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.  

Guide to Tirumala - Tirupati and its importance

Guide to Tirumala-Tirupati:

Tirumala Venkateswara Temple located in Tirupathi in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh in Southern India is most prominent shrine in this planet. The temple is located upon a range of 7 hills considered holy place by Hindus. The temple is amongst the richest and the most visited holy place in the world.

Meaning of Venkateshwara: Veenka means Papam (Sins), Tesha means toliginchavada (who clears) and eswara means lord shiva. It means Lord who clears sins of people in this Kaliyuga.

Daily pujas in Tirumala Venkateshwara temple starts with Annamaya’s Suprabhatam and ends with Vengamamba Aarti. Kaliyuga is after Dwapariyuga and Venkateshwara swamy was born in Kaliyuga and called as Pratikshaya Daivam. Lot of people travel to Tirumala from across the world and I want to share my travel expenses and may act as a guide who visits for first time.

Tirumala : Its is a place where Sri Lord Venkateshwara Swamy temple is located along with Sri Varaha Swamy temple and few other prominent places.

Tirupati :  It’s a place where several historical importance temples are located and is a major economical and educational hub in the southern region of the state.

Places to Visit in Tirumala:

1. Lord Venkateswara Temple
2. Sri Varaha Swamy Temple
3. Pushkarini
4. Sri Vari Padalu
5. Papavinasanam Teertham
6. Akasaganga Teertham
7. Chakra Teertham and more

Places to Visit in Tirupati:

1. Govindarajulu Temple
2. Kapileswaraswami Temple
3. Srinivasa Mangapuram
4. Iskon Temple and more

Other Prominent Places nearby Tirumala-Tirupati:

1. Thiruchanoor
2. Kanipakam
3. Sri Kalahasti 
4. Athirapally Waterfalls and more

How to reach Tirupati-Tirumala:

Tirupati can be easily reached by Air, Train and Road which has connectivity with all major cities in India and Tirumala is 40 mins travel from Tirupati by road which has connectivity with buses every 2 mins from Bus Stand and Railway Station.

People often go to Tirumala by walk which can be reached by crossing all 7 hills(Venkatachalam). There are 2 popular ways to reach the adobe.

1. Alipiri: It is the longest way (nearly 4200 steps and 9kms around) and most preferred way by devotees. It can be reached easily from all corners of tirupati. It will take around 4-5 hrs to reach the top of hill.
2. Sri Vari Padalu: It is located nearby Srinivasa Mangapuram and has 2100 steps which will take around 2 hrs to reach the top of hill.

Accomadation in Tirupati-Tirumala:

Devotees who are willing to stay in Tirumala need to book a room prior to thier journey from TTD counters which are located across all major cities. Room can also be booked through internet booking (http://ttdsevaonline.com/) where payment can be done by all major credit/debit cards. Rooms are available at various price ranges starting from INR 50.

Note: There are no private lodges in Tirumala, so make sure you book a room if you want to stay in Tirumala or else need to stay in Tirupati which has all major restaurant and lodges spread  across the city.

Things to do in Tirumala:

1. Don't darshan Lord Venkateshwara Temple without having a bath at Puskarini which is collective of 5 holy waters.
2. Devotees should make darshan of Lord Varaha Swamy temple before visiting Lord Venkateswara Swamy, because the entire 7 hills belongs to Varaha Swamy and as Venkateswara Swamy wants to stay in 7 hills so he requests Varaha Swamy to allocate some space in mountain. Varaha Swamy asks why i should give you space, then Lord Venkateshwara says whoever come for my darshan they will visit you first and then next to me, if they do that then their wishes will be fullfilled.
3. Don't walk with chappels in 7 hills as it is a place where Venkateshwara Swamy himself born there which is equivalent to Lord Vishnu born place.

Other Important facts of Tirumala:

1. Place where Venkateshwara Swamy stays also called as Seshadri refers to Sesha dasa of Lord Vishnu with its head at Tirumala, mid part at Ahobila and tail part at Srisailam.  
2. Daily after Suprabatam, the first darshan will happen to a Huntman (Boyavadu in Telugu) because he is the first person to see Lord Venkateshwara Swamy avatar in Kaliguy. Even today their family person only will have darshan first. 
3. Venkatachalam (7 hills) is one of the prominent hills in South India and the other one is Arunachalam which is hill of Lord Shiva. In Scanda Purana it was said as Venkatachalam was directly brought from Vaikuntum.

Spiritual Doubts of Lord Venkateshwara Swamy:

1. Varaha Swamy and Venkateshwara swamy both are avatars of Lord Vishnu, still Varaha Swamy will not provide space in Venkatachalam because this is Kaliyug. Probably this might be first lease happened in this Kaliyug.
2. Avatar of Lord Venkateshwara Swamy is not to kill anyone. It was only to marry Lakshmi Devi and in this Kaliyug she borns as Vedavathi (Padmavathi).

Ramayya Vasthavayya Movie Review: Simple revenge drama with new packing

Ramayya Vasthavayya Movie Review: Simple revenge drama with new packing

Junior NTR is back with his second movie in this year after his Baadshah and Harish Shankar was running high with his Gabbar Singh. This two for the first time came with Ramayya Vasthavayya. Will it break Pawan Kalyan's 'Attarintiki Daredi' Collections? Let us see how it has fared at box office.

Star Cast: Jr.NTR, Sruthi Hassan, Samantha, Mukesh Rishi, Rao Ramesh and more.

Plot: Ramu (Jr.NTR) is a college going student falls in love with Akarsha(Samantha) in his first sight, where she stays with her sister and grandmom in Hyderabad. In the process Samantha also falls in love with Ramu and she invites him to her sister’s marriage. 

Samantha is daughter of Mukesh Rishi who is a rich bad guy who has a treat from some unknown force. After Mukesh Rishi’s daughters marriage he receives a treat call stating he will be killed in next one hour and then Ramu decides to save Mukesh rishi from goons. 

Will he succeed in saving Mukesh Rishi? Will he gets samantha’s father approval for marriage? Who is Amulu (Shruthi Hassan)? How Amulu and Ramu are related? If you want to know all this, come on grab a ticket and watch it at big screen.

Movie Highlights:

1.       NTR dialogue from “Daana Veera Soora Karna” in introduction

2.       Glamourous Sruthi Hassan and Samantha

3.       Interval Twist
3.       Horseride by NTR
4.       High energy levels and dialogues by NTR

5.       Background score

Movie Negatives:

1.       No comedy quotient

2.       Songs seems to copied from old Thaman movies
1.       Weak flashback episode     

3.       Predictable climax

Plus Points: NTR was slick & slim and performed his best, carried this movie entirely on his shoulders. His dialogue delivery was apt. Samantha in first half and Sruthi Hasaan in Second half were so beautiful. Chota.K.Naidu did a wonderful job in showing all 3 leads colourful. Background music by Thaman was good and he maintained the same throughout the movie. Interval twist was good and carried the movie to second half with huge expectations.

Minus Points: There was no separate comedy track in movie where we miss all big names. Songs in movie are melodious but seems Thaman has copied a lot from “Mirapakaya” movie which may not effect a lot overall.

Final Verdict: Ramayya Vasthavayya has its own limitations as it was a revenge drama and family audience will highly appreciate this movie because of NTR’s performance and ultra glamorous heroines. Don’t compare Ramayya Vasthavayya with Attharintiki Daaredhi which we normally does whenever we get a big heroes movie after a blockbuster. Finally Ramayya Vasthavayya is wholesome entertainer with good story and brilliant performance by star cast.

Movie Review : Attarintiki Daredi

Movie Review : Attarintiki Daredi

Power Star – Pawan Kalyan, Once upon a time need to address him as brother of Mega Star, now scene has reversed. Now Power's stamina is like Rajini in TamilNadu. After CGR, Power Star has shown his Power Mania with #Attarintiki Daredi directed by technically brilliant director Trivikram Srinivas. And as long as Heroes are seen as demi gods in India, no Piracy can kill any movie. For Example is our #Attarintiki Daredi. Let us see how it was fared at Box Office.

Star Cast: Power Star Pawan Kalyan, Samantha, Pranitha, Boman Irani, Rao Ramesh, Nadiya, Bhramanandam, Ali, Mukesh Rishi, Kota and more.

Plot: Raghuram (Boman Irani) a major business tycoon in Italy is grandfather of Goutham Nanda(Power Star). At old age Raghuram wants Nadiya as reconciliation with him for what he did in past. Nadiya is a head strong daughter of Raghuram where she elpoes with Rao Ramesh and marries him in the past. Now Raghuram sends Goutham to bring back his aunt to Milan and take her property which she kept away for 25 years because of the father-daughter differences. Goutham joins as driver in Nadiya house where she has two ultra glamorous daughters Prameela (Pranitha ) and Shaasi (Samantha ). What does Goutham do after entering Nadiya house? Will he marry Prameela or Shaasi? Will Nadiya comes back to Raghuram? This is what is #Attarintiki Daredi which need to seen at Big Screen.

Plus Points: Action packed performance by Power Star Pawan Kalyan will remain main attraction to the movie. Glamour department was fulfilled by heart Throb Samantha. Nadiya, OMG she is not at all looking like Atta.

In First Half, the movie revolves around the story forming, how goutham enters nadiya house as driver, how he lures prameela and shaasi. It was full of entertainment and power star trademark acting. Second half was more with comedy and sentiment, but promise you will love the episodes between Powerstar and Brahmanandam which will recall all the Jalsa comedy episodes. Well Done Pranav my boy J

Music by DSP was good compared to his previous albums, but re-recording elevates the mood of audience in second half. Photography and songs picturization were brilliant. Trivikram who was famous for his dialogue writing for Nuvve Naku Nachav, Nuvve Nuvve, Jalsa and more given wonderful punch lines and when delivered by Power Star, “Vatiki vacha Kick a varru abba”

Direction and screenplay by Trivikram Srinivas, where he intelligently narrated the bonding story of “Father – Daughter” and incorporated love in between of “Bava – Mardalu” which made the movie full too family entertainer which is rare from a big star in recent days of Tollywood.

Minus Points: Long Sentiment episodes in the second half and unnecessary scenes like where Goutham says to buy Railway Station which seems bit heavy digest. Movie filled with more twists which may be avoided but it’s due to tight screenplay from Trivikram.

Highlights:

1.       Power Star – Pawan Kalyan

2.       Trivikram Direction

3.       DSP Background Score

4.       Samantha glamour

5.       Kevvu Keka comedy episode

6.       Mumtaj (Kushi fame) and Hamsa Nandini song

and many more

Verdict: Film was tailor made for Power Star where he fully unleashed his performance in full and fury. It’s a combo pack of Comedy, Sentiment, and Action which was single handly handled by PK. Though film was pirated and with its huge budget of 55 crores in making. Collections in box office will be like currency Tsunami. My opinion don’t miss this action packed entertainer which is rare now days where a super star performing in family entertainers.

Indian Economy is slow; But spending is same. Saving buster to all Young Indians

Indian Economy is slow; But Young Indians spending is same. Saving buster to all Young Indians

Indian economy is very slow and Rupee against Dollar has touched its overall low, Gold is shining at its all-time high, Petrol and diesel prices are running against Onion prices. Even a bottle of beer became expensive. Stock markets are trading low, bank interest rates increased. Its tough task for young and middle class Indians to lead an enjoyable life with everything inflated except your salary.

Let’s see how we can improve your saving with same lifestyle:

1. Movies: Instead of hitting multiplexes and malls for a movie, better is to watch in an old single screen maha palace with same AC facilities. Example: If a couple is going to watch a movie in multiplex, ticket price is INR 350 inclusion of taxes on average, additional parking and snacks account another INR 150. Overally it is 500 for two. Where as in single screen price of tickets and snacks is half compared to Multiplex. So saving here is almost half.

2. Smart Party: Planning to go a Pub. Normal entrance charges is in range INR 200-1000, we can save a lot in entrance fees where in few places its free in weekdays and few offer discounts if you take your girlfriend along you, few if your follow their dress codes and more. So, Act Smart save Smart.

3. Expensive Dines: Planning to take your family to a restaurant, so you need to be ready to pay a lot in AC dines like service tax and more. It’s advisable to bring whatever you want to have at dined as parcels and can have happily at home where there is no need to pay service tax, other charges, tip and more. Here you are going to even save fuel.

4. Power Consumption: We are habituated not to stop lights, fans and more at home even though we not need them. Which overally affects you in paying huge power bill. It’s advisable to use LED lights, high stared appliances to cut your power bill. Also use them when you need and when you are in that area. For Example: If you are in Bedroom, Use a light and fan instead of using them at entire house. Other simple tips include turning the lights off when you leave a room.

5. Street Food and Home Food: In this current generation, mostly all working employees prefer to get parcels at night, i.e., curries and preferring canteen food in day time. It’s advisable to have cooked food from home which is healthier and cost saving. Even trying road side food like pav bhaji, cholle, kulcha, tikkas is preferable instead of going to a dine which can be easily possible for people staying in Delhi and Mumbai because of options there.

6. Grocery Spending: Purchasing grocery has become very expensive now days. Need to spend smartly in grocery shopping. It’s always better to buy in small amounts depending on your consumption instead of purchasing heavily and storing them. Probably the prices may deep or the items may damage so less size packs more advisable. It’s always better to purchase in a whole sale shop instead of going to retails chains where they include service taxes on bill. 

It's always advisable to think smart before you spend and save something before you start spending out.

Finally "Economy is half the battle of life; it is not so hard to earn money as to spend it well", so think intelligently and act smartly.

Note: This are completely my views and not targeted on any individual or family.

Thanks for your support.

Madras Cafe Movie Review

Madras Cafe Movie Review: Intellectually Scripted and Well Planned Assassination Plot by LTF

Cast: John Abraham, Nagris Fakhri and many more

Plot: It is a very new story in Bollywood which was never touched because of the political issues that are connected very close to soul of the movie. Vikram Singh (John Abraham) is a RAW agent in India deployed for a covert operation in Lanka which is in the dominance of Anna (Prabhakaran). Anna supports Tamil group and fights for them against Lankan Army. To bring peace in the Lanka, Indian Army was sent by PM to Lanka if not external forces can occupy Lanka with the help of Anna and can use that piece of land of illegal activities against India which was developing at rapid pace in that era. In mean process Indian army was attacked by LTF lead by Anna and many IA people are killed. Now Vikram goes to Lanka to make counter operation to Anna and its get misfire in this process he loses his wife as well because of secret agents who passes information from Indian Govt to Lanka. In revenge Vikram gets crucial info about Anna and was attacked. After the brutal attack of Indian Army on Anna, to seek revenge against us he joins hands with foreign forces to attack Indian Ex Pm. Who is Anna? To whom he attacks? What happens to the attacked person? What John Abraham did while the assassination is planned against our ex PM? What happens is to be watched at Big Screen.

Plus Points: Any kind of movie whether its small or big needs a well bound script which is available here and indeed lots of research would be went through before coming up with this kind of movies. John Abhram was perfect for the role. Nagris Fakhri has some portion but did her justice. Best cinematography i have seen in recent past movies where the civil war episodes are very well shot.  Movie ends with tragedy but the fact is; we will get to know that we have miss used our RAW information and could not save a VVIP from assassination.

Negative Points: Back ground was not sinking with the movie which would have been better. Post interval movie was dragged a bit which would have been easily had a cut in editing. Not a regular commercial movie which misses comedy, drama, love, songs and lot more in it.

Verdict: Well Scripted, Intelligently narrated, well sound and highly appreciated story which makes the movie must watch from my view. It was never touched area in bollywood, Probably Mani Rathnam in a movie touched about LTTE and civil war which is different here. Commercial movie lover please skip this and who wants to see something new please book your tickets in near by screen today.