Located on the banks of the Penna river, this town has a history not known to many. It is also home to the famous geological formation which gives it the status of the “Grand Canyon of India”. Read on to know more on how to plan a trip to this historical town.
The blog contains these sections:
🗓️High level itinerary
Gandikota is located at a distance of about 280 kms from Bangalore and it takes around 6 hours to reach since some stretches of the route are quite narrow. While a lot of people do this as a day trip, it is ideal to spend a night there if you want to get both sunrise and sunset views of the canyon.
- Day 1: Leave from Bangalore early in the morning, Belum caves, Gandikota sunset
- Day 2: Gandikota sunrise view, fort exploration, Horseley hills and return to Bangalore
One point of caution is that Gandikota is not reachable by any other mode of transport other than car/ private vehicle.
🏡Stay
While there are some camping options available near the canyon, we would not recommend staying there since the place is littered and not well maintained. There is one basic resort run by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism department which is worth considering.
Alternatively, you could stay at this town Proddatur which is about an hour’s drive from Gandikota and this place has a few good options. We stayed here – this has a pretty good restaurant also with a menu offering varied cuisines. There are also a few other good resorts in Proddatur which one can book.
📝Detailed itinerary
Day 1: Drive from Bangalore, Belum Caves and Gandikota Sunset
We started at around 6.30 am from Bangalore and stopped for breakfast just after Devanahalli. One can find good restaurants for breakfast only till Chickballapur. So if you’re planning to leave earlier than this, it is preferable to get something packed and have it on the way.
The next major town would be Penukonda. This is also where one can come across the gigantic industrial facility set up by KIA motors as a result of which a lot of Korean restaurants have opened up along the highway. You could choose to make a pit stop here for brunch.
We then crossed Ananthpur and reached Belum caves at around 1.00 pm. These are the second largest caves in India and consist of long passages, spacious chambers and fresh water pathways.
After spending about an hour exploring the caves, we headed to our stay, freshened up and then headed to Gandikota to catch a glimpse of the canyon at sunset. There are multiple view points from where one can get a view. However, the best one is the one that has access through the fort.
Finding the exact river view point is a bit tricky. Laying out the detailed guide – proceed forward from the fort into the straight narrow path. On your left, you’ll soon come across Charminar. Keep moving straight ahead, and you’ll encounter Big Tank on your right. Take the immediate right turn and continue walking straight. You will pass by Jamia Masjid and the Granary on your left, ultimately arriving at the river view point of the Canyon.
One would need to climb a few rocks to get to a height from where you can get a good view of the canyon.
(PS: one would need to exercise extreme caution when near the gorge since it is a rocky terrain and is prone to accidents)
Day 2: Gandikota sunrise view, fort exploration and Horseley hills
Started from our stay at around 5.30 am to catch the sunrise view from the canyon. While the view of the canyon in the morning is hazy, the sunrise itself is a beautiful sight. However, it can get very crowded. So it is advisable to go here as early as possible to get a good spot for the view.
After watching the sunrise for around 30 mins, we went exploring the different parts of the fort. The Gandikota fort is believed to have been built during the later half of the 13th Century B.C. and has been under the rule of several rulers since then till it was finally conquered by the British and until recently discovered by a French traveler Taveriner who called it the 2nd Hampi. The fort has these major identified structures remaining today:
- The Fort Entrance Wall
- Madhavarayaswamy Temple
- Granary
- Jamia Masjid
- The Big Tank
- Jail
- Raghunathaswamy Temple
- Charminar
Apart from these, there is also the Rani Mahal, Talim Khana and the Gun Foundry. However, these are not as accessible as the others and hence are not as well-maintained. While efforts are being made by the government and the ASI to preserve the structures and declare this as a world heritage site, a lot of upkeep and renovation is still required to bring it to that state.
We then headed back to our hotel, grabbed a quick breakfast and then started our journey back to Bangalore.
At a distance of about 3:30 hours from Gandikota, is a small hill station called Horseley Hills where one can choose to make a pit stop as it falls on the way to Bangalore. The town is named after a British collect W.D. Horseley who built his home in this town around 1870 A.D. The drive to the top is very pretty, and lined with eucalyptus trees and some seasonal lakes. While there are stays on top, there are limited options and since there is nothing much to do here except the view points, it is better to skip staying here overnight. The main attractions are the Horseley Hills view point, the Ganli Bandalu or the Wind rocks and the seasonal lake Gangotri.
Returned to Bangalore at night.
Here’s a glimpse of the fort and the structures.
Roamantic Affair 