Bangalore weekend drive: Gandikota and Belum Caves, Andhra Pradesh – Part 1

I interrupt my current Singapore series to bring attention to a place I never knew even existed in India!

Me and my friends haven’t gone on a road trip in quite some time. So when we spoke about driving somewhere we all had never gone before, it was hard. We were sick of Mysore Road and have seen pretty much every attraction that stretch of Karnataka has to offer. This was going to be a proper weekend drive – leave early Saturday morning and be back by Sunday night, so given the time frame, the choice of destinations were quite limited to begin with.

As luck would have it, a friend of mine uploaded a few photos he had taken from his visit to a place called Gandikota in Andhra Pradesh. I had never heard of the place before but when I saw his photos, I just couldn’t believe I had never even known about its existence! Upon asking him for more information about Gandikota and doing some research on my own, I suggested a drive to Gandikota to my friends.

Some of them were apprehensive, saying it looked like “just a canal,” some couldn’t make it, but I was still hell-bent on going there. Charting a route map using Google Maps, the drive from Devanahalli to Gandikota was going to take approximately 5 hours (250kms). I also found that we can drive to another attraction, Belum Caves, from Gandikota itself and that would take over an hour to cover the 60km distance. From Belum Caves, we could then drive to the town of Anantapur and connect back to NH7 to drive back all the way to Bangalore city (280 kms).

After much convincing and last minute tussles, we (myself and friends Anand and Ramesh) were ready to venture into a territory hardly many from Bangalore have gone before.

Date: December 17th, 2011

The plan was for Anand to first pick me up and then Ramesh by 6am, but as is usually the case on our drives, we were slightly delayed and only picked up Ramesh as it neared 7am.

Foggy Sarjapur road morning drive Bangalore — We started from Sarjapur-Outer Ring Road… which was rather foggy at 7am

Airport road towards Devanahalli Bangalore — We drove on Airport Road and past Devanahalli

We stopped at a Kamat restaurant adjoining a Bharat Petroleum bunk to our left for breakfast. After puris and tea, we set off again towards Chikballapur.

Route map to Kadiri — We got off the main highway at a major intersection from where you need to take a right (Image: Google Maps)

Untarred road to billur — We did get a bit of rough road…

Road to Billur Karnataka — … but got back on to smooth tarmac soon after

Goats blocking Indian road — But we had to slow down when we saw this

Goats on road Karnataka India — Bangalore’s mutton supply discovered!

Goats crossing road India — There was a LOT of them!

Goat herder crossing road India — We waited until the herd passed by

Goats ram Karanata road India — Papa goat?

YSR golden statue junction Andhra Pradesh — We came straight down that road and passed this statue of the late YSR. When we stopped to confirm if we were going the right way, a passer by told us we need to take a right instead to head towards Kadiri

Road to Kadiri Andhra Pradesh India — We were now in the state of Andhra Pradesh

Road to Kadapa Andhra Pradesh — The road got narrow for a bit

Temple lake Kadiri Andhra Pradesh India — By 11am, we were in the town of Kadiri

Raja Reddy wedding photo — Raja looks pleased

Kadiri town AP India — Kadapa is the nearest major town to Gandikota, but we decided to drive through an alternate route that would take us straight to Gandikota

Jalamadugu turn at Kadiri Andhra Pradesh India — We came down that road and took a right towards Jammalamadugu

Ramesh Anand Phadake Ford Fiesta AP India — We stopped for a tea break at a dhaba along the way

Gopi Punjabi Dhaba Andhra Pradesh India — Gopi was the name of one of our ex-bosses… but that’s not why we stopped here, I swear 😉

Kadiri rocks Andhra Pradesh India — The landscape in these parts is completely different. Lots of rocks…

Inner Andhra Pradesh rocks geography — … and the rocks just stay (Taken by Ramesh)

Ramesh Iyer tea Andhra Pradesh India — We had our Rs. 5 chai

Anand Phadake tea stop dhaba — It was 11:45am, and we still had a long way to go

Inner Andhra Pradesh old man — We hit the road again

Road to Jamalagundu bridge — This was pretty cool

Hindu temple under huge rock India — This temple under that huge rock

Andhra Pradesh interior electricity lines India — For most our journey, we traversed through sparsely populated villages and barren landscapes — and hardly any vehicles with a ‘KA’ registration

Road to Jammalamadugu trees — (Photograph by Ramesh)

Sunflower fields Andhra Pradesh India — There were SO many sunflower fields on either side

Sunflower fields Jammalamadugu Andhra India — (Mind you, just about all the shots above were taken from behind the car window)

Ramesh phone GPS Ford Fiesta drive — Even though Ramesh had copies of the map routes on his Nook tablet, we relied heavily on the Google Latitude mobile app to check if we were on the right path

Goat crossing Andhra Pradesh — More ‘mutton’ crossings

We eventually reached a small village where we had to stop at a railway crossing. Something that took an ungodly long time!

Anand Mithun Ramesh in car — We had plenty of time to take photos of ourselves in the car

Nearly half-an-hour later, the train finally shows up — and how…

We had lost quite a bit of time and it was already lunch time. Fortunately as we arrived in the town of Jammalamadugu (yeah, try saying that fast) we saw a sign of hope.

AP toursim Gandikota hotel road sign — Finally, we were getting nearer!

Road to Gandikota Andhra Pradesh India — The roads for the most part were good… and there were *hardly* anybody else driving through these roads

Windmill blades Suzlon Andhra Pradesh India — There’s quite a lot of windmill activity by Suzlon in these neck of the woods

Road to Gandikota fort Andhra Pradesh India — The road got narrower — which meant we were getting close

AP tourism Gandikota hotel entrance — And by 2:15pm, we had finally reached our destination! Haritha Hotel Gandikota, by APTDC

When we called up this hotel (Ph: (0)90105 54899) to book a room, the guy who answered simply told Ramesh “just come”. Now we know why. There were hardly any other guests besides us!

The waiter/receptionist/attendant showed us the cottages, we didn’t want an A/C room, so we just took a fan room that had a large bed which could easily accommodate the three of us. The room cost Rs. 630 ($11/€9), and we didn’t have to pay anything extra for the third person. Unfortunately, the water heaters weren’t working. (Why is it just about every hotel in India that costs about the same has such a problem with providing hot water?!)

Gandikota hotel restaurant granite pillars — We were hungry, and sat down at the restaurant for lunch

There wasn’t a menu, so we just asked what was available for lunch. The receptionist/attendant/waiter told us: “chapathi, phulkas, dal curry“. That’s it. We didn’t have any choice but to order all three.

Since they hardly see any guests, they don’t stock any meat either. But receptionist/attendant/waiter assured us we would have more options available for dinner, like egg. Sigh…

When our food came, the chapathis and phulkas were essentially the same – both were made using maida, the phulkas only being a little smaller. And I doubt the phulkas were made the way they are traditionally done so. They cost the same too, Rs. 24 per plate (a plate has two), so you might as well just order chapathis. The dal (Rs. 40) was passable. We were hungry, so had to eat what was given.

By the way, they have the full stable of Coca Cola’s offerings like Kinley water and soda, besides the other carbonated drinks like Sprite, so you really don’t need to carry the same when coming here. Unless you’re a Pepsi fan.

Gandikota hotel garden playground Andhra Pradesh India — We decided to take a few photos of the hotel

Gandikota fort from APTDC hotel — You can see the Gandikota fort wall from here

Aptdc gandikota hotel granite buildings — Everything is made of granite stone

Gandikota hotel rooms Andhra Pradesh India — Our room was in the back

Gandikota aptdc hotel resort panorama — The cottages are on the extreme left (Panorama comprised of 9 shots)

Mithu Divakaran AP tourism hotel Gandikota India — (Photograph by Anand)

We decided not to leave our bags in our room just yet. Instead, we wasted no time in heading straight to the fort.

Once you reach the fort walls, you can take your vehicle inside and down a narrow ‘S’ path, through a small village to park right near Gandikota masjid (mosque).

Gandikota fort masjid Andhra Pradesh India — We parked by the side

Gandikota masjid entrance Andhra Pradesh India — There was no entrance fee to enter the masjid, but the guides there said we’d have to pay Rs. 25 since we have professional cameras

Gandikota fort masjid Andhra Pradesh tomb — The Jamia Masjid

Gandikota fort masjid minaret dome parrots — Anand’s Canon SX30IS super-zoom is truly impressive

Gandikota fort rocky building Andhra Pradesh — After the masjid, we went in here to pay the ‘camera fee’

Ramesh Mithun paying fee Gandikota fort — There was no sign anywhere saying Rs. 25 was the ‘camera fee,’ but the guide sounded kind enough and eager to tell us about this place without asking for any money, so we didn’t mind paying up

Gandikota fort hall pillars panorama — Panorama comprised of 4 shots

Anand Mithun taking photos Gandikota fort — Photograph by Ramesh

Rangaswamy temple Gandikota Andhra Pradesh India — I walked to this temple while Ramesh and Anand walked towards the gorge

Red granite temple rocks Gandikota — The stones are mostly red granite

Gandikota Ranganathaswami temple pillars ancient art India — The temple is called Ranganatha Swamy temple

Ranganatha swami temple door Gandikota — I was too chicken to enter this dark room

Ranganathaswami temple gates Gandikota India — I left the temple and walked towards the gorge

Gandikota panorama from Ranganathaswamy temple Andhra Pradesh India — A panoramic view from Ranganatha Swamy temple

Granite rocks Gandikota Andhra Pradesh India — Tread carefully, its all rocky grounds here

Rocky hills Gandikota Andhra Pradesh India — I was walking towards the main reason I wanted to come to Gandikota

Gandikota Erramala hills towards Pennar river — Wait for it….

Gandikota gorge Erramala Pennar river panorama Andhra Pradesh India — … voila! Ever thought India had geography that looked similar to America’s Grand Canyon?

Oh, if you thought the above photo would make for an awesome wallpaper, here’s a 1920×1200 version! 🙂

Mithun Divakaran Gandikota hills — It’s quite windy at the edge

Red granite stones formation Gandikota — Wonder how these rock formations even came to being

Gandikota gorge rocks river — The rocks just seem planted there

Anand Mithun taking photos Gandikota gorge — (Photograph by Ramesh)

Gandikota Pennar river Andhra Pradesh India — A very calm Pennar river

Mithun Divakaran taking photo Gandikota gorge — (Photograph by Anand)

We looked for other ways to reach centre of the hills, from where I hoped to take panorama of the entire plateau in front of us.

Mithun way under rocks Gandikota — Just then, we spotted this opening, and I went in to see if it led anywhere

Gap under rocks Gandikota gorge — It led us out here

Gandikota gorge from cave panorama India — The view from down here… about the same as from up there

Mithun Divakaran Gandikota rocks Andhra Pradesh river — Photograph by Ramesh

Going back out rocks Gandikota — We made our way back out one-by-one

Anand Ramesh walking up rocks Gandikota — We moved on further

Rocks boulders Gandikota Andhra Pradesh India — We had to move slowly and chart our own path

Stones boulders Gandikota hill Andhra Pradesh India — I can’t stress enough on safety. It’s just rocks and boulders you will be stepping on, so take your own time. Some of these rocks are loose too.

Gandikota fort walls river hills — But it was worth it, the view was fantastic…

Gandikota gorge pennar river panorama — … and I got my panorama!

Gandikota gorge Pennar river end of hill — Took some last few shots with the 70-200mm lens

Gandikota fort walls river side panorama — Imagine what life must have been in those days

Gandikota fort walls Pennar river Andhra India — We would have liked to have gone all the way down to the river… but we didn’t see a way or anybody else down there (Photo from Anand’s super-zoom camera)

Cave Gandikota hill Pennar river Andhra Pradesh India — How cool is that? There’s a cave down there… and I would had *so* loved to have gone in there

Red granite stone hill Gandikota India — Red granite

Ramesh Anand Mithun photo Gandikota Andhra Pradesh India — We attempted a group shot with Ramesh’s camera atop my bag. After a few attempts, we got this.

Gandikota reservoir Pennar river — The river flows into the Mylavaram reservoir

Standing stone Gandikota rocks India — The rocks here are quite something

Gandikota tourists evening Andhra Pradesh — It was past 5pm, and most visitors were on their way back

Sunset Gandikota rocks Andhra Pradesh India — It was getting darker, but I still had some more to see

Gandikota fort wall ruins India — I wanted to go that Mayan-like structure right of the centre

Gandikota hill Erramala Andhra Pradesh India — Walking away from Erramala hills

Gandikota fort ruins boundary wall India — It smelt of shit here — both goat and cow (and hopefully not human)

Gandikota fort ruins steps to platform — Unfortunately as I got near the structure, the entry path to the steps was blocked by plants and weed

Lamb shelter Gandikota village — Hello you shitters!

Gandikota village old houses — Walked through the village

Gandikota village stones houses India — Everything is made of stone here

Gandikota village well Andhra Pradesh India — One of the village’s source of water

Gandikota fort masjid reflection well — I walked back to the car and re-grouped with Ramesh and Anand

We still had one more temple to see inside the fort, but we just couldn’t figure out the way to get to it. So we drove out of the fort and wondered if there was another way.

Once out, the guides told us the way to Madhavaraya temple was from inside the fort itself, but they suggested we go tomorrow morning as the fort was going to be closed (more like, the guides were done for the day).

Turkeys Gandikota Andhra Pradesh India — Well hello turkeys! We don’t see much of you here in India.

Gandikota turkey birds India — They may taste good, but boy are they ugly headed!

We decided to head back to the hotel. We were all pretty tired and we just wanted to rest.

Anand Ramesh rooftop AP tourism hotel Gandikota — We went up to the roof of our cottage

Standing on the roof I thought of how I could have brought my grill and some marinated meat in the cooler. I’m sure the staff wouldn’t have minded. It’s a perfect setting for a barbecue.

Mind you, Gandikota isn’t for everyone. It’s not what I’d call a ‘family destination,’ unless your family is the adventurous kind. The rocks you will have to walk over just to take the kind of photos of the gorge you see above aren’t easy for everyone to do. Also, there is hardly anything around for fun or excitement. Not even a hospital in case of emergencies.

If you want a weekend of peace and quiet, some privacy or even a new spot to usher in the New Year with close friends, then consider Gandikota as a perfect Bangalore getaway.

Gandikota evening pink sky Andhra Pradesh India — The evening sky at 6:15pm was a picture perfect end to an amazing day of discovery

View from AP tourism hotel Gandikota — There is quite literally, nothing surrounding this resort

Gandikota hotel dog on steps — Only stray dogs for company

I took bath without hot water because I desperately felt the need to be clean after walking amid goat droppings and all the climbing. Fortunately, it wasn’t too cold outside.

The same receptionist/attendant/waiter came to our room to ask us what we wanted for dinner. It would help the kitchen if we ordered in advance. The options weren’t many, but we asked for some rice, chapathis, dal, tomato curry, egg masala and egg burji. Everything cost Rs. 40-Rs. 45, so our expectations weren’t very high.

There is the option to have cable (Dish TV) in our room but we told the guy we definitely weren’t going to be watching television. We had ‘Mr. Jack‘ for company and the three of us spent the night reviewing our photos and chatting away.

Tomorrow morning, we had to go to the temple, drive 60kms to Belur caves and then drive back to Bangalore before nightfall. Day 1 was fantastic, we couldn’t wait to see what day 2 had in store for us!

Bonus: Here’s video of the Gandikota gorge I put together using clips from Ramesh’s and Anand’s camera

Next post in the series:
Bangalore weekend drive: Gandikota and Belum Caves, Andhra Pradesh – Part 2

32 Comments

Kusum
25/12/2011

Very good collection of pictures. Good know about this place. Thanks for sharing!

Mithun Divakaran Reply:
December 25th, 2011 at 5:49 PM
You are welcome!
krishnakumar
25/12/2011

good work, mithun. eagerly waiting to see the next
Harish
27/12/2011

Cool One waiting for Part – II….
Saurav
02/01/2012

Hey Nice pics..which camera you used for the photos..

Mithun Divakaran Reply:
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:44 PM
Thanks Saurav, my main camera is the Canon 7D and my primary lens is the Canon 10-22mm wide angle lens. I carry two other lenses too.
Chandra
06/01/2012

Nice work guys..we are planning a trip from Blore just because of your pics and details. Thx 🙂
imran khan
25/05/2012

iam very surprize very happy to see this pics
Rohit
14/12/2012

These are beautiful pictures and the video is great!!! You guys really took ‘some’ risk in getting everyone to get to see the natural beauty of India!! Admire your passion!!!
Thanks!!

Mithun Divakaran Reply:
December 14th, 2012 at 7:38 PM
Thank you Rohit! 🙂
Sonal
24/12/2012

Hi,

Came across this blog while searching for Belum caves. Very nice and beautiful photos. Thanks to you guys for taking all the pains and showing us all this beautiful place through wonderful pictures. Also, the description is very interesting with small details, sure to help folks planning to visit this less know marvel.

Regards,
Sonal

Mithun Divakaran Reply:
December 24th, 2012 at 4:37 PM
Thank you for your kind words Sonal 🙂
vinayak
10/01/2013

infact i heard about Gandikota…but did’nt knew whats there ! i am going to yaganti+Belum on 12th Jan. ur blog helped me to add one more place to my tour…thanks a lot for ur beautiful pictures !!

Mithun Divakaran Reply:
January 10th, 2013 at 5:01 PM
Thanks Vinayak, have fun! 🙂
Raghavendra
27/03/2014

Hey Mithun,
Thanks so much for the lovely pics and details about the place….it answered all my ??…. before traveling to the place…
Cheers
Raghav

Mithun Divakaran Reply:
March 28th, 2014 at 8:19 PM
Have fun and keep the place clean! 🙂
Rahul
05/04/2014

You missed Madhavaraya temple… biggest temple at fort
Gowthami
20/08/2014

Hi Mithun,
Good blog. May I know which is the hotel in your pictures? May I know the link or how you guys booked it?
Megha
24/12/2014

Hi Mithun,
Can u please let us know which hotel is it and contact Number.shortly we are visiting Gandikota
A S Krishna Prasad
15/02/2015

Excellent Blog. thanks for sharing.

Mithun Divakaran Reply:
February 15th, 2015 at 12:16 PM
Thanks for reading! 🙂
harish shenoy
05/08/2015

Great pictures. The blog was very informative. looking forward for a trip to Gandikota & Belum caves during october midterm holidays. But hardly anyone know about this place. None of my friends mentioned about this place. Recently I saw about the Belum caves in my friends facebook page.
Bharat Ram
16/08/2015

Very comprehensively covered. Thank you.
Naveena
23/08/2015

Hi, Thanks for this writeup! Informative as well as useful apart from the fact that there are such beautiful snaps!
Planning a drive from Bangalore in the first week of Sept, 2015. The accommodation you were in is of the AP tourism?

I am also looking at covering any other interesting nearby place during this drive. We could easily spare 2/3 nights for the drive.

Mithun Divakaran Reply:
August 29th, 2015 at 11:22 PM
Yes, the hotel we stayed at in Gandikota is run by APTDC. I’m not aware of any other interesting nearby places. It’s quite remote and barren.
Sreekumar
29/12/2015

Hello Brothers..

The description is very interesting with small details, sure to help folks planning to visit this less know marvel.

Thank you

Mithun Divakaran Reply:
December 30th, 2015 at 2:09 AM
You’re welcome! 🙂
sheik bhasha
15/04/2016

thanks for sharing and i had a visit in 1995, when i was in cuddapah, as student.

Great pics, now planning to visit with family to show the place, where i studied….
Dipanjan
23/06/2016

Fantastic. Thank you for such a detailed description. Your work is highly appreciated.

Mithun Divakaran Reply:
June 23rd, 2016 at 12:27 PM
Thanks Dipanjan!
AMIT
03/11/2016

Fantastic Description!! Place looks awesome..
Just a question, Is it safe to travel with a 4 year old kid to this place?

Mithun Divakaran Reply:
November 3rd, 2016 at 12:54 PM
Yes, that should be fine.