This is the second time I visited Ahobilam. It is recommended that you read
blog post about my earlier visit to Ahobilam and later read this post.
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| She paved way after getting Rs. 10 |
This time I went with my wife, friend Vinodh (please note that Vinodh was "relatively well known" during my earlier visit to Ahobilam with him but now he is very close to me and also my neighbor) and his mother.
Day 1: Feb 17, 2012 (Friday)
We started at 5AM. As recommended in the last
blog post we took Bangalore-Anantpur-Gooty-Banaganapalli-Allagadda-Ahobilam route. Of course the road (Bangalore-Hyderabad highway) till Gooty was too good. We carried some idlies for breakfast as there were no decent hotels in that highway except for kamat near Chickballapur. But we crossed Chickballapur at 6AM itself; too early for breakfast.
From Gooty to Allagadda, it was not a pleasant ride. Roads weren't great and as additional hindrance some people were blocking roads in between and asking money. They block the road with big tree blocks and remove them only after we give money. That time itself we decided not to get back in that route.
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| Bavanashini River - On the way to Pavana |
We reached Ahobilam around 1:30 PM, had lunch at Brahmana Sathiram and started jeep ride to 9. Pavana, 7. Yogananda, 8. Chatravada and 6. Bhargava at 3 PM and returned back to room by 6:30PM. We refreshed and went to Prahlada Narasimha temple. We had dinner at Raghavendra hotel. Since some construction was going on in Ahobila Mutt and the Iyengar hotel which was there opposite to Mutt got closed, there were only 2 options for authentic Brahmin food. One is the Brahmana Sathiram and the other one is Raghavendra hotel run by a Madwa brahmin.
Day 2: Feb 18, 2012 (Saturday).
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| Ugra Sthamba |
Since we had already completed seeing 4 temples out of 9 and we had lot of time at our disposal, we decided to see even Prahlada Gruha, Ugra Sthamba (which we left last time). With that plan we had some idlies around 7AM and also carried some as we won't get anything at upper Ahobilam.
First we parked our car in Upper Ahobila and started walking up to 1. Jwala. From there we started to Ugra Sthamba around 9AM. It was a very very tough trek. It is a very steep path. Going up was manageable but getting down was very difficult. Adding to the disadvantage, we didn't go prepared (should have carried glucose, chocolates, biscuits etc especially lot of water) and we went bare footed. When we came back to Jwala at 2PM we were completely exhausted. By any chance if you are going to attempt for Ugra Sthamba take enough eatables and water in a backpack and wear shoes with good grip.
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| Gandi Anjaneya Temple |
Since UgraSthamba had taken away all energy, rest of the walk was very slow. From Jwala, we went to 3. Malola. Enough water resources are available near Malola. It is the ideal place to plan for lunch. Prahlada Gruha is around 15 mins walk from Malola. There is a small cave temple in Prahlada Gruha and from Prahlada Gruha, we get a nice top view of Upper Ahobila. From Malola, we started walking down to 4. Kroda/Varaha. From Kroda, we went to the starting point of Upper Ahobilam 2. Ahobila.
From Upper Ahobila, we started returning back to Lower Ahobila. 5. Karanja Narasimhar temple is on that way. Since it was already 6:30PM and temples there usually close around 5PM (expect for Ahobila and Prahlada Narasimha) we decided that we are going to miss seeing Karanja in this trip. But what a surprise, the temple was open and we were the last one to see before it was closed. It was a completely tiring but at the same time satisfactory day.
Day 3: Feb 19, 2012 (Sunday)
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| Kadiri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple |
We started back to Bangalore from Ahobilam around 8AM after having breakfast. On the fly we decided to see Gandi Anjaneya temple and Kadiri Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy temples. We had lunch at Kadiri. We were hoping that we were going to have a tough ride till we touch Bangalore-Hyderabad highway but be it Allagadda-Gandi or Gandi-Kadiri or Kadiri-Kodur (where we touch the highway) all the roads were very good and with zero traffic. We reached Bangalore at 7PM.
