Belum Caves - Longest in South India

Belum Caves is one of the best destination in Kurnool dist of Andhra Pradesh. Recently my group has visited this place, which is brilliant and it will be an wonderful experience to everyone who visits there.

How to Reach:

Belum Caves is located in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh. It can be reached from Tadipatri, Allagada or Jamalamadugu easily. People near by the Belum Caves are very much aware of the cave, but in late 1884 existence of the caves recorded by Mr Robert Bruce Foote. And in 2002 APTDC opened it to the public.

Belum Caves has very vast open chambers, deep passages, narrow columns and one can reach to a deep of 150 feet to reach Patala Ganga in Cave. Belum Caves is one of the longest cave explored in India after Krem Um Im-Liat Prah cave in Meghalaya. One can enter the Belum Caves by paying INR 50 for Indians and INR 200 to Foreigners at the entrance. Even though Cave is 3.5 km in Length, only 1.5 km is open to tourists because of unexplored area in cave.

It is believed that Belum Caves are used by Jains and Buddhists monks centuries ago and even one can find the baniyan tree and saint bed in Belum Caves which proofs their survival in cave. One who visits this cave feel relaxed once they step out and memorizes with the brilliant feel they experienced, the narrow passages, naturally formed chambers and deep tunnels to reach few locations in cave may be scary but it makes us feel good at last.

Please take your time out and do visit this caves as it is easily reachable compared to the longest cave located in Meghalaya, India.

Our Experience:

It was a tidy afternoon around 2:30pm after exploring #Ahobhilam earlier day followed by #Yaganti Caves we reached Belum Caves, but the moment we arrived the climate was so friendlier with chilled breeze from all corners which eased our tiredness. We could hardly see huge crowds over there. Entrance to cave was bit scary which has small staircase from top. But the moment you cross it, you will be completely spellbound by the brilliant locals.

The path leads us to vast open chamber with some beautiful naturally formed stalactite around you. Follow the sign boards across the cave through which we can explore the cave, here one has to be careful with the path as it may confuse at time. The main places which can be mentioned here are:

1. Kotilinga Chamber
2. Patala Ganga
3. Banyan Tree Hall
4. Saint Bed, and more

There was bit of suffocation inside the cave, but APTDC made certain arrangements in few chambers where blowers are arranged to get fresh lease of air inside cave. We are in the cave for nearly 2.5-3 hours and have captured some wonderful images in our SLRs. I suggest one to carry a good camera and water with them while they enter. I wish you plan to travel belum caves and feel the beauty.

Yaganti and Yaganti Caves - Place of Indian Nostradamus

After our successful trips in recent time, my group has planned to visit Yaganti and its Caves adjacent to temple which is located in Kurnool Dist, South AP (Rayalaseema Region) and here I want to share some vital information which I gathered.

Yaganti:

It is located nearly 10 km away from a town Banaganapalle, where one can reach from Cuddapah or Kurnool or Allagadda which are connected with National Higways. Yaganti is famous for "Sri Yaganti Uma Maheswara Temple" which was build in 15th century.

As per puranas, Sage Agastya wanted to build a temple for Lord Venkateswara on this site after finding Lord statue in a cave while in his yatra to Dakshin Bharat after completing his North India theerthyatra. However, even the statue was swayambhu (Naturally born) but could not be installed as the toe nail of the idol got broken. The sage was upset over this and performed a penance for Lord Shiva. When Lord Shiva appeared, he said the place suits Shiva better as it resembles Kailash. Then, sage asked a boon to Shiva to reside in this place for eternity with Mother Parvathi. So this place is called as Umamahesware (Uma: parvathi, Maheswara: shiva) temple. The shrine contains the statue of Shiva and Parvathi on a single stone.

Yaganti Caves:

There are three caves located in temple premises and each has its own importance.

1. Venkateswara Cave: The damaged idol of Lord Venkateswara is present in this cave, as the status has broken toe it is not worshipped. And it is used to be said that Lord statue was available here even before Lord resided in Tirumula Hills.

2. Rokkala Cave: Also called as Agastya cave and this is the place where Lord Shiva Linga was worshipped even now and to believed this is the place where sage performed his penance( tapash ).

3. Veera Bharham Cave: Small cave compared to the other two. Another sage Veera Bharham who predicted the future similar to Nostradamus has written his some of "Kala Gnaanam" here. 

Intresting Facts of Yaganti:

1. Growing Nandi: People and devotees believe here that the Nandi present in temple premises is growing in size. To trace the fact, ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) performed some tests and declared that the rock grows at the rate of 1 inch per 20 years. As per Sage Veera Bharham, the Nandi will come alive and shouts at the end of Kaliyuga.

2. Presence of Crows: While sage Agastya was performing his penance, crows disturbed him and he cursed that crows cannot enter the temple area. As crow is vahana of Sani Bhagwan, It is believed that Lord Shani cannot visit this place. So you cannot find a single crow in this surrounding area.