Bethamcherla stone

 It was mid 1990s, I was traveling on a business trip with my father, an uncle and a friend. Agenda was to visit two customers in Andhra Pradesh; a cement factory near Chilamkuru in Kadapa district and a chemical factory near Gondiparla near Kurnool. We went to Chilamkur first. This was the first time we had ventured this far into Andhra Pradesh, the place is remote, different culture, mildly infested with Naxals and what not. In fact, the state highways were deserted after sunset. For Bangaloreans it felt like a different world. We had a productive meeting with the cement factory people, we had many more visits in the following months. Next on our agenda was Kurnool which is further north. A few locals suggested us to take the state highways itself rather can going back to Bangalore-Hyderabad highway. Our route was as follows: Chilamkuru - Maddanur - Jammalamadugu - Owk - Banaganapalle - Peapully - Dhone - Kurnool. during this journey, the name Owk stuck in my mind since it sounded so different. As we drove through the village, we were surprised by the number of stone yards. All we saw was stacks and stacks of stone slabs, cut & ready for shipping. That's when we got to know about Bethamcherla stone.

Once we happened to travel from Kurnool to Chilamkuru. We took a different route which was like this- Kurnool - Orvakal - Bethamcherla - Banaganapalle - Owk - Jammalamadugu - Maddanur - Chilamkuru. The most memorable part of this journey was the small ghat section between Bethamcherla - Banaganapalle. The road was very twisty, climbed up and down as we drove across a hill range. The road has been made by hacking through the hill which has exposed the layered stones. 

Fast-forwarding to December 23 2014. I and my college friend Gurudutt were driving down from Hyderabad to Bangalore. Instead of driving straight to Bangalore we had plans to check out a few places. Our first stop was a few kilometers before Kurnool to see the Alampur group of Chalukyan temples. Next was  Belum Caves. At Kurnool we took Nandyal road. As we approached Orvakal we saw some amazing stone formations. I curbed my temptation to stop for a few pictures lest we got late for Belum caves. At Orvakal we turned towards Bethamcherla. The memories of my earlier journey suddenly became fresh. The memories were vivid as drove through the ghat section where I stopped for a few pictures of the layered stones.

This is a screen-shot of Google Maps showing the ghat section. The three hairpin turn part is the most interesting part.

A close look at the layers of Bethamcherla stone. The tickness varies from 4 to 6 inches here. Exposure to sun light and rainwater must be the reason for dark color. Once quarried, sized and polished this stone will be light ash or bluish colored.

This stone is called Bethamcherla stone which is quite popular and competes with marble. The stone when cleaned and dressed is light ash colored. In fact the ash colored bits can be seen here.

I think this was a former quarry, I could be wrong. Whatever it is the layers of stone are visible clearly. If you Google 'Bethamcherla stone' you can see bigger hills being quarried with minimal wastage.

A sweeping road. This road will be interesting for biking, especially when it roads. I stopped here for a picture of the tree growing on the rock face.

A dark-leafed tree is either a Twanpani gida or a close relative of Twanpani. The tree trunk is silver colored, as though painted with metallic paint. The wood is soft and light. 

Here's another Twanpani which is holding on to a stone layer.

Nature is truly amazing. Not everything in random as it seems. There are some things which are quite systematic. Like these the layers of Bethamcherla stone or Kadapa stone or Shahabad stone of Karnataka and even Himachali stone near Kullu. These stones have been a gift to us. With little effort we could harness material that would make strong homes. In a way these stones are like Lego blocks - build what you want, how you want. I must do a geological study and see how many more types of layered stones are found in the Indian subcontinent.

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