Kurnool was one of the destinations I frequently visited in Andhrapradesh during the 90s. The town’s situated on the east bank of river Tungabadhra. Incidentally the city is only on the east bank. On the west bank are the industries of TGV group.
During one of the visits, we went for a walk in the river bed. Rivers in Rayalseema belt are mostly shallow and wide. The bridges across the rivers are long. I’ve hardly seen rivers flow in this region, except for this one- Tungabadhra and Krishna.
It was a summer evening; the breeze was refreshing after a day of traveling from Bangalore and then work at one of TGV factories. As we entered the river bed, we noticed musk melon creepers… it was towards the end of the season, most of them were dry. The Kurnool variety musk melon is very popular.
Walking on dry sand was fun and needed lot of effort. As we approached the waters, I noticed this lovely little anchor. It was beautiful!
We spent some 45 minutes looking around. We could get a 360 degree of the flat city. Kurnool’s and Davangere are two towns which are real flat.
During the same visit, we heard about Alampur, a little temple village about 22km from Kurnool. We got see few temples, a mosque and almost dry lake bed.
One of the temples in the outskirts of the village was not originally built here. It’s shifted from another village which is presently under the waters of a reservoir. ASI has put in lots of efforts into this project; mark every stone and dismantle the temple, shift the stones and assemble it back at Alampur. In fact, Alalmpur has lot of historical importance.
The sculptures are beautifully decorated with floral and geometrical designs. Every sculpture tells a story from the Hindu mythology. In the picture below, you see a half man-half woman figure in the entrance of the temple. The guide told us a story behind the temple but I cannot recall any of it.
During one of the visits, we went for a walk in the river bed. Rivers in Rayalseema belt are mostly shallow and wide. The bridges across the rivers are long. I’ve hardly seen rivers flow in this region, except for this one- Tungabadhra and Krishna.
It was a summer evening; the breeze was refreshing after a day of traveling from Bangalore and then work at one of TGV factories. As we entered the river bed, we noticed musk melon creepers… it was towards the end of the season, most of them were dry. The Kurnool variety musk melon is very popular.
Walking on dry sand was fun and needed lot of effort. As we approached the waters, I noticed this lovely little anchor. It was beautiful!
Wondering what an anchor is doing here? Small boats are used here to ferry people across the river from the town to the factories. I rode one of the bigger ones, powered by a diesel engine, couple of times. The route was a round-about one since it had to be navigated through the deepest parts of the river.
In the picture above, you can see a part of the ruins of the fort supposedly built during Tipu Sultan’s reign. Kurnool has its place in Andhra history.
During another visit, we decided to check out other historical monuments within the city. This one is a small structure built like a fort, it's called as Kondareddy Buruju.
The windows are carved out of single slabs of stones.
Look at the walls and the floor… they look solid.
One of the temples in the outskirts of the village was not originally built here. It’s shifted from another village which is presently under the waters of a reservoir. ASI has put in lots of efforts into this project; mark every stone and dismantle the temple, shift the stones and assemble it back at Alampur. In fact, Alalmpur has lot of historical importance.
This temple could be one of the experimental temples.
And this snake god carving (which was lying out on the street) is supposed to have been to Paris and back for an art exhibition. There’s a small museum too with a small collection of stone sculptures.
We were almost done and we were passing the mosque within the temple complex and we noticed a huge cane basket inverted over a platform. Out of curiosity we asked a kid what was under that? Chicken? Out of no-where a bunch of kids were on the scene and a Mullah cam and moved the ‘cane basket’. Wow! I was awe-struck seeing a bowl carved out of black granite.
The Mullah told us that during festivals, this bowl would be filled with food and people would have handfuls out of it. The carvings on the sides are intricate. This picture does not tell much, you have to see it live. If not for anything in Alampur, you have to visit the place just to see this stone bowl.
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The Mullah told us that during festivals, this bowl would be filled with food and people would have handfuls out of it. The carvings on the sides are intricate. This picture does not tell much, you have to see it live. If not for anything in Alampur, you have to visit the place just to see this stone bowl.
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Detail:
Kurnool and Alampur
