.....to the Depths of Patala Ganga .........

Now I'm back to my travelogue- the second of the April 2009 triology.

The first view of Patala Ganga a. k. a River Krishna in Srisailam,        
Andhra Pradesh

Shortly after our return from Tirumala, I had a routine conversation with an aunt of mine, during which she tried to ensure my presence in Guntur for the forthcoming weekend. Finding me not too interested in a two- day trip, she offered to take me around a lot of places, including Hamsala Deevi (literally translated as ‘the Isle of the Swans’), where the River Krishna joined the sea. In normal circumstances, I would have jumped at the offer but the summer heat still made me uninterested. My unrelenting aunt thought of something BIG- she told me that we could visit two temple towns if I were to take leave for a couple of days and suffix it with a holiday on Wednesday. 

                I reached Guntur around midnight on Friday. I told my aunt we could leave a little later on our pilgrimage. Saturday morning began with the ‘Cab vs Our Car’ argument, with Aunt and I on the side of the cab and Uncle on the other. Needless to say, Uncle won it- he was sure of his car and his driving. He also told us that the air- conditioner worked well. Shortly before noon, we set out, dropped in at a friend’s place and then headed for Srisailam, the abode of Lord Mallikarjuna and Goddess Bhramaramba. For the faithful, this is one place where one can find a ‘Jyotirlinga’ (one of the twelve sacred places for Saiva worship) and a ‘Sakti peetha’ (one of the eighteen places of the Mother Goddess). We reached Dornala, at the foot of the hills, around 4:30 p.m. and stopped to have tea. As we entered the ghat road, we found ourselves encompassed, from a distance, by a range of hills.. What a lovely sight it was!! But, lovelier was the narrow opening between two hills and the lonely road which took us past it! Sorry, I was too enamoured to have remembered to click! Anyway take a look at one of those not- so- breathtaking ones!

En route to Srisailam

                After reaching Srisailam, our first stop was for the ‘Sikhara Darsana’.  The temple was located in the valley, so it was a tradition to catch a glimpse of the temple tower from the peak of the hill. It is said that if one saw the tower, one would be liberated from the vicious cycle of birth and death ('Srisaila Sikharam drishtwa punarjanma na vidyate'). Even as we stood in the queue, we found a lady complaining to the attendant available to guide us to spot the temple tower, that she could not see it. Pat came the reply that if we could see it, we could become ‘Invisible’ in future! Aunt told me not to give much credence to such statements and that she actually saw the tower on her first visit to the place decades ago. Since it was my maiden visit, I was very hopeful about spotting the temple tower but God willed otherwise. With the Sun in our eyes, we could not have seen it.

The way to Sikhara Darsanam

The place from where the temple tower is spotted

A view of the river Krishna from the spot of Sikhara Darsana

A view from the top

               

The Patala Ganga with the Srisailam Hydel project in the background

                                                           On Sunday morning, after the religious part was over, we thought of having a boat ride on the river Krishna. The boat jetty was fairly downhill and one had to climb down way beyond the last motorable point, we were told. However, if one took the ropeway, one could minimize the climb-down. We had a great time on the ropeway but then, we realized that a bigger challenge awaited us after we alighted. We had to tread a steep and uneven path of 300m to reach the jetty. We then understood why Krishna was known as ‘Patala Ganga’ (The Ganges of the Netherworld) in Srisailam. Legend also had it that the world would come to an end if the river touched Goddess Bhramaramba’s nose- stud. It would, no doubt, be apocalyptic if the river, lying so low, had to rise so high!! With my dismal record of knee injuries (with the most recent of them happening just a couple of months ago), it was going to be a tall order for me to reach Patala Ganga. But, Uncle helped me out and we reached there without much ado. We enjoyed the ride on the river, which meandered through a range of hills, thoroughly. Whenever we crossed one hill, more water joined the river! It was a feast to the eyes! We were also told of the caves of Akka Mahadevi, which involved a 16-km ride on the river. Given the ‘strength’ of my knees, we decided against further adventure. Not that we were devoid of all adventure on return- the steep climb was even more difficult than the descent to the jetty. Uncle and I sang songs (filmy, of course) and made it. He sang ‘Patala Gangamma raa raa raa’ (welcome, o Patala Ganga) while I sang ‘Srisailam Mallanna sirasonchena, Chenanta Gangamma vaana’ (if Mallanna of Srisailam tilted His head, our fields could be wetted by the shower of the Ganga).

View of the Nallamala hills

                While we were on our way back, I sat in the front seat to videograph the trees running from the opposite direction. I also sang ‘Yunhi chala chal rahi’ with excitement. The pictures that you see give you different views of the Nallamala range, and are mostly in brown because of the season in which they were clicked...

Another View of the Nallamala hills

Yet another view of the Nallamala hills

One more  view of the Nallamala hills

                        We cruised along comfortably till the car air- conditioner went kaput. We had to go through a torturous three hour drive to reach home. We, however, could not rest immediately- our cameras were full, so was the videocam. We had to rush to a photo studio for a back up!! Life would have been much simpler had I taken my laptop along!


                    Aunt asked me over dinner if I were interested in the Hamsala Deevi trip for Monday, with some more temple visits en route. I was too exhausted to agree to it. On Monday, Uncle went about getting the air-conditioner into working condition, while Aunt and I relaxed at home.


                            (to be concluded)