Gandikota-The historical fortress monument on the Pennar (Pinakini) river Gorge

Gandikota the Grand canyon of India, it is a fort with grandeur and ethereal beauty with historical heritage.

In Indian sub-continent  , one can experience all the terrain forms from hot sunny deserts to snow-capped mountains &  on the southern peninsula the three sides covered with beautiful majestic beaches and compete with the rest of global tourists locales.

The river Pennar flowing lazily  in the foot of the Gorge between two steeped rocky hills, its a spectacular view in the early morning sunrise and captivates one in its serenity.

The Pennar (alias Uttara Pinakini) which emanates from the Nandi hills of Karnataka and flows toward the north  and the east through several mountains, plain land of Deccan plateau and finally discharges into the Bay of Bengal . In between , it flows in the  rocky terrain area  of Kadapa where Gandikota exists and  make the site spectacular.

It is a small village named acquired due to the Gorge and kota refers to the fort.

Its history dates back to the 8^th century ruled by Kalyani Chalukyas , Kakatiyas of Orugallu in 13^th Century AD and later it was a prominent military outpost  fort during Vijayanagar reign and their vassal sub-ordinates the Pemmasani Nayakas , Subsequently it was annexed by Golconda sultanates.

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One spots the rocky terrain hills with plain land on one side and the  Pennar river gorge on  the other side, The fort area is surrounded with natural cannons .

A traveller can trek and reach the hill summit or easily drive by road and enter the fort and also traverse across through the adequately wide lanes made in the fort.

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The beautiful stone and gravel monuments of Ranganatha Swamy temple, Madhavaraya temple,  Granary (warehouse ) and Jamia masjid speak of the developments that happened in history.

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Near to this location a visitor should not miss to drop into the Belum Caves

It’s the second longest spread cave in the Indian sub-continent  known for it’s speleothems , such as stalactite and stalagmite formations inside the cave.

It is just a 60 kms drive from Gandikota and across many centuries the Jains & Buddhists monks  had habited these caves for deep penance and dwelling. Many Buddhist relics found in these caves dates backs to 4500 BC!!

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These caves were formed due to erosion in limestone deposit ion the Chitravathi river belt , a million years ago, due to carbonic acid and reaction between the ground water and limestone.

The site has been well maintained and one can spot an awesome seated posture statue of Buddha at the site entry.

We got a rare opportunity to feast on two extreme wonders on the same day one spellbound wonder   – Gandikota a top the terrain and Belum caves – a nature’s divinity underneath the earth terrain !