Trip to Horsley Hills, Andhra Pradesh

Location: Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh

Distance: Around 165 km from Bangalore, 144 km from Tirupati, 274 km from Chennai

Time taken to reach there: 3 hrs from Bangalore in 4 wheeler, 3.5 hrs in bike and 4 hrs or more by bus.

Route:

1. Bangalore – KR Puram – Hoskote – on NH4 after HP petrol bunk take left for Chintamani road – Chintamani bypass – Rayalpadu – Madanapalli – Take left in front of Madanapalle post office – on NH 205 look for an arch on the left hand side or AP Tourism board showing sign to take left for Horsley hills – Horsley Hills

How to reach there: By 4 wheeler, bike and by Bus. One can go to Madanapalle by bus from Bangalore. From Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh state buses are available to Horsley Hills. The nearest rail link is Madanapalle road which is 13 km from Madanapalle town.

Where to have food: If you are going for a day trip it is best to have food at Madanapalle. Though food is available at Horsley Hills it is little costly. A bar is also available.

Where to stay: At AP Tourism Haritha Resort or Government guest house.

1. Haritha Resort
Tel: +91 8571 279323/24
Cell: +91

There are various types of accomodation starting from Rs 800 to Rs 2500. Small cottage will cost Rs 800 and big cottage will cost Rs 1600.
Website: http://aptdc.in/accomodation/index.php

2. Horsley Hills Holiday Homes (private)
Ph # 08571 – 279307
Cell # 9440671253, 9502449777
Note: Rooms are small and cost Rs 500 per room.

Horsley Hills is one of the few hills stations in Andhra Pradesh. Horsley Hills was earlier known by the name Yenugu Mallamma Konda. The name of the hills might be related to a little girl named Mallamma who use to live here alone in the jungle according to legends. There is an temple based on her called Mallamma temple. The Chenchu tribes lives here. The then Collector of Cuddapah district, W.D. Horsley found this place in the first part of 1840s. The hills has been named after his name. Due to its immense beauty and cool climate he choose Horsley Hills as his summer residence. Now the Andhra Pradesh Governer use that as the summer residence and renamed as Governor’s House.

Horsley Hills is located at an altitude of 1,265 meters above sea level. It is surrounded by smalls hills and hillocks. The hills have nice green cover and would have very nice view in early morning and evening.

I visited Horsley hills recently in a largely unplanned visit.

It will be amazing to walk around the hills in leisure which I could not do much. At the main complex there is a swimming pool which is clean. Do carry shorts if you want to swim or you will have to shell out Rs 65 for an useless short. Entry fees for guests at Haritha Resort is Rs 50, Childrens Rs 50 and adults Rs 100.

What to see:

1. View point: One can sit at the view point and relax watching the vast expense of sky and small hills dotting the landscape below. There is also another viewpoint behind the Governor’s house.

2. Zoo: The zoo is a laughing stock. There are a couple of Rhesus Monkey, few variety of birds and rabbits. Also, there are 3 crocodiles who are in bad condition. However, there are lots of trees and at the end one can watch an amazing phenomenon – two separate trees merging together.

3. Mallamma temple

4. Manasa sarovar: It is a nice place to spend time and you can watch tortoise here. There is another lake called Gangotri which comes while climbing the road to Horsley Hills.

One can also go for adventure activity like trekking, archery, zorbing, walk on water, rope challenge etc all for a fee. Individual activity cost from Rs 30 to Rs 150. There are also different packages like Trekking + Archery (Rs 150) to Rs 600. For more details check the website: http://freakouts.com/

ph # 7799360313, 8897906455, 9440353009

Places to visit nearby:

1. Rishi Valley School: It is one of the best residential school in India. Founded by Philosopher J Krishnamurti and spread over an area of 350 acres. The campus has been declared a bird preserve. They also offer a course on ornithology. Rishi Valley School is around 16 km from Madanapalle town and buses are available from Madanapalle town.

Website: http://www.rishivalley.org

2. Kaundinya wild life sanctuary: This sanctuary is located around 87 km from Horsley Hills. To enter the forest one need permission. It has various wild life like elephant, panther, jungle fowl, birds etc. It also has a water falls inside.

3. Kaivara: On the way one can see kaivara cave temple.

To view ore pictures of Horsley Hills visit Travelingbeats Photo Gallery.