Trekking at Anantha Giri Hills, Vikarabad

I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself.

-James Baldwin

Ananthagiri hills is located at a distance of 7 kms from Vikarabad town towards Tandor road. This is one of the big forest area in Rangareddy district. Ananthagiri is perched at an altitude where the panoramic vista unfolds stunning viewpoints. There is a Vishnu temple in this forest area which is called Ananta Padmanabha Swami Temple.

There is practically not much to see or do, but if you are nature freak and want to be away from the clatter of city crowd you can chill out here. This is an ideal place for trekking and forest walking. And one of the most beautiful places to get away from cities traffic.It is around 80 kms from Hyderabad.

Panoramic view: Ananthagiri Padmanaba swamy temple

The temple is surrounded by forest. From the temple there are some steps which lead to 2-3 small temples and there is also a very old Pushkarini (water pond, from where the water is used for Temple). Along the walk we can also see a lot of ruined close to dilapalated structures. There are many small caves which are carved out of the hillock, may be devotees used to stay in these earlier.

This trip can be for a day visit or if you are in a group try to plan for a week end so you can stay in the forest guest house over the night and enjoy time and nature. For adventurous people there are locations where you can experience the total greenery of the forest. One can go through the clouds if you happen to go to Vikarabad on a cloudy day with a little drizzle.

In front of Ananta padmanabha swami temple

The deity in this temple is that of Ananta padmanabha swami (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu). According to the sthala purana Markadeya swami (a devotee of Siva) did penance for nearly 1400 years for the darshan of Lord Vishnu. Then Lord Vishnu appeared to him as Ananta Padmanabha Swami in Shali Graha form, this is in a cave and converted into a charka to swamy. Even now piligrims need to have a darshan of the Lord by going inside a small cave.

HISTORY:

About 400 years ago Nizam Nawabs used to come here for hunting and to take rest in the peaceful place of Ananthagiri hills, one day lord Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy came to Nawab dreams and asked him to build the temple for him. The main temple of lord is constructed by Hyderabad Nawab.

ACCOMODATION:

Temple offers hotel rooms at a cost of 200 per day. There is a Forest guesthouse close to the temple on the way to Vikarabad. This is bang on the Main road and on a small hillock, giving a panoramic view of the forest.

Andhra Pradesh tourism is organizing one resort in Ananthagiri hills. There are 36 AC rooms available in the resort, and tariff is 1500 per day. You can book the rooms through online by APTDC website or by visiting the nearest AP tourism booking office.

Ananta padmanabha swami temple Pushkarini

PLACES AROUND ANANTHAGIRI:

• On the way back to Vikarabad towm near the light house take a turn towards TB hospital and 2 kms on the way is the top most point in the Vikarabad area (there are hardly anyone who will visit the place). From here one can find all the beautiful places in Vikarabad.
• Bugga Rameshwaram (near Anthagiri palli) is a place which is located 4 km away from Vikarabad. It is well known for Shiva temple.

Trekking in Forest

HOW TO REACH ANANTHAGIRI?

This temple is situated in Ananthagiri village which is 5 km from Vikarabad and 75 km from Hyderabad, frequent buses and private transport operate betweenVikarabad and Ananthagiri Temple.

My cousins: Rajesh and Naresh

By Bus:

• People coming from Hyderabad need to take bus to Tandur and get down at Ananthagiri temple stage.

By Train::

• People travel by train need to get down at Vikarabad Railway Station and from there different modes of transport is available to reach Ananthagiri temple. Temple is 7 km away from Vikarabad Railway Station. 
• Vikarabad is situated on the Hyderabad - Mumbai railway line, so all the trains from Hyderabad to Mumbai will have a stop at vikarabad.

MY TRAVEL ITINERARY:

• We started our journey from the Begumpet Railway station at 6:20 AM. The charges are Rs 11/- per head.
• We reached Vikarabad at 8:00 AM . We had breakfast at Udipi hotel near Vikarabad Railway station. The food was good.



My friend: Ramesh

• Autos were readily available outside the railway station. Auto guy demanded Rs 40/- for going to Anantha giri temple at the distance of 7 Kms.
• The road from Vikarabad to Ananthagiri was nice, but it is very remote.
• Finally we reached the AnanthaPadamanabha Swamy temple. This is a small temple.
• Somebody overthere told me that during Nizams period the temple was shaped in to Muslim Mosque style.
• After sitting there for few minutes enjoing the absolute calmness.
• From the temple there are some steps which lead to the Pushkarini. Going forward along the route we end up into the dense forests. We find beautiful trees and plants all the way with lots of weird looking trees. This one is pretty simple, lots of grass and thorny bushes.
• After taking some photos we returned to Ananthagiri temple.
• There are many small hills in the ananthagiri region and if you are really interested then cover as many as you can.
• After that, we return Vikarabad by the auto. The autoguy charged Rs 40/- in total.
• We had lunch at a Restaurent near Vikarabad railway station.
• We returned Begumpet from Vikarabad by Palnadu Express train.
• It was really a nice trip. This trekking expedition did provide that necessary refreshment.