Page 683 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

ANDHR A PR ADESH AND TELANGANA  681

y Srisailam &
Krishna Gorge
Kurnool district. 213 km (132 miles)
S of Hyderabad. @ daily from
Hyderabad. n Haritha Hotel, APTDC,
(08643) 224 616; Punnami Hotel,
Srisailam, (08524) 288 888.
_ Shivaratri (Feb/Mar).
The pretty temple town of
Srisailam, situated in the thickly
wooded Nallamalai Hills,
overlooking the deep Krishna
Gorge, is a popular pilgrimage
spot. Dominating the town Sangameshvara Temple outside the village of Alampur
is the Mallikarjuna Swamy
Temple, whose white, tiered u Alampur has outstanding sculptures,
gopuras, standing atop fortress- Mahboobnagar district. 215 km including a comp lete set of
like walls, are visible from a (134 miles) S of Hyderabad. £ @ dikpalas (guardian figures) in
great distance. The temple, the corner niches, and icons
which houses one of the 12 This village, on the northern of Shiva in various forms. Some
jyotirlingas (naturally formed bank of the Tungabhadra river, columns in the interior have
lingas said to contain the light is the site of the earliest Hindu been elaborately carved, such
of Shiva), is believed to date to temples in Andhra Pradesh. as those in the Padmabrahma
pre-Vedic times, though the Constructed by the Chalukyas of Temple. The pillars here have
present structure was built in Badami (see pp540–41) in the 7th seated lions at the base, fluted
the 15th century. The carvings and 8th centuries, the nine red shafts and ribbed pot-shaped
on the walls represent Shiva sandstone shrines are collectively capitals. The Balabrahma
in his many forms. A pillared known as the Navabrahma Temple is the only one of the
hallway leads to the inner Temples, and are group still in use.
shrine, guarded by a monolithic dedicated to Shiva. The Archaeological
Nandi bull. The layout conforms to Museum, next to the
Further up the hill is the a standard scheme – complex, has a fine
Hatakesvara Temple, said to be each temple faces east, collection of early
the spot where the philosopher- has an inner sanctum, a Chalukya sculptures.
saint Adi Shankaracharya pillared mandapa, and Just outside the village
(see p652) wrote one of his is surrounded by a is the reconstructed
celebrated treatises. A small passage. The tower Sangameshvara
Shiva temple at the summit, over the inner sanctum, Temple, removed
Sikharam, offers breathtaking capped by an from a site that
views of the valley. amalaka (circular Detail from the was submerged by
The dammed waters of the ribbed stone), shows Padmabrahma Temple the damming of
Krishna power a huge hydro- the distinct influence the Krishna, 15 km
electric project at Srisailam. of North Indian temple (9 miles) to the north. Standing
When the waters are high architecture (see p24). on a high terrace, it is similar to
enough, a luxury launch, the The later temples in the group the Navabrahma group, except
Zaria, ferries visitors from the have porches with perforated that the sculptural details
reservoir at Nagarjuna Sagar stone screens on three sides have eroded.
to Srisailam Dam. For almost of the passageways, as in the Just to the southwest of the
half the distance between the Svargabrahma Temple, built Navabrahma Temple complex
reservoir and Srisailam Dam, in AD 689. This beautiful temple are the Papanashanam Temples
the river passes through a thick (9th–10th centuries). These
forest reserve, habitat of the temples have imposing multi-
tiger, panther and hyena. The tiered pyramidal roofs but little
river, which runs very deep at external decoration, though the
Srisailam, is known here as the interior columns are ornately
Patal Ganga (“Underground carved. One of the temples
Ganges”) – according to legend, has a fine ceiling panel of
it springs from an underground Vishnu’s incarnations (see p683),
tributary of the Ganges. On and another has a powerful
the ghats close to the dam, image of Durga.
boatmen offer enchanting
rides on their basin-shaped Naga (snake deity) from the Archaeological E Archaeological Museum
reed and bamboo boats. Museum, Alampur Open Sat–Thu. &

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