A group of us planned all of a sudden during the party day before yesterday to go to Nagarjunasagar and hit the road yesterday morning. Nagarjunasagar is the world’s largest masonry dam and is located about 150 kms away from Hyderabad. The dam was inaugurated on 10th Dec 1955 by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India and construction was completed in 1966.

We left ISB at about 9:15AM (had planned to start by 7AM earlier …. blame it on the party) on 3 bikes and a Tata Indica and reached Nagarjunasagar at about 1:15PM. It should usually take about 3 hrs to travel to Nagarjunasagar but we got delayed thanks to a rally or something that was happening near one of the villages en-route. Driving a bike to the place might be a good idea if the weather is pleasant but it might prove to be a bit difficult if the weather is too hot. Luckily for us, though the weather was bright and sunny, it wasn’t as hot as usual and the people who rode the bikes enjoyed the experience.

When we reached the last stretch that would lead to the dam (the last stretch essentially being a road that curves around the lake formed by the dam) we were told that cars would have to take a separate route to the place but bikes would be allowed to proceed ahead.

The road from where this snap has been taken is the one used by bikes. The road that you can see curving below this one is the one that is used by cars.

View from the road used by cars and heavy vehicles

When we reached the dam, we traveled over it using bikes and had a very good view of the dam and its surroundings. Its really amazing to imagine how they would have built it back then. Cars are a strict no-no here. People who have come with cars can take auto-rickshaws that will take them over the dam and bring them back. There are also boat rides to the Nagarjunakonda museum that is located on an island nearby and the last trip to the museum is at about 1:30PM. We decided to skip the trip and instead spend more time at the Ettipotala falls (thats how it was spelt at the entrance to the falls).

A distant view of the dam and the reservoir

After seeing the dam, we had lunch at a restaurant called Samagamam in a place called Vijay Vihar nearby. The food was South Indian and it tasted good. The side dishes were manageable.

We then left for the Ettipotala falls which are located about 15 kms from the dam. There is one single road that leads to the falls but you have to be very careful not to miss a small board that indicates that you have to take a left turn to the falls from the main road. Here is a snap of the board and you can see for yourself that it is kind of difficult to see it (and of course read the stuff that is written, in case you don’t know Telugu) unless you know about it and are on the lookout for it.

The Ettipotala falls are formed from the rain waters of the Nallamalai hills. More details on the same below:

You can do two things here. To have a good view of the falls, you can buy tickets (Rs. 15 per head for adults and Rs 10 per head for children) and have a good look from top and/or you can proceed downstream and take a bath. We decided to take a dip first and spent about 2 hours lazing around in the stream that emerges from the falls. Though the water isn’t very deep, the rocky bed is very slippery due to a thick layer of algae that has formed over the years. The water, due to its flow, also tries to pull you downstream but there are rocks to hold on to. Here are a few snaps:

L to R: Rajani, Raam (not me, the other one … note the extra ‘a’ in the name), Rishi, Ram (thats me) and Mani. Murali and Karthik, who are the other members of the gang are missing from this pic.

Karthik a.k.a KR a.k.a KaRa

Chandravanka and Suryavanka that constitute the Ettipotala falls

The falls

View from the spot downstream where we took a dip

There is a light show that happens when it gets dark in which you can see the falls lighted with different colors. We decided not to stay for the show and started our return journey at about 5:45PM. We reached ISB at 9:45PM. Here are some more snaps:

The falls

A group of folk dancers performing near the falls