the opportunity to perform Abhishekam. We can touch the Siva Lingam and even do a pranamam by touching the forehead to the idol. After the Abhishekam, we visited other temples in the complex and performed Kumkuma pooja to Sri Bhramaramba Devi. 

Outside the temple, there were few ladies who charge 100/- and give us an opportunity to do Annadanam to 10 sadhus there. It was their way of making money but we liked the idea and offered food to few of them.

We returned to the resort, had lunch and proceeded to rope way at Patalaganga. Other noticable places in Srisailam are Phaladaara and Panchadaara, Hatakeswaram, , Sikhara darshanam, Chenchu Lakshmi tribal museum. There are few beautiful images of lord Siva near the Nandi circle. Tribal museum is adjacent to one of the idols. Harita resort is very close to Nandi circle. A sign board indicating the direction to post office can be seen immediately after crossing the Nandi circle.
 
Patalaganga rope way is a short 5 minute passage to get down to Patalaganga. Alternate route is to get down about 400 steps. There is an option to go on a boat ride to enjoy the beauty of Krishna river.

View of patalaganga from boat, people take holy dip in the water. The water in this region is very deep and there were several announcements cautioning tourists to the follow the instructions and not enter the water apart from the designated points.

Phaladhaara Panchadhaara, and Hatakeeswam are 2 points which are about 4 km from the main temple and 2 km from Saakshi Ganapati temple. One has to climb down about 145 steps to reach Phaaladhaara and Panchadhaara to see the water coming out of the rocky hill. I tasted the water but could not differentiate the taste.

Hatakeswaram is on the opposite side of the road and is very close to Phaladhaara and Panchadhaara.

 











Another important spot not to be missed for travellers is Srisaila Sikharam.

Srisaila Sikharam

Srisaila Sikhara darsanam is customary for all those who visit Srisailam. As per the legend it gives Moksham to all who have the Shikara darsanam (Darsanam of Srisaila Sikharam viewed from between the ears of Nandi at this point).  The devastanam department has placed steel plates in the form of 'L' shape below the Dhamarukam to facilitate the devotees to spot the Sikharam easily.

It is the place where Lord Sikhareswara Swamy resides. The Siva Lingam here appears to be a replica of Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy, the only difference being the color where the Siva Lingam here is white in color. 

The Sikharam is about 8 kms from the main temple. One has to climb about 150 steps to reach the Sikharam, which is said to be the highest point in this region. Taking an alternate path can reduce the number of steps by about 50. The steps here are not too steep and one can climb them easily. Devotees usually rub Nandi by pouring rice grains and gingelly seeds while viewing the Sikharam. One has to be careful while carrying the rice grains as there are lot of monkeys in this place.

Mahanandi trip

We took the Srisailam - Doranala - Atmakur - Nandyala route to go to Mahanandi. The distance is about 170 kms.  We started at 7:30 AM at Srisailam, passed by Sikharam en route Doranala, the route is mostly ghat section which is good and scenic surrounded by thick forest on both sides. The road from Doranala to Atmakur is single lane for most part of it and is not a pleasant route. The good thing about this route is that there was not much traffic. We passed by beautiful Sunflower plantations on both side of the road and upon request, the farmers there obliged and allowed us to enter the field for few clicks.

We stopped at Atmakur for a quick breakfast and hit the Nandyala bypass road and reached Mahanandi by 12:30 PM. There are no decent restaurants in Mahanandi and the APTDC's Haritha has only accommodation. Again as in Srisailam, the accommodation here is excellent and the price is only 850/- for a single room A/C. The rooms were full owing to the holidays but we were not affected by it as we booked the rooms online before the journey. The block in which we got our rooms was relatively new and is very well maintained. 

We had our lunch at Karivena Bramhana Annadana satram which was planned as we were told about the lack of good restaurants in Mahanandi. The satram is run by brahmins they offer good food who inform them before reaching the place and the service is free of cost. However those who want to utilize this service are requested to inform them in advance so that they prepare the food accordingly to minimize the wastage. We were moved by the hospitality and the service offered at the satram. 

The speciality of Mahanandi is that the temple complex has 3 nandi temples out of 9 nandi temples (Nava Nandi) in Nandyala. Out of Nava Nandis, Mahanandi is the most popular temple. Mahanandi is famous for the freshwater released from a Nandi's mouth which is connected to a pool in the temple.  The water is so fresh and clear that one can see the pebbles at the bottom of this pool from a distance. The main pool was closed for some reason. It is said that the water in these pools are cold in summer and hot in winter. The water from this pool flows to two other pools where people take holy dip and enjoy the warm water. It is said that the water from these pools is further used to irrigate 2000 acres of banana plantation outside the temple. 

Mahanandi is house for Sri Nandeeswara Swamy, which is said to be Swayambhu Linga in the shape of ant hill which is presently covered with a silver casing. The temple is also house for Sri Kameswari Devi and Sri Vinayaka Nandi. At a walkable distance from the temple there is a huge 40 feet statue of Nandi in the Nandi park which is the highlight of this place and draws huge attention. After clicking few pictures, we started at Mahanandi at 5:30 PM and reached Kurnool by 7 pm covering a distance of 90 kms. Witnessed beautiful sunset on the way, captured this picture from the moving vehicle.


We stopped for a short while for minor repair to the bumper and for fuelling. We hit the NH7 at Kurnool and apart from stopping at 3 toll gates, we drove non stop for 175 kms and reached Shamshabad by 10 PM. After light dinner at a restaurant, we reached home at 11 PM.

why this blog?

I had been referring various forums and posts online before my every travel and always wanted to give something back. This blog is an attempt to pen down some of my travel experiences with as much detail as possible for the benefit of other travellers. I will also try to include pictures where ever possible. Please feel free to comment and leave your suggestions on the posts . I will try to accommodate your valuable feedback in future posts and improve this site.