Yadadri Temple - Telangana's Pride

Yadadri temple situated atop the hillock Yadagirigutta, is the pride of young Telangana State. Extensively renovated after the formation of the state, it has become a great tourist attraction besides being a pilgrimage centre. The deity at the temple is Shri Lakshminarasimha Swamy, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The temple has large following as was evident from the number of prayer threads tied to the railing around the visitor's pathway.

We share here a short picture story of four buddies who went to the same college 55 years ago in Pilani. We stayed over night to perform morning aarti. Otherwise, one can return the same day to Hyderabad after doing forenoon darshan. 

The temple made of gray granite is simply awesome. Gold plating of the garbh-griha dome is in progress. It is illuminated at night. See the pictures.

The view from the heli-pad is breathtaking. See the video below.

Here is another video showing the valley below the heli-pad.

A short video below shows you the night view of Yadagirigutta illuminated.

Fact File

Located approx 60 kms west of Hyderabad off Warrangal highway NH-163. One can hire a cab or take a bus. We self-drove. Excellent road. Google map snapshot below.

Moderate weather round the year except summer months April to June. The temple gets more visitors on weekends and holidays. Average footfall then touches 10,000 visitors a day.

Darshan can be booked online. Email: eo-yadagirigutta@telangana.gov.in 

Photography not permitted inside the temple. Following picture courtesy the Temple Website.

Address: Yadagirigutta, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri District - 508115, Telangana.

Where to Stay

Yadagirigutta Temple Development Authority (YTDA) has well appointed cottages located atop an adjoining hill close to the temple. Cottages can be booked  online at www.booking.ytda.in . The cottages have been constructed through corporate donations. Each cottage has five ac rooms and spacious family lounges with a private elevator. Although refrigerator, pantry and dining table has been provided, the guests have to arrange their own catering. There are hotels and tiffin centres nearby. One can take VIP car parking ticket to go upto the temple. Others have to park in a ground down below. A shuttle bus service runs from the parking lot to the temple and back.

Photography is not permitted inside the temple. We had to deposit the cameras at the east entrance. 

The readers can get a feel of the vast compound of the temple and the arrangements for visitors through a short video below:

See the video below for a panoramic view of the temple.

Special thanks are due to Manohar Agarwal and his son Ankit for making impeccable arrangements for our stay and darshan. Thanks ML and Ankit.

As mentioned in one of the pictures, the senior citizens may find it difficult to climb up and down to reach the sanctum sanctorum even though the elevators are available. Those readers who are younger and fitter, will find it easy. They can also climb the Bhongir Fort merely 13 kms away. It also offers some adventure sports like rock climbing and rappelling there. You can get a feel of Bhongir Fort hike through our picture story which includes few videos.

Bhongir Fort- Thousand-Year-Old and Still Standing 

Getaways From Hyderabad

There are many getaways from Hyderabad. You may browse some of our earlier stories linked below:

Devarakonda the Fort that needs your Support

Laknavaram Lake that Charms You

Kuntala Waterfalls Monsoon Getaway

Boghata Waterfalls

Vacations Recharge Our Batteries

Do share other getaways from Hyderabad for resharing it with Ghumakkad's readers.

Thanks for browsing

   - Harsh-the Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/Secunderabad/ 28th Sep 2023

#yadadritemple #lakshminarasimhaswamy #yadagirigutta #telangana #tirumala #getaway #hyderabad #templecottages #bhongir #nh163 #ghumakkadharsh #ghumakkadhb #bitsians #1968-73batch 

 

Bhongir Fort KBG-23

A thousand year old fort.
Built atop a thousand foot high monolith.
Steep slopes. Almost invincible.
Not very far from Hyderabad.

Yes, we are talking about Bhongir Fort shown in KBG-23 the 23rd edition of Kaun Banega Ghumakkad. Bhongir Fort is about 60 kms from Hyderabad on NH-163 Hyd-Warrangal Highway. But surprisingly, most Hyderabadis could not spot the fort correctly.

The responses to KBG-23 ranged from the Forts at Golconda to Daulatabd. We have only two correct answers from the following readers:

1. Bharath Kommuri, MBA working at State Street HCL at Vijayawada
2. Parag Sharma, Former Air Commodore IAF, now settled in Nagpur. He has flown over Bhongir Fort number of times.

Our congratulations to both.

History

According to Wikipedia, the Fort was built in the 10th century on an isolated monolithic rock by the Western Chalukya ruler Tribhuvanamalla Vikramaditya VI and was thus named after him as Tribhuvanagiri. This name gradually became Bhuvanagiri and subsequently Bhongir. 

Rock Climbing School

The Tourism Department has started a Rock Climbing School at Bhongir. Its objective is to promote adventure tourism at the Bhongir Fort and to provide professional rock climbing training to enthusiasts. Also 300 ft & 600 ft rappelling is available for walk in tourists. The rock climbing school has been co-founded by Mr B Shekhar Babu, who has climbed Mt Everest solo. 

Another attraction close by is the famous Yadadrigutta temple. You can visit the Fort as well as the Temple in a day's outing from Hyderabad.

We thank all the participants. Stay connected. More KBGs are in the pipeline.

    -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 8th August 2019


We are grateful to Ramya Sriram of UK for KBG logo design.

#kbg #kaunbanegaghumakkad #contest23 #travellers #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #knowyourheritage #history #monuments #wanderers #onlinecontest #photowalks #travelisfun #bhongirfort #bhuvanagiri #yadadri #telanganatourism