Mallelatheertham Waterfalls - Paradise on Earth

After last week's trip to Ethipothala, I could not wait to go on another trip, and this time it was Srisailam's turn. Although I was itching for a bike ride to Srisailam, I could not get my hands on a proper bike to make the trip (My own resembling a bullock cart more than a bike). So my colleague, Chandra, and I decided to go to Srisailam on a cab. We started inviting friends and soon the number grew to 10 people. So we took a Qualis and my friend Raja's Maruti 800.

We started at 7AM on saturday, and picked up our friend AJ, who was visiting Hyd at Afzal Gunj. It was around 11:30 by the time we reached the Srisailam Dam, it was beautiful, but unfortunately there were no gates open, unlike NagarjunaSagar last week - which disappointed us a bit. But the view was impressive with the river Krishna snaking across the valley. After waiting for sometime, we had Lunch and visited Sikhara Darshanam (literally translated, it means view from the mountain top).

We could not make it to the Safari, since there was little time left, so we headed straight for Mallelatheertham waterfalls. It was 40km from Srisailam dam, on the way back to hyderabad, with a 8km diversion on a mud road. It was almost 3:30PM by the time we reached Mallelatheertam. There were some steps leading to the waterfall in the valley, but we could not see anything due to the dense growth.

After reaching the end of stairs, we saw the waterfall on the left. The waterfall was much smaller than my earlier experiences at Ethipothala or Shivanasamudram (especially the latter). But the scene was very beautiful. With water falling from a very high, almost vertical rock face into the green pond below, and trees all around, It was like paradise on earth. If God gave me a real estate contract to develop a new paradise, I would definitely start with this place!

We were able to get on to the base rock of the waterfall, beyond which is the pond. Getting on the rocks was very tricky since they were covered with extremely slippery moss everywhere, except at places with the most water flow. We made it under the falls and the water was hitting us like small stones. We had to cover our ears since they were the most sensitive part of the body with our backs turned to the falls.

After staying for about an hour under the falls we started back the long ride to hyderabad, and it was almost 11:30 PM by the time we reached home, But the waterfall was the highlight of the entire trip. Smaller than most popular falls but no less exciting, overall the experience was unforgettable. More pics are available here.