River Krishna beckons you to this beautiful island lapped amidst its gurgling waters. This abode of Sri Pada Sri Vallabh, considered the first incarnation of Dattatreya is situated on the border of Karnataka and Telangana. Surrounded by the crystal clear and limpid waters of the river, the ambience of this place will fill you with serenity, awe and a slight dose of adventure. This is the place where Sri Pada Sri Vallabh did his penance.
Journey to Kuruvarpur will touch all modes of transport- rail, road and water. We started from Bangalore city railway station. Catch any train going to Raichur. Raichur falls in the main line to Mumbai and Delhi. We boarded the Udyan Express and alighted next day morning in Raichur railway station.
From the bus stand, buses ply towards Atkur on the banks of River Krishna.
Its a journey of around 1- 1.5 hours, a distance of 30 kms to Atkur dotted with beautiful and verdant paddy fields.
From Atkur walk a distance of less than 2 kms to the bank of river Krishna on the Kurugaddi road. Preferable take an auto from the village of Atkur as the sides of the road is contaminated by open defecation by the villagers.
Travelling in a Theppa (dingy), a small round boat made of bamboo is the most exciting. The boatman charges Rs. 40 one side.
The Theppa (Dingy) will take around 20-25 blissful minutes to reach the island. One should visit during September- December when the river will be full. From the Atkur side the Theppa stops at a point where one has to traverse through green paddy fields and a village to reach the northern most tip of the island. The place of Sri Pada Sri Vallabha's place of penance is situated here.
After a relaxed walk of 15-20 minutes, we reached the abode of this Dattatreya's first incarnation. A small temple with a majestic Gopuram was standing there welcoming us. The chief priest of a placid disposition welcomed us to this hallowed abode. A small room just in front of the temple was given to us for spending the night. After a refreshing bath in the cool waters of Krishna, we headed to the temple. The serenity and engulfing peace of this place struck me.
The sanctum sanctorum had a small seat made of stone which is believed to be the place where Sri Guru spent most of his time in deep meditation. This seat is decorated in different ways on different days. Generally in Datta Kshetras the sanctum sanctorum has what are called the Nirgun Padukas, considered as the padukas of Sri Guru. In this place also few days of the week, the alankaram is in the form of Nirgun Padukas.
The family which takes care of the temple makes arrangements for lunch and dinner if they are informed in advance. Athithi Devo Bhava dictum comes to life seeing the hospitality of the family in serving food to their guests. We were touched by their gesture of lovingly serving us lunch and dinner. You can get in touch with this family before planning a trip from the website- http://kuruvapur.org/
Nothing otherwise is available on this island. There are no places even for attending nature's call. You have to go back to nature for that. Pilgrims generally do a day trip and come back the same day. But if you are the adventurous kind then you can explore to stay for a couple of days. We stayed for one night and the serenity of the place was overwhelming.
You can always take a ride in a theppa whenever you feel like or visit the many pristine and untouched river banks along the river. But we were told that we have to be on the look out for crocodiles. We were not able to spot one.
The cave where Tembye Swami, considered one of the incarnations of Datta Guru, did tapasya, was ethereal. There is a small idol of Tembye Swami adorning this cave. Then there is that legendary Banyan Tree believed to be the place where Sri Pada Sri Vallabh did penance for some time. Devout come and do parayanam of sacred texts, do japam or just get soaked in the powerful vibrations of the place.
A must visit place for all those who want to be away from the din of the fast paced life and steal some moments of peace and communion with mother nature and want to get rejuvenated.
Kuruvarpur can also be reached from Hyderabad through a different route. One can start from Hyderabad and reach Mahabubnagar by any mode of transport.
From Mahabubnagar one has to reach Makthal a small town on the Telangana side of the river and around 20 kms from it.
One has to reach Paspul on the banks of Krishna from Makthal, distance of 18 kms and take a Theppa to Kuruvarpur.
From Paspul, a Theppa will fetch you to Kuruvarpur
Frequent Searches Leading To This Page:-
krishna river in telangana districts, about krishna river in telangana, krishna river passes through which districts in telangana, temples near krishna river in telangana, tourist places near krishna river in telangana