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Vijayawada trip - Part 1

As the monsoon gathers momentum, we decided to go on a coastal trip, this time towards the North of Chennai towards Andhra. The Wednesday near the Independence day we started from Chennai around 5:30 am.


Our first stop was for filling the car's tank and then to fill ours at Sholavaram - A2B. From here we headed straight towards Andhrapradesh. On touching Nellore at around 10 am we decided to take a detour from NH16 to the city of Nellore. Had to navigate through small roads and traffic to reach Thalpagiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple. This is a humble abode of Lord Vishnu residing in the shores of Pennar river. 



Lord Ranganatha is in Ananthasayanam with Penner river running at his backyard. The temple is gopuram is about 100 feet in height. The temple dates back to the Chola era and under gone upgrades during the Vijayanagaras, and the Nayaks. The bridge on the Pennar river backdrop  provides the most fantastic view. Lord Ranganatha is accompanied by his consorts Goddess Sridevi and Goddess Bhudevi, along with Lord Brahma. Outside this inner sanctum are the Sanctums of Goddess Ranganayaki, Alwars and Goddess Andal. Offered Tulasi mala and got a good darshan of the Lord. By 10:30 we crossed the bridge on Pennar and reached NH16 to continue our trip.




By 12:30 pm we reached Ongole. Decided to break here for lunch so took the bypass to reach the coastal city of Andhra - Ongole. With the help of google we zeroed in to Taste of Hyderabad for lunch which ultimately ended up to a disaster. We had chicken soup and Hyderabadi chicken biryani as we were told that was only available, billed at Rs.500. 



By 1:40 pm we were back to our drive through NH16. This takes you all the way to Kolkata. With 4 lanes and 6 lanes for some distances offers you a very good driving experience. Owing to the monsoon the weather also added to our driving experience. Small rains now and then made one sceptical of the trip but never the else giving a pleasant weather. Thus, by 4 pm we reached Vijayawada. The accommodations in the city were all sold out so we had to take an available accommodation at Tadepalli which was some 8 kms before the city of Vijayawada. We went to the near by Balaji tiffins for a light dinner. At hotel Narmada grand we took a delux room and gave in to the slumber.





The next day started with getting a driver for our tour here. Raju garu first drove to the near by breakfast spot. Like our previous day's dinner this too was self service and we have to stand and eat. This helps with your bill but to ones not used to standing while eating there is a slight discomfort. Food was good and tasty including the ginger chai. After the breakfast we went straight to Amravati. From the news we were excited to see the new capital of Andhrapradesh state but ended up disappointed as the capital is still in the germination stage.


We visited Lord Amareshwara temple first. After having washed our feet in the Krishna river we went inside the temple. Amareshwara resides here with the Krishna river in the backdrop. One has to climb few steps to reach his small hillock. The lingam here is around 15 feet tall, very unique with a crown above. Priest climb up to preform the pooja. Chola and Vijayanagar dynasties have contributed to its architecture.  


Next we went to the Dhyana Buddha here, nice place to visit but due to last night's rain the roofs were leaking still. After the we went to the museum but it wasn't operational. 
















From here went to Mangalagiri, there we went first to the Panaga Narasimhar temple. Sitting on a small mountain, the Lord Narasimhar here drinks panagam. As our car went up, we paid Rs.50 for parking and went up. The free darshan queue less devotees so we decided to go in that. Huge quantities of Panagam are filled into small stainless steel pots and poured on the Lord Narasimhar, half he drinks and the remaining is again caught in the pot and given to the devotee. Each pot is priced at Rs. 35. Once the devotee comes out of the inner sanctum with the pot, small tumblers are given by the temple people for the devotees to drink then if any remaining panagam is there its filled in plastic and handed over to the devotees. From here we have to take another 15 steps to worship the Thayar.

Raju garu took us to Murugan's for a wonderful lunch. Meals costed Rs.220 each and side dishes can be brought as needed. Starting from dhal powder and ending with the thick curd along with  creamy layer was worth it. With the tummy getting filled after the long day, we wanted to retire early for the day. As a last stop went to the Magalagiri cotton market, in this street we went to the shop called Magala Vasundara and bought a cotton saree and 2 cotton churidhar materials for Rs.2600. Our final stop for the day was the Undavalli caves. Having located in the city itself, this is a very small cave. At the entrance we have to take a ticket for Rs.25 per head. There was a small exhibit put up near the entrance as part of the indepence day celebration. Within 20 mins we were done here and reached back to our accommodation. 













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Location: Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India

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