Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh, India)

Srisailam is a holy town, situated in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is on the banks of River Krishna. This place is located at about 232 km south of Hyderabad. ‘Bhramaramba Mallikarjunaswamy Temple’ of Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy and Devi Bhramaramba is located here and it is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga temples. During your journey from Hyderabad to Srisailam, you will find ‘Srisailam Dam’ and a Tiger Reserve Forest.

Reach There:

Road to Srisailam

Srisailam is about 232 km from Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, and there are buses connecting the town with Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guntur and Kurnool. For service from Hyderabad to Srisailam, tickets and reservations can be made at the Central Bus station Hyderabad.

The approximate travel time from Hyderabad to Srisailam is 6 hours. But I am not sure about train root. But if you are traveling from Hyderabad and you are a group of 5-6 people best travel option is private cab (both comfortable and pocket friendly). While hiring a cab, ensure that the driver has experience in ghat section. Most of the roads have lots of pothole. So, please drive safe. For nature lovers Srisailam trip leaves immense pleasure as you travel through deep forests. From Dornala to Srisailam you will find excellent view and the road is full of curves and U turns.

Attractions:

Gate of Temple

Sri Brahmarambika Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple: Temple of Brahmarambika Mallikarjuna Swamy (Lord Shiva) is one of 12 Jyotirlinga in India.

Mallikarjuna in an ancient temple that is architecturally and sculpturally rich. It is one place where Shakti peeta and Jyotirlingam are together. Visit to the temple is must. Make sure that you don’t have camera with you (like most of the temple in south India). Must try the ‘prasadam’ here, it is too testy. 

Patal Ganga River: 

Patal Ganga River a.k.a. Krishna River

Krishna River is known as Patal Ganga here. People take a holy bath here. The water is supposed to be very pure and have healing properties for skin diseases.If you are not physically very fit (like me) DO NOT TRY to take stairs to reach the river, there are around 1500 stairs (approximately). So choose yourselves. Other option is, you can opt for rope-way to reach the river.

Srisailam Dam

Srisailam Dam: Srisailam Dam is built on the Krishna River and is 512 m long. It is set amidst beautiful natural scenery — ghats, cliffs, craggy ridges, plateaus and dense forests.

Ista Kameswari Temple: From Srisailam you need to travel 16 km into deep forest to reach the temple. Don't try to go in your own vehicle because the way is sprinkled with huge rocks and water. Engage a jeep from Srisailam. If you have a team of 8-10 they will charge Rs 1000-1200. Else you can share with other in which case you will be charged 300 Rs. Bargain the amount with the drivers. See waterfalls and valleys there. 

Akkamahadevi Caves: This is the most interesting part of the journey in Srisailam. 

Journey to Akkamahadevi Caves

To reach the caves you need to go to Patala Ganga.You can reach Patala Ganga by rope way and ride a boat from there to reach the caves. After traveling 16 km (for more than an hour) on the Krishna river with high mountains on either sides and walking for some distance, you will reach the caves. 

Going down to river

 There will be a guide with you in the boat who will lead into the caves. You need to take a candle with you as the caves are 80 feet deep and very dark. 

Stay:

There are lots of budget hotels and lodges around the Mallikarjuna Swami Temple in Srisailam. Most of these do not require any prior reservation except during peak seasons and festivals, and most Mondays. The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department runs a few hotels by name Ganga Sadan, Gouri Sadan and Punnami Guest House.

Eat:

Only vegetarian food is available here in the temple town. So, all non-vegetarian people hold your taste buds for few days.

Drink:

Water is not really good, so mineral water is better option.

Alcohol is not available here.   

Buy:

You can buy pure Girijan honey, AGMARK certified honey which is supplied by government of Andhra Pradesh. 

Chenchu Lakshmi Tribal Museum

It is regarded as very pure and tasty. You can get it in Chenchu Lakshmi Tribal Museum. Don't buy it elsewhere.

Do Not:

Sometime you may get into problem during smoking. In most of the shops you will not find cigarette, so if you are regular smoker make sure that you have enough stock.

Here you will find problem if you are a regular credit card or debit card user as most of the shop don’t have punching machine. So, bring enough cash.

Other Attraction:

Ista Srisailam-Nagarjuna Sagar Tiger Reserve: This is the only tiger reserve in Andhra Pradesh. Three forest rest houses and 40 bed capacity dormitories for tourists. 

More Pics:

Agatti Island (Lakshadweep)

Agatti Island View from Flight

Agatti island is the gateway to Lakshadweep, lying about 320 Km off the south west coast of India on Arabian Sea. Very seldom does one get to live so close to nature as you will find in Agatti. No traffic, no pollution, no smoke, no rush and run. Here you will find only 3 things – Lagoon, White Sand and Fresh Air rather say it you will find 3 things nature, nature and nature.

  

Season: 

Raw Nature

October to End of April

Entry Permit:

All visitors (BOTH Indian & Foreign Nationals) to Lakshadweep Islands require Entry Permit which shall be arranged by your tour operator. For Indian national required information: Full Name, Age, Full Address, Occupation and Date of Birth.

Getting There:

Kingfisher Red and Indian Airlines flights are available from Bangalore (via Kochi / or starting from Kochi). Mostly the flights are ATR and you may feel some bumping in Air, though the islands from the sea are most amazing scene.  Also you will find an exciting flight landing at Agatti Airport. The average transfer time from the Agatti Airport to resorts is around a two minute walk. Total journey time is around 3 hours (starting from Bangalore, includes half an hour stop at Kochi Airport). Kingfisher Red has a daily non-stop flight from Bangalore.

Also ships ply from Cochin to Agatti. The travel time from Kochi (Cochin) to Agatti Island is 24 Hours and the passengers have to spend the night in the push-back chair. The seating capacities of these ships are 150 passengers each.

Stay:

Agatti Island Beach Resort

Agatti Island Beach Resort and SeaShell are two resorts. Agatti Island Beach resort offers some beach huts and beach bungalows and a private beach. Cottages are good as per standards. You will get some service there which you must not expect in a small island like Agatti. SeaShell Resort is also quite good. 

Related links:  

http://www.agattiislandresorts.com/

http://seashellsagatti.com/

 

Eat:

If you are a non-vegetarian and also a fish lover, you will love the place. A lot of sea food and sea fishes are available here. Also other non vegetarian foods like chicken, muttons also available. Also vegetarian (including Jain Food) food is available and foods are delicious. One more interesting food habit here is you will not get cow milk here. They use goat milk.  Local cuisine is similar to Kerala.

Activities:

Water Sports are main attraction of Agatti. Get indulge in different activities like: Scuba Diving, Kayaking, Snorkeling, Para Sailing. You will get a full training for these activities before the actual. Also one more attraction is Glass Bottom Boat Sail and Island Excursion. Book an auto-rickshaw (Yes it is available J there) and visit local Museum, Jetty etc. 

Agatti Island Lagoon is one of the safest swimming beaches in world so swim a lot. Play in white sand. See live corals there. Agatti is one of the coral islands in India.

Note: Between May to Mid September no water sports is available. But if you want to spend time relaxing and want to see raw nature visit during this time.

Buy:

Souvenir Shop

Only one souvenir shop is available at Agatti Island Beach Resort. You can buy showpieces made of different parts of coconut tree. Also you can buy dry fish, coconut powder, handmade t-shirts etc. And believe me they are really cheap.

Telecom Facilities:

Airtel, BSNL mobile connections works there. Also you can access mobile internet (GPRS) from Airtel Mobile. Also STD, ISD call facilities are available from Agatti Island Beach Resort reception. 

Other Facilities: 

ATM

‘Syndicate Bank’ ATM is the only ATM option. Local Govt. Hospital, Police Station is present in Agatti Island.

Do Not:

Consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited in Agatti Island. Picking up corals is a punishable crime. 

 

 

For further Details Contact me : des.t.nation.inc@gmail.com

Your Des-T-Nation

Des-T-Nation Inc. India is not an organization; it is not a business establishment or not a travel agency. This is a dream child of couple of people who love to travel, or rather who love to travel in India. Here we will not promote any tour or travel operator, we will promote India’s natural beauties and its vastness. From Hills to Sea, from greenery to desert, from lagoon to backwater India has everything. There are still many yet to be explored places in India, so why not explore them.

Recent market trends reflect that we are more going outside of India for a holiday. Why not here in India? India has everything so why to fly abroad?

We, Des-T-Nation Inc. India will try to promote tourism of India in this blog. We with our limited scope and resource will try to give information about some places in India, which can include a much known place or a yet to be fully explored place in India.

Please note that this is our first blog writing, so we welcome all the suggestions, criticisms and feedback.

Our journey will start from smallest Union territory of India, Lakshadweep (or Laccadive).