Srisailam photos: 2010

Palutla, a remote village in Srisailam

Posted by : Siva durga prasad Nayak on 3:03 AM

Palutla, an ancient remote village in Nallamala forest, present near Srisailam. There are two ways to reach this village. The first one is via Ishtakameshwari temple. Through this route we should go only on foot. The second one is via Erragondapalem. In this route first we should go to Erragondapalem, from there to Gandhinagar, from there we should enter into Tiger forest and after a horrible journey of 5 hours we can reach Palutla. In this route we can travel in a jeep, but no one gives us a safe journey.
Tribal people are living in this village. Mainly Chenchu tribes and Sugali tribes are living in this village. There is no road connection to this village. People are mainly cultivating cotton in forest in about 1500 acres. We cant expect any modern facilities in this area. There is only one coin phone for total village. There is one Lord Sri Rama temple in village and one Hanuman temple in out skirts. Palanka kshetra, a temple of Lord Veerabhadraswamy is present near Palutla.
One year back I went to this place to attend a medical camp. I traveled in second route. Generally every person pray Pasi Amma and Pedda Amma for safe journey. While traveling we will see beautiful site seeing places, deers, deers living places, chenchu pentas(Chenchu tribes living places) etc. Thse are the photos of my journey.

Pasamma , Forest goddess.

Peddamma, Forest goddess.

Deers living area. Deers lick the soil for salt to stabilize mineral imbalance.

A very old inscription present in chenchupenta.

An image of Lord Shiva is present on the inscription with Sun and Moon on two sides and Nandiswara in front. You can also see the inscription .

Lord Hanuman temple present in the fields of Palutla.

Lord Hanuman in temple.

Lord Hanuman in sindhura varna.

Lord Ganesh idol.

A very old sculpture showing tribal culture.

Photos of Kadali Vanam

Posted by : Siva durga prasad Nayak on 8:52 AM

Kadali Vanam is a great Tapo sthanam in Srisaila kshetram. Its importance was described in Skhanda Puranam, Shiva Bhakta vijayam and many more Shaiva texts. Many great devotees of Lord Shiva (Akka Mahadevi, Allama Prabhu) did tapsya here. Nrisimha saraswati, an incarnation of Guru Dattatreya swamy, ends his avatara here by disappearing.

Location : Kadali Vanam is present at about 25 km distance from Srisailam temple. We have to travel in a private boat to reach this place. AP Tourism is not conducting Boat trips to this place. We have to travel 16 km distance in Krishma river. Then we will reach Kadali Vanam ghat. It is present in the opposite bank of Akkamahadevi caves. From there we have to climb six hills. After that we should cross a plain area which is fully occupied by grass. The total distance is about 7 kms. After crossing the plain area we will reach Kadali Vanam from there we have to climb down about 30 steps to see Kadali Vanam cave.

The cave is a very big one. In the center of cave we can see idols of Akkamahadevi in sitting and standing positions and an idol of Nrisimha saraswati. Before these idols there is fall of water drops. Out side the cave there is a small water tank which stores water coming from the top of cave. Aanimals usually come to drink this water.

Precautions : This place is totally interior place and we have to travel in a deep forest. Animals will also come to this place to drink water. It is not safe to go singly. It is better to go with a group at least 15 to 20 members. Nothing will be available there, so that we have to plan for our meals and medication. If any body wants to go singly, then it is better to go on Karthika pournami day, as some Kannada devotees will go to this place on that day and they will sleep there that night. One more thing is, it is better to start the trek early in the morning, to avoid strain and also animals.

Importance : Skhanda puranam, Sri pathi Panditaradhya charitra and many Shaiva texts described its importance. Allama Prabhu, a great devotee of Lord Shiva, did tapasya here and got solvation. After that he was invited by Lord Basaveswara and taught Shiva dharmas to Veera Shaivas. He advised Akkamahadevi to do tapasya in this place. She also did tapasya here in her last days and left her body. Nrisimha saraswati, the second incarnation of Guru Dattatreya swamy, came here with his desciples and suddenly disappeared here to stop the activities of his avatara. After that he appeared on Krishna river for Navikas. From that time onwards this place also became holy place for Guru Dattatreya followers, this story was described in Guru Charitra.

One will surely get blessings from god and from Guru by visiting this place. This trek will become an memorable incident in your life. These are some photos of Kadalivanam trek.

Starting journey in Krishna river.

Kadalivanam ghat.

Board showing distance to Kadali vanam in telugu.

Kadalivanam route, climbing the hill in a narrow route.

Krishna river view point in the middle of trek.

Some boards showing the route to Kadalivanam, in Kannada.

Another Krishna river view point.

Plain area after climbing hills.

Board showing Akkamahadevi cave, Kadali vanam cave.

Steps to reach Kadali Vanam cave.

Water tank out side the cave.

Entrance of Kadali vanam cave.

A sub cave in Kadali vanam cave.

Interior of Kadalivanam cave.

A Room built in Kadali vanam cave.

Second room built in Kadali vanam cave.

Akkamahadevi statues.

Akkamahadevi statue in standing position.

Akkamahadevi cave in sitting position.

Nrisimha saraswati statue.

Photos of Bhairava sela / Bayanna sela

Posted by : Siva durga prasad Nayak on 9:25 PM

Bhairava sela/ Bayanna sela is one of the sacred interior places in Srisailam forest. Lord Kala Bhairava swamy and local Chenchu tribes deity Bayyanna swamy are present here.

Location : Its is present at about 13 km distance from Srisailam temple and about 5km from Sikharam. We have to travel in Dornala road for 10 km and from there we should walk in the forest for about 3 km. There we will see a water falls and beside that, we will see a small cave in which Lord Kal Bhairava and Bayyanna swamy are present. Although it is present in forest, we can reach with a little effort. That beautiful water falls is present in seven steps with seven tanks one in each step. This water flow goes towards Bhimuni kolanu.

Importance : Lord Kala Bhairava swamy idol is a very old idol. Here Kapalikas worshipped Lord Kala Bhairava swamy in olden days. Beside Kala Bhairava swamy, Bayyanna swamy present in Lingakara. Chenchus will come regularly to this place and offer their prayers to Bayyanna swamy on every important occasion in their life. They will offer Cocks, Goats to the god.

We can get spiritual benefits by visiting this place and we can enjoy the nature while going to this place. These are the some photos of Bhairava sela.