February 21, 2015
Scattered among the dry pains of south Andra Pradesh. Lepakshi, Belum Caves and Gandikota gives you an experience of architecture, history and natural beauty. Its close proxomitiy to Karnataka makes it a perfect weekend getaway from Bangalore.
Route: Bangalore - Lepakshi - Tadipatri - Belum Caves - Yaganti - Gandikota - Bangalore.
No of Days: 2
Best time: June to September.
Stay: Gandikota has an Andra Pradesh Tourist Guesthouse with restaurant facility. You can also camp in the open fields before the fort. No water facility available. Contact no: 7382237380
You can start from Bangalore Saturday early morning and finish the trip by Sunday evening. You got a choice between tadipatri and yaganti, covering both will eat up lot of your time on Saturday. If you are not spending too much photographing the monuments, you can cover both places. I skipped tadipatri because I spent lot of time photographing the monuments.
Lepakshi: Know for its Monolithic Nandi and Veerabhadra Temple built during 16th century. The temple is know for its hanging pillar and extensive wall painting. read more
Belum Caves: Second largest cave in Indian-Subcontinent. It was open to public only in 2002 and only 1/3 of the explored cave is open to visitors. An entry fee of INR 50 is collected. You can avail free guide service. read more
Yaganti: A pilgrimage site with lot of folklore stories associated with it. The scenic location of temple and caves ( all are installed with Hindu deities ) draw lot of people here. There’s a small stream that runs throughout the year. You can get a scenic view of the temple by taking the road that goes up the mountain. read more
Gandikota: Fondly called as the grand canyon of India. Gandikota is an old fortress located on the cliff of a narrow gorge. Apart from the gorge, there’s an old temple, mosque, granary and royal tank. If you want to explore, you can go further till the cliff dotted with bunch of old buildings. read more