Trip to Godavari Districts

Planned this road trip to Godavari districts all of a sudden and set on a 3 day car journey. Covered 2 beaches, 3 of the 5 Pancharama kshetras, 2 of the 18 Asshtadasa Sakthi Peethas and one of the 9 Nava Narasimha Kshetras in this trip.

Day 1: Started off on a Saturday morning around 8 and picked up my friend on the way. Reached Vijayawada around 2 pm and had lunch. Then went to Dwaraka Tirumala temple which changed a lot since I last visited around 25 years back during my college days. Reached there around 4.30 pm and had darshan. It is also called Chinna Tirupati. The road condition from highway was really bad and had to navigate slowly. Started from there around 5.15 pm and reached Palakollu around 8 pm. Visited the Ksheeraramam temple which was one of the 5 Pancharama kshetras and went to the final destination for the day, Antarvedi. Had dinner and took a room in a hotel and slept for the night.

Day 2: Woke up early in the morning the next day and went for a walk to the beach side. Antarvedi is the place where river Godavari meets Bay of Bengal and we can see the difference between river water and sea water very clearly. While the river water was blue and very calm, sea water was a bit dirty and full of waves. Came back to the room, had bath and went to the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple which is one of the 9 Nava Narasimha Swamy temples. From there, went to the beach again and spent some time taking photos and enjoying the scenery. Started from there around 11 am and had lunch. Reached Ainavelli Vigneswara Swamy temple around 3 pm and from there went to Draksharamam temple around 5pm. On the way, had to go on a jetty with the car to cross the river. Draksharamam is one of the 5 Pancharama kshetras and also one of the 18 Ashtadasa Sakthi peethas. Had darshan and from there went to another Sakthi peetha in Pithapuram, Sri Puruhootika matha temple around 7 pm. From there, went to another Pancharama kshetram, Kumararamam in Samarlakota around 8pm. Took a room near the railway station and slept for the night.

Day 3: Woke up in the morning and went for a walk around the Railway station. Time to go to Uppada for some shopping and meet a college friend after a long time(who would help in shopping a saree). The shops were still not open, so went to the beautiful Uppada beach which had a pier. Came back to the Uppada town, did some saree shopping for my better half and mother, had lunch and started back home to Hyderabad.

It is a good 3 day trip to Godavari districts for those who are looking for a getaway with family/friends from Hyderabad. Click here for more road trips.