JOIN USIt was more like an urge — to take the uncharted ways; to make no itinerary and just make headway somewhere; to halt at the first stop and explore; either ride into the sunset or melt with it.
These were my thoughts when I started my journey in the Eastern Ghats, with Kurnool, often referred to as The Gateway to Rayalaseema — a province with varied history; a place of hot passions, of violent factionist loyalties; a land that was once the stronghold of Krishnadevaraya; and a cultural pot of Vijayanagar Empire.
I started my day by visiting Belum Caves. Surrounded by hillocks, desolate roads, fragmented habitation, an unusual chill in the morning breeze, and an imposing Buddha statue before the caves, my brain kept registering the unusual charms of the place.
The caves were explored some 130 years ago and came to Andhra Pradesh Tourism’s notice in the 1980s. This is an underground cave, some 3.5 km long, with an underground river. The caves are well-maintained and illuminated.
The entrance is a circular pit and right away, one descends and then moves into a spacious chamber with a circular opening overhead. I craned my neck to see the deep blue sky at the rim of the crater. That was my last glimpse of the sky for a while.
If you are wondering what’s in the cave, there is history, some mythology, and of course, nature’s old processes that have given birth to the typical cave formations of stalactites and stalagmites. These are limestone formations, and I remembered them as: ‘stalactites hold tight to the roof and stalagmites might reach the roof’.
There is also a freshwater spring called Patalganga. To reach it, one has to climb down the iron stairs, reach a narrow gauge, pass a few meditation halls used by Buddhist monks. There is a feeling of walking through an underground river channel.
One look back at where I had been to and a shot of the imposing Buddha statue, and then I was on the road to Yaganti Uma Maheshwara Temple, passing the roads with scenes of the famous Kurnool black tiles and a few tractors splashing sand on one side, and velvet-green paddy fields on the other.
Legends abound
The Yaganti Temple has some history but dusts off some science too. This temple was constructed by King Harihara Bukka Rayalu of Sangama Dynasty of Vijayanagara Empire, in the 15th century. It was built according to Vaishnavite traditions.
It’s said that Sage Agastya wanted to construct a temple dedicated to Lord Venkateshwara on this site, but the statue couldn’t be installed. Hence he performed a penance invoking Lord Shiva, and urged him to settle here with Goddess Parvati inside a single stone, to which Shiva obliged.
It is believed that the Nandi idol is continuously growing. Scientific estimates by the Archaeological Survey of India put it at a growth rate of one inch every 20 years. The temple staff has had to remove one of the pillars due to the increase in its size.
The temple itself looks like a scene from a fantasy movie, surrounded with towering hillocks, deep caves on the hillocks amid deep forests. There are cave temples, which require some seasoned climbing experience, but a view from the top will be worth all the pain taken.
The place looks desolate; then, the look of the cliffs, the hanging trees, the arid landscape for miles together, and in the middle, the temple — with co-existing history, mythology and science — sure are impressive. The temple is merely 15 km from the town of Banaganapalle. Do halt at the summer palace of the rulers of Kurnool. Though it may be crumbling from inside, the exteriors of this imposing structure have withstood the ravages of time.
The moving idol?
Next, I drove to Nandyal to visit Mahanandi Temple. We were scheduled to stay the night near the temple. At night the temple looked grand and mesmerising. The next morning, we were on our way to get a darshan. Being a pilgrimage centre, the temple engages one with many stories.
One such is of Lord Prameshwara featuring in the dreams of the erstwhile ruler and summoning him to build a temple. Lord assured the ruler that Ganga would emerge from that spot; the king built a pond there, opposite to the inner sanctum, and within a short time there was an endless flow of clear water. He named it Rudra Gunda.
The temple displays quintessential Hindu architecture. Its open, symmetry-driven structure on a square grid of padas — deploying geometric shapes — is a fine example of it. The richly carved entrance and the shrines convey its South Indian descent. The Mahanandi Temple seemed to be the centre for all activities in the town. A town living under the gracious guidance of a temple.