As part of #ViksitBharat, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given our Nation the paradigm ideas of #KheloIndia and #FitIndia, and a bold dream of #IndiaOlympics2036.
On similar lines, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Shri N Chandrababu Naidu Garu has given his state the vision of #SuwarnaAndhra (Golden Andhra Pradesh), and his assembly constituency the vision of #SuwarnaKuppam. As part of this, Shri Chandrababu Naidu Garu recently reactivated Kuppam Area Development Authority (his 2015 brainchild during his earlier stint as Chief Minister), and also empowered it in numerous ways.
In order to link the three dreams and implement them on ground in Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, Mahavtar Babaji Tadekam Foundation has stepped in to establish a strong foundation of cultural tourism in Kuppam. It’s volunteers also plan to make Kangundi a bouldering hub over the next three to five years.
Kuppam is the Southern most tip of Andhra Pradesh and is closer to Bengaluru (Karnataka) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu) than to Hyderabad, or even the new capital of Amaravati. The excellent roads in Kuppam, it’s ancient history, pleasant weather and climate, hospitable people, and the new labels it has earned viz; Milk City and Flower City make it an ideal tourist destination.
Mahavtar Babaji Tadekam Foundation as per instructions of Mahavtar Babaji and under guidance of Guruji Naushir has already done sewa (social service) in 80 villages of East Godavari and Nellore Districts of Andhra Pradesh. Now, it plans to team up with Kuppam Area Development Authority to establish sustainable cultural and eco friendly adventure tourism in Kuppam.
The 1st step in this direction has been the identification of Kangundi Village as a heritage village. Kangundi, with 3,000 year old cave carvings and remnants of a 1,000-year-old fort, is the best tourist destination in Kuppam. As per its key political elder Shri PS Munirathnam Garu, Kangundi was ruled by 28 generations of zameendars of the Kambi Naidu Dynasty till 1947. His brother, Prof Dr Chokkalingam ardently promotes Kangundi with his novel formula of Sculptures + Scenic Beauty + Serenity = Spirituality. He is not exaggerating.
The Kangundi Fort was constructed over an inselberg (heap of ancient boulders) similar to those found in Hampi, 400 kms to the North. Hampi is now sadly in the news for the wrong reasons i.e., rape of two foreign tourists in March 2025- a result of unregulated tourist footfalls, mushrooming of homestays, etc.
Kangundi can be marketed as an alternative/ competitor to Hampi for bouldering. The added advantages Kangundi has is its rich local culture and year round bouldering friendly ‘Bengaluru like’ weather and friendly people.
The #KangundiBouldering logo (picture above) was designed using a collaborative process- people of Kuppam asked to participate in a logo designing completion. The winning creators of this logo are K Aishwarya, R Chandan and Nagendra Korigam. In the center is the inselberg with a fort a temple on the top dedicated to Lord Shiva. In its Southern slope is a cave with Neolithic art dated to 1200 BCE to 800 BCE. The figure of Lord Hanuman in the logo is like the 1000-year-old one found in the Fort and on a boulder near the 21st century primary health centre. The figure on the right is the mystical human+animal creature called Yali found in the Fort and in the Sri Kotabasaveswra, Sri Mathammeswara and Sri Virupaksheswara Temples in Kangundi Village.
This website and its connected social media accounts aim to popularize Kangundi as bouldering hub anchored in local culture for spiritual growth of all bouldering and rock climbing enthusiasts.
