Welcome 2019 – Andhra Ride – Dec 2018
Srisailam
Early morning we prayed at the Temple, which was large and quite impressive. No photography allowed inside, we were content to walk around the idols. Seeing some really old statues and areas of historical significance.
An Excerpt about the temple from Wikipedia
The temple complex covers 2 hectares and houses four gateway towers known as gopurams. It has numerous shrines, with those of Mallikarjuna and Bhramaramba being the most prominent. The temple complex houses many halls; the Mukha Mandapa was built during the Vijayanagar period. The centre mandapam has several pillars, with a huge idol of Nadikeshwara. Tall walls enclosed the temple and there are a number of sculptures in the precinct each rising one above another.
The Mukamandapa, the hall leading to the sanctum, has intricately sculpted pillars. The shrine where Mallikarjuna is housed is considered the oldest in the temple, dating back to the 7th century. There is a Sahasra linga (1000 linga), believed to have been commissioned by Rama and five other lingams believed to have been commissioned by Pandavas. A mirror hall in the first precinct has images of Nataraja.
Lord Shiva in this temple is referred to as one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. Goddess Bramarambha’s shrine is referred to as one of the fifty-two Shakti peethas. This temple is classified as one of the Paadal Petra Sthalam.
The Krishna River here is called Patal Ganga. One has to go down 852 stairs to reach the river. The Shiva Linga is bathed with the water of this river.
We headed post-lunch to the Tribal Museum set in the midst of a “dinosaur/animal” themed park. Learnt a bit about the life of the local villages.
We proceeded by Cable car, down to a boat ride to Srisailam Dam. The boat ride was noisy, with Telugu music blaring away on the way to the dam, where one of the crew gave us a description of the dam in Telugu and a little English.
We walked down to the market at night and headed for dinner at a restaurant close to the hotel.
Headed out by 8 am with an idea of crossing Vizag, and getting as close to Lambasingi as possible.
