A few months ago, I stumbled upon a picture on the internet captioned ‘Gandikota – The Grand Canyon of India’. Making it to the USA to see the original marvel seemed like a far-fetched dream. So I lapped the opportunity to do a road trip to Gandikota in Andhra Pradesh to witness the Indian ‘equal’. A co-worker from Bangalore, who shared this common travel goal, signed up to join me. Sooner, one of my co-workers in Mumbai also joined in. And now here we were, on a road trip with people we would normally talk to about office projects and timelines.

We mapped out an itinerary to cover other places of interest along the way like Lepakshi and Belum. I was the only one who could drive, so I got behind the wheels. My Bangalore co-worker handled local language communication (and translation). The second Mumbai co-worker put her skills as a photographer to good use. We hit NH44 from Bangalore by 5am. The drive was scenic and if you’re into road trips, this one will particularly enthral, with a landscape filled with stunning boulders, vastly similar in terrain to Hampi.

Bangalore road trip: Lepakshi

Our first stop was Lepakshi, a small town in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, 130 kilometres from Bangalore. Lepakshi is a pilgrim town and an archaeologically important site with references in Indian mythology.

If legends are believed, Jatayu (the bird) from the sacred scriptures of Ramayana was injured here after a battle with Ravan, who was carrying Sita to Lanka. When Rama (Sita’s husband) reached the spot, he saw Jatayu and uttered the words, ‘Le Pakshi’ or ‘Arise, bird’ in Telegu, which is how the town gets its name.

A towering monolithic sculpture of Nandi, the bull greeted us at the entrance of the Lepakshi temple complex. This structure is said to be carved out of a single stone and is among the largest Nandi sculptures in India. The many temples in Lepakshi date back to 16th century AD. Among them, the Veerabhadra temple built during the Vijayanagara Empire is the most important and visually captivating. There’s an 18 feet monolith of Nagalinga, a multi-headed snake and many frescos depicting moments from the Ramayana and Mahabharata including motifs of Shiva and Parvati.

The star attraction however, is the Hanging Pillar inside the heritage complex that gathers thousands of curious visitors each year. The pillar is believed to be hanging from the ceiling, barely touching the ground. We saw many tourists test this claim (including ourselves) by passing a thin paper and even a dupatta underneath it. The result wasn’t 100% true.

The guides at Lepakshi animatedly narrate a story of a British engineer, Hamilton from the pre-independence era, who once tried to decode the mystery of the hanging pillar. However, he failed after realising that the distortion would result in disrupting the alignment of the nearby pillars leading the entire structure to collapse.

Bangalore road trip: Gandikota

Two hours later, we continued on our road trip to Gandikota – the stop we were most looking forward to. Gandikota is a small village in the Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh. The city gets its name due to a 13^th century hill fort that sits on a spectacular gorge formed by the River Penna cutting through the  Erramala hills. Gandikota literally translates to Gandi (gorge) and kota (fort) in Telugu. The region was once under the rule of the Kaka Raja descendants from 1123 A.D to 1239 A.D. Since then it has been conquered by the Kalyani Chalukya dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Pemmasani Nayaks and even the Golconda Sultanate.

For the best view of the gorge, one has to climb a few boulders to reach the edge of the cliff. With every inch we moved closer towards the gorge, our jaws dropped. We sat there for a good two hours, simply gazing at the silent waters of the Penna River. The sunset from here was the cherry on the cake. Photography lovers will have a field day capturing stunning images of this raw natural landscape. A downhill trek to the riverbed allows visitors to indulge in adventure sports like rappelling and rock climbing, or take a leisurely coracle ride.

Back at the Gandikota fort complex, there are many structures now in ruins like the Jama Masjid mosque, a granary, a step-well, and a jail – allowing visitors a peep into the history of a bygone era. In the present day, the complex is also home to a few villagers and has a small government school.

Bangalore road trip: Belum Caves

The next morning we drove 60 km further down to Belum near Kurnool district, known for its unique cave system with stalactite and stalagmite formations. The Sanskrit word for caves is ‘Bilim’, which lends its name to the place. The first records of the Belum caves were mentioned in an expedition report of Robert Bruce Foote in 1884, followed by another expedition report by Herbert Daniel Gebauer in 1982 and 1983. Jain and Buddhist monks are believed to have been occupying these caves centuries ago. You’ll also spot a giant Buddha statue near the entrance to the caves.

Belum Caves stretch up-to 3229 meters and are considered the second largest cave system in India. The deepest point of the caves is ‘Patalganaga’, 120 feet from the entrance level. Another astonishing marvel is the Musical Chamber where the stalactite and stalagmite formations mimic musical notes when hit with your fingers. The overall use of neon lights to illuminate these formations add quite a character to the place.

By sunset, it was time to head back to Bangalore. On this weekend trip, we saw a heritage temple complex, a beautiful natural gorge and a unique cave system. The drive back to Bangalore was seven hours but went by like a breeze, in good company. We discussed work, but also talked about relationships, dreams, passions and more. Perhaps, it is true that travel not only makes you see the world differently but also see other people differently.

Where to stay in Gandikota?

To break our journey, we decided to spend the night in Gandikota. The best (and only) option to stay here is the Haritha Resort run by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation. The resort is barely 100 meters from the Gandikota fort and easily walk-able if you want to catch the morning sun rise from the gorge. Booking in advance is advisable.

(A version of this story was first published for AirAsia India’s in-flight magazine – September 2019 issue)

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