This is part of my field trip to Anantapur, in last March.
I was lucky enough to get a job ,which involves field trips. I joined a project on Study on implementation of Right to Information Act in Andhra Pradesh.
As it happened last year, i cant recall specific details. Duration of the trip is about 20 days. My daily routine involves visiting Govt offices and interviewing officers. I have had some bitter, some funny, some delightful experiences.
I don’t expect the reader of the blog will be interested in my trip to each MRO and MPDO office in 10 Mandals of Anantapur. So, I am going to limit this post to tourist places.
After sending Vamsi off at airport, I started my journey to Anantapur on Sunday. The distance is 350KM and I have whole day . Reached destination before night took over.
After one week of work, on a weekend I decided to take a break and go to Bangalore. Started at around 7PM. Bangalore is 200KM from Anantapur.
WARNING: There are no ATMs on the highway from Anantapur to Bangalore.
It was a mistake to have over confidence on the availability of ATMs on the highway. I had RS 100, which should be enough for dinner and couple of tea breaks. I am terribly worried about fuel. Found a petrol bunk which accepts cards and where the swiping machine is working. Now, I can go till Bangalore, only if bike don’t develop any issue like flat Tyre.
One guy tells me that, there was no ATM till Penukonda, which is 50 KM away. The old NH7 passes through Penukonda, but the new one bypassed the town. I was told, I have to get deviated from the highway for 7 KM to find an ATM. I opted to travel without cash instead.
Once Manohar, told me that the route from Anantapur to Bangalore is beautiful. I could not comprehend the beauty to that extent as it is dark, but, bright moonlight allowed me to anticipate how beautiful the surroundings will be in daytime.
At a distance, to my right, I noticed a big white thing shining. At first i thought it’s a waterfall, it looked beautiful from distance, I cursed all the people who travelled on the road and not informing about the waterfalls. The thing is a big rock which cut into half. The rock, draped in moonlight, impersonated waterfalls, and fooled me.
Raju is a frequent traveller from Bangalore to Hyderabad, he assured me that ATMs will be available at Chikballapur. Chikballapur is dining spot for passenger of buses. I tried my luck there. More than Telugu, Hindi and English, sign language worked out there, and I was able to eat.
There is nothing much to tell, till I reach outskirts of Bangalore. Straight black road, moon light and cool weather.
I asked the traffic police for directions, he can’t speak any other language except Kannada, but he has the will to help me out. Centuries ago, when global trade began, thats how the explorers must of have survived, more than verbal language, its body language and sign language which are primary languages. We humans, possess one body language across the borders and oceans, not English, this is the universal language.
Though, Bangalorians are friendly and offered me directions, Hebbal junction is too complicated. And thats the place, i found chai. Finally, chai. My first chai in Bangalore. It was just OK.
Raju came with his friend to pick me up. I asked him, how ask “How much i owe” in kannada to the Tea guy, he asked me go ahead in Telugu, i was adamant to use Kannada. Finally, Raju asked him in Telugu, and paid.
BANGALORE TO SRAVANABELOGALA
We were standing before a mountain. I was contemplating, if i will survive
if i fall half way to the top.When we were having a coffee break, Raju asked me if i have seen the
weblinks he sent me last night. Negative. He said, the statue of Gomateswara is
on a mountain, and one need to scale it. Everybody thinks I hate trekking. That
is undeniably true. Now he says we have mountain to climb, sipping coffee. I have no other choice, except to move
forward.
Like always, i underestimated the mountain. I thought i could manage it, but its huge. Neck strains even to look at the top. Added to that, it should be scaled without footwear as it is a religious place.
INFO : There is no proper parking there. We parked the bike on the curb of the hotel we had lunch.
They sell socks and hats there. Raju bought them. Climbing is easy if i concentrate just on the next step, instead of having the full view of mountain.
There are many structures like it across Karnataka. However, this particular place is special. This is where, King Chandragupta Mourya, disciple of Chanakya, did Sallekhana , a ritual in Jainism which promises Nirvana if one fasts unto death. Yes, the great Mauryan King who established a great empire in north India, choose to die like that in south India. He travelled all the way from North India to here, just to fast till he is dead. And I came all the way from Hyderabad, to climb till I die.
NOTE: . Tie your hats properly at the neck, or they will be blown away.
We have to observe few things here. One, Chandra Gupta Maurya is raised by a Brahmin to the power. In the later age, he chose Jainism, which defies Hinduism. And his grandson Samrat Ashoka chose Buddism and spread it. Most importantly, about 1000 yrs back, Hindu kings of Karnataka tolerated construction of huge nude statue of a different god on top of a hill. Seems that religious tolerance got evaporated due to global warming.
I have this admiration for man-made, larger than life things over Nature
(Except oceans and deserts). It is one
of the topics of arguments with my nature loving friends. I prefer to admire the dream, strategy,
endurance and unshakable determination of the men who made it, than a thing
formed out of the randomness.
One thing i could not understand about the statue, what is the point of creepers when they don’t conceal penis of the Gomateswara, unlike in western art, where flowers, fruits, hands etc etc are used to hide the gentiles.
We are looking at a giant size statue of 58ft. I might have appreciated if the figure is looking down, but sculpture thought otherwise. The statue is gazing horizontally, towards the land, covered with coconut trees. From the hilltop , if you gaze at the horizon , for a long time in summer, like me, you might see the round edges of the Planet earth.
We have no plans for the day, so we remained there, checking out the place. Had coconut water once we got down. We heard the word Sri Rangapatnam, or we read it on a board, i don’t exactly remember, we decided to go there as it is just 60 KM from Shravanabelagola.
We studied about Sri Rangapatnam, but we forgot, we only remember that we
studied about it in the school, so we headed there.
My phone is not in a mood to get GPS signal. Raju managed to find out the way in Kannada. One thing i have to tell about to all Kannadigas. They are helping creatures. From police to Boy in Petrol Bunk, when asked for directions, they start in Kannada, if your face goes blank, they convey the message in pidgin.
I was reminded of the East Godavari and West Godavari trips on the way to Sri Ranga patnam. Only difference is, in Karnataka the greenery is because of coconut trees only, nothing else. They seem to enjoy the simple village life still. They still construct the old tiled roof houses. One more thing, there are no political party banners or flags or flag posts. When General elections are in couple of months, this is not how an Indian villages should look. There is a possibility that, political banners were obscured by Birthday wishes banners and Death Anniversary ones.
By 4PM we reached Sri Ranga Patnam. It is the capital of Tippu Sultan. That is why we must have read it in
the school. A temple and a fort are tourist attractions. Tippu sultan is resting in the fort.
Then to Ranganatha swamy temple. There we committed the sin of not giving it much time to explore. You, my dear reader, don’t do that. It needs 2 hours of the time at the least.
INFO: Dont buy wooden items at the temple. You will get them cheap at chennapatnam , on the way to Bangalore.
Mysore
WARNING: Check Mysore palace visiting hours before getting excited and go there.
Mysore is about 20KM away. Cross a stream of Kaveri and one will reach Mysore. This is the 4th river I crossed. Krishna at Mahaboobnagar,
Tungabadhra at Kurnool, Penna at Ananatapur and now Kaveri.
We reached Mysore just before dark. It took some time to reach the palace. Front yard of the palace is crowded . The palace is lit and shining like a spiritual thing in movies. Visiting hours for place are till 5PM. After that, the tourist have to get content with the well lit view of palace from the front yard.
We spent couple of hours there. We went to a Bakery for Chai. Yes, they sell Tea in Bakeries in Karnataka. Shocker alert for Tea lovers.
City of Toys
Kannadigas have this habit of naming places for what they are well known for. Mysore has a name, Sri Rangapatnam has a name ( I forgot both ). We passed through a town called Chennapatna. It specializes in wooden crafts, mainly toys. And the town is called “City of Toys”. There will be shops on the highway for them. Me and Raju bought lot of them, for souvenirs at 11PM.
City of Toys is one of the five “city of something” towns we crossed. Last night I had a bad impression of Karnataka, as it become hard to get tea. Today, it faded away.
But , Bangalore , the-city-of-no-tea at night lived up to the standards. I really hope, the parts of the city i have been to are like that, not the entire city. Its hard to believe, a city , famous for pub culture, does not serve tea at night.
However, i would not hesitate to call it, graveyard at night. Unlike Hyderabad, people disappear at night. Not even a single soul to ask directions on the road. Finally, two police souls rescued us. What is wrong with that city? And how it can be called a metro?
I don’t know based on what criteria Govt declares a city a metro, but , a metro should have basic qualities. Firstly, middle class should be in majority. Secondly, the city should never sleep, one should be able to tea and food at any given point of time. Thirdly, there should be street food. If i had to compare with Hyderabad, dedicated stalls for tea should be omnipresent. Bangalore really disappointed me.
That day we travelled about 440 KM. And most of it is without planning. But, i have checked in places which are not in my list.
Though Raju is my school buddy, i never knew he enjoys travelling. He comes from a village few kilometres from Nagarjuna Sagar, and never went there. Naturally , i thought , he does not like travelling. But, i was wrong, either he didn’t indulge in travelling or he didn’t talk about it.
Raju is kind of a person, who does not talk because he cannot tolerate silence. That is one quality a pillion rider should possess, or for anyone in general. Car is a different ball game. After sometime, the music will be on, and no more talking, and at least, i can lost in thoughts while talk to each other. Bikes lack that facility.
Woke up late, bid adieu to Raju and left to Lepakshi. With last days accomplishments , i got greedy, or the tourist in me woken up. I started planning , without calculations or knowledge. Before going to sleep, i thought of going to Nandi Hills. They are at the out skirts of Bangalore. Bangalorians come there because clouds touch the Hills. I just want to feel, how it be standing above the clouds. If only i was able wake up early that day.
That day is Holi. Bangalorians, drove to outskirts in their SUVs, and added colours to the road.
The highway has small hills, mostly round at the tops, on both sides. Its like, I am riding among giant eggs.
When the village names stopped ending with “Halli”, and where “palli” suffix starts, and when hot air from the dry land surrounding you starts burning your fingers and face. You know that you are back in Anantapur.
After having lunch at a local Mess, near tollgate, I headed towards Lepakshi. Not Temple but Lepakshi Nandi is in my list. Been watching that bull on my notebooks since kindergarten.
Lepakshi
The way from NH7 to Lepakshi is single road, passes through villages and is
not well maintained. After 25KM , reached Lepakshi.
Underestimated!! That is my first reaction when i entered temple. If I am good at vocabulary, I could use a better word than “Magnificent” to describe it. If I don’t have laziness I would have searched for a better superlative, so, forgive me.
I started liking the sculptures and art in general. As per my understanding, art, either books, paintings, movies etc etc teaches more about humanity and individuals, than all the sociological and psychology books in the world can offer.
I was just walking in the lobby, admiring the art; a group of tourists came
with a guide. I joined the troop and learned a great deal about the temple. If I
start writing all that, you might be get bored.
However, this is the short list of must-watch items,
The rock bull is sitting beside the road. How could I have missed it? Took snaps of it and resumed the journey.
there is this middle aged guy who introduced himself as a guide appointed
by Archaeology department on Contract. I put the bag on the tank, with little
difficulty started riding with him on the back seat.
Vijayangara Empire. Anyway, whatever i have seen ,
i am happy with that. Paid him some money , waited for the train to pass at arailway
crossing and reached Anantapur.
I was lucky enough to get a job ,which involves field trips. I joined a project on Study on implementation of Right to Information Act in Andhra Pradesh.
As it happened last year, i cant recall specific details. Duration of the trip is about 20 days. My daily routine involves visiting Govt offices and interviewing officers. I have had some bitter, some funny, some delightful experiences.
I don’t expect the reader of the blog will be interested in my trip to each MRO and MPDO office in 10 Mandals of Anantapur. So, I am going to limit this post to tourist places.
After sending Vamsi off at airport, I started my journey to Anantapur on Sunday. The distance is 350KM and I have whole day . Reached destination before night took over.
After one week of work, on a weekend I decided to take a break and go to Bangalore. Started at around 7PM. Bangalore is 200KM from Anantapur.
WARNING: There are no ATMs on the highway from Anantapur to Bangalore.
It was a mistake to have over confidence on the availability of ATMs on the highway. I had RS 100, which should be enough for dinner and couple of tea breaks. I am terribly worried about fuel. Found a petrol bunk which accepts cards and where the swiping machine is working. Now, I can go till Bangalore, only if bike don’t develop any issue like flat Tyre.
One guy tells me that, there was no ATM till Penukonda, which is 50 KM away. The old NH7 passes through Penukonda, but the new one bypassed the town. I was told, I have to get deviated from the highway for 7 KM to find an ATM. I opted to travel without cash instead.
Once Manohar, told me that the route from Anantapur to Bangalore is beautiful. I could not comprehend the beauty to that extent as it is dark, but, bright moonlight allowed me to anticipate how beautiful the surroundings will be in daytime.
At a distance, to my right, I noticed a big white thing shining. At first i thought it’s a waterfall, it looked beautiful from distance, I cursed all the people who travelled on the road and not informing about the waterfalls. The thing is a big rock which cut into half. The rock, draped in moonlight, impersonated waterfalls, and fooled me.
Raju is a frequent traveller from Bangalore to Hyderabad, he assured me that ATMs will be available at Chikballapur. Chikballapur is dining spot for passenger of buses. I tried my luck there. More than Telugu, Hindi and English, sign language worked out there, and I was able to eat.
There is nothing much to tell, till I reach outskirts of Bangalore. Straight black road, moon light and cool weather.
I asked the traffic police for directions, he can’t speak any other language except Kannada, but he has the will to help me out. Centuries ago, when global trade began, thats how the explorers must of have survived, more than verbal language, its body language and sign language which are primary languages. We humans, possess one body language across the borders and oceans, not English, this is the universal language.
Though, Bangalorians are friendly and offered me directions, Hebbal junction is too complicated. And thats the place, i found chai. Finally, chai. My first chai in Bangalore. It was just OK.
Raju came with his friend to pick me up. I asked him, how ask “How much i owe” in kannada to the Tea guy, he asked me go ahead in Telugu, i was adamant to use Kannada. Finally, Raju asked him in Telugu, and paid.
BANGALORE TO SRAVANABELOGALA
We were standing before a mountain. I was contemplating, if i will survive
if i fall half way to the top.When we were having a coffee break, Raju asked me if i have seen the
weblinks he sent me last night. Negative. He said, the statue of Gomateswara is
on a mountain, and one need to scale it. Everybody thinks I hate trekking. That
is undeniably true. Now he says we have mountain to climb, sipping coffee. I have no other choice, except to move
forward.Like always, i underestimated the mountain. I thought i could manage it, but its huge. Neck strains even to look at the top. Added to that, it should be scaled without footwear as it is a religious place.
INFO : There is no proper parking there. We parked the bike on the curb of the hotel we had lunch.
They sell socks and hats there. Raju bought them. Climbing is easy if i concentrate just on the next step, instead of having the full view of mountain.
There are many structures like it across Karnataka. However, this particular place is special. This is where, King Chandragupta Mourya, disciple of Chanakya, did Sallekhana , a ritual in Jainism which promises Nirvana if one fasts unto death. Yes, the great Mauryan King who established a great empire in north India, choose to die like that in south India. He travelled all the way from North India to here, just to fast till he is dead. And I came all the way from Hyderabad, to climb till I die.
NOTE: . Tie your hats properly at the neck, or they will be blown away.
We have to observe few things here. One, Chandra Gupta Maurya is raised by a Brahmin to the power. In the later age, he chose Jainism, which defies Hinduism. And his grandson Samrat Ashoka chose Buddism and spread it. Most importantly, about 1000 yrs back, Hindu kings of Karnataka tolerated construction of huge nude statue of a different god on top of a hill. Seems that religious tolerance got evaporated due to global warming.
I have this admiration for man-made, larger than life things over Nature
(Except oceans and deserts). It is one
of the topics of arguments with my nature loving friends. I prefer to admire the dream, strategy,
endurance and unshakable determination of the men who made it, than a thing
formed out of the randomness. One thing i could not understand about the statue, what is the point of creepers when they don’t conceal penis of the Gomateswara, unlike in western art, where flowers, fruits, hands etc etc are used to hide the gentiles.
We are looking at a giant size statue of 58ft. I might have appreciated if the figure is looking down, but sculpture thought otherwise. The statue is gazing horizontally, towards the land, covered with coconut trees. From the hilltop , if you gaze at the horizon , for a long time in summer, like me, you might see the round edges of the Planet earth.
We have no plans for the day, so we remained there, checking out the place. Had coconut water once we got down. We heard the word Sri Rangapatnam, or we read it on a board, i don’t exactly remember, we decided to go there as it is just 60 KM from Shravanabelagola.
 | |
| View from the Hilltop |
My phone is not in a mood to get GPS signal. Raju managed to find out the way in Kannada. One thing i have to tell about to all Kannadigas. They are helping creatures. From police to Boy in Petrol Bunk, when asked for directions, they start in Kannada, if your face goes blank, they convey the message in pidgin.
I was reminded of the East Godavari and West Godavari trips on the way to Sri Ranga patnam. Only difference is, in Karnataka the greenery is because of coconut trees only, nothing else. They seem to enjoy the simple village life still. They still construct the old tiled roof houses. One more thing, there are no political party banners or flags or flag posts. When General elections are in couple of months, this is not how an Indian villages should look. There is a possibility that, political banners were obscured by Birthday wishes banners and Death Anniversary ones.
By 4PM we reached Sri Ranga Patnam. It is the capital of Tippu Sultan. That is why we must have read it in
the school. A temple and a fort are tourist attractions. Tippu sultan is resting in the fort.
Then to Ranganatha swamy temple. There we committed the sin of not giving it much time to explore. You, my dear reader, don’t do that. It needs 2 hours of the time at the least.
INFO: Dont buy wooden items at the temple. You will get them cheap at chennapatnam , on the way to Bangalore.
 |
| Grave of Tipu Sultan |
 | |
| Entry to the fort |
 | |
| Temple at Sri Rangapatnam |
Mysore
WARNING: Check Mysore palace visiting hours before getting excited and go there.
Mysore is about 20KM away. Cross a stream of Kaveri and one will reach Mysore. This is the 4th river I crossed. Krishna at Mahaboobnagar,
We reached Mysore just before dark. It took some time to reach the palace. Front yard of the palace is crowded . The palace is lit and shining like a spiritual thing in movies. Visiting hours for place are till 5PM. After that, the tourist have to get content with the well lit view of palace from the front yard.
We spent couple of hours there. We went to a Bakery for Chai. Yes, they sell Tea in Bakeries in Karnataka. Shocker alert for Tea lovers.
City of Toys
Kannadigas have this habit of naming places for what they are well known for. Mysore has a name, Sri Rangapatnam has a name ( I forgot both ). We passed through a town called Chennapatna. It specializes in wooden crafts, mainly toys. And the town is called “City of Toys”. There will be shops on the highway for them. Me and Raju bought lot of them, for souvenirs at 11PM.
City of Toys is one of the five “city of something” towns we crossed. Last night I had a bad impression of Karnataka, as it become hard to get tea. Today, it faded away.
But , Bangalore , the-city-of-no-tea at night lived up to the standards. I really hope, the parts of the city i have been to are like that, not the entire city. Its hard to believe, a city , famous for pub culture, does not serve tea at night.
However, i would not hesitate to call it, graveyard at night. Unlike Hyderabad, people disappear at night. Not even a single soul to ask directions on the road. Finally, two police souls rescued us. What is wrong with that city? And how it can be called a metro?
I don’t know based on what criteria Govt declares a city a metro, but , a metro should have basic qualities. Firstly, middle class should be in majority. Secondly, the city should never sleep, one should be able to tea and food at any given point of time. Thirdly, there should be street food. If i had to compare with Hyderabad, dedicated stalls for tea should be omnipresent. Bangalore really disappointed me.
That day we travelled about 440 KM. And most of it is without planning. But, i have checked in places which are not in my list.
Though Raju is my school buddy, i never knew he enjoys travelling. He comes from a village few kilometres from Nagarjuna Sagar, and never went there. Naturally , i thought , he does not like travelling. But, i was wrong, either he didn’t indulge in travelling or he didn’t talk about it.
Raju is kind of a person, who does not talk because he cannot tolerate silence. That is one quality a pillion rider should possess, or for anyone in general. Car is a different ball game. After sometime, the music will be on, and no more talking, and at least, i can lost in thoughts while talk to each other. Bikes lack that facility.
Woke up late, bid adieu to Raju and left to Lepakshi. With last days accomplishments , i got greedy, or the tourist in me woken up. I started planning , without calculations or knowledge. Before going to sleep, i thought of going to Nandi Hills. They are at the out skirts of Bangalore. Bangalorians come there because clouds touch the Hills. I just want to feel, how it be standing above the clouds. If only i was able wake up early that day.
That day is Holi. Bangalorians, drove to outskirts in their SUVs, and added colours to the road.
The highway has small hills, mostly round at the tops, on both sides. Its like, I am riding among giant eggs.
When the village names stopped ending with “Halli”, and where “palli” suffix starts, and when hot air from the dry land surrounding you starts burning your fingers and face. You know that you are back in Anantapur.
After having lunch at a local Mess, near tollgate, I headed towards Lepakshi. Not Temple but Lepakshi Nandi is in my list. Been watching that bull on my notebooks since kindergarten.
Lepakshi
The way from NH7 to Lepakshi is single road, passes through villages and is
not well maintained. After 25KM , reached Lepakshi.Underestimated!! That is my first reaction when i entered temple. If I am good at vocabulary, I could use a better word than “Magnificent” to describe it. If I don’t have laziness I would have searched for a better superlative, so, forgive me.
I started liking the sculptures and art in general. As per my understanding, art, either books, paintings, movies etc etc teaches more about humanity and individuals, than all the sociological and psychology books in the world can offer.
I was just walking in the lobby, admiring the art; a group of tourists came
with a guide. I joined the troop and learned a great deal about the temple. If I
start writing all that, you might be get bored.However, this is the short list of must-watch items,
1.
The hanging pillar, the pillar does not have base, this
bulky rocky pillar hangs from the roof.
2.
The wedding scene of Lord Shiva Parvati
3.
Blood stains on a wall. According to legend, the
builder of the temple plucked his own eyes out and throw them on the wall.
4.
Murals on the roof.
 | |
| Murals on the Roof |
I asked them for the Lepakshi Nandi. They said,
its on the road, and asked me how could I miss it.
The rock bull is sitting beside the road. How could I have missed it? Took snaps of it and resumed the journey.
Stopped for Tea at Chilamatur, a couple of
kilometres from High way. Its a small village, filled with excitement as some
drama company is going perform a play at late night. If its any earlier, i
would have stayed.
Its
already evening. I thought of visiting Puttaparthy and started in that
direction. After travelling about 10KM or so, i changed my mind and hit the
highway to reach Anantapur.
Penukonda
I noticed a statue of Sri Krishna Deva Raya on the left. Got off the bike to take a clear pic of it,
and
He showed me a lake, two temples and war-
elephant quarters. Sun didn’t allow me to explore further. Of course, i could
not believe much of what he said , because, at elephant quarters , he said that
Penukonda is the capital of
Only after checked into a hotel at Anantapur, I
realized. I forgot to visit the Kumbhakarnuni Hotel at Penukonda. Its a hotel,
shaped like Rakshasa Kumbhakarna. Thats why i don’t like journeys without
proper planning.
As this travelog already become lengthy, I will
stop here and shall write another one for rest of the getaways at Ananatapur.
