By road
~94 km from Kadapa city
South India · Andhra Pradesh
Gandikota, Andhra Pradesh
India's own grand canyon · ~94 km from Kadapa city
Getting there
By rail
Jammalamadugu, ~14-18 km, has very few trains; Kadapa (~77-94 km) offers much wider rail connectivity
By air
Kadapa Airport, ~46-90 km, though flights are limited; Tirupati (~220-225 km) has far better connections
Best time to visit
October to February — canyon-rim camping season
Don't miss
Penna river gorge
Gandikota Fort's mosque and temple
Belum Caves nearby
Things to do
Canyon-rim camping
Kayaking the Penna below
Fort rambles
Where to eat
Sources: wikimedia, Photo: Eyeofshahvali · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Camping kit or booked tents, sun protection, sturdy shoes
A quieter corner
The gorge viewpoint through the fort's crumbling water gate at dawn
About Gandikota
- Riverside
Where it is
Gandikota is a village and hill fort in the Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, on the right bank of the Penna River where it cuts a deep gorge through the Erramala hills, near the town of Jammalamadugu.
History
A sand fort was first raised here in the 12th century by a local chief who was a vassal of the Kalyani Chalukyas, and under the Vijayanagara Empire Gandikota grew into a great stone stronghold of the Pemmasani Nayaks. It later passed to the Golconda Sultanate, and the fort still holds temples, a mosque and a granary from these eras.
People
The villages around Gandikota speak Telugu and farm groundnut, millets and other dry-land crops in the Rayalaseema region, whose cooking is known for its fiery heat.
Known for
- The Penna gorge, called India's Grand Canyon
- The Madhavaraya temple and the Jamia Masjid
- Camping on the canyon rim
- The Belum Caves nearby
Did you know?
Gandikota takes its name from the gorge beside it: gandi means gorge in Telugu, so the name means fort of the gorge.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.