Swachchanda

Auroville: A City For Humans To Unite

2012-01-22T18:10:00.002+05:30

Auroville is a remarkable place, its heart marked by the Matri Mandir. It's a shiny globe, reflecting the sun, each of the petal on which it is mounted is an expanse of greens manicured to the hilt. From the sighting spot you rest under a tree and take in its beauty and wonder what would be the experience inside. Well you can book a time in advance here, there are certain days on which concentration is not available but on most other days after a brief cleansing ritual you might get an opportunity to go inside and concentrate.

The geographical center of Auroville is a banyan tree. It was a lone tree on this once barren land that is now a lush green wooded city. This is a continuously evolving city, with a motto

"Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity."

We went to the visitor's center and got our permissions to see the place. Walking thru the woods to see the Matri Mandir, at every few yards there were people to guide visitors.

We briefly rested under the Banyan tree

The entire walk is shaded, sometimes thru pergolas

After the Matri Mandir we returned to the visitor's center, starved and ate at the cafeteria only after satisfying our appetite for shopping first.

My loot from Auroville, pottery distinct and characteristic

I also bought cotton shirts for the men in the family and a lace top for my SIL. I picked a beautiful pair of pearl earings for myself. Everything here has a melting pot effect. The influences of the 40 different nationalities of people living here is clear in the charachter of Auroville.

The food is continental at the cafeteria and we gorged on the superb platters, one of Rice croquettes with caponata sauce, salads, soup and a payasam and the other of Mushroom tart, salads and potato wedges. This washed down by lots of lemonade. We polished of the meal with a caramel custard!

We wanted to see more of Auroville but because of the misinformation that vehicles are not allowed in Auroville we did not hire a cab for the entire day and that made it difficult for us to move around. Auroville's main roads does permit vehicles and it is a huge expanse so you do need a vehicle to go around. In the wooded areas only bicycles are permitted. If you know cycling nothing like it. Else if you are like me who can't then you must have your own\ rented vehicle or walking around to the far corners is out of question. I know there is more to Auroville to be explored at another time...

That evening we came back to Pondi and spent rest of the time at the Promenade and the by lanes of the French quarter.

The French Riviera of the East

2011-12-30T14:55:00.001+05:30

La Côte d'Azur de l'Est

In September my bro Hrushi visited me here in Blr. We wanted to have some sibling time together so we set off for the French Riviera of the East. As usual I planned a month ahead, the stay and travel. Our itinerary was like this...

1. Travel by Volvo bus to Pondicherry, reach by evening and spend time on the sea front.

2. Visit Auroville

3. Move on to Mahabalipuram, explore the monolithic heritage structure.

4. Reach Chennai and return by Shatabdhi train to Blr.

We started from Blr at 9 am, boarded the bus at St. John's hospital, stopping at the food court on Hosur road for breakfast. It was a very sunny day. After a few 10s of kms on the NH7 we took the smaller SH46 passing by some interesting places like Raman Maharshi's Tiruvannamalai and Shivaji's Jinji fort. Those have got added to my wish list.

We reached Pondi in the late afternoon. The Volvo stopped at the city bus stand, we got off the bus and took an autorickshaw to our Hotel, Ginger. The fare is expensive, meter is not used and they charge 40 Rs. for a minimum distance.

At the hotel we freshened up and walked to the Promenade, 1.5 kms of a neat and spanking clean road along the rocky beach of Pondicherry city. On the land, facing the sea are lined heritage structures and statues. The buildings are preserved for their French architecture. The concentration of French culture in this area is reminiscent of the French Colony that is Pondicherry. We walked back and forth on the Promenade and in the back lanes of streets with names like Rue Dumas. The Promenade is actually the Goubert Avenue. The statue of Gandhi is a space where visitors like to sit.

This sea front is lined up with many memorials too like the French war memorial, The Dr.Babasaheb Mani mantapam, beautiful structures like the Alliance Francaise, the lighthouse, the Customs office etc.

We walked around the town tasting fresh bakes from the famed bakeries of Pondicherry. It is a very laid back town and at 9 pm everything is quite and shops close down. We walked back to the hotel and slept tight for the night.

Next day we were to head to Auroville...

On return from Auroville we decided to check out the Bharati Park with it's Aayi Memorial a pristine white structure in the center and a jogging track around. Later we walked over to see Tapan Bhattacharya's painting exhibition at Alliance Francaise de Pondicherry. That night we had crepes at the inhouse Cafe de Flore and washed down with Cold Coffee to make it a complete Indo-French experience.

One last time we walked down the Promenade across Le Cafe feeling the warm air from the sea. We wished Pondi had more to do. Click for more pics here.

And Memories of Andhra Were Made...

2011-09-04T11:17:00.001+05:30

It was the 10th day of our tour and a final one. As soon as I had landed in Hyderabad I had spoken to Radha and Chanda my friends from school. I wanted to meet them and we had decided that end of my tour would be good time to meet. So this day we began by co-ordinating where to meet the two Annites and this was after 25 years! Radha had suggested a coffee place but since she had some meeting to attend she invited us to her office at the Bangalore University Campus.

But that was at 10.30 am. We had lot of time on hand before that so we requested the driver to take us to the lake front, we meant Husain Sagar which we passed by earlier but had not seen it. Instead he took us to Osman sagar which was quite close to Taramati Baradari where we were staying. This is a lesser known lake but quite an expanse. We enjoyed the waterfront for half hour and then were chased off by cops, as parking was not allowed there. It was very quite but the Hyderabad sun was already glowing hot in the early morning. At evening time it would be more pleasant am sure.

Then we met Chanda and together we went to Radha's office at Gachibowli. Radha Rangarajan, is a Stanford graduate and a Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Genetics from the prestigious Rockefeller University. She worked with Dr. Reddy's laboratory before she ventured out into drug discovery on her own. We were always proud of her and she continues her scholastic pursuits for it runs in her family, She is the daughter of Dr. C. Rangarajan after all! I found out she had 2 daughters and was married to Santanu Paul. I had read the story of her wedding here. I told her about it and she eagerly shared more about her family and old times.

Chanda Mukhi had worked with Citibank for 14 years and now is a homemaker. She has a daughter too. It was interesting how both Chanda and Radha's daughters went to the same school, they had bumped into each other a couple of times but only on this day they spent almost 1.5hrs going down memory lane. About all the mischief we did in school, the tug of wars at lunch time, Vidhya Jayaraman's jokes, our trip to Bordi and more. The three of us were very happy indeed and we planned to have a reunion in school soon.

After this we that is Dad and me drove back into the city and decided to lunch at Kamat when we spotted it while driving by. This was the last day in Andhra so one more time my order was MLA Pesarattu, it was a happy me at the end of the meal.

Finally after lunch we decided to spend time till 5pm at the Salar Jung Museum. The Salarjung Museum is the third largest museum in India housing the biggest one-man collections of antiques in the world. It is a very well looked after museum and even after spending 2hrs we did not manage to see the complete collection. There is a room for every theme.

We then decided to go to Kachiguda railway station early and await the train. Any station in India looks less crowded when you are are Mumbaikar. I spent some time reading a book on the platform as I waited. We had a first class booking and as we boarded the train we were in for a surprise, We were given the only Coupe' in the compartment as out of the 10 first class passengers we were the only family! So our trip truly ended on a high note as we settlled in for the night on the train.

The Dream Maker's Workshop: 20th March 2011

2011-08-28T11:41:00.002+05:30

At 9.00 am we were waiting for the driver to take us to Ramoji Film city, definitely the dream makers workshop. It is spread over 2000 acres and boasts of being the largest integrated services studio. We were staying at Taramati Baradari as we wanted to move around Hyderabad but one can choose to stay in Ramoji city itself if its just a weekend break at the film city. They have the hotel Tara and Sitara on the campus.

I was quite impressed with Ramoji right from the entrance. You walk into ticket counters buy the tickets, then walk into the waiting lounge to catch the shuttle that takes you to the studios. At the entrance you can choose to have some snacks and tea and go for a pee ;).

The entrance of the film studios is a fountain with tile mosaic work and it is called Movie Magic. From here you have to walk around to various venues and shows. The paintings on the entrance prepare you for all the fun in film making. Everything looks glitzy and clean. Yes rarely in India you will find such clean places of entertainment. Along with your ticket is a layout of the film city so take a look at it carefully and check the timing of each show. Accordingly plan what you want to see and move quickly to these venues. This is India and there are ques everywhere for the shows.

We first saw the movie magic show, here you move from auditorium to auditorium experiencing how movies are filmed, dubbed, mixed and released. This show is interactive, they pick up 2 people from the audience and dress up a girl as Basanti tangewali from Sholay and the boy helps with creating the various motions of film making. The commentary by the host is very engaging though scripted he manages to keep you excited at the same time involved with the whole process. At the end when the clipping of the chase scene of Basanti by the Dacoits that was part of Sholay is played with the new heroine picked from the audience you clap loudly and cheer!

We jumped on to trail cars to see the Filmy Duniya which is a tour of the seven wonders of the world, Hollywood, Bollywood, The Far East and even parts of Europe in just 20 mins. It is garish and loud and could be avoided if you are short of time.

Few meters from here in the location of the Wild Wild West show. We loved this one as it is full of energy of guns and roses straight from Hollywood movies all with sound effect and filmy fireworks. Thoroughly entertaining as you see a scene from the Wild West enacted in front of you, a bar in a deserted village, looting of the bank and wooing the girl. You must try to get a seat in the front row for this one as we did.

We saw something called the Ramoji Tower and were told you could get a birds eye view of the Ramoji city from there. I gave it a skeptical look, finding no terrace from where you could do that. We anyways went in, sat in the large lift that gives you the feeling of going up the tower and a film started playing in front of us and we were moving at high speed from ground upwards in the Ramoji city. You then realize this is a 4-D experience. The film on the screen takes you over entire Ramoji city the various gardens, fountains, sets and studios etc. Suddenly you are shaken by an earthquake and the film city comes crumbling down in front of your eyes. There is concrete flying in all directions, water pipes are broken, some of it showers on you making you wet, you touch your skin and smile. Just when you do that the mice run under your feet and tickle you and you let out a scary yelp! There is a huge thud and your lift lands on safe ground and you realize you freaked out in this show. As you step out you walk thru the ruins of Ramoji city. I loved this part of keeping the continuity of the experience before you step out into the sunny afternoon of Hyderabad.

We decided to take a lunch break at this point and go over to the food court. There is a lot of choice of hotels too. We had the Chinese platter of rice and noodles combo with vegetable manchurian followed by an ice-cream sundae.

Now refueled and ready for more fun. There was a man walking on slits attracting children. You saw people posing with the various statues of charachters from movies and some movie stars. Nearby was a gas station straight out of Hollywood and a closer look made you smile, it was actually a loo.

Post lunch we attended the Spirit of Ramoji, a music and dance show, it was about unity and diversity in the country and how films bind us through a single passion, besides cricket ofcourse!

We then went to a children's play area called Fundustan, with its colorful large sized imagery and even though we are adults we felt so excited. It is such a sunny place and you see all the children gleaming here as they walk in and out of the mouth of a benign monster, climbing up ice cream cones and yellow corn.

The most thrilling was the Borasura, its a haunted house that makes you clench hands with unknown people next to you and get out of the place safe and yet you don't want to miss the thrill, finally sliding out of the place a breathing a sigh of relief!

We ended the day by hopping on to the vintage red bus and taking a tour around the permanent sets which are scattered across the 2000 acres and is impossible to walk thru them in a single day. There is so much to see the garden where flowers are planted to match the color of the saree of a buxom heroine doing a jig. The train station and a train on rubber tyres!, the village homes and market places. The two dimensional set that looks like an airport from one side and a landmark from the other. The Mughal garden from outside and the inside looks like Vrindavan garden. We passed by a leg garden which was interspersed by sculptures of just legs in a landscaped area. The industrial structure and the disaster sets. Everything was so thrilling. We had spent almost 8 hrs at Ramoji and we had so much still to see.

Here enjoy the virtual tour from your comfortable chair and am sure you will want to visit soon.

The Caravan Station: 20th March 2011

2011-08-28T00:12:00.000+05:30

We drove from Vizag to Hyderabad stopping only for lunch in Rajahmundry. Upto Rajahmundry It was a smooth National highway but later the state highway was in a bad shape and it took us a good 14hrs to reach Hyderabad and our hotel Taramati Baradari. We had passed by Ibrahim Bagh when we visited Golconda fort in the beginning of the tour. It is in the Defense neighborhood and has a strange charm even from the outside.

I was very excited to explore this APTDC hotel as it is a heritage site. Since we reached there at 1 am, we went straight to bed and woke up around 7 am. It was already quite bright outside. Our suite reflected the Nawabi theme with the semi-transparent curtain separating the bedroom from the sitting area. Old style furniture and Nawabi diwans decorated the two rooms.The curtains were glittering silk.The fabric for the diwan was the famous Pochampalli in bright yellow. I was not able to visit Pochampalli in this visit but will do it next time.

Since we had bath and were ready to go out for the day we decided that we would have breakfast at the restaurant and it would be a nice walk around the Taramati Baradari. We realized that it was the day of Rang Panchami. A huge group of people had occupied the restaurant so we were asked to wait and they promised better service. We chose to walk around. I had read that this was a Caravan station with 12 doorways and APTDC attracts tourists to stay here with the stories of Taramati the courtesan whose lilting melodious voice had captivated the Abdullah Qutb Shah, at Golconda fort which is 2kms away from here. The hotel has a nice landscaped garden and some lovely quite and green nooks.We enjoyed our 2 days here thoroughly.

This Caravan station or sarai was completed in 1880. That makes it about 131+ years old. It is really an experience to be able to stay in such places. We climbed up the hill to be able to look down upon the Hyderabad town. On the hill top is a resting shelter with simple design of arches and little coves for the travelers to keep their possessions.

APTDC has renovated the place and in keeping with the theme has added some mosaic work that you can see along the walls framed by the arches.

More of Taramati Baradari here...

Beckons The Submarine Museum: 19th March 2011

2011-08-14T10:19:00.001+05:30

This was our last day in Vizag. We woke up to do some sun gazing had a leisurely breakfast at the restaurant looking down at the bay. We were waiting for Vizag to wake up. Meanwhile we packed our bags and moved them into the car. Checked out from the hotel and after seeing the city we were to drive back to Hyderabad. It was going to be a long drive.

The Kailashgiri, is a hill top amusement park created by the Vishakhapatnam Urban Development Association or as it is called VUDA. We had passed it several time in the last 2 days. So we finally went up the hill to check it out. At 9.00am in the morning on a Friday, we were the first visitors there. The sun was shining strong but the green cover allowed us to walk around. We spotted a film crew setting up a shoot. There is a statue of Shankar Parvati in white surrounded by a landscaped garden and some animal shapes which kids can climb on to or under or into the mouth. There is a rope way and a toy train too but on a weekday there were not many visitors so they were not operating it just for us. Yet we enjoyed the views of the Vizag city down below and the beautiful harbor.

The entrance of the park in an interesting arch it depicted men and women woven together to form a tree trunk. Nearby is the meteorological department but we are not allowed inside.

We then drove along the seashore and stopped a bit at the Lawson's Bay. Vizag has such breathtaking views its hard not to stop.

We drove about 10 kms down the seashore further to Ramkrishna Beach. That's where the Submarine museum is! It is just opposite to "Victory at sea", the memorial that stands proudly to remind us about the 1971 Bangladesh war we won.

"Dive deep in silence, stay underneath while rough outside"

I was very curious to see a submarine on ground. I had only seen them half afloat in the Mumbai Naval base. It did look like a dolphin and submariners are called dolphins too. I had met the flyingdolphin (a submariner and a microlight flier) in Hyderabad so you see coming to Vizag and experiencing the strong Naval culture there was something. I so badly wanted to see the inside of the submarine but it had strange timings and was going to be open only in the afternoon. So we spent some time admiring the INS Kursura from outside and then left for Hyderabad.

We loved Vizag, my Dad calls it Vishakhapatnam and nothing else, both of us were smitten by it. My eldest uncle is ex-Navy and my father's cousin was posted in Vishakhapatnam for a while so you can understand why we went bonkers here. We loved every bit of the sea, the defense ships that we saw in the far. The submarine museum, the kms of the driveway along the seaside, the lovely atmosphere. It is so much like our own Radio club area in Colaba, Mumbai!

This is the Indian Navy's Submarine headquarters!

(While putting together this post I was excited to know that there is a submarine, INS Khanderi named after the island fort of Khanderi that stands in the sea near my village!!)

Finally here is the complete tour of Vizag and nearby places.

Borra Caves An Indelible Experience:18th March 2011

2011-08-07T11:55:00.008+05:30

Including visits to Simhachalam Temple, Araku Hills and Valley.

The Borra or hole that lends the name to these caves

On this day we woke up early to see the sun rise and we were rewarded with a spectacle. It made us meditative and I was imagining myself to be Karna doing his sun worship as described in the novel, Mrityunjay by Shivaji Sawant. It is yet again that spiritual experience of being one with nature you get to experience when away from the chaos of the world.

After a quick breakfast we decided to visit Araku Hills and its natural treasures. I had been reading a lot about the Borra Caves. Especially I recollected a comment by my friend Preeti that these are better than what her parents had seen in the US. I briefed the driver about the day's plan. First to Shimhachalam temple, then Araku hills, Valley and Borra Caves.

It was the month of March and starting at 8 AM from the hotel for a long day in the jungles is not the right thing to do I soon realized. By the time we reached Shimachalam it was very bright and sunny, our car whirring the curves on the hills and suddenly bringing us to a plateau where the temple complex, brought us to a halt. It is one of those exquisitely carved temples, the abode of Lord Narshimha, the lion headed avatar of Vishnu. In the temple a local politician was getting a pooja done so the whole temple vibrated with the auspicious chanting of Mantras. We were not allowed to linger inside. So instead we came out and explored the carving on the temple.

The beautiful pillars with Lions

On the backside of the sanct sanctorium is the carving of Lord Narshimha liberating Hiranyakashyapu from his sins.
"Death shall not meet me neither on earth nor in the sky, neither a man nor an animal shall kill me."

The setting of this temple is awesome, surrounded by the hilltops and cut off from the Vizag city. The best time to be here is early morning and may be dusk.

From here we armed ourselves with some munchies and cold drinks. Yes it was hot and we needed to be hydrated through out the day. We knew we had a long day ahead.

We drove through tiny hamlets and and finally reached the Araku hills. As we reached the point where we had to take a diversion for Borra Caves we decided we would first check out Araku Valley and the tribal museum, and return here.

It was again a bad choice. No matter what the Tourism department tells you. These are places best avoided. The valley was terribly hot at mid afternoon when we reached there and the tribal museum is badly kept. You do not want to be driving thru a jungle plus 40 mins of wilderness just to see this museum. However the always positive me tried absorbing the culture there at the Araku Valley bus stand. This is a vibrant place. The tribals dressed in colorful clothes. They were distinctly different from Andhra people. They had influences of Orissa, as Andhra pradesh shares borders with Orissa. These people speak a dialect that is a mix of Oriya and Telugu.

Notice the saree is draped differently. The population is all dark but see how they take care to protect themselves from the sun.

This was the second disappointing time in this vacation. Don't go to places that claim untouched and beautiful. They lack basic amenities and there is not much to see. I am an explorer by nature and unfazed by wilderness most times. We reached this place around afternoon and not a single decent place for lunch in sight. So we snacked on some fruits we had got along, even my driver refused to eat anything in this place. We headed back to Araku hills, stopping at the highest point to take in the views of the red hills.

I was just crossing my fingers that Borra Caves should not let us down and boy I was so thrilled to keep it last on the day's itinerary.

We came back to the diversion, it mentioned 8kms into the forest from that point. As we drove there we found a APTDC restaurant which had a hopeless fried rice available but since we were starved we ate it. The gravy they served with it made it palatable and washed it down with some sprite.

As we walked down the stone steps, stopped to read this board that put me at ease, preparing me for the spectacular nature's work I was going to witness in the Caves.

Click the image to read

I caught some lovely sights, of the stream laden with humic acid and limestone. This really got me all excited. The curiosity was being built up.

The Entrance

The decent into the womb of the hill and into the cave

I was completely awed by the entrance itself and I just relaxed and told Dad we would take time to go around the caves. We had bought a ticket for the driver too. He was dumbfounded at the sight because he had seen nothing like it and had not read or heard about it! even though he was from Andhra. At times my pre-planning comes in the way of enjoying such complete pure surprises is what I realized.

I climbed up and down the caves and narrow steps and ladders built for the tourists. I climbed up the cat ladder that took us to the Shiva linga (actually Stalagmites that locals think is Shvayambhu linga). Many people dread climbing it as it is dark and eerie. The huge pillar like formations of Stalactites gave flights of imagination to the guides who told stories and the visitors got engrossed in it. Some found Mother Mary taking form in those shapes others found Ganapati. It's all in the mind you see.

Mesmerising, Indelible, Awesomeness

As we went deep inside there was a small gap in the rock through which we bent to go to the other side of the caves. It is a breathtaking site. The cave opens into a huge almost stadium sized hall deep in the earth a stone walled hall with natures artwork in progress. This was the innermost part of the cave and we had trekked 350 meters into the depth of the womb of the hill. You get to see the dripping water rich in humic acid and Stalactites being formed even today. This has been going on since hundreds of millions of years and will continue until eternity if man lets it be.

One last time before coming out from the cave I looked up at the huge hole in the hill which is also the ceiling of the cave. I was just so humbled, it was like a huge skylight above us. Both Dad and me exclaimed that it felt like we were experiencing the movie 127 hrs.

APTDC has kept this place clean and free from bats that normally inhabit such places. They have provided lighting that helps viewing of this wealth which would have otherwise been enveloped in darkness. This place is a wonderful experience equally for adults and children, my request is to take your child to such places early in life. They might just find their new passion there...

Smitten by Vishakhapatnam: 17th March 2011

2011-07-30T10:54:00.000+05:30

Vishakhapatnam or Vizag is on the eastern coast of India. It has always been a city buzzing with activity with the steel plant and Indian Navy located there. It took us about 2hrs to reach Rushikonda beach from Annavaram. I loved driving through the city it is better than Hyderabad, more cosmopolitan and better planned.

We checked into our hotel and were taken to our suite, as we climbed the stairs we saw only the hill as the hotel is build into it. On opening the door to our suite we just gasped at the view, a lovely sun soaked private terrace opened up and the uninterrupted view thru the sliders separating the bedroom was simply breathtaking. We ran out onto the terrace to take in the sea breeze and the cobalt blue waters soothed our nerves. We did not have lunch so decided to relax a bit get fresh and go for an early evening snack and then hit the beach.

At the restaurant we ordered for a platter of Kanda bhajji and tea. The bhajji were superlative, my Dad is not much of a cake person and Kanda bhajji for his birthday was in itself making him a happy man. While we were eating out on the sea-facing deck at the restaurant a crow hovered around us. I strangely felt it was my Mom joining us in the BD celebrations. I never believed in this but felt the connection that moment. I always miss my Mom on our annual vacation which I always plan along with Dad's BD. I lost my Mom when I had finished my PG final exams and Viva was 3 days after she passed away so my Mom was not able to enjoy any of my pampering after I started earning.

After the refueling we went straight to the beach my Dad was so thrilled. He is a beach boy after all. He just left me and started exploring the beach. Talking with the local fisherman who we saw weaving and fishing with small nets on the shore.

I walked around peering at the boats and burying my feet in the warm sand. The shore of Vishakapatnam is clean and the water is unpolluted, unlike Mumbai and the surrounding coastline. The Arabian sea coast of India is filthy as it sees more movement of ships and therefore more oil spills. Here it is the Bay of Bengal.

The jut of land that I saw from the terrace attracted me and I wanted to go sit there and have the waves splashing on me. Dad who is an impatient photographer actually captured a great pic for me.

We sat there till the sun went down and the watched the waters turn a shimmering gold.

Celebrating Dad's Birthday at Annavaram: 17th March 2011

2011-07-24T10:04:00.002+05:30

Setting out on the road to Vishakhapatnam we had decided to visit the Satyanarayan temple at Annavaram. Many people had suggested not to miss it. Couple of people also told us that the temple was under renovation and we may not get darshan. As we moved along the NH5 we were near Annavaram and on the left there was a huge gate that declared the way to Annavaram temple, it said 3kms in. We took the diversion and the car spiraled up the hill. It was a sunny afternoon and the town below was resplendent in the warmth. We stationed the car in the parking lot which is one level lower to the temple complex and walked up the stone stairs. At the next level we had to remove our footwear at the safe keeping stand and dart up the flight of stairs to avoid blistering of our feet. Then thru a winding stairway and some halls we finally reached the sanctorium and we did get darshan of the Lord Satyanarayan flanked by his devis. The idols were beautifully decorated with flowers of all colors and most of all the sanct sanctorium had a large wide door and was brightly lit. This is rare in a South Indian temple, most places they have only oil lamps, for this reason this was a very satisfying darshan. We could actually see the good Lord! After which we went around the large complex, there is a sun dial there and when I clicked the picture it was exactly 12 noon.

There is a small is a cowshed in the complex and they call it Gokul. The views below the hill are soothing with the Godavari tributary flowing calmly and the Pampa reservoir that man has created

As you come down you see people circumventing the pipal tree and then proceeding to some other smaller temples surrounding the main temple.

And true to its name the temple flower or the Champa, the sunny yellow centered Frangipani's sweet intoxicating smell permeates the surroundings. It was Dad's birthday and he is set to complete 7 decades on this planet. The celebrations had only started in Annavaram and we were looking forward to more fun in Vizag. Come along...

Miles of Canals And Lush Greenery: 15th to17th March 2011

2011-07-10T23:51:00.002+05:30

As we left the Rajahmundhary city behind we touched the National highway and took the P. Gannavaram-Razole route. We had asked for directions in Rajahmundry to avoid being lost as it was evening time and our driver had no clue about the area. The APTDC folks at Rajahmundry Godavari ghat counter were very helpful.

It was a beautiful drive to the Coconut country resort. We drove by almost 40-50 kms of canals and lush greenery. The land looked fertile with irrigation network done so well. Swaying coconut and bettlenut palms, paddy fields and well fed cattle is a sure sign of rural prosperity. I had a hunch that this irrigation planning was the work of the Britishers and it turned out to be right! It was the visionary Sir. Arthur Cotton who made this region what it is today. Thankfully the local Govt. is maintaining it well.

On reaching the resort we checked into our suite, it had a lovely sit out that faced the silently flowing Godavari. The sun had dipped lighting the sky in hues of pink and night blue. The small boats passing by told us the fishermen were returning home for the evening. We decided to freshen up and walk along the embankments. While we sat there we planned to go to Pattiseema for the an outing next day. At the resorts counter we were told the boats and launches will be available at Pattiseema incase we planned to do the Papikondanalu tour.

We started towards Pattiseema even before day break. This is the countryside and getting directions at that hour was really tough, we managed though. It was about 110 kms drive, as the sun came up the air became misty and it was amazing to breathe is clean fresh air. Everything around was enchanting passing through harvested jowar and sugarcane mounds and standing crops ready to be sickled. It was lovely watching the shepherds take the cattle for grazing. This was the perfectly Indian rural scene a city bred like me craves to see and soak in the experience.

As we reached closer to Pattiseema along the Godavari the drive is through some wilderness and you start wondering if there is anything there at all, just then around the corner we saw a jetty with a shade. We parked the car and realized we had made a big mistake. Yes we went there on a week day and that too in the off season. Well this is not such a popular tourist area as the APTDC claims. May be it is locally visited on the weekends. We were the only ones to visit Pattiseema that day! on top of it we were just 2 people! The minimum no. of people required to operate the launch is 15.

Anyways as we loitered around and my hunger gave me enough courage to test my immunity at a local eatery in a shack! I ate idli and chutney and survived. Dad refused to eat anything then he went and bought some bottled water lots of biscuit packets and haldiram's small packets of munchies. That was going to be our lunch for the day.

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Armed with it we decided to go and enjoy at least half the day at the temple on the island in the Godavari basin. It had a certain quality that pulled you to it. We managed to get company from a local family who was visiting the shrine to offer their Mannat. It was a 10 mins ride across the river in a small row boat. Then hobbling through the sand we managed to reach the flight of stairs that led to the temple. It is a 20 min walk but since this place is deserted it makes the walk all the more difficult plus my mocasins just open their mouth and made it impossible for me to tread the path.

The temple complex is sprawling and the landscaped garden surprised me. I admired the generosity of the patrons to build this temple complex in the best way they could and not many people visit there. This must be making a good picnic spot for schools I suppose.

Inside the temples are dark and not kept clean there was smell of rotting coconuts and offerings and behind the the temple people had created an open air toilet. It made me so angry that as much as there were do gooders there were people with minimal sense of civility.

We took quick darshans dodging the pujaris offering thirtha and prasad and stepped out and walked towards the cleaner part of the temple. I loved the view of the Papi hills from the corner where the Navagrahas stand in this temple. It overlooked the dry sand banks of the Godavari and the mist covered hills in the distant. I would have loved to go to the hills. I was cursing the overrated APTDC information on the site. Tourism has to yet develop in this area but then I am an explorer and I do go to places that are not on the regular tourist map. Now that thought made me happy.

We then start back for our resort, the sun is high in the sky and that 3 hour drive is not as interesting as it was in the early morning I realize. The markets are abuzz and there is a frenzy of activity around the sugar factory we passed by earlier in the day. The truck loads of harvested sugarcane are now causing a traffic jam for us and I did not like that. Once we were in the multi-hued green surroundings and driving along the canal we spotted a quaint little Andhra dhaba with a backdrop of paddy fields we gave into temptation and enjoyed a decent meal as we knew at the hotel we would not get this wholesome Andhra food. We bought some juiciest guavas from a fruit peddler on the bike to have at the resort.

The resort was lulling in the heat of the afternoon as we drove through the dense orchard lined roads of the coconut country. Once in our suite I sliced the guavas and sat with a book near the glass door separating the suite and the sit out. It was too hot to be on the sit out and the comfort of the a/c was what I needed. I put up my feet on the side table and relaxed in the large cushioned chair reading "The fine family" by Gurcharan Das, a gift from the Cdr.

After a short nap induced by the reading and the early morning trip to Pattiseema we went down for tea and some vegetable sandwich and spent rest of the evening sitting at the embankment and watching the boats pass by and checked out some houseboats that are available for renting out for the day and night. We did not wish to as we were to leave after breakfast next morning for Vizag.

What would Vizag be like? Both Dad and me wondered. I looked forward to seeing the Submarine museum while Dad was recollecting stories of adventure in the navy narrated by his cousin Gangaram, who had been posted there between the late sixties and early seventies.

Bhadrachalam's Ram temple: 15th March 2011

2011-07-02T00:28:00.003+05:30

We never really wanted to have Bhadrachalam on our itenary but the story of a saint of the soil Bhadrachalam Ramadas got us curious enough. Also as per our plan we had to cover a certain kms to get closer to our next destination Rajamundhry.

It was already late at the Warangal fort and the drive to Bhadrachalam Haritha Resort took us a good 4.5hrs. It was midnight when we reached there. Dad and the driver managed to get some dinner outside the resort, I chose to eat an apple and go to bed.

Next morning we had a hearty breakfast at the resort and I tasted the famous Allam Pachadi for the first time here. After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and decided to go to the Ram temple which was pretty close to the resort.

The Ram temple is perched on the hillock and is quite old. It has a large complex around it but it is not maintained well. Inspite of that there was a certain buzz of the temple pooja and worshipers that felt calming and divine. At times I really regret that in rural areas people have no sense of cleanliness whether in a temple, eatery or home.

In the campus of the temple I noticed a very beautifully crafted Shankha-Pushpa and an umbrella which are used for the palkhi. The stone temple exterior too caught my attention. The old world charm and the Dravidian lifestyle had a marked presence there.

After this we were set on our way to Rajahmundhry. We passed thru some quaint villages and drove by the miles of canals full with water to the brim, over the Rajahmundhry bridge which is 6km long. Our driver claimed that it was the longest in Asia and I had to remind him about the Vashi bridge which is 8km long to register a victory in the argument. The Godavari basin boasted some awesome views like this one

The next post on Rajahmundhry is sure to impress you as the lesser known area was some relaxing experience in itself.

Warangal The Kakatiya Capital: 14th March 2011

2011-06-25T13:07:00.003+05:30

Thousand Pillar Temple

We had planned to start for Warangal early at 6 am. The excitement of the tour helped me wake up really early however this is India and after several follow ups the car arrived only at 9 am. We were now on the move to Warangal our destination.

On the way we stopped for brunch to taste the MLA pesarattu. It is a complete meal of moong dal dosa with upma stuffed in it and sprinkled with onion and tomato shreds. The accompaniments of Potato Masala bhaaji, chutney and sambhar. Yummy with an excess of ghee. One MLA pesarattu stuffs you until dinner time.

We reached Warangal city at 11.30am and decided to see the 1000 pillar temple first. This is a small temple in the heart of the city. The pillars are carved from black granite.

The locals suggested I visit Ramappa temple which was about 75 kms from the city center but before that we decided to go to the Bhadrakali temple instead. It turned out that going there in the afternoon was a wrong decision. The temple was closed but since this is a huge complex we enjoyed the surroundings. The location of this Bhadrakali temple is simply awesome and it made up for not being able to get darshan of the Devi. The lake is such a scenic backdrop. We almost hopped around on the hot paved floor of the complex finally resting ourselves under some shade to take in the views of the lake and the boulders around. Perched on the hillock were Shankar and Parvati idols that overlooked the visitors.

From here we proceeded to the Ramappa temple. This temple dates back to 1213. If you are in Warangal you can't miss the Ramappa temple. It gets its name from its builder. The exquisitely carved temple was under restoration when we visited. Each pillar, ceiling and the brackets supporting the roof are intricate and ornate.

Before we were on our way to Bhadhrachalam for the night halt we just had to visit the Warangal fort which gives the city its identity. Warangal fort is home to the Kirti Torana or the Gates of Victory famously constructed by the Kakatiya rulers. They stand proud over the time even today in the four directions of the ruined fort. The other ruins too are interesting, like the huge stone throne fascinated me. The temple and the platform in front of it too has amazing details but everything there indicated that the race there was really short.

Enjoy the more of the beautiful Warangal captured in my camera...

The Bastions of the Nizamshahi: 13th March 2011

2011-06-18T09:05:00.002+05:30

The next morning we had plans to visit Golconda fort. Sunil made tea for everyone in the morning and followed by breakfast of upma. At 10.30 am we left for the Fort. The fort is near the Defense area. We parked the car and bought the tickets and started exploring the vast bastion of the Nizam. It is said once upon a time there was a moat surrounding it. The entrance pavilion has been built to acoustic perfection. In the days of the Nizam a message would be relayed by clapping hands in the pavilion and it would be heard at the top of the fort.

We saw the ladies palace, the jail where Bhadrachalam Ramdas was detained, the masjid etc. Here we met Cdr. Finally we climbed to the top and from the terrace took in the views of the city nestled in the foothills.

Then Cdr. took us for lunch to Boulder Hill Golf Course. After a sumptuous lunch we relaxed on the sofas, on the pavilions that overlooked the 12 hole golf course (I hope I got that right!). At 4 pm it was time for us to move from there as Sunil needed to drop off Gurunath Uncle at the bus stand as he was returning to Blr that night.

Cdr. then took us to Indian School of Business just across Boulder hill golf course. ISB has an aura of a university and the architecture is so unique. My guess is it is the work of Charles Correa, Can some one validate? While at the coffee shop called up Shalaka to tell her, I was "walking the corridors that she once walked". She squealed and requested me to post pictures.

Later we returned to Sunil's for a quite evening. This day was amazing meeting the Cdr. and spending an entire day together.

Darshan of Bhatji Bapu's Samadhi: 12th March 2011

2011-06-11T09:46:00.002+05:30

Sunil had informed us that we should ask for KPHB colony which is 1 km ahead and he would come to pick us up from there. As promised there he was with his Ford Fiesta at our disposal armed with cool bottles of mineral water a welcome for us after the all night journey.

Hyderabad, our first impression is dusty busy city and there was traffic even at 6.30 am. We drove to Sunil's home through quaint little defense colony of Jalavayu Vihar. His home is a little inside and cut off from the hustle bustle. We reached his home got fresh and meanwhile he made tea and had arranged for a breakfast of fresh idli with 2 types of chutneys, green tomato chutney and the regular peanut chutney.

After breakfast we had bath and relaxed after the night's journey. Sunil had to go to office so saw him off. Dad and Gurunath uncle sat on the sofa singing bhajans and discussing their spiritual experiences. I was feeling left out.

While I waited for Sunil to return from work so that we could lunch together I was just reading and chilling out. Gurunath Uncle was hungry so gave him a fruit sandwich and a pickle sandwich. I got the fruit salad ready and made masur dal and rice. Sunil came home with chapatis and curries bought from the hotel. He insisted on making sevayi kheer. It was an enjoyable lunch. The AP style bhindi was crisp and crunchy, a bit chewy but enjoyable as it was different. The sevayi was laced with nutmeg and I loved it as Sunil made it with so much love for Dad.

We took a longish nap in the afternoon as the sun rose to its peak and shone in all its glory. The plan was to go to Upuguda to visit Bhatji bapu's temple and Samadhi in the eve. We drove past Charminar to go there. I was quite surprised at the Maharashtrian population surrounding the temple. There are more than 2000 families and unlike in Karnataka here they speak pure Marathi with not a trace of Telugu. Got to know that they have couple of Marathi medium schools here and the school gets enough students to run successfully. The temple complex is large clean and peaceful. The Pujari spent some time inquiring about us, he was very non commercial is what struck me most. It is a legend that Bhatji Bapu was a great proponent of Annadan. Shree K.V. Belsare has mentiond about Bhatji Bapu several times in his discourses.

We returned home and Sunil refused to let me cook. He made broken wheat khichdi and phodnicha bhat from the leftover rice from afternoon. It was still a lot of food for the 4 of us. I was given a separate bedroom and I had all the privacy I needed. Sunil is an excellent host!

The Unexpected Andhra Pradesh: 11th March 2011

2011-06-04T11:49:00.000+05:30

On 11th Mar we left home at 5.30 pm for BTM water tank and boarded the Kesineni pick up coach. This coach collects all travellers to AP from across the city and transports them to Kalasipalyam to hop on to the sleeper coach. The sleeper coach consists of a bus of about 36 sleepers, 4 in each coupe. The sleeper is just right for a short person like me but a taller person like Gurunath uncle find it difficult to move in and out of the bunker. The bus started from BTM at 6.30 am and reached Kukatpally at 6.30 am after a rocking ride.

As usual before I began this road trip I had done my homework thoroughly. Booked the best suites in APTDC resorts, hired an a/c India Vista for 2500 kms/10 days and we were set for making memories a many.

On the agenda was spending 2 days at Sunil Kulkarni's home along with Gurunath Kulkarni and then moving on to the road trip starting with Hyderabad - Warangal - Bhadrachalam - Rajahmundhry - Vizag - back to Hyderabad. Follow me on as we discover The Unexpected Andhra Pradesh...

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In the neighborhood: Basavangudi

2011-04-29T06:27:00.002+05:30

I live in the oldest part of Bangalore to be exact South Bangalore. We are blessed with the greenest tree cover dense like a canopy over the roads. I live in the midst of heritage that I love to show off to any out of town visitors that we get.

So there is always a walk around Basavangudi that my visitors are treated to and I don't seem to tire of these places. There is something soothing about walking around these temples and Basavangudi in general. If you are in Bangalore and you haven't seen the Big Bull then you must go there now.

The Big Bull is perched on a hillock and you have to take a flight of stairs to reach there.This bull is 15ft tall and 20ft wide. The area has lots of trees for shelter so even at peak noon this is not a big task. In the evenings and at dusk Basavangudi comes live with chirping of all sorts of birds and bats.

At the foot of the hillock is huge Ganesha. This idol is called DoddaGanesha or simply the big Ganesha. At times it is covered in fresh butter and decorated colorfully for special occasions.

A little down the road is another modern temple which has is designed like a cinema set. On the outside you see a cave like structure. As you walk into it you pass thru narrow corridors that open into a large hall, in the center is an idol of Krishna balancing the Govardhan on his little finger. Here it is the ceiling.

As you walk around you find depictions of Krishna's life stories on the artificial stone walls, of Putana feeding the baby Krishna, The Kalia mardan, Sudama's visit and the Vishwarup darshan!

Once in a year everything in Basavangudi comes to a halt and this busy area with its college campuses and traffic make way for the Kadalekai Parishe, the groundnut fair. My friend Kiran has captured it beautifully, go over to check it out.

After the walk around Basavangudi you can go further down to the garden and Lunch at Bugle Rock Kamat.

When you are in Basavangudi you must visit the nearby Gavi Gangadhareshwar temple and The Srinagar Ram Anjaneya temple. These posts are coming up next...

Cubbon Park for Kids

2011-02-19T00:35:00.002+05:30

I had written this post long ago on Exploring Cubbon Park promising to write this one for Kids.

There are many immigrant families who come to BLR. Some children are used to the large parks in their cities while others are not. Cubbon Park is for the children. Those that simply like to run around and lull in the grass or those that like to play on the jungle gym and learn something new.

Cubbon park is this huge expanse of 1.2 kms with a road that opens for traffic after 8 am. Many kids love to drive through it. It has some beautiful trees and avenues. My friend Sulekha and Me would take our pets every Sat on a pleasure trip to Cubbon Park. Many kids who came with their parents for the morning walk loved to pat them.

Pranav is a lazy bum so he prefered playing at the Jawahar Bal Bhawan. This is an amusement park with a toy train and an adorable tiny station. Most kids will die to get on to it Pranav was almost giving up as he saw smaller school kids lined up for the train. We did manage to put him on the train though.

The other one thing he loved is the Turret. He loved running around it calling out hide and seek.

Next to the Bal bhavan is an aqaurium. He was just so happy to identify fishes and was trying to memorize the names so he could show off to his parents.

Along the Cubbon Park on the Kasturba road are the Sir Vishweshwariah Industrial and Technological Museum and Archeological Museum you would want your kids to see. Besides there are the heritage buildings like the Attara Kacheri, Vidhan Soudha in the vicinity.

After all this a kid would need a candy floss or some bhutta and it's all there.

The lure of Udagamandalam

2011-01-01T00:58:00.001+05:30

A while ago I got a mail from http://in.spotandtell.com that they like my blogs and invited me to be a member of their community. The current contest promises the winners...

The prize for the contest includes:
2 nights/3 days accommodation for two people
15% discount on food and beverage
15% discount on spa treatment from Kairali health ayurveda

Oh! I read it and simply wanted to participate. All it takes is write about them and link to your blog! That's it !!

Now they want to know why I want to go to www.naharretreat.com

It's been 5.5yr in Bangalore and I am yet to go to Udagamandalam or Ooty. Due to some reason have not been there yet. As a naughty Mumbai kid Ooty was always part of a threat, parents boomed "You will go straight to Lovedale, if you misbehave." That was to invoke the fear of boarding schools.

Seen it in so many movies now want to see it in real.

While in the dreams Ooty was the queen of hill stations. If I win this contest I want to go to Nahar's and pamper my self with some wellness treatments. I'll do the chocolates, the toy train and turn the hands of the clock in the botanical garden back to the old days. I will enjoy Ooty which seems to be this alluring place ever since the last three decades. Plus winning this contest will make the stay special!

Vellore: The Old and The New Charms: 18 May 2008

2010-12-18T18:24:00.005+05:30

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This was back in May 2008, my nephew had finished his exams and my bro and SIL came down to Blr. to see me. They instructed me, no long tours for them this time but may be a couple of days to visit nearby places. So we decided on Vellore and a picnic to Nandi Hills and took them around the neighboorhood, Basavangudi. I need to post about both Nandi hills and Basavangudi but later. This post is about Vellore. Well we chose Vellore as it was only 3 hrs away from Blr. and it was in 2007-2008 that the whole of India was talking about this 600 crore project of GOLD!

Yes you guessed it right, The Golden Mahalaxmi temple! Even the skeptics wanted to visit it. The grandeur and the fact that there was a new spiritual guru on the horizon, as if India lacked the breed. My elder SIL is a stereotype all that glitters attracts her so this temple visit sounded like a happening thing for even my bro. So I went to check out the KSTDC site and got to know they had started a weekly tour to Vellore as throngs of visitors poured in to a city which has been on the tourist map for some of its old world charm in the past. KSTDC is always careful about combining the old and the new I have noted in many of their tour, I was satisfied to join the trip as it mentioned Vellore Fort and Jalagandeshwara Temple. On the way to Vellore we were to stop at Padmavathi temple in Krishnagiri too.This tour starts at 6.30 am from KSTDC office opposite Bangalore Corporation and drops you back there at 11.30 pm.

We take the Hosur road upto Krishnagiri and the first stop is at the Padmavathi temple. We find that it is still under construction. It is built by the Marwari community to honor a Sati and has influence of Marwar in it, like the broken glass work and the minakari.

Further we proceeded to Vellore. I was quite impressed by the first sights of the fort. Yes Vellore is a fort city, with an ever expanding periphery. This is one of the oldest city in South India. Has had a steady growth right from the days of being the capital of the Vijayanagar Empire. It boasts of one of the best Medical college in India that creates doctors with a passion for social service. The moat surrounding it adds to the Majesty of the fort. We drive around it a bit and go straight into the fort to worship Lord Shiva in the Jalagandeshwara Temple.

source: http://velloreinfo.blogspot.com

The magnificent Gopuram welcomes you in. When we visited it was May and we had to remove our footwear outside the temple and run on the cobblestones barefoot, scalding our soles.On entering the compound of the temple on the left side is a huge Kalyana Mandapa exquisitely carved. It is said this temple was used as an arsenal and the Shiva linga is a recent addition.

The compound was huge and and people found little shaded nooks to have the curd rice which was handed out as prasad. It was very tasty and help beat the heat a bit. Later we walked to the small museum which had lot of trees around and in the heat got some respite. After this we had food and proceeded to the Mahalaxmin Golden temple in Sripuram.

The temple is situated on a hillock and spread over a 100 acres. It is kept spic and span and even wheelchairs are provided and one of the volunteers helps push it for the disabled, all the way up the star shaped path. The shape of the path is thus to represent a Srichakra. It guides the people to walk thru the 12 spikes and on the way are interspersed message boards on humanity and righteousness. The Shakti Maa is dress elaborately in the sanct sanctorium. The temple is covered with several layers of gold. There is a pond surrounding the temple, where people drop offerings of gold, silver, coins etc.

source : http://panium.wordpress.com

Mahalaxmi Golden Temple, Sripuram

Am wondering if this guru aims at attracting all the materialistic people by building such a temple and via which leads them on the path of righteousness. I can be skeptical like usual but I also trust in the goodness of people. I am also impressed at how we in India allow people to just be. Good thing is this sleepy town is now giving rise to a new kind of tourism. Even the nearby Vellore which has been a hot bed for medical tourism is now doing better with Sripuram in the vicinity. Hope there will be no scandals casting their shadow on this place. It's been two years since I visited and public frenzy over it has reduced much or may be it is not in the media much but the no. of visitors has grown.

Mangalore - Kadri - Dharmasthal - Kuke Subramania

2010-11-28T00:20:00.005+05:30

Day 4: Nov 11, 2007

We began the day by visiting the Gokarnatheshwar temple, its new and built by a liqour baron very glitzy and not my type of a place however the cleanliness was striking. The entire area has smaller temples of different gods and flashy Kalyana Mantapa and even a them park of sorts.

The next one was the Manjunath temple at Kadri with its beautiful Brahma idol dating back to 968 A.D.

This temple was established by Parashuram and has reference to the Nath panth. What is unique about this place is its seven Kunda, or holy water ponds. They are situated at a height and the entire temple area is surrounded by plantain gardens on the hill.

We started our return journey to Blr. On the way we were to go to Dharmasthal and Kuke Subramania. I had heard so much about the rush and my brother's warning echoed in my ears "It is the Pandharpur of the south". Yes it is in terms of the rush yet clean, non-corrupt and organized. Once you get into the line for darshan you have to keep going.

Our last stop was at Kuke Subramania where one can perform rituals like sarpadosh etc. I lost the pictures of the last two destinations. Need to find them or may be another trip is due...

Updated 7 Dec 2010: Found the pictures on a stick. Uploading...

Murudeshwar - Anegudde - Udupi - Kateel - Mangalore

2010-11-24T19:49:00.002+05:30

Day 3: Nov 10, 2007

It began in Murudeshwar. The famous 65 ft Shiva statue dominates the skies of the coastal town. Though we were on the beach we were warned not to play in the sea as we were to travel all day and did not want the coach to be smelly. So we just watched others have fun in the sea. There is a restaraunt that caught my fancy as it was built on stilts in the sea.

Our next destination was Anegudde Vinayaka temple. This temple architechture is similar to Konkan region in Maharashtra and Goa. It is said, when Bheema was trying to kill an asura in the form of an angry elephant with his gada, he lost the battle. Thats when this Ganapti gave him a sword with which he destroyed the asura. Bheema heeaped all the killed elephants in a mound hence the name of the town "Anegudde" and the diety in this temlple is dedicated to Vinayaka.

Nearby there was an interesting place called the temple of Halu MakaLutai. The story associated with this temple goes like this. Kumba-mukhi, the sister of Ravan and Shurpanaka prayed to this Goddnes to grant her children. However when the Goddess appeared before her she was dazzled and instead of asking for children. She asked for the Goddess be granted with children and The Goddess said Tathaastu!

Hence every five years a linga pops up from the ground. It is a strange geological phenomena observed here. In the courtyard of the temple you see these rocks that look like lingas emerging from the ground. Quite miraculous you will agree. This Goddess is offered bettlenut flowers in worship.

From here we went straight to Udupi. It was my dream to go to Udupi after reading the story of Kanakadas for whom Krishna turned around and gave darshan to his devotee. This is the only temple where the diety's back is to the main door. Then on the Darshan is taken at the rear. Sadly even centuries later, after Kanakadas not much has changed here. The Lord is still locked up in the sanct sanctorium and decorated with flashy daimonds and the keys to the temple still lie with the Madhavas. It was also my dream to have prasad at the bhojanshala which is so synonimos with Udupi. Thousands of people are fed here. Though I am used to temple dinning halls and culture associated with it. Udupi is something one has to experience atleast once in a life. We even saw some people eating on the floor, no not even a banana leaf was used. They were observing some austerity in lieu of some favor they might have asked from Krishna. It was a shocking experience for me and definitely opened up my mind a bit more. I do not have pictures of Udupi temple as I did not want to click a picture of the chariot that you see on almost every other site.

We were now off to Kateel to see Durga Parmeshwari. The temple exterior is in Konkani style while the sanct sanctorium is in Kerala style. This temple is built on an island in the river Nandini, connected to the mainland with a bridge.

From Kateel we went to Mangalore and went straight to hit the beach.

The highpoint of the trip was to check into Lalit International at Suratkhal. It is a 3 star hotel thats going through a rough patch so KSTDC gets the best deal. We have paid Rs.1400 per night for a similar room at other times and this entire package had cost us a mere Rs1900/ person. The restaraunt has been closed down due to lack of customers. So we walked down to Sadanand about 10 mins from our hotel. Yes they are the same guys from Fort, Mumbai and they spoke to us in Marathi as they overheard our conversation. I made it a point to have Gudbad, the Mangalorean sundae and did not find it exceptional but enjoyed the cool treat on that sultry night in Suratkhal.

Hornadu - Kalasa - Shringeri - Kollur

2010-11-23T23:04:00.003+05:30

Day 2: Nov 9, 2007

In the early morning we reached Horanadu. We were provided a small room that we had to share with 2 other people. This facility was just to have a bath. It was a village guest house but was clean. After a hot water bath we walked down to the Annapoorneshwari temple through dense fog. It was an out of the world experience. This temple is surrounded by bettlenut and coconut plantations as you see in the backdrop of the temple gate below. This is one of the cleanest Hindu temple that I have seen. The darshan was calming, we saw the Goddess being bathed as part of the Shodashopchar (ritual offering of sixteen items). It is a beautiful human sized idol made in granite. This region being home to Annapoorneshwari is truely blessed. I learnt in this trip what it truely means to do Annadan.

Annadan is supposed to be the highest level of charity that one can do in Hinduism. It is said that it is the only charity that truely satisfies the needy. If a man is in need of food he will take only as much as the capacity of his stomach and will say enough when he cannot eat more thus feeling trupti or satisfaction wheres all other needs are insatiable.

Annapoorneshwari is the goddess who can provide endless amounts of food to the needy. In this temple we see in her hand the spoons and utensils that are her tools. We took breakfast at the prasad hall. It consisted of Avalakki/ patal pohe seasoned with red chili and mustard in oil with sugar and salt and sprinkled with water.

From here we went to Kalasa, I don't remember much about this place except that is is a Shiva temple and one has to climb a flight of steps. I do remember the guide telling us that here is where Agasthya Muni stayed when Lord Shiva ordered him to go south to balance the rotation of the earth as it was distorted by the congregation of all the Gods attending the Shiv-Parvati wedding in Varanasi. Agasthya Muni was granted special vision to enjoy the wedding from Kalasa.

Then we proceeded to Shringeri. This place is of high importance as Adi Shanakaracharya established the first peetham here.
He was looking for a suitable location for starting a peetham and at this place on the bank of the river Tunga he saw a snake sheltering a frog from the hot sun under its hood as the pregnant frog was in labour. Adi Shankaracharya was taken aback by this scene of a serpent the natural enemy of a frog actually protecting it and immediately identified this place as a special one. People now feed the fish here on the ghats of the Tunga.

We washed our feet in the river and became Suchirbhut (the act of cleansing) and went on to take darshan of Sharda mata and Vidyashankara. Both the temples are beautiful and distinct. The Sharda temple interior is beautiful where as the Vidyashankar temple is decorated on the outside.

It has carving of different Raashis in the corners. In the Shringeri Mutt there is a hall that displays paintings on the life of Adi. As a child I had a very spiritual impression of Shringeri Mutt in my mind based on the books I had read but it was quite different experience to be there. May be it being Diwali there were more visitors or something else I am not able to figure out. Pandit Gowrishankar is one person we know who has studied Vedic Culture at Shringeri Mutt and he used to visit us sometimes and explain to us all the nitty grities of Puja rituals. We had lunch here at the Prasad hall. It was impressive how well it was maintained. Food consisted of rasam, sambhar, majge/ buttermilk and heaps of rice.

In the evening we reached Kollur. After checking into a Guest house we got fresh and walked to the temple. It was the time for Mahamangal aarti and there was a huge rush. This temple seemed to be dominated by Malayali culture. It is the abode of the goddess Mokambika. We stood in the line for darshan for more than an hour and just at about the time of the aarti hell broke loose. We were squeezed into the mandap and I was gasping for air. I saw the priest coming with the aarti through the crowd pressing against each other. I told Dad to follow him when he would return to the Garbh gruha. Reached in front of the Goddess barely bowed my head and sprinted out into the open space. This temple is not kept clean and reminded me of all the temples in Maharashtra where similar experiences are inflicted on the devotees. I could not take any pictures of Kollur as it was night time and also the temple is surrounded by high walls.

source : Wikipedia

We took prasad at the dinning hall and returned to the guest house to retire for the day.

South Canara Temple Tour @ Rs. 1.36 per km

2010-11-22T22:48:00.002+05:30

Day 1 : Nov 8, 2007

Just before Diwali at work they declared a compensatory holiday for the entire organization. I had already planned my other vacation with family and friends and here I was with 4 holidays at hand. I decide to go on a short tour, my criteria, it had to be cheap and only for 4-5 day . I checked with KSTDC and decided to take their South Canara Temple Tour.

Well once I had done a 5 day tour of north Karnataka with them about 2 years ago. The places covered were amazing but the stay at Bijapur had left a bad impression. So this time I just prepared myself for bad hotels and a smelly coach and made the reservations saying to myself this is an unplanned tour so I need not expect much.

This tour starts on every thrusday from Badami house, Blr. at 9.00 pm. As usual we reached early. My first surprise was the new coaches. They had better build more space and more leg room. Also since it had not rained the coaches smelt fresh. It helps to expect less I said to myself especially for the price we pay. Infact during my last trip with them I had suggested that they should offer luxury tours as their standard tour was really low budget.

The tour manager started his announcements as soon as the bus started. He told us that we were going to cover 1400 kms to and fro. Man ! It meant a tour at Rs. 1.36/ km. That is absolutely a steal deal. Yet I kept reminding myself that I should not crib about the hotels they provide. He also announced that if all agreed he could show us a few more temples in addition to the itinerary if we paid Rs. 50 more. It was obvious that it went into the private kitty. After munching on chutney sandwiches that we were carrying with us we went off to sleep that night. The bus passed through dense forests, plantations and ghats. We woke up the next day on a hill covered by mist...

View south canara temple tour in a larger map

Hari Hareshwar, Paradise Calling

2010-11-21T08:37:00.008+05:30

This was first posted on Anna Parabrahma

The drama in nature

Hari Hareshwar is a small town just warming up to tourism today yet it has enjoyed importance centuries ago during the reign of the Peshwa's. The town gets its name from the temple it is home to. It is unique in the sense that it has a triple linga representing Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Hari Hareshwar being the family diety of the Peshwa's had great importance in Maratha history. It has enjoyed better days when Shrivardhan a nearby Taluka place was a port with its busy transaction with the Portuguese and the middle east.

It is about 5 hrs drive from Mumbai. We stopped at Wadkhal for a bite and took the Roha -Mangaon road. It was a pleasant drive as the early Dec breeze cooled our skin. We had decided to stay at Shrivardhan that night and then go to Hari Hareshwar the next morning not knowing that Hari Hareshwar has some good home stays. The MTDC resort was full so we couldn't get our bookings done there and they are best you get in this area.

View Directions to Harihareshwar, Maharashtra in a larger map

Next morning we drove from Shrivardhan to Hari Hareshwar about 18 kms. The elders wanted to have Darshan of Hari Hareshwar first so that's just what we did. It was 111th year of celebrating the Mahakal utsav. Mahakal temple is adjacent to the Hari Hareshwar temple in the same complex. The temples are built in the Peshwa style and we saw some beautiful wooden pillars here. It is very difficult to date this temple. History mentions that Ramabai, Senior Madhavrao Peshwe's queen visited here to worship Hari Hareshwar to ask the Lord for good health for her ailing husband. Legend goes that Pandava's performed their parent's Pindadan, the ceremonial freeing of the spirit here at the seashore the spot is know as Pandav thirtha.

I was flooded with memories of stories told by our staff who came from nearby villages of Paja, Diva, Bharatkhol etc. They always described the ferocious sea in this region and how it had caused the immigration of the villagers of Paja to move to Jivna where the sea is less ferocious. Stories of lost lives of adventurers trying to explore the steep Rockies. To me it was images of the sea lashing out at the low level mountains. The sea deep at the shore and lots of turtles. The sinister stories of turtle egg eaters moving around in the dark moonlit night with a torch in hand. My elder aunt visited there to ask for good health in the tradition of Ramabai in her younger days. She also went there to bring back staff who had gone on a holiday and never seemed to return, she was a successful Nakhwin ( Lady Head of fishing business) in those day. It was these stories that had put Hari Hareshwar on my list of places to visit.

Waves cut the mountain at the bottom

After the darshan we took directions from my aunt and started climbing the mountain using the stairway. My elder Uncle R and Aunt P are not able to climb stairways due to age so they decide to sit near the temple. As we reached the peak we were pleasantly surprised to see a valley like descending path and the Arabian sea till the end of the horizon. It was an absolute Aha! moment. On this descend is a little lover's seat that gives an illusion of suspension in pictures taken there. This path is also considered holy circumvention or pradakshina and if done thrice legend says we earn blessing equivalent to a visit to Kashi. Not for nothing Hari Hareshwar is called Dakshin Kashi. Yet I came here for a different reason for the mystery and intrigue it held.

The descend

As we reached down to Pandav thirtha we were awe struck. All along that mountain was a WAVE CUT PLATFORM and designs caused by the lashing waves. The fury of the sea had caused erosion forming intricate carvings in the rock. This was natures art gallery or rather theatre I'd say with the dramatic backdrop of etched out rocks. We sat at the edge of the wave platform and stared at the patterns the sun and the reflection of the sea playing a dance. The water sparkled in the bright sunshine. I could sit there for hours lost in my world of fantasy.

The sparkling water

The designs of Nature's fury

Wave platforms are dangerous sites if you explore on your own. It is a must to take a person from the village along with you. We are Koli and our elders know the behaviour of the sea plus my elder Uncle is ex-Navy so he knows every detail of the Arabian sea. He was with us so we were safe. What makes the wave platforms dangerous is that the sea is very deep near it and if it is time for high tide the water rises suddenly leaving no way for escape or retreat. Also the sea slices the mountain from underneath so there are area that crumble slowly when dry but may crash out during high tide. My Aunt tells us she has seen the platform widen over the last 50 years.

Gayatri Tirtha

There is a crevice in the mountain called Gayatri thirtha that has a tiny spring of fresh mineral water. It is natures ways of surprising us with fresh water juxtaposed next to the sea. As we walked along we were surprised to see Uncle R and Aunt P on the other side of the platform. They could not resist the temptation of showing us all the things that they knew about the place so they took the opposite side of the circumvention which is flat and came there. Uncle R beckoned us, see Aunt P wants to show you something he mocked. She pointed to a white line running along the platform and ending in the sea, telling us that it was a trickle of milk that came from Kashi. A closer look told us it was a thin layer of marble seen sandwiched in the all latrine mountain.

The trickle of milk from Kashi or is it?

Suddenly we heard someone gasp, Turtle! Turtle!! It had just hopped out on to the natural moss laden ramp but the yelp scared it away. We stood there patiently but none showed up though we could see a lot of them popping their heads and shells in the water. They were quite huge and in large numbers. They are now protected and that definite made us happy.

And the turtle dived back into the sea

In this visit it was low tide period so I missed seeing the ferocious avatar of the sea. I loved the beach too but the wave cut platform completely captured my being. Next time I go there I want to sit in an armchair in the moonlit night and watch the sea and witness its fury that results in places that are so romantic.

Hari Hareshwar is a wonderful place to visit over the weekend if you are in Mumbai. On the way back we also visited the Dive Agar Ganapati temple that is home to the Gold Ganapati Mask found in 1997. Janjira fort is about 40 kms from here. May be a Murud-Janjira-Hari Hareshwar over a week would be great. May be a voyage on the sea.....I dream on....

To Alibag via Chirner

2010-09-26T23:54:00.004+05:30

All your life you go to your native place by a certain route and then by accident you discover a new route and what a route! To Alibag via Chirner.

The Old Route via Panvel

View Directions to Thal, Alibag via Panvel in a larger map

The New Route Via Chirner

View Directions to Thal, Alibag via Chirner in a larger map

I was planning to go to Thal on Friday just one day before Ganpati but we all know what a mess the traffic is at Panvel especially during the Ganpati season. Unlike earlier times when people would travel by the ST now most people take their own vehicles. Twenty years ago it was all and all the ST traffic and jams would be caused by trucks but now it is the sheer increase in the number of private vehicles. So I would do anything to escape it, , so I started on the 9th itself. Sumeet told me about a new route via JNPT road. I happily took it and by passed Panvel ST stand yet I still went thru old Panvel town. When he came to Thal he said stupid you could have gone ahead to JNPT rd and bypassed Panvel completely. Ok so I said I will try again when I visit Charu in Mumbai.

Charu had invited us for darshan of Ganpati in her home and lunch. After lunch we visited the Trombay sisters. At sharp 4.30 pm we started from Trombay back to Thal dropping off Dad at Nerul.

We got on to the Nerul-Uran Amra Marg, drove straight tru Ulve till we got a T. Took a right and drove till we got a bridge on the left which was marked with a board "To Almighty Container Yard". The road looked terrible due to the over use by container trucks. At the Bridge there was a left way and one could drive under the bridge too. I got confused and even Mothe Baba who was with me could not help. We just decided to drive under the bridge. All we could see is endless and endless container yards for atleast 5-6 kms I was scared that we might be on the wrong route.

Then after we crossed the terrible section of the container yard we found a well maintained tar road. A couple on a bike told us that the road would take us to Kharpada. Which meant we would by pass not only Panvel but Karnala bird sanctuary too and reach the Kharpada Toll naka just before the Dharamtar bridge.

We kept driving through the hills of Chirner. It is the monsoon and the hills were lush green and roads are traffic free with just a few trucks and local 10 seater auto-rickshaws. This road is good for an adventurer and bikers. However make sure you are not driving at night here. You might not get help in case of a breakdown. Not sure how safe it would be for a single couple on a bike, though you see lot of local couples on bike.

My mind now had stopped worrying and I was enjoying the scenery. The hill peaks were cuddled by the clouds and in the distant I could see the rain falling but the road we were driving on was dry. The unique jutting peak of the Karnala bird sanctuary assured me I was not in unkown region. I was telling Mothe Baba how I had trekked it along with my college friends way back in 1985 when we had gone their for a botanical excursion. As we drove the rest of the way I watched the sundance with the clouds on the hills, the game of Dhup-Chaav. It was nearing dusk and I wanted to touch Kharpada before the night shadow fell.

Passing through little villages and watching people going about their business is the most endearing experience when you have been away for way too long from your roots. There were rainsoaked homes overgrown with moss and little ponds blooming with lotuses. A lady washing clothes with rain harvested water, reminded me that it was not a new concept here in the villages. When it rains women wash clothes in front of the house and don't go to the village well. I saw some men enjoying their evening tea and bhajji at the tiny stalls, you will rarely find women at them. The only type of businesses one sees here are tiny cycle, motorcycle repair shops or other small shops like a grocers. Else it is the gaint container yards. I guess most villager must be employed there. I also spotted some Chinky eyed people in these remote areas. It is heartening to see people moving out of their comfort zone and travelling all over the country to find a job that can get rid of their poverty.

When I told Dad about this route Dad told us that couple of decades ago school teachers refused postings in this area as it was considered as Adivasi dominated and Agri/ Kharkis did not have access to education either. They required very little reason for violence. Now things don't look as bad I realized as I drove through. Mothe Baba commented that he had come to one of those areas many years ago to one of our housemaid's home to attend a marriage. It is so cut off from the rest of Alibag.

After reaching Dharamtar bridge there is no confusion the road goes straight to Alibag and it is the NH 4B. However I was on my way to Thal so took a turn after Teen vira dam into Karle Khind and drove towards Kankeshwar phata and took a left on Rewas- Alibag road and a right at Thal phata after RCF to reach my village.

It took us 1 hour to reach from Nerul to Kharpada Toll gate. It was a thrilling drive through the hills up and down the uneven terrain and a few junctions. The container yards were eerie and got me swearing all the time. Bikers will love this route except the first few kms that are testing the rest of the road is awesome. To me it made a memory because no one in my family or relatives knew that there was another route to reach our native place!

Time Stands Still

2010-08-15T00:31:00.001+05:30

Shravanbelagola, Belur, Halebidu trip.

A guest post I wrote on Jugalbandi way back in Sep 2007. Here is the original one.

Last December when S&S came to Blr, we did this trip again.

Some more pictures from a last year's trip.

Hospet Shree Ram & Shree Brahmachaitanya Gondavalekar Mandir

2010-07-31T14:47:00.003+05:30

Shree Ram & Shree Brahmachaitanya Gondavalekar Mandir

It was the long weekend of Gandhi Jayanti back in Oct 2006. We were planning a trip to Hospet along with family friends. However they were not able to make it. I did not want to spend my long weekend in Bangalore so decided to leave for Hospet anyways. I wanted to visit Hampi a second time too. So that night I went and booked whatever tickets were available. The Volvo tickets were not available for the forward journey however I did get a Volvo ticket for the return journey. I got a red bus ticket. We had never traveled by the red bus and did not what to expect. I had never seen it in Blr. I knew it was the cheapest when I bought the tickets but at the last minute, I did not have any other option.

After a rickety racktey travel in the night and a fussy Dad who kept swearing under his breath, we reached Hospet at 7.0 am. We got off the bus and called up Ravi. If the devotees remember we had a MSN group on Shree Brahmachaitanya Gondavalekar Maharaj. I had met Ravi on this group. He was very generous to help me with the address and details. He was waiting for us at the Mandir along with the trustee and other devotees.

We took an auto to the temple. It is a little outside the town and in the midst of green fields just off the main road. It's quite peaceful like a typical village temple.

Ravi Hospet, if you happen to read this pl. share the temple address in the comments. I will add it here.

L to R: Ravi, Dad, some devotees, extreme right Chief Trustee

We were very warmly welcomed by the devotees. They had just finished the Kakad aarti session. We promised them that we will join them for morning and evening aarti while we were in Hospet.

Later we came back to the town center and checked into Hotel Mallige, it's a 3 star, the best in Hospet in those days, I don't know about now. We kept our promise. We attended Kakad aarti and sejaarti for the 3 days while in Hospet.

The Mandir like most Shree Brahmachaitanya Mandir is on the top dedicated to the Lord Gopal Krishna as Shree loved cows and other animals.

In the cellar is the samadhi

There are paintings of Tukamai, Aaisaheb and Brahmananda Maharaj in the cellar.

There are few devotees here but they are carrying out pooja and celebrating all the important days in Shree's life. The routine is similar to that performed in Gondavale all with aarti, bhajan, pher-phugdi, pravachan reading etc. Then followed a lot of conversation and sharing stories of our associations with Shree and the devotees. It is always such a rewarding experience to know about the devotees spread across the country, wherever Shree had traveled. I am touched most when I hear these Kannada vernacular people singing all the aartis and bhajans in Marathi. Even in Bangalore temple I've seen this but Hospet is a small typical North Karnataka town. They learn from books that have Marathi written in Kannada script! They learn it like we recite Sanskrit shlokas without understanding and are very keen to know the meaning of the Bodhavachan of Shree.

When we visited we were the only visitors to the temple yet they served us prasad once. We tried to tell them we will manage out but they insisted that the Archak makes an offering to the God so we can have the same as prasad. We could not refuse when offered with so much love and care. The Archak himself served us that day. He went all out putting a rangoli around our plantain leaves and served us wearing sovaLa/ Madhi.

It was Dasara on one of the days and since we were on travel we did not even remember. However the trustee surprised us by inviting us to his home for dinner. We were in for more surprises when his mother spoke to us in Marathi! They had organized a sumptuous dinner and served us with a lot of aagraha.

On the day we left they gave us tokens for memory along with tambulam.

We felt blessed.

Address:
Sri Radha Krishna Chaithanya mandir,PDIT engg. college Road,
Gokul Nagar,
Dam Road,
Hospet-583203
Bellary -Dist
Karnataka.

Finally relish the grandeur of the Mysore: 15 Apr 2010

2010-07-25T12:09:00.011+05:30

Mysore Palace, a view from the sports pavilion end

After Dubare. We drove back to Mysore and as we were approaching the city it started raining very heavily. It was very difficult to know where we were on the road the visibility very bad and since the windows had to be pulled up it got suffocating with 5 adults and a kid in there. I made several calls to the hotel to take directions and finally without much problems we reached there safe.

The hotel corridors were crowded and everything was rain soaked. Once before I had visited their restaurant so knew it was pretty good atleast when it came to food. We moved into the rooms. What to say about them, they were decorated in 70's style furniture and can you believe it, they took the Mysore tiger theme so seriously that they had everything done in cheetah prints! Urgh !!! However the building is a heritage structure so I liked the lobbies, the staircase and the facades. This was also the cheapest of the hotels in the KSTDC line up as it is bang in the city and does not have much of a view. However Mysore is a green city so you don't mind that much.

I love this picture of Charu eventhough she is out of focus.

Anyways we decided this was our last night halt so it would mean we were just goin to sleep in and leave early morning for a darshan of the ruling goddess of the region. We decided to have dinner at the restaurant and since we had nt got good food or familiar food in in the afternoon we decided to go all out. I placed the order for Soups, Gobi Manchurian, masala papads, 5 Punjabi curries and 12 Naans! That's where I made a mistake. Their Naans were very big and we could not eat even half of the ordered Naans. Also because we ate other things too. So got it packed to feed the dogs in the morning. None of us wanted dessert immediately so we decided to have dessert in bed. Sumeet got Kulfi candy for all. As usual Sapna had hardly eaten and the kulfi was her actual dinner. Ah the delicate darling that she is!

Finally we went off to bed at 10 pm after I had all of them rolling in a one double bed and shooed them off to their own, also warning them not to stay up to late at night as we had to go early in the morning to the Chamundeshwari temple.

I woke up at 5.30 am and had a liesurly bath in the kingsized bathroom. He he the bathroom and bedrooms were of the same size! Any analysis on why? I woke up everyone and by 6.30am everyone was ready to go. The rain had stopped and the fresh air was envigorating. The trees all washed clean and the road in front of the hotel looked majestic.

We drove up the Chamundi hills. The sun was bright already and the fog was rising over the city. It felt wonderful to get glimpses of the greenery and the dense city at the foothills. We got a good darshan of the Chamundeshwari as it was morning time and the tourist rush had not yet started. We then loitered around a bit, feeding dogs with the previous nights Naans and had coconut water. After that we returned to the hotel for breakfast of Mysore Masala dosa and hot filter coffee. The dosa was a perfect gold on the outside and spongy white on the inside coated with red garlic chutney. The mashed potatoes perfectly spiced. Making it a hearty breakfast.

Pranav poses with the demon Mahishasur, the asur with bull's strength whom the Goddess Chamundi killed and saved this land of Mysore

We were all set to go to the Mysore Palace. The Palace opens only at 9 am but we thought it was good idea to go early to buy our entry tickets and we were one of the first in the line. After removing our footwear at the entrance of the palace building we started moving along the marked path oohing and aahing at the grandeur of the Wodeyar Royal's belongings on display and the magnificent rooms and darbars. My favorite are the peacock room and the sports pavillion. The peacock rooms amazing skylight with belgian stained glass. The sports pavillion with its painted ceilings influenced by European style but telling a different story. They narrated the Indian mythology. Every panel in the pavilion is intricately painted. Why the entire palace is painstakingly decorated either with paintings, the doors with silver metal work and ivory inlays. The doors and doorways carved in sandalwood and teak.

It takes atleast an hour and a half to walk around the new palace and atleast 30 mins to see the old wooden palace.

Take the virtual tour through the Mysore Palace.

We then decide to go to the Mysore zoo. It is the biggest zoo I have seen till date. The electrical vehicle was not running when we went there so we walked around. Me and Charu lost steam after a couple of Kms. Pranav was enjoying the Zoo so Sumeet and Sapna walked him around while we short circuited the path and sat under a tree awating them.

I would actually suggest that if you have kids with you plan a separate day at the zoo. You too will enjoy it with the kids. The good thing about the Zoo is it very well landscaped and you see the animals in almost their natural habitat. It is very tiring to do both the palace and the zoo back to back.

Birds in canopy nets, they fly over our head.

Post lunch at another pathetic place we drove homewards to Bangalore.

In all it was a wonderful time with family but we did too many places in a span of 5 days and that's where Sumeet wanted it slow. I thought it was a good plan for Charu as I know she will not be able to make it again soon.

The tour is over !

A Flashback To Valawal : Aug 2002

2010-07-16T23:32:00.007+05:30

My family was invited for a Vishnu Yaag by a very spiritual soul and seeker Prakash Desai, who is lovingly called Prakash Maharaj by people who know him. His grandfather had performed a Vishnu Yaag and so he wanted to do it at his native Valaval / Walawal. This was sometime in the month of Aug, 2002. This was the ideal time to visit the little village in the Konkan belt of Maharashtra.

We travelled from Mumbai to Kudal by the Konkan Kanya. My first trip on the Kokan railway route. As we stepped out of the Kudal railway station our expectations of a wonderful experience were set high. We hired a Mahindra jeep to take us to Valaval. Through winding dense greenery dominated by rainforest the jeep hurtled into the temple compound and stoped with a screech in front of the Deepshikha of the Dev Narayan temple.

Photo in this post credited to chocolatesalil

Dev Narayan Temple
source: chocolatesalil

It was a typical coastal architechture with Mangalore tiles. A huge mandap as one enters it with built-in seating along the walls. One step up is the podium to perform pooja and inner most is the garbh gruh or sanct sanctorium.

The idol is made from sand is what legend says. The peculiar thing about this idol is that Laxmi is a small idol at the feet of the large Vishnu idol. Which is unsual as Laxmi is always seen as an equal partner of the lord but not here!

From the rear side there is a side door from where one can walk down a few steps towards the beautiful lake. One can barely see the other shore. During our stay at the temple we almost every single day sat on the edge of the lake enjoying bhajke ChaNe (roasted bengal gram) and NaraLi Pak. It was the season of breeding for birds and we saw lots of woodpeckers, kingfishers and pelicans. Spectacular colorful birds and treat for the eyes. I have rarely seen so many different birds on a tree before. We did not need to do any stunts to get a view.

Valaval Lake

source: chocolatesalil

On one of the day's we visited a nearby hill home to the Mauli Devi. It was a shocking site to see a huge well filled with wood offerings. Some in the form of toys, books and some errie ones shaped as organs. People in this region believe that Mauli can grant any wish, she can heal any disease and solve any problems. The common man exploits this belief and interpret as wanted. Some come here to offer wood offerings and wish to harm another person. It gives deep insights in the psyche of the people of this region and how deeply they are involved in the occult sciences.

The hill is covered with rainforest and makes for a good trekking trail. we walked around a bit and then returned to the temple.

Valaval Forest

source: chocolatesalil

We visited a the Datta Mandir built by Tembe Swami in Mangaon. My father was discussing something really deep with the priest but I don't recollect much. The temple spells a strong Kokanasth Brahminical way of life even today.

The Vishnu Yaag was attended by people from the neighboring areas in large nos. In the late evening we went to bed listening to the bhajans being sung in the temple by the village folks. It was an amazing cultural and rural experience in Walawal and I always recollect it with warm memories.

Valaval google map

Get endeared by Elephants at Dubare: 14 Apr 2010

2010-07-15T05:59:00.001+05:30

We left Talacauvery and returned to Madikeri town in time for lunch. Madikeri town has a very limited choice for vegetarian food. So we went to a typical yelle oota place. My SIL refused to eat there. It was not really a neat place. We ate and got out as quick as possible. It was almost 2 pm and we wanted to start back for Mysore and reach there by late evening. On the way we decided to catch a glimpse of the elephants at Dubare.

Dubare is about 34 kms from Madikeri. As we neared the right turn for the elephant camp from the main road it started raining. It was a wonderful experience to drive in the rain through semi jungle like terrain and narrow roads. It almost felt like a safari. It cooled the air and was amazingly fresh. When we reached Dubare the boats were not yet ready to ferry us accross the Cauvery. There were many people crossing the river on foot but we decided not to as we were to travel ahead to Mysore for another 2.5 hrs and did not want a mess in the car. It had made the ground mucky so we lined the car floor with lots of old news paper.

As soon as the rain stopped we jumped into the canopied boats and paid for the rides. It was a 7-8 mins across the shallow river bed. It stopped at a make shift jetty. Everything is so basic there truely gives you the nature experience. We climbed up the slope to reach a entrance area to the Dubare forest where elephants would be brought in for a show.

It wasn't time yet. So we climbed onto the tree house/ machan for a better view of the forest. The rain had cleaned the trees and they looked lush green and the gulmohars were flaming glory truely. We saw some cooks were preparing large balls of ragi for the elephants. Each was about 3-4 kgs in weight. They told us each elephant ate 12 of those huge balls. The muddy ragi balls looked almost like elephant dung.

The elephants were roaming in the jungles and waiting for them to come out so that we could see them was getting a little boring. Here is proof.

Suddenly we saw the royal beast striding towards the open areas. The men, women and children clapped their hands thrilled at the sight.

Then followed the circus like salams from the elephants. The mahuts took them to the river for a bath and it was very endearing to see them enjoy the water and so luxuriously.

A spectacular sight

See how the elephant lifts his leg to let the mahut climb on to his back.

This one loves coconuts

Finally we came back on the boat and back to the car to proceed to Mysore. It was drizzling and we needed rounds of coffee and some biscuits so did that before whirring the engines.

However one thing that was gnawing me, "Why do the elephants have to be subjected to this choreographed show?" I would love to see them in their natural habitat.

Pranav was maha thrilled with Dubare and so were the other kids present there. So was happy.

Bow at the Ugam (starting point) of Cauvery river, that's Talacauvery: 14 Apr 2010

2010-07-09T22:06:00.000+05:30

This is the sole picture we took at the entrance gate. Beyond this point the camera is not allowed.

Talacauvery is of great religious importance to the Kodagu people. This is where the cauvery river emerges. It is a small spring opening into a little pond and a large tank in front of it. People stand in the water to take darshan and offer pooja to Cauvery who is considered to be a goddess. We took darshan and sat for a while and then came back to the car to start back for Mysore. On the way the plan was to have lunch at Madikeri and stop at Dubare for couple of hours.

My Dad had actually advised us to drop off Talacauvery, when he had visited it was a badly maintained place inspite of a lot of people visiting there but we decided that we must take darshan of the holy river. Especially since it was the Ugam or the place of emergence of the Cauvery. Good we did that. Eversince my Dad had visited many things had changed there like everything else in India. It was clean and some what a landscape. It is definitely to be included in your itenary for one visit if you are on this side of Karnataka.

Spot the Kerala influence and Kodagu women in Bhagmandala: 14 Apr 2010

2010-07-08T22:07:00.000+05:30

It was 9 am by the time we finished our bath and breakfast of fresh vegetable sandwiches with wonderful cups of tea that too in coffee land.

I took a glance at my itinerary one time it said 40 mins for Bhagmandala from Madikeri. It actually took us a little more than a hour as the road was under construction in some parts.

We knew very little about Bhagmandala so was quite surprised to find the temple of the residing diety was in Kerala style. Covered platforms for resting and performing pooja are built along the compound walls. The roofs characteristically low. I was reminded of the small Ayyapa temple we have in Nerul. I love every thing even distantly Kerala.

Just in front of the temple is the Treveni sangam of the holy rivers Kaveri, Kannike and Sujyoti which is as mythical as the Saraswati. We had a wash in the clean waters where there was no crowd before we went into the temple.

The Bhagamandaleshwar temple is home to Shiva as it is obvious from its name. We spent about 1/2 hr there and then proceeded to Talacauvery. In the picture above you see Kodagu women with their ulta sarees. There is an interesting story of why the saree is wrapped this way by the Kodagu women. It is believed that the River Cauvery had become violent and washed away everything in Kodagu region causing heavy losses of life and wealth. In the floods the women's sarees were swirled from the front by the force of the washout and the pleats were turned around. To appease the violent Cauvery and restore the normalcy, Kodagu women promised to wear the saree as a mark of submission to the power of the holy river. Ever since they drape the saree with the pleat at the back and the free end of the pallu falls over the right shoulder.

Here you see a priest making a garland woven with bettlenut palm ribs and flowers that caught our eye.

You are following me to Talacauvery right? See you there...

Soak in the golden hues of the sunset and sunrise in Madikeri: 13 & 14 Apr 2010

2010-07-07T23:41:00.003+05:30

The route to Madikeri from Nisargadham is an ascent, driving through winding roads shaded by Bettlenut and Coffee plantation is a thrilling experience. The greenery soaks you up and young hearts are bound to flutter. It was almost a 1.5 hours journey right upto our Hotel Mayura Valley View.

Owned by the KSTDC meant prime location and the best views. This is a hill station and so it was not very warm even though it was the summer season. It was pleasant. We had booked in advance non a/c rooms for the night's stay. They were neat and clean. The front side of the hotel had a balcony cum corridor for an uninterrupted view of the valley. The room had huge windows framing the other side of the descend of the hill steeping into the valley.

The evening sun lit the room in a dreamy gold color. The kid looked an incarnation of the divine sitting at the window gazing down at the lush green valley.

I love this picture capturing the hues of the sunset reflecting on the child's face.

We sat there undisturbed watching the dusk fade into dark shadows of the evening till my sis Charu came into the room after her bath hurrying us towards the dinning terrace. It is aptly the highpoint of the Hotel, antique lamp poles and open terrace on the edge of the valley and sky above you. What else does one need? I was wrong, when hot plates of Kanda Bhajji and tea were brought in by the waiter. One plate was not enough! they had made it my family special way and that was a surprise for us here in the south!! We ordered a second and we still wanted more. When he said that he was not able to offer us more we ordered 2 plates of sandwiches to douse the hunger the kanda bhajji had agravated,Uff !! But they too were good, we found out later the manager had served at the Taj at Mumbai. Humm some connection to the food we love in a new place.

The picture on the dinning terrace was taken in the morning after breakfast so you see the bright sun.

It was 7 pm when we realized we had go to the Omkareshwar temple. It would be auspicious to go there in the evening just in time for the aarti we agreed. It was not very crowded and we got a peaceful darshan of the Shivlinga. The temple is unique in its architecture which is an hybrid of the islamic and hindu styles. The temple reminded me of the temples in Goa and the Konkan. The pujaris looked really spiritually inclined and non commercial. It was night and I could barely get a click of the shadow of the little temple in the pond in front of the main temple.

We returned to our hotel and on the way back stopped to check on the timings when the Raja's seat park would open the next morning. We had planned to wake up in time to catch the sunrise over Madikeri and then walk down to the park for some pure envigorating air.

We returned to the hotel and spent some time playing catching cook with the kid. It has been many moons since I played antakshari, sliding down a grass slope and all the gang things. Pranav made us do all those things. He is a cool kid at times.

Suddenly we realized it was 9 pm and rushed to the restaraunt. They were almost going to close. We ordered a quick paneer masala, alu mutter and rice. The chapathi timing was over by then and we had to make do with just rice. It is less said the better about the food, it was a confused marriage between the north and the south! I had never tasted such rubbery paneer is a tamarind soured gravy, so this was my first! ;)

It was a slightly warm night and we gulped down bottles of cola and sprite to help us keep a fit tummy. We talked into the rest of the night on the cement benches linning the parking area and loved walking on the cobble stones. Their coolness tingling our feet only slightly.

The morning next was spent in the hotel corridors leaning against the balcony and welcoming the Suryanarayan in all its splendour as it lit the sky in picturesque hues.As usual I was silent all the while the intermittent mischief my brother was doing with his wife was also a hindrance. A not so newly wed probably found his wife more beautiful than this sunrise, anyways :P may it last that way. God bless.

However for me it was a moment of oneness that I always seek with nature and the superbeing and it is my unfailing experience to be able to get a certain headiness out of this. I must learn to enjoy that feeling and move ahead on my spiritual path without lingering there too much on the out of body experience bit. Was it real or my imagination of my spirit floating accross the hills swept by the Irshanya winds just like they depict in the Chandamama comics.

I was irritated by some silly giggling of the other four and I scold them that they do not know how to enjoy the experience. I was reprimanded immediately in return. We then decide to walk down to the Raja's seat park.

It's a neatly maintained park for a small town like Madikeri with a jogging track and its again on the edge of the hill with well located cement benches which allow you the pleasure of a maharaja with the Nilgiris at your feet.

The Burshe' Maharajas and Ranis here :P LOL.

(Burshe' is the unclean and just out of bed look in Marathi)

Sumeet was very irritable by then, I did not figure out why till the end of the trip. Sometimes even siblings change and you cannot figure out why. I hope I was not the reason. Never want to be. Intermittently he was smilling and enjoying too like you see in this picture with a gorgeous canine that we became friendly with as we walked back to our hotel which is near the Raja's seat Park.

I am a dog lover! and I wear it on my sleeve wherever I go!!

When I look back at my albums I have atleast one picture with a dog from the place I visit ! is that some trivia about me ;)

Scamper around the bamboo forest and tree houses at Nisargadham: 13 Apr 2010

2010-07-06T23:44:00.000+05:30

After lunch I was sleepy and from Kushalnagar, Nisargadham is only 3 Kms. so had to give up th hope of a power nap. I was feeling heavy to even step out of the car and exploring anything was not even remotely on my mind. The entrance of Nisargadham is very dense and green and that is where you get fooled.

The rope and plank bridge enables you to cross the water body. I was least interested to find out if it was an island or was it a man made moat around a piece of land. Reaching the other side you are even more disappointed. Sumeet almost told me we could have skipped this one destination. Our shadows on the water looked more interesting.

We started walking on the bamboo lined pathways. I was imagining that a misty morning would make the place adorable. The squeaking of the bamboos was eerie even in day time. Pranav who is a avid movie watcher came up with a bright conversation which engaged the bored me for a while. He commented, "This is like a House of Flying Dagger's setting". He started performing all those Karate chops. It was very entertaining to watch him do the power shouts and a podgy little tummy jiggle with all the throws of hands and legs :)

Sapna, Pranav and me freaked out climbing up and down tree houses suddenly our energies all high. Sumeet and Charu joined us and there was lot of mischief, shaking the tree houses and screaming like Mowgli or may be Tarzan. Thank God no one attempted the monkey act.

We went to the deer park, fed them some cucumber...

and finally rest our tired heavy butts on a swing. Had it been dusk or a morning I guess we would have loved Nisargadham or atleast if it had been cooler weather. Give it a skip if you have better things to do.

Find Tibet in the hot plains of Coorg: 13 Apr 2010

2010-07-05T23:14:00.005+05:30

We started at 9 am from Srirangapatna to Coorg. Taking a right from Mysore Ring road and turning right to get on to the Hunsur road. It was a pleasant ride and as we neared Kushalnagar we started enquiring about the Tibetain settlement. There were many pork shops on the road so I was sure that there was a different kind of culture thriving there but then I also knew Coorgees too eat pork.

We took a turn to the left thru a narrow lane marked as Golden temple at Bylakuppe. A Tibetian guy on a scooter guided us right upto the temple at Camp 4.

It is an awesome sight to walk into a monastery alive and vibrant as this one. You walk around the elaborately decorated temples and shrines. The afternoon sun dehydrates us there is water available to drink but no water in the toilets! We decide not to have water instead buy some chilled badam milk to quench our thirst.

The towering golden statues of Padmasambhava, Buddha and Amitayus is something you will remember all your life. The monastery is clean and silence is maintained. Unlike our chaotic Hindu temples all other places of worship are always so peaceful. I captured on camera the entire view of the Namdroling monastery's main hall. The stories from Buddhalife come alive in the murals. Fables you have read in Amar chitra katha are enumerated here in tibetian style of paintings. The pagoda like temples trasnport you into a different land altogether but there is something amiss, you are in the hot plains of Coorg unlike the chilly weather in Tibet!

After an hour or so there we went to Camp 4 which has the tibetian university called the Dera Sey monastery. This one is surrounded by refugees camps. The monastery had closed for lunch but we did get a glimpse thru the windows.

Do visit to experience the uniqueness. There is more to see than I can write about.

We then proceeded for lunch at a nice little restaurant in Kushalnagar and had a leisurely lunch of some North India food as we realized there were not many of options for good South Indian fare here.

Enjoy the hailstorm in Srirangapatna: 12 Apr 2010

2010-04-25T10:07:00.009+05:30

Srirangapatna is only 35 mins drive from Melkote. We drove through the Pandavpura Taluk and got on to the SH17. Checking at one small shop in a hut for KSTDC's Hotel Mayura River View. This was our first night's stay so everyone was keen to see the rooms. We checked in at 1.15 pm and a very courteous Bell Man showed us around. It was very well done room. It was a delight to see the newly done resort. It matched any 3 star resort infact there is no 4 star else I would rated it a 4!

The resort has just two options a/c double rooms or a/c cottages. My colleague had been to Srirangapatna just last week and had filled me in that it was warm there. So I booked for 2 a/c double rooms. Panu was free. Charu, Sumeet and Sapna were thrilled with the location and seeing the happy smiles on their faces made my day. This place is on the edge of the river and surrounding fields and orchards add to the serenity. Sumeet started rolling on the bed. We decided to rest for an hour and a half and then go see the historic monuments and visit the temples.

We had eaten the puliyogare and curd rice in Melkote so we were not hungry. At 3 we left the resort and decided to go take darshan of Srirangaswamy to start with. On reaching there we found it closed . We were starving so we felt worse. Everyone agreed that idli vada at a nearby stall would be a good idea. The Idli vada and chutney was good but the sambar went untouched.

After dousing the fires with soft drinks we drove around the fort. Spotting on the way the place were the Tiger of Mysore fell in the final battle of Srirangapatna with the British on 4 May 1799. The Jama Masjid was undergoing repairs so we just saw it from the outside.

We thought it to be good idea to visit Tipu's other monuments and then come back to the temple. So we lined up at the Darya Daulat Bagh. The wooden summer palace of Tipu is famous for its Murals that depicts all his conquests. War processions of different times adorn the walls. The balconies are elaborately painted in vivid colors. The building is now home to a museum with artefacts like clothes, furniture and paintings all belonging to Tipu. There are sketches of his sons and darbaris. The painting of Tipu in a striped shirt with a sword swung across his torso brings alive history from the pages of our text books. While I admire Tipu Sultant for his valor I cannot ignore the fact that he fought other petty princes with the help of the French. The condition of India was really bad at that point consisting of small princely states and the outsiders got the better of us.

The granite cannon balls and the weightlifters

Next we visited the Ganjam or the temple of Nimishamba. It is believed the goddess grants wishes is a moment. Oh but I have grown out of this! I don't ask for anything now, have learnt to live with whatever the superior being has rationed out for me.

The parallel road from Nimishamba temple leads you to the Gosai ghat and Gumbaz. Gosai ghat is nice place with a small temple on the shore with steps built to go down to the river for a bath. We decided to go for a Coracle ride. Our pilot rowed us to the other shore and then in the middle of the river gave the coracle a spin. The vortex caused in the water made the basket boat a merry go round for us. We were screaming with the thrill. Some got scared and others asked for a once more.

The river had tiny islets in the middle and greenery abundant along the shores. Mandya continues to flourish as a sugarcane growing district of Karnataka and the Cauvery provides the fertile plains and water for it.

Further down the road is the Mausoleum of Tipu's family. In the central chamber lay the bodies of his parents Hyder Ali and Fatima. Later after his fall, Tipu's body was also buried there. This mausoleum has a large dome on the top hence it gets its name as Gumbaz. Next to the Gumbaz is a Mosque called Masjid-E-Aksa.

Tipu had a love for innovation and the arms he possessed were the best technology of that time. The armory was very advanced. I must highlight here that Tipu Sultan and his father Hyder Ali are know to be the pioneers in rocket technology. Like other things the Europeans took it to the west.

It was past 5 pm and we were quite tired after the day's journey but Sumeet insisted that we go for darshan at Sriranganath swamy temple instead of pushing it to the next morning. I love this old temple with the Vishnu idol in his Sheshnarayan Avatar, where Vishnu sleeps on the coil of the serpent god and Goddess Laxmi at his feet. It always reminds me of the wonderful Padmanabh temple in Thiruvananthapuram. The Sriranganath temple dates back to the 9th century. It is built in stone and idol is a treat to the eyes. It is lit enough the give you happiness and satisfaction of a proper darshan unlike the Padmanabh temple. There was not much rush and we bowed our heads in peace.

Finally coming back to the hotel it was time for some hot tea and sandwiches after a refreshing bath. Sumeet and Panu went for a swim in the river. Panu was enjoying swimming but we wanted him out of the water as it was getting dark. Charu boomed, "come out else the fish and the gharials will come for your nunu !!" Poor kid scampered out immediately.

We sat in the Gol ghar or the round dinning area which is on stilts and half standing in the river bed. The sound of the flowing river was so soothing, the birds chirping in the background. It was quickly getting dark and now the lanterns were shining making the place magical. Sumeet and Panu went to the room. They wanted to lie down.

Charu, me and Sapna got engrossed in our gossip. It started thundering and raining. The thundering grew louder and rain heavier. We were getting wet so we moved from the edge to a central table watching the lightning suddenly flash on the river. We felt like we were in a jungle. The staff had stopped picking up the toppled glasses and jugs that fell on the ground. Its a storm coming we knew. Just then we heard a shower that sounded metallic and ice cubes being hurled in. Charu almost jumped in joy! This is a hailstorm!! We went crazy collecting the perfect ice cubes manufactured by nature almost tempted to pop them into the mouth instantly. I was concerned if the impact would be too much for the car, but brushed away the thought and got back to enjoying the thrill and the chill that the hailstorm brought with it. We were shivering but stayed put in the Gol ghar. The staff passing us some hailstones enjoying the fun along with us.

The hailstones and the pathway carpetted by them.

We called up Sumeet and Panu and they too were enjoying the ice shower from the balcony of the room. It had been a hot day and this icy surprise was going to be stuff for memories in the future. Only after the ice showers stopped and there was more rain pouring but still navigable for us to go back to our rooms. We went back and ordered Chili paneer and Fried Rice and Noodles. Finally snuggling into bed recounting the exciting day.

After the hailstorm... The river was swollen with storm water. The environs looked greener and cleaner.

It was a bright morning the next day promising us another exciting day ahead. We began by bird spotting in the balcony as we got ready to start our drive to Coorg.

Climb the hill in Melkote with me: 12 Apr 2010

2010-04-21T21:48:00.012+05:30

It was 4.30 am, inspite of the late night on the previous day I woke up with a jump start. Panu heard me moving around and he was up and asking for the tooth brush. I had told my driver that we will start at 5.30 am so as is usual he arrived at 5.45 am. We were all ready and excited to start on our vacation. As we got into the car I told my driver to take the Mysore road and head towards Mandya town and reach Melkote by 8.30. We drove non stop. The weather was cool and the morning hours are always free of traffic. The Myosre road is a smooth highway SH 17 and once we turn right at Mandya it is the SH4 that we follow.

We passed through the roads with swaying sugarcane fields and over Ragi harvests spread on the roads. We were doing the threshing for the villagers by driiving over the dried yeild. After many such mounds my driver stopped to clean the wheels free from the grass that stuck in. The villages we passed by were tiny and sleepy. As we reached the temple town we spotted the Gopuram perched on the hill. That's when I did the vibhajan of "Melkote" Mel is top and Kote is fort in Tamil. Hummm... everyone echoed.

We got off near the gate of the Kalyani and parked the car in the open space in front of it. My nephew who untill then was busy eating one or the other thing started opening his mouth to ask endless questions. Why are we visiting here? What do we see here?

This town of Melkote is dominated by Iyengars. Yes but aren't Iyengars supposed to be Tamilians. Well history says the saint Ramanujacharya lived here for 14 yrs of his life. So came is followers from Tamil Nadu and made this little town their home in the middle of Karnataka. They are so traditional and conservative that it almost feels like we are living in Malgudi days.

The Kalyani was inviting and felt like taking a dip however out of our environmental conscienceness we have decided not to wash our sins in pilgrimage places our home and leading clean simple lives is a better way of doing it. So we got suchirbhut.

My driver though familiar with the town showed least interest in being our guide excusing himself in the name of gaurding the car. So we decided to climb the hill first , to avoid the sun. We had reached the foothills by 8.15 am itself. It was not so sunny but it was a very bright day. As we climbed up the 1000 steps slowly we blessed the souls who planted the trees along the path. At a few hundred step there were shelter domes too.

On reaching the top of the hill and the entrance of the temple we realised the door was closed. So it was an opportunity to sit at the gopuram and taken in the views of the scenery around. Swaying palms, a hill with ridge that looked picturesque.

The cool breeze brushing gently against the Champa flowers and intoxicating with the sweet smell.

See the yellow gopuram there, that's where we went after we went down the hill to the Cheluva-Narayana Swamy Temple.

At 10 am the priests came up to the temple on the hill, they told us that the deity was Yoganarashimha. I let everyone go in and stayed back at the edge of the hill to enjoy some silence. As I sat there alone the cool breeze against my skin gave me goose bumps and a rush of energy! I knew this is what I would remember Melkote for the rest of my life, my spiritual experience. I travel places to seek this.

I was guarding everyone's footware so once they were back I went in for darshan along with Panu. We went behind the temple where we found a strange window with huge paduka. Was it where Ramanujacharya meditated?

This is the foothill temple gopuram. We took the road around the Kalyani and walked thru the sleepy town passing by vendors selling Puliyogare rice and curd rice. At first we hesitated. They were also selling the masala packets. I check it out and then put it back.

After trying to find the beautiful face of the Lord Vishnu in the heavily flower decorated idol we did circumambulation walking through the stone carved pillars.

As we stepped out we saw aarti being done for Ramanujacharya's idol and the temple musicians playing the auspicious tunes. Then followed some excellent chanting of Mantras.

We then bowed are heads one last time at the temples and drove off in the direction of Srirangapatna but we did pick up 2 leaf cups of Puliyogare, 1 curd rice and 2 packs of the masala for home cooking.

Unique Mandya And Coorg

2010-04-19T23:40:00.003+05:30

I had been inviting Charu to Blr for the last 5 yrs however she was not able to make it. Then a month ago Sumeet told me he would be visiting me for a week. It was Sapna's idea to bring along Charu and ofcourse the half ticket had already told me last time itself that he would come back for his summer vacs.

I began my planing, the idea was to make it memorable for Charu. She rarely gets to travel so while she was visiting I had to pack as much action as possible. The time frame 11th Apr 2010 to 16th Apr 2010.

I had done the KSTDC tour of Mysore and Srirangapatna so planning that part was easy. I wanted it to be a mix of what I had not seen and where I had already visited. Part playing safe and part taking a risk to explore in this summer season.

So if you want to join me on this journey that I am accounting here follow on...

A post a day with unique experiences from the districts of Mandya and Coorg in Karnataka!

Goa, Those Wild Times

2010-03-22T23:21:00.173+05:30

I was working for MSN and then came a golden opportunity to move to the bigger and brighter part of our organization. I had topped the stack ranking at work and with my qualification backing me I was made this offer which I eagerly took. My friends at MSN decided to make it memorable for me. We planned a trip to Goa before I moved on to a new role and city. This was way back in 2005. This account is from my memory and not so fresh so I move randomly between the sequence of events.

We started by the morning Konkan railway train and landed in Goa by afternoon. On the train S and some others did wild things. We promptly disowned them. Couple of hours later those idiots were telling us about the highs. S was running up and down hazy looking stairs. L was lost in time. R felt emotional. It was thoroughly disgusting to see them behave this way. I tried telling S the perpetrator, but he brushed me off saying he was going to Goa and this was just the begining. After which I really did not stop him. Hell its his life! L did behave her self most of the time later.

Our guides were D and S the true Goans. We had lunch at an airy restaraunt. P went all out to try to taste everyones drink, the result she plonked on the table. I guess I was the only sober one there and these guys decided to freak out as I was there to take care of them.

We moved on to Vagator Beach. Everyone one was dying to get on to the beach as we reached there. Couldn't miss the sunset.

The boys played in the sea. That night we were very tired so went to bed early. The next morning woke up and went to see the sun rise on the beach. Then played a game of throwball without a net and it turned into a rough game of hurling the ball at each other. We were staying in a typical Vaadi/ orchard near the beach. All the cottages were covered with a canopy of trees. It was a very beautiful place. We had rented out 4 cottages and 4 people had to share a room. It was the first time in my life I was on an overnight trip with friends. Sharing a bed with 4 girls was something I had done only with cousins.

Mid morning post breakfast we went tp Vagator fort, yes the one made famous by Dil Chahta Hai. The fort is in shambles, yet the view from there is amazing. The cool blue sea, the golden sand and the breeze in your face is something you have to experience. We found a nice big rock and leaning against it made our self as comfortable as a king.

We returned to the hotel for lunch and then decided to go to Baga Beach for the evening. We were playing in the sea and doing all the gang things. The girls held hands and did group diving. The guys were a little ahead deeper in the sea. Suddenly a huge wave came and hit on us. S smart ass, explained "When all the guys decided to fart together it caused a mini tsunami." There were peels of laughter and unwanted attention from our guys. In this bout I lost support and tumbled in the water, shouting out help! help! It was so much fun and frolic. It has remained in my memory as the best time I have ever had with friends. Meanwhile on the beach chairs A sat with L, who was the only one dressed sexily in shorts, though appropriate for the beach a little too much for our guys to handle and then she didn't even come into the sea. So when I got back to the beach chair I took pictures of them that gave everyone ideas of what those 2 were doing there. Poor A! He was torn to bits later.

We then did some shopping for wrap on skirts and Goa T-shirts. meanwhile V had disappeared. We knew he had gone for a massage or may be some beach fun ;). After a good 1 hr of cursing, he appeared all rejuvenated out of nowhere. Everyone pestered him to know where he had been.

In the 2 nights and 3 days we were trying to pack in a lot of fun so a visit to Ingo's Saturday night market was the next thing to do but before that we had dinner at a local restaraunt cum pub. The place was dark to the point that could not make out head or tail of the decor. It looked very christmasy to me. I was taking pictures and the flash managed to capture some erotic mughal paintings on the wall.

Ingo's is a wonderful experience to roam around in the gypsy market. The night comes alive with a mela selling trinkets, handicrafts, food. It was here that I first tasted Cheesecake made by a Greek lady. The cusine is varied. A lot of tourists who run out of money when they come to Goa set up stalls to sell their stuff or cook up delicacies from around the world. It is all there Italian, French, English.The highlight at Ingo's is the music. Many bands perform here for free. That corner of the market is almost like an open disco or a theatre. The sound systems are great for a set up which does not charge you a penny. We returned early morning next day to our cottages.

The day that followed was a lazy one, after the late night. Some goofing around the resort and catching up on the sleep for another night of fun is what we did.

Our last night in Goa was something I will never forget for mixed reasons. In the two nights spent in and around Goa we noticed a lighthouse like light flashing around from a hill. We found out it was Club Cubana, so everyone wanted to check it out. As we entered the club and got ourselves stamped we were noticing that the theme that night was Cats! Some Russian and Europeans girls dressed in black with whiskers and tails brushed past the guys. Our guys completely freaked out. Everyone took their drinks and settled around a large table. The guys oggling the Cats. P was getting restless as she heard the disco music crank up. Some of them went to the dance floor on the higher level of the Arpora Hill which is home to Club Cubana.

This time A decide to be sober seeing the night's theme was something he could not handle. N downed tequila shots one after another. Finally asking for more of the free lemonade cocktail. I was observing they gathered all the half drunk glasses and poured it into a huge tank. Wondering if they recycled it!! Yuck!! N was drunk and was wondering why I was not talking to him. He was shivering so I gave him my jacket.

A and me started exploring the club. It had the most amazing night views of Goa. As the lighthouse light rotated from the club's pinnacle the flashes let you take in the glimpses of the towns at the foothills. We finally found a nice bench to rest our selves on after the nice walk away from the din yet close to where our friends were dancing, two Europeans broke into a scuffle. One hard punch and one of them fell near my feet. His white shirt covered in blood from a bleeding nose. I freaked out and A tried to be very protective and calmed me down.He is such a sweet guy. We then went looking for the rest of our friends. They were talking to some foriegners who were sitting in the Morocan tents. Those looked amazing with lanterns and gas lit pole lamps. The cool air was refreshing everyones mood. Finally I started gathering everyone together, half the crowd drunk now and my duty as the sober member was to herd them into the two cars we had hired and take them to our resort to catch a nap. It was day break already and we had an afternoon train to catch.

On the train back to Mumbai, we were a group so closely bound that it made us inseparable for the next few months. When I left my team and moved on many were very emotional. I had never experienced such closeness before with friends at work and with such a big group.

This Goa trip also brought back memories of a past trip. I had lost my mother that year in 1994 and so in Jan 1995 I took my Dad to Goa. It was the time when Damania's operated the Catamaran between Mumbai and Goa. It was our first trip together as a father daughter and sponsored by me:). I still remember the Catamaran ticket had costed Rs.1100, and the service was like flight service. We missed Mom but it also built a stronger bond between us. What made the trip more memorable is meeting my schoolmate Fatima and her parents after a decade. Uncle had lost sight but just hearing my hellos he almost yelped with joy, "it is Anjali Koli!" The searching for Fatima and Charao Island, crossing the Mandovi in a barge, is etched in my memory for ever.

Goa whether wild or sweet memories does have a special place in my heart.

Exploring Cubbon Park

2010-01-31T21:26:00.003+05:30

I am on a mission of exploring the parks in Bangalore. Instead of going for the flower show at Lalbaugh we went to Cubbon Park on 26th Jan. We drove to the fountain end near Vidhan Soudha parked the car on one of the side roads where paid parking is available and then walked around nearly half of the expanse of 1.2 kms. Yes that's how big Cubbon Park is, 300 acres of greenery, woods and landscaped gardens. I loved the sight of the sun soaked High Court building and the State Central Library. Going to be going there often to read, it is free for reference and entry I got to know while I enquired about membership.

The last time I was in Cubbon park was when my nephew, Pranav visited. There will be another post on Cubbon Park for kids later.

We drove back home and enjoyed Coffee at a nearby Cafe Coffee Day, our order, Lattes, toasted Corn n spinach sandwich and wedge of Chocolate fantasy cake warmed. We love their unhurried service. Overall a nice evening, I love Bangalore just for this laid back life.

Evening Stroll At Lalbaugh

2010-01-11T19:43:00.005+05:30

It takes time to realize the importance of a space in our backyard. That is what happened with me. Lalbaugh is the heart of Bangalore and hence never really attracted me. However the last time I was there for the flower show I realized that it was a haven in this city where one could go for a quick break away from the buzz.

Flower Show Aug 2009

The Big Banyan Tree, Ramohalli

2010-01-06T22:12:00.001+05:30

Post lunch we set out on our way back to Bangalore from Janapada Loka. While coming towards Bangalore reaching the Rajarajeshwari Dental College, we took a left. From this Kumbalgod cross road one has to drive 6kms to reach the The Big Banyan Tree at Ramohalli. My driver told us that in Kannada it is called Dodda Alada Mara.

There have been references to The Big Banyan Tree is almost all the media that talks about Bangalore and I had not yet seen it. It interested me to see how a 400 year old tree has survived. It covers an expanse of 4 acres but we are late by years. The main root has died and the aerial roots have taken anchor in the soil to give the appearance of multiple trees.

A bank has adopted this place for maintenance. On this hot sunny afternoon it was so cool under the tree. It was a pleasure to see children climbing the aerial root and branches. Picnickers enjoying lunch in the shade of this canopy.

We took a walk around the circumference in awe of this sage, in Hindu religion anything that lives so long is considered a sage or an evolved soul. There is a Munishwara temple at the center, we joined our hands from outside itself and moved ahead.

Sitting under such a tree is a simple pleasure of life which has become so rare now. Have you taken your little woman or man there yet? You must.

P.S: A temple we passed by on the Mysore road. It is a panchamukhi Ganapati atop a temple in place of the standard gopuram.

Karnataka Folk Culture Treat: Janapada Loka

2010-01-03T23:50:00.004+05:30

The Murals on the walls of the office building.

Some years ago we passed by Janapada Loka, I didn't even realize what I missed. Then my dear friend Deepa had been suggesting it to me for a while. Finally decided to go there as we had not gone out of Bangalore this entire month.

It is only 45 kms from my home so we decided to have breakfast at home and reach there by 11 am today, spend couple of hours at the Janapada Loka and then go next door to Kamat Loka Ruchi for lunch. Over to the review on my food blog.

The Janapada Loka is on the right hand side when you drive towards Mysore. We took a U-turn just as we reached the milestone, parked the car outside as it does not have a drive in parking lot. Kamat's does have one but we were going to spend 2 hrs at Janapada Loka so did not try to park at Kamat. It would be more sensible to do so. That is an after thought.

The entry fee is Rs. 10 for adults. We decided to begin our walk around the 15 acre folk world conceptualized by Shri Nage Gowda from the Doda Mane. The big house has a central courtyard and verandah. The surrounding rooms are used for some theatre related activity. The start wasn't very impressive. We moved toward the heritage village, consisting of a potter's hut, a blacksmith's and some tools of the trade of various other occupations.

Fisherman's equipment, Farmer's seed sowing contraption

A blacksmith's hearth, A Jaggery mould

A house with a verandah and a well in the courtyard

The campus is interspersed with many resting places of different structures, some is brick and others with thatched roofs.

The sculptors yard was interesting with mostly sculptures of Gods and warriors. It was very telling that the sculptors mostly were commissioned for their work. The temple had lovely wooden pillars.

I spotted many carts of the common people and a large chariot for God, as is used in festivals.

It looked old and I think is was burnt so it was covered with plastic, may be some restoration will be done. The carvings were intricate and had various avatars of Gods depicted.

The thatched houses. The roller used to level the ground lying in the front.

The kitchen, the bamboos allowed enough sunlight and the ventilation was natural. The Bathroom shows a provision for heating water with a platform like area for bathing with a slope for water to drain easily.

The auspicious designs on the wall. Also used for ornamentation of lamp coves in the wall. There was a tradition of having mud pots embedded in the wall. They acted as little safes. I remember my grandparents old home in Thal had such near the Chool. My grandma kept small change in it. When we had that home we found it dark and dingy and got rebuilt into a concrete eyesore to prove that the sons had made progress into the modern world.

The two entrances showing difference in status and may be caste. One thatched the other of mud with a beautiful design on it.

The amphi theater

Behind the amphi theatre is a small place that displays the Dasara Gombe dolls and some paintings on cloth.

The central pondThere is a small museum with artifacts from rural life and folk art.

The Dasara Gombe Dolls, an interesting collection

The puppets
The Yakshagan charachters, weapons of war exhibited interestingly next to a quilt

Leather puppets, musical instruments

and some masks...

I am in Bangalore for the last 4.5 yrs and feel happy I learnt a little more about Karnataka. If you have school going kids you must take them atleast once to give them this exposure. Visit Janapada Loka official site for more info.

Though we walked around at leisure and the entire campus is wooded we were tired and hungry. It was 1.15 pm and time for lunch the Kamat Lok Ruchi is strategically positioned just next door. The food is the rural taste of Karnataka. As decided we went there to for a lunch on Banana leaf or the Yelle Oota.

The plan was to go to Ramohalli on the return journey to see the Big Banyan Tree. Post follows...

The Unconquered Murud Janjira And Direct Mumbai Drive

2009-11-22T23:40:00.004+05:30

source: traveholic.wordpress.com

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This time round the drive to Mumbai was direct. My driver drove from 4:15 hrs to 9:00 hrs continuously without a break. We had breakfast at VRL at Chitradurga and moved on to Hubli. Stopped for a packed lunch for 15 mins and hit the road again. We had aching asses by the time we reached home at 20:30 hrs. The 16.15 hrs drive is tiring! The return too was exactly in the same time. However we stopped at Patan for breakfast and lunch time break of 30 mins before Hubli. Rathish, my driver was rewarded with a brand new T-shirt by Dad.

While the first week was about spending time with family and Faral making for Diwali, in the second week we decided to go to Murud Janjira.

Murud Janjira, is a sea fort off the coast of the small town of Murud, hence the name. We took a yatch to the fort from the shore. The magnificent walls standing strong the lashing of the rough waves. This is the only fort which the Maratha's were not able to conquer. It is surrounded by sea and the clever Siddi's have dumped the surrounding sea with huge rocks. So when ships passed by they hit the rocks and the Siddi's looted the goods and captured the people.

The rock walls are worn out to some extent but the joints are still impregnable. The secret is lead is mixed in the binder. The exterior has stood the test of time. However inside the fort all you see are ruins neglected by the government. Wilderness and dilapidated structures one more time. Maharashtra Govt should learn from Karanataka Tourism Board.
We saw the onsite manufactured Kalal Bangadi Chavri and Landa Kasam cannons. Even in the hot sun the cannon were cool. Metalurgy was an advanced science then one notes.

We roamed around the towers, the hallways and tunnels, the open water tanks and the fresh water well overgrown with plaktons and algae.

We exited through the grand door. It is built in sideways and unless the boats go in front of it the door is not visible. This archetural genius made the Fort impregnable until the imposters did a Trojan horse like attack.

There is not much left inside the fort but visted it for Pranav's sake to show him our heritage and to refresh a fading memory.

Do it once, atleast for the grand exterior and the history bit.

An Excursion To Talakad and Shivansamudram

2009-09-02T00:18:00.003+05:30

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I was coaxing my friends to make a trip to Navadarshanam but they were all busy this weekend. I did not want to spend the weekend just eating and sleeping around at home. Sulekha called up to check on me in the morning and was teasing me "Woman on wheels". Yes I love traveling that much!

We set out on the Nece road at 8 am. Driving towards Mysore our destination today Talakad. It is a beautiful drive through lush fields and swaying palms on both the sides. We stopped at Ramnagar for breakfast. Then proceeded to Maddur. Then took a left as we looked at the list of tourist places on the board which said Talakad 56 km. We also figured there was MM hills, BR hills, Shivanasamudram, Shimsa etc. nearby.

The road was good in most parts after Maddur except for the 4-5 kms nearing Talakad. It was really bad mud road.

It took us almost 3.5 hrs to reach there. It was a nice sandy and wooded area. The sun was high in the sky and it was impossible to walk without shoes. The locals advised us to keep them on. The legend of Talakad says that a curse had caused the town and 30 temples to be submerged under sand. Today these sand dunes are protected from being washed out by the aforestration. It is dense green and one can walk around the excavation site and the panchalinga temples. The temple are excavated from the sand and rivets are build to hold back the sand from submerging the temples under the sand again. There are 5 temples. Read the stories about Talakad here.

The Vaidyeshwara temple is the most ornate one here and is in good shape. As is the tradition in the south there are no electrical lights in the sanctorium. There is just darkness and you are lucky if you get a glimpse of the lingam. The temple of Chamundeshwari is the only one where there is enough light to see the goddess.

Vaidyeshwara temple

There is an excavation still going on here and it is a complete memorable experience to see how the various parts are recovered from the earth. We got to watch the gentleness with which this activity is carried out. The use of a water drip makes it easy to ply in the soil. The pieces of history lying around transport you into a time bygone.

Excavation at Talakad

I went clickety click click...

After doing all the darshans we were hungry and we were told to drive 2 kms to the bank of Kaveri river. We had a yelle oota, home style food on banana leaves.

Post lunch we went for a walk on the river side and watched people taking a ride in round basket boats called coracles. Since these coracles needed to be shared by people and we had just had our lunch too we were better off not doing it. I have enjoyed coracle rides before so we preferred to stand by and watch.

On the bank of Kaveri at Talakad

Later we were on our way back when our driver suggested we go to Shivansamudram. It is the first Hydroelectric power station in Asia built in 1902. As we drove to the peak the sound of the water was welcoming when you least expect anything. Going to the gallery on the edge of the hills and looking down on the Gaganchukki falls is exhilarating!

The twin falls were gushing down the lush green hills. The water sprayed in the air to form a mist thus causing a rainbow at the base of the falls. I caught it on camera!

We had left Bangalore at 8 am and were back by 7 pm. We loved the entire drive through the lushness of the palms and fields. On the whole a good excursion though I was let down by my expectation of beautiful architecture of the Talakad temples (my point of references were Hampi and Belur) but the greenery compensated for it. The view of the falls from Shivansamudram is what I will remember the most of this trip.

Thanks Shrinidhi for suggesting Talakad to us.

A Fortress & A Temple

2009-07-18T17:17:00.000+05:30

It was sometime last year my friends from our Environmental action group at work called up and asked me if I could accompany them to select a site for Aforestation. I checked my calendar and said yes. Least that any of us expected was that we were going to see an amazing location.

I met Ravi below my tower and he briefed that we were going to a place which had a little bit of history and was just a few kms drive from our campus. Bharat was going to join us at the location directly.

As we approached I was excited to see a little Fortress perched atop a granite hill. The gate was like the ones I'd seen in Hampi. Stone pillars with slone slabs on the top. The Elcia secretary who had joined us at the location had suggested this place to my org. He went on to tell us that this is the location where Swami and Friends from the TV serial Malgudi days was shot.

I was excited at the mention of that and started exploring the fortress. It is has a centrally located water tank with stone lined step leading to the water. Ain't it typical, forts were always built to protect water bodies says history. A small temple was perched at the highest point. I am not sure what diety resides there as it was closed.

Recently was there again. It was beautiful! Gushy winds whistling loud. The cloud cover made it possible to roam around the fortress without getting burnt in the mid day sun. The trees planted there by the employees of my org were doing good. In a few years hope to see nice green woods there.

Since the last year my bus now takes this route. Here are videos I took at different times of this little fortress that I never miss watching when I ride by.