Srisailam- Mallikarjuna temple (one of the 12th Jyotirlingas)
It was 2nd week of Jan 2023. And I been to Srisailam (a pilgrimage town) in Andhra Pradesh, and visited 👇
1. Mallikarjuna🛕(one of the 12 Jyotirlingas)
2. Srisailam Peeth (one of the Shakti Peethas)
3. Pathalganga (Krishna river, perfect for boat riding, good to observe amazing views while sitting on the bank of the Krishna river)
4. Tribal museum (Chenchu Lakshmi Museum) - which shows houses 🏠, attire, occupation, tools used and lifestyles of different Indian tribes.
And also met some amazing people and kids😁
I really liked spending time at Pathalganga, taking a boat ride, and sitting near the water.
There are two ways of reaching Pathalganga: 1st is by zipline, and the 2nd is by stairs
If you use the stairs to reach this place, you can feel the calmness of this area. As I was walking down the stairs around 2 PM. It was empty stairway, people in their house were relaxing, some were sitting outside of house, some were lying in the cot outside of house and some were watching TV 📺, cool breeze was flowing, dogs 🐕 and cats 🐈 were playing, leaves 🍃 were falling from the tree with the wind...it was feeling a quiet day of afternoon.
1st I will share few incidents which I come across🤭, later I will share other detailed story of my day.
1. For my stay, I booked the APSRTC Haritha hotel. However, upon arrival, I found that they didn't seem to trust solo guests. Despite having made an advance booking and full payment, they asked me to deposit an additional 500 INR, which they assured me was refundable😵💫. According to them, this was a standard procedure for all solo guests. Unfortunately, the room and cleanliness did not meet the standards I expected based on the tariff. Not only did they ask for the 500 INR deposit, but the lady at the reception also inquired about my age 😕 and requested my parent's contact number😡. After sharing the contact number, she stared at me for a few seconds and asked if I was sure. It seemed like they had a lot of doubts about me😏. This wasn't the first time I had encountered such issues during my travels😬.
2. At Mallikarjuna temple,
I was so excited to attend light show. However, to my surprise, once the show started, it was all in Telugu for approximately 20-25 minutes, and I couldn't understand anything😑. I felt like I had been fooled🤣🤣.
3. And again during boat ride at Pathalganga(Krishna river), there was guide who kept on explaining till continuous 5 min about Pathalganga and its old stories related to it but all in telugu. I had waited so patiently, hoping he will explain in English also, but unfortunately he denied. I found myself unable to understand anything 😑. Thankfully, another family on the boat kindly explained a few things to me in English."
So Day 1, when I reached around 11 AM..checked into the already booked hotel. Got ready and had south indian meal in restaurant of Haritha hotel itself.
Then I took 1 Auto and decided to enjoy sometime at Pathalganga.
After finishing the boat ride, I returned using the zipline instead of the stairs. Then, I saw a person selling some roots they were calling Kandmool (the one which Lord Rama ate, as they told). So, I also tried the same. He gave me a thin slice of the root and sprinkled some sugar on it. It had a plain taste, similar to tapioca or the inside part of a coconut flower.
By the time it was almost dark around 6:30 or 7 PM.
Then I took an auto 🛺 to reach main temple (Mallikarjuna temple) which was very near again approx 1 km so far I remember now.
So when I reached temple, 1st I decided to go and watch light and sound show, I seen many posters there in telugu language and then enquired, took tickets and walked alot and finally reached at the place where light and sound show starts.
So there we deposited our mobile phone also and entered for the show.
And after the show finished, instead of coming out from the gate we entered for the show, out of curiosity I walked in another direction just to see what is the other side..I saw some big hall and someone were sitting there..however he told me that I am not at right direction as he said entry is not allowed here .but again out of curiosity I started some discussion with him for few minutes..and later I again asked him what is this side.. what is that side..then this few minutes conversation he changed his mind and allowed me to enter in the temple from that gate..it was kind of back gate and by this time I think time was approx 8 PM .
And I roamed into the temple, had Darshan of shaktipeeth and then Jyotirlinga. I was romaing in the temple..
The only thing that makes me feel awkward or hesitant is when people ask me who else is with me, where I'm from, and why I came alone. Sometimes, their curiosity leads them to ask even more probing questions. However, I understand that my experience may not be the same for everyone. Sometimes, I get tired of answering to everyone, as not everyone understands the concept of traveling alone. But, I truly enjoy it. I'm addicted to solo travel, especially at spiritual places, as it makes me feel more connected to my surroundings and everything around me.
Anyway back to the actual story, so at this temple, I already met 2 temple pujari who started asking all these questions about me..and they were little shocked also. But somehow a bit they appreciated also.
So after finishing Darshan I saw right side some cows were there, so I went and took some grass for cows to feed them. There I saw people were passing under the cow. I also had to do this when I saw others are doing. Shortly after, I encountered 2 person dressed in orange cloth with beads around their necks and hands. They began making predictions about me 😬 and delved into various spiritual topics before unexpectedly commenting on my solo journey. Their reaction was one of shock 😲 upon learning that I had traveled alone.
Sometimes, I find myself getting bored with people's reactions, as it's nothing new for me anymore😁
After our discussion, one of the pujaris began showing me and explaining the temple's stories in detail. He mentioned that he was from somewhere in North India, somewhere in Banaras.
Once we finished, I was leaving the temple, and he was walking alongside me. Then, I realized I had to collect my mobile phone and footwear, which I had deposited on the other side.
When we reached that gate, there was no one there. Since the light and show time had finished, no one sit there anymore.
I was shocked when I couldn't find my mobile phone, although my footwear was still there. The pandit suggested we should go and check at the main counter at the entry gate for my mobile phone, as that's where people usually deposit such items. We walked a lot and finally reached there, where we enquired about my mobile phone. Luckily, I got it back 😁. It was fortunate that the pandit was with me; otherwise, I wouldn't have known whom to contact, especially due to the language barrier and the absence of anyone sitting at the counter, as it was almost 9:30 PM or 10 PM.
So after this I said bye bye to this pandit and went to have dinner. And the I reached back to my hotel and slept.
Day 2:
First I started to go and watch tribal muesum, I reached there by following Google map.
This muesum I liked as it has too much details about lifestyles of many different tribes of india. I took some pictures as well.
And after this, I went to the temple 🛕 again for having Darshan 1 more time. And then I checked out from hotel around 12 pm had lunch and then took a bus.
How I reached:
I took Train from Chennai to Guntur.
And then bus from Guntur to Srisailam
Marakpur is also a nearest railway station.But bus frequency from Marakpur to Srisailam is less I think
Another option is to reach by train till Kurnool and then bus from kurnool to Srisailam, as this route has multiple buses..this I know
Stay options:
For stay i didn't find any better option than Hatitha hotel in small town...also no ratings or reviews were available for other hotel..So I had booked in Haritha hotel only.
They accept online booking through their website instead call.
Below is the link.
You can do advance booking as it gets filled fast. Room charges on weekend is little bit higher than weekdays charge. They provide complimentary breakfast also, which was just ok ok.
But for lunch, we have to pay and this I found good, there were many varieties.
Also I found, hotel is not well maintained, room and washroom were little bit dirty.
Private hotels provide much better facility in the same tariff.
But as I had to stay for 1 night and this was the only reliable option I found during solo stay, so I managed 😊.
Bye bye..hope enough detail and stories I wrote 😁
For more travel stories and videos, find me on instagram @shweta.traveler
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