Belum cave – A long natural cave

23 November 2014

During our return journey from Gandikota, we made a visit to this cave. It is about 60 km from Gandikota. From Bengaluru it is about 300 km via Ananthapur.

Entrance to the cave
Thanks to the publicity given by APTDC, the Belum cave is widely known among people. It is the second longest cave in India. (The longest one may be in Meghalaya)

A 'hole' in the cave!!
As we entered the Belum cave complex, it was hard to believe that such a long cave exists in that region. The entrance of the cave does not divulge its grandeur.  But once we get down, the cave just opens up to its fullest!!


The cave though well illuminated was not good enough for the camera to take good photos. Only then I remembered that I had forgotten to bring the tripod!! The photos had to be taken with great effort.



The initial part of the cave is very wide. It gets confusing with various pathways diverging from the main path. There are several air shafts in the cave but still in some places we ended up sweating profusely!!




There are several sections inside the cave like cats gate, Patalaganga, thousand hoods, meditation hall, Kotilinga, Banyan tree hall, musical chamber and Mandapam. It would require at least two hours to see all parts of the cave.





I must say that the cave is well maintained by APTDC. There are play area in the complex for kids to place. A Buddha statue is constructed in the complex. But the hotel maintained by APTDC is not so great. It is better to have food either at Tadipatri or Ananthapur.


Labels: , ,