Trust Me

 "Trust me!"

"It takes both sides to build a bridge"

"Suspend(ed) over calm waters"

These are some of the creative captions given by the readers of KBG-53 Contest. The contest featured a picture of a Cable stay Bridge in Laknavaram Lake in Telangana India. The picture fired the imagination of the participants with almost 50 different captions coming in! The renewed format of Kaun Banega Ghumakkad online contest as a caption competition has been accepted very well by the readers.

Cable Stay Bridge

Laknavaram Lake in north eastern part of Telangana was built in the 13th century by Kakatiya rulers for irrigation of surrounding areas. This 40 sq-km lake apart from acting as an irrigation source, is now a popular tourist resort. We had visited the lake in 2019. The readers may browse our detailed story titled 'The Lake that Charms You'. KBG-53 had featured just one picture of the bridge in the lake that connects one of the thirteen islands. Other islands are accessible by boat. Here are few more pictures of the lake and the bridge for our readers.

For those not familiar with the geography of the region, see the route map from Hyderabad to Laknavaram. 220 kms, 5 hrs by road on NH-163.

Caption Contest

We received close to 50 captions for the KBG-53 Contest. We appreciate the creativity of Ghumakkad's readers. The complete list is given below for wider readership.

KBG-53 Winners

The Jury found the captions very interesting. We thank all the contestants. We are delighted to share the winning captions along with a brief intro of each Winner. Thanks are also due to both the Jury Members- Manik Srivastava and Neeta Bhargava.

Amandeep Kaur holds an MBA(Fin) and works with a US company in India. She loves to interact with people. She has won the KBG contest several times. Her caption is simple and appealing.

Mukul Bhargava runs his packaging industry in Bangalore. Fond of gardening and travelling, he is a second time winner of KBG contest. His Hindi caption means "Life is as tall and as deep, and melodious like a harp".

Greh Bhushan Sethi is a former Colonel of Indian Army and holds a PhD. He has headed several educational institutions in Hyderabad and been advisor to many educational trusts and societies. I keen golfer he livens up any gathering with his wit and humour. His two worded caption "Trust Me" was much appreciated by the Jury. The bridge is telling us 'trust me' for safe passage across!

Ranajit Sen, Pharmacy graduate from BITS Pilani has been on the Board of several pharmaceutical compnies besides being member of Advisory Councils set up by the Govt of India. He has a great sense of humour.

We share two other PQs- picturesque quotes- on the same bridge but not part of this captions contest.

We end with a quote by Edgar Allen Poe about spending time around a lake.

Hope we have helped you in overcoming the Covid boredom to some extent. We will continue sharing our virtual travels and test your creativity in the upcoming KBG Contests.

Stay connected, stay safe.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 16th March 2021

#nature #laknavaramlake #telanganatourism #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #KBG #kaunbanegaghumakkad #onlinecontest #powerofobservation #lockdownfunathome #beatthecorona #lockdown #stayhomestaysafe  #captions #travelfun #naturelovers #craetivecaptions #pqs #picturesquequotations #laknavaram #cablestaybridge #virtualtravel

The Bridge Needs A Caption

Cable stay bridge in a lake. Reflection in the placid waters. What else do you see in the picture?

The picture awaits your caption. Please keep it short.

KBG-53, the 53rd edition of Kaun Banega Ghumakkad online caption contest is here. Give a caption and be the Winner.

A word about the picture. It was shot in Laknavaram lake in north-eastern Telangana. The cable-stay bridge connects the main land to the island in the lake. The island has a boat jetty, accommodation for tourists and a restaurant run by the Tourism department. Now go ahead and submit your caption!

For the first-timers on KBG, you can respond using any of the six channels below:

1. Leave a comment on this post
2. Send email to hbindia@gmail.com 
3. Respond on the FB post
4. Comment on Instagram @ghumakkadhb 
5. Comment on Twitter @HarshBh21184761
6. Send a WA message. If you want your WA number to be added to Ghumakkad's list, send an email.

The timing of the KBG Contest is chosen to suit the readers in most of the time zones across the world.

Hope we have helped you in overcoming the Covid boredom to some extent. For those interested in reading more about Laknavaram Lake, you may browse our story titled 'The Lake That Charms You'

KBG-52 showed a picture of hundreds of demoiselle cranes feeding together. One single picture generated more than thirty interesting captions. For complete list of the captions and the winning entries, click the story 'Ghumakkad Ghar Aaye'. Two of the winning captions are reproduced below:

Be your creative best and shoot your response. Most catchy captions will be the Winners of KBG-53!

Stay connected, stay safe.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 13th March 2021.

#nature #laknavaramlake #telanganatourism #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #KBG #kaunbanegaghumakkad #onlinecontest #powerofobservation #lockdownfunathome #beatthecorona #lockdown #stayhomestaysafe  #captions #travelfun #naturelovers #craetivecaptions #pqs #picturesquequotations #laknavaram #cablestaybridge #virtualtravel

Laknavaram Lake That Charms You

Forested hill slopes.
Lake with placid waters.
An island in the middle of the lake.
Suspension bridge for access.
A cottage on stilts with water all around.

Am I dreaming?
No, this is for real!
A weekend getaway from Hyderabad.
Laknavaram Lake, a spectacular waterbody located in Mulugu district of Telangana state. It is 40 sq-km in size and holds enough water to irrigate 3500 acres of land. It has 13 islands one of which has an Island Resort run by Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation. Readers may browse the Wikipedia for more details about the lake.

Ghumakkad spent a day in Laknavaram with another Navy veteran Commodore CP Srivastava and our spouses Neeta and Manik. The lake dates back to 13th Century AD when the rulers of Kakatiya dynasty built it. Located at an elevation of 1760 feet above MSL, the lake receives enough rainfall. We visited it in the month of September towards the end of monsoon season. Here is our picture story for you.

From Hyderabad, we first drove to see the Ramappa temple. It will be covered in another story. We then drove for another 30 kms to reach Laknavaram. See the map below.

However for the benefit of the readers, you can drive to Laknavaram directly from Hyderabad. The 220-km drive will take 5 hours as four laning work is in progress. See the map below.

How to access the island resort? One has to use the suspension bridge. See a 30-second video clip.

Take a boat ride with us through this 30-sec video clip!

Here is a short video clip of the flowing stream.

If only the visitors could behave more responsibly, the place would be cleaner. See two pictures to prove the point.

As the light faded, the sky changed its hue.

Although a bit cloudy, the morning light transformed the lake view! More pictures follow. 

Some of you may be feeling, all this effort to just see a lake? For them here is an anonymous quote as a PQ on one of my pictures.

The rooms are very spacious with a great view. A restaurant with room service is available. However, a word of caution regarding the food. Though a variety exists but the food is extremely spicy. So, if you don't like chillies have some curd rice!

It was time to check out and feed the next destination for the drive. Google maps picked up our location- right from middle of the lake! See the screen shot below.

As the Sun went up, its reflection cast a golden hue on the lake. Here is another PQ fro you.

Laknavaram Bridge is an icon. I took many shots. The picture below brought a thought. See the two PQs below.

Here is the parting video clip while exiting the island. The strolley wheels make a cyclic noise while crossing the planks on the bridge. Click the video below.

Hope you enjoyed Laknavaram with us!

Other getaways from Hyderabad featured earlier in this blog are listed below. You may click the links to browse
Kuntala Waterfalls- Monsoon Getaway

Bidar- Brimming with history




Kolleru- The Pelican Paradise



Bhavani Island - Water Sports and More



Suryalanka- Goa of the East


Our next stop was Boghata Waterfall, 70 kms from Laknavaram lake. Click to read our picture story.

So, Hyderabadis, what are you waiting for? Get set and go! Car, bike or bus- whichever way you go, you will not forget the outing! Feel free to reach us for more information on any of these getaways.

Thanks for browsing

    -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 26th Sept 2019 hbindia@gmail.com 
#laknavaramlake #telangana #islandresort #suspensionbridge #boating #hking #navyveterans #grandparents #sunrise #sunset #getaway #hyderabad #telanganatourism #watersports #forests #camping #ghumakkadHB #ghumakkadharsh #waterbody #nature #mulugudistrict #indiatourism #kaktiyadynasty