Big Banyan Tree In The World – Thimmamma marimanu

After visiting Gandikota and Belum Caves came back to Kadiri, there was not much plan for our remaining days stay at Kadiri and my cousin told about this place which is around 26Kms Kadiri.  Thought it’s better to visit this place than sitting ideal at home.  Started towards big banyan tree and took almost 40 minutes to reach our destination.

Was in assumption that even this place will be well maintained as in Bengaluru, but it is not!  

Even though its a worlds biggest banyan tree its not well maintained and visitors are not allowed to go near the tree like in Bengaluru. The tree is totally covered by fens.

Visitors are only allowed to visit the temple near this place. To visit this temple they will charge Rs.5/- per person.

About Thimmamma Marrimanu tree: The Thimmamma Marrimanu tree , located in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh , is located about 25 km from Kadiri town . The tree's branches spread over a land of 5 acres and it has a cover of 19,107 sq mtrs . There is a small temple built under the tree which is dedicated to Thimmamma . An account of her life is made in Telugu language and it is kept at the shrine.

In 1989, It is recorded as the biggest tree in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The Canyon - Gandikota

After visiting Belum caves we headed words Gandikota which is around 60Kms, took almost one hour to reach the place.

We were very lucky on this day, actually I was expecting lot of hot at this place. But for our luck it was raining from the morning and when we got down from our car rain was stopped.  Even though we were visiting at this place around 12.30 in noon didn’t encounter the heat which was expecting.

Once we reached the Gandikot it was a rear experience which we faced, we were allowed to drive through the fort which won’t be the case in all other forts!

There is a small village inside the fort and the roads are very narrow and should be careful while driving. If you choose to walk from the entrance it will be a stressful walk for sure!

Inside the fort there is a Madhavaraya Temple followed by Jama Masjid. My preference was to see the Canyon which was the main centre of attraction. Need to walk for some distance over rocks to reach the edge and fitness the amazing view.

But these bikes made me to stop for a while and take look around these super bikes :)

The river Pennar flowed some 300 feet below in a gorge providing some stunning views.

In order to get the complete view of the Canyon, once should climb up the rocks to the highest point.  There is no proper path as well and this route is not suitable for families or children.

Climbed till the rocks to get amazing views of the fort. It was worth the effort!! It also provided some nice views of the fort.

Once we are done with photoshoot we headed back to visit the temples.  Because of long weekend place was crowded like anything and could not get the frames I was looking for, just clicked couple of pics and decided to leave the place. 

Even our empty stomach was started reminding us about the lunch and we started back to Kadri.

One important thing to keep in mind while visiting this place is, there is no much options for good restaurants or lodges.

Just before Gandikota there is a APTDC hotel and rooms are also available here if you are planning to stay here. But one should book it in advance by calling them (Online booking is not available for this place). After finishing the lunch headed back to Kadri.

Belum Caves - Second largest cave in India.

First time when I saw the pics of this place I was very much impressed about the place and could not believe that they are so near to Namma Benagaluru. Later started gathering more information about some other places around Gandikota to plan for a trip, at this point of time came to know about one more must visit place Belum Caves.

Started our journey from Kadri early morning and it was around 3 hours journey from Kadri, plan was to visit Belum caves which is around 150 Kms from Kadri first and while coming back visit Gandikota. If we start from Kadri we can cover both the places easily in one single day.   

Belum caves will be open for visitors from morning 10.00AM to 5.00 PM and entry fee is Rs.65/- and for children it is Rs.45/- 

Reached Belum caves at the right time, we were the second group to enter the caves and got a perfect chance to click the pics :)

History of Belum caves: Though these caves were known to the locals for thousands of years, the first official records that mention them are from 1884, by Robert Bruce Foote, a British geologist and archaeologist who conducted surveys for the Geological Survey of India. In the 1980s, Indian officials worked with a German expedition to explore and map the caves. The relics found in the caves dated back to around 4500 BC and showed that the caves had been inhabited by ancient Buddhist and Jain monks. In 1999, the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation took over the caves for maintenance. They cleared the mud and debris inside, built pathways, provided illumination and sank ventilation shafts to make the caves accessible to the public.

These are suppose to be the 2nd largest caves in India. Caves go about 3.5kms in length but only 1.5-2km portion is opened to tourist and is developed.

There are many places inside where the cave is there but cannot go inside due to lack of light/air. Through out the caves, artificial lighting is done and ducts are provided for fresh air.

There are several sections inside the cave like cats gate, Patalaganga, thousand hoods, meditation hall, Kotilinga, Banyan tree hall, musical chamber and Mandapam. It would require at least two hours to see all parts of the cave.

Best time to visit this place is in either monsoon or in winter, since Andhra Pradesh can be really hot in summer.  However, irrespective of season you visit this place you will be exhausted once you enter the caves because of humidity inside the caves. One more thing to keep in mind is, its better to carry enough drinking water, since there is lot of walking involved and no other source is available inside the caves.

The cave is well maintained by APTDC. There are play area out side the caves for kids. A Buddha statue is constructed at the entrance (near parking place).

Once we are done with exploring the caves our next destination was Gandikota which is around 60KMs from Belum caves.