Now as per our itinerary, we needed to get a room for three of us. We tried all known options like Gouri Sadan, Ganga Sadan. There were all full. We tried from pillar to post to have a room on rent. But could not get any. We learned that there was a festival called Karthik Sankranthi from 1st December to 3rd December and all the hotels were full. Also tried CIR office too without any result. CIR office told us that the darshanam would start at 6PM and end at 8PM. We made up our mind and headed towards temple for Lord Shiva darshanam.
Mobiles and cameras were not allowed inside the temple. We had to deposit our mobile in the mobile deposit area and deposited shoes at the shoe rack. Mobile deposit cost us Rs15(Rs 5 /mobile). Shoe rack was free. There were 3 queues for darshanam. One queue was for free that might take 1 to 2 hours. Next was rs 100 INR queue, the average delay would be 45 minutes to 1 hour and lastly, there was a VIP darshanam.
| View from famous Srisailam dam |
Visit To The Holy Temple
VIP darshanam was rs 300 INR/head. It used to take 20 mins for darshanam. We opted for VIP darshanam. We entered the campus of the temple at around 6PM sharp. From distance, we heard the enchanting of Om Namah Shivaya (the famous mantra of Lord Shiva). When we reached nearby, we saw many disciples of the temple, blowing their khanjani, harmonium, danka, and other musical instrument and were singing this mantra. The situation was electrifying and magnificent.
View of The Holy Temple
It was a very charming sight and we enjoyed with deep joy. We made our darshanam quick. On the way back we saw Lord Balaji, Lord Vishnu etc. We took prasadam and hurriedly came out from the temple. The temple was properly maintained by the authority with lots of security personals in place. We were very happy to see to disturbance from so called pandas. The workforce was very friendly and very supportive. It was suggested to wear a dhoti instead of jeans or pants. For ladies, it was suggested to wear traditional sari or salwar with urni or chunni. We even noticed that nearby shops were selling churnis ranging from 150 to 200Rs
We were dam hungry at this time and went to a nearby restaurant to grab Masala dosa and tea. At this point, we had to take a decision. Either we could wait and search for hotels(locals suggested to search in sunnipenta village as well) or leave the place as the jungle check post would close at 9PM. We decided to leave over the table. Accordingly, at 7 we started our return journey. Srisailam being a small city, we never had to ask anybody for the roads. The city was well maintained with lots of clear signboards.
The road was pitch dark. With great patience and again with the grace of Lord Shiva we crossed the ghat section. We reached the jungle check-post at 8:30PM.We were given a plastic carry bag this time and charged Rs50. We crossed the gate and stopped for taking some rest. As the previous section was ghat and the journey was anxious. I tried to capture the ghat road with my son’s mobile. It is given below:Frankly speaking, in the pitch dark night with narrow roads, the ghat gave us a thrill. We were frightened too. We could only see the road illuminated by headlight and other car’s headlight through this zig-zag way. On the way back, in a silent area, we spotted a dear, gently gazing.
one day trip to srisailam from hyderabad |
| Beautiful Ghat road at Srisailam |
At around 10:00PM we came out of the jungle. We stopped for a cup of tea. There were public pay and use toilet available. We re-energized ourselves a bit and started again at 10:30PM. The road was again empty. The roaring sound of the car engine was breaking the quietness of mother nature while the headlights were engaged in high beam position for a steady 90KM/hr speed. At 11:10 we reached again near Hajipur crossing at Hotel Chandra Hospitality.
one day trip to srisailam from hyderabad |
| we at Beautiful Ghat road at Srisailam |
At Chandra Hotel:
This time they offered us delicious dal tadka, butter chicken, butter nun and buttermilk. Food was awesome. At 12 night, we started our last leg of the journey to home. At 1AM we checked in the ORR and 1:50 we reached our home with the wretched condition. It was a strenuous but successful journey which would vivid to our memory. We thanked Lord Shiva and ma Durga for arriving safely to our home. We hugged bed and called for the day.
Famous Srisailam Dam |
| Famous Srisailam Dam |
Few Suggestions from my experience:
- No doubt the roads were very good to Srisailam from Hyderabad. So you can start early if you are planning to come back in the same day. If you start at 4 AM in the morning, even you can do Abhisekham.
- The road, mother nature were beautiful. So request you all to maintain the cleanliness. As cleanliness is next to godliness.
- Food options need improvement. While talking to local hotel owner we came to know, the only veg meal has a demand that too in the pick time. All other time there are very fewer visitors. Hence either they close the hotel or keep a minimum option. So I suggest you prepare for this or carry your own food.
- Srisailam being a holy city does not offer you a Nonveg food. So never ask for it in this city. If you want to take nonveg, come back to the border or village next to the border. You will get it.
- Prefer the VIP darshan over free darshan. It will be quick.
- Do stop around the dam. I am sure that you will. Park your car in such a way that does not disturb the traffic. Being a narrow road, one mistake can lead to a huge traffic jam. Please plan accordingly.
Famous Srisailam Dam |
| Famous Srisailam Dam |
The summary is given below:
| From | To | Toll | Condition |
|---|
| Home | ORR via Lanko hill | NA | Bad |
| ORR Gachibowli | ORR Exit 14 | 40 | Very good |
| Exit 14 | First Toll Plaza | NA | good |
| First toll plaza | Second Toll plaza | 20 | good |
| Second Toll Plaza | Forest toll gate entry | 30 | good |
| Forest toll plaza entry | Forest toll plaza Exit | 50 | good but lots of speed breakers |
| Forest toll plaza Exit | Srisailam | NA | good but lots of speed breakers |
| Srisailam entry | | 100we at Famous Srisailam Dam |
