Badami

Time: Dec 25-28 2008
Places: Harihar, Haveri, Kaginele, Savanur, Gadag, Banashankari, Badami, Pattadakal, Aihole, Kudala Sangama, Almatti Dam, TB Dam, Navabrindavan
Company: Parents & wife
Album: Click here
Highlights:

Day 1:

Left Bangalore at 5 am in Indica cab to Haveri.
Idly for breakfast at Tumkur at 7 am.
Suddenly thought of going via Harihar.
Went to dad’s ex-colleague’s house in Harihar. Coffee. Nice and cute in the laid back city.
Went to a nearby Ram temple but it was closed.
Visited Harihara temple. Hari is Lord Vishnu and Hara is Lord Shiva. Idol comprises of both Vishnu and Shiva. Idol was found in the Tungabhadra river which flows beside this city. Amazing carvings in the temple especially the pillars. Pillars are all full of rings and apparently each of them is subtly different.
Went to Raghavendra Swamy Mutt on the banks of the river. This is one of my favorite Mutts. Day being Thursday, RS Mutt visit was almost a necessity and it happened at the nth moment because door was being closed! Also went to the river bank and sprinkled the Tungabhadra river on each of us. TB river was supposedly interspersed with Pushkar and had become extremely sacred for 12 days till 24th dec. Such interspersion(!) happens only once in 12 years.
Left Harihar to Haveri.
Reached Haveri at 2.30 pm.
Attended Gouri’s cousin’s engagement + lunch.
Left Haveri at 4.30 pm to Kaginele.
Reached Kaginele at 5 pm. (15 kms from Haveri)
Kaginele is the place where Kanakadasa saint took birth. Kanakadasa was a very rich man who left all his riches and became a devoted saint.
Nice and small Vishnu temple at Kaginele. Conch shell used by Kanakadasa is still in this temple.
Left Kaginele at 5.15 pm and reached Haveri at 6 pm.
Left Haveri after tea and reached Savanur at 7.15 pm. (Haveri to Savanur is 35 odd kms)
The great scholarly saint Shri Satyabodha Teertha's Brindavana is present at Savanur.
Reached Gadag at 9.30 pm. (Savanur to Gadag is about 60 odd kms). Stayed overnight at Vishwa lodge.

Day 2:

Went to Dad’s ex-neighbour’s (when he was in Davanagere) Kagadagar’s house. They spent close to an hour reminiscing good ole days. I don’t remember much of those times though. Everybody happy about the reunion after so many years. Although Muslims, they were devout Brahmin supporters as well as loyal to the core Muslim beliefs.
Went to Gadag’s famous Veera Narayan temple. “The legend goes to say that Naranappa better known as Kumaravyasa narrated the great epic before the lord by invoking the blessings of the Lord. The legend says that Naranappa got the inspiration to narrate the epic only during the time he sat before the Lord in a holy posture in a wet cloth dried up.” (From wiki)
Breakfast and checked out of the hotel at 10.30 am.
Reached Shakambari temple of Banashankari at 1 pm. (Gadag to Banashankari is about 70 odd kms). Darshan and offered saree to Goddess. Day being Friday, visit to Banashankari Goddess is supposed to be sacred.
Reached Badami city at 2 pm. (Banashankari to Badami is about 4 miles). Lunch.
Reached Badami cave site at 3 pm.
Badami is not the original name of the city. Its named so because of its almond colored stones everywhere. Badami is almond in Kannada.
Badami has 4 set of caves. 1st set is devoted to Lord Shiva. 2nd and 3rd are for Lord Vishnu and 4th is for Jain.
An amazing set of sculptures, esp the first Shiva idol which has about 18 hands – 9 on the right and 9 on the left. Together, 81 bhangs (dance positions) are depicted in just one idol. Then there are sculptures like the rotating fish atop roof which Arjuna had to hit using ground mirror, Lord Vishnu’s Vaaman avatar, Ardhanaresh (Shiva-Vishnu as one), the very first Gomateshwar (this one is 6th century AD, the one in Shravanabelagola is of 10th century AD), the 2 heads but 4 children sculpture, the sculpture which looks like a kid from one angle but like Lord Hanuman from another angle, color paintings and their palette, smiling Narasimha after being victorious, etc.
Also a lake borders the caves whose water is said to flow down from the river, carrying with it medicinal value and this lake’s water is said to cure any disease. But now due to people washing clothes, it no longer has medicinal value.
Reached Pattadakal at 5 pm. Badami to Pattadakal is less than 20 kms.
Nothing much here except more sculptures and temple-like structures. River Malaprabha flows beside this site. Its supposed to be the only river which flows from south to north. Because of this uniqueness, its considered to be sacred. Because of this sacredness, kings of this palace had to first undergo coronation in this river, sitting on a stone. Stone is kallu and coronation is Pattabhishek in kannada. Hence the name Pattadakallu.
Reached Aihole at 6 pm. Aihole is less than 15 kms from Pattadakallu.
Originally called Aryapura. Arya means scholar and pura means place. This place had about 5000 scholars at one point. But when Parashuram (Vishnu’s 6th avatar) wants to cleanse himself off all the sin he has committed, he releases the blood of all those whom he had killed in the only river which travels from South to North as it is sacred. This river happened to be River Malaprabha and the place happened to be Aryapura. When blood was released to this river, river turns red. Seeing this red river, a village gal exclaimed ‘Ai! HoLe.’ "Ai" is a sign of exclamation and "HoLe" is river. Hence the name AihoLe.
Similar sculptures in Aihole as in Badami but in shorter form. Here we see some interesting sculptures like stone ladder, origin of current-day door patterns and girls’ fashion designs, etc.
Aihole is considered as primary school, Badami is considered as High school, Pattadakal is considered as college and Belur-Halebid is considered as university in terms of sculpture-learning of the then era.
Had tea and left Aihole at 7 pm to Kudala Sangama. Aihole to Kudala Sangama is about 40 odd kms.
Thanks to losing our way and huge number of school children everywhere, had a tough time getting a room and waited almost 1 hour for dinner.
Found a room at last in Inspection Bungalow and slept at 11 pm.

Day 3:

Morning bath at Sangama. Sangama (coming together) of the rivers Malaprabha, Ghataprabha and Krishna.
Lord Shiva temple and Basavanna’s Samadhi. Panaromic view of the Sangama.
Also visited some strategic places like the huge auditorium and the tower building from where it is believed that 23 villages can be seen.
Left Kudalasangama after breakfast and check out at 10.00 am.
Traffic jam on NH 13 because of an accident caused an hour’s delay.
Reached Almatti dam at 11.30 am. Kudala Sangama to Almatti is about 40 odd kms.
An amazing dam and the best part was the rear side of the dam where one can play with the stored dam water. The artificial lake is a beautiful place to enjoy the serene beauty. Reminded me very much of Lake Tahoe.
Tyre puncture. So more snaps of the dam. This time from front view!
Reached Yelaguru at 1 pm. Almatti to Yelaguru is about 5 miles.
Yelaguru Hanuman temple is a very famous shrine in these parts. Day being Saturday, visit to Lord hanuma temple is supposed to be sacred.
Lunch at Almatti and left to Hospet at 3 pm.
Reached TB Dam at 6 pm but missed the sunset. Almatti to TB Dam, Hospet is about 130 odd kms and beautiful road.
TB Dam is another awesome engineering marvel. Great gardens and great view.
Halted at Hotel Shanbhag in Hospet overnight.

Day 4:

Left early to Navabrindavan which is about 20 odd kms. One way is through Anegundi (lots of teppas (small round boat) available + good road all the way + long teppa ride) and another is through Kamalapura (few teppas + mud road for about 4 kms + 2 min teppa ride). We went through the Kamalapura road but car got struck midway on the mud road and hence walked the rest of the distance. Teppa person came after a long time. Kept waiting at a nearby house. It was a small village house but in reality they owned 80 acres of farm land and their total value was 3.5 crores of rupees!
Reached Navabrindavan at 9.30 am. Wonderful bath in the fast flowing Tungabhadra river. Nice darshan of the 9 (nava) saints. My second time but dad’s and Gouri’s first time.
Saints include Madhwacharya’s disciples like Vyasaraja, Padmanabha, Sudheendra, etc.
Return to car after teppa and long walk.
Return to Hospet.
Lunch and check out.
Left to Bangalore at 2 pm and reached home at 10 pm.

Overall, traveled 1312 kms and it costed about Rs 1000 per day. Taxi charges almost came upto Rs 9000. A long pending trip at last came about, thanks to the Christmas long weekend!

Sonda

Time: Nov 29 2008

Place: Sonda

Company: Parents & wife

Highlights: Tried a new route this time. Sonda to Sirsi to Haveri in bus and then train to Bangalore. Rain & overcast conditions.

Chunchi

Time: Oct 5 2008

Place: Chunchi Falls, Sangama

Company: Cousins (2 cars)

Album: Click here

Highlights: A trip that was planned for Mekedaatu turned into a trip to Chunchi Falls and Sangama. Chunchi Falls is located about 90 kms from Bangalore. One has to take Mekedaatu road via Kanakapura and just 10 kms before Mekedaatu, road on the left leads to Chunchi Falls. A steep climb down a rocky path leads closest to a fiercesome falls but one cannot play with the water. The location is good for a wonderful view of the deep gorge and the ferocious falls.

Sangama is about 16 kms away although it takes about half hour due to terrible roads. One has to cross the river either by a boat or walking through the river - which is not so deep - to get to the other side from where one can either walk to Mekedaatu (which is about 3-4 kms away) or take dilapidated bus. But Mekedaatu (Meke = Goat; Daatu = cross; A goat jumped from one boulder to another thereby crossing the deep gorge and hence the name) is a place just like Chunchi Gorge minus the Falls and hence we ditched it for this picnic. Sangama is a better place to enjoy as it is like Talkad with shallow waters ranging from 3 to 5 feet of light current over sandy riverbed.

Puri

Time: Sept 9-14 2008

Place: Simhachalam, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Chilka, Konark

Company: Parents & wife

Album: Click here

Highlights:

Day 0: Left Bangalore in the 7.35 pm Yeswantpur-Howrah express. Some confusion about reservation chart showing our reservation only till Vijayawada and TT too had no clue about it!

Day 1: Prior to Vijayawada, another TT allotted different berths post Vijayawada and we had to shift although just a couple of seats away. Apparently some confusion in this train everytime, grumbled frequent travelers. Slept all the way till Vishakapatnam (massive bridge on Godavari was awesome) which we reached by 4 pm, dead on schedule. Took railway retiring room and freshened up before heading towards Simhachalam.

Wrong information led us to believe that temple closes at 8 pm but it actually closes at 7 pm. We ran the steps to just make it inside the temple premises. A quick but amazing darshan of the standing Narasimha temple sufficed the near-miss. However dark clouds and lack of visibility robbed us off the amazing view of this temple which is set amidst hilly valley.

Some confusion about veg hotel for dinner + quick rest and we checked out of the retiring room to catch the 11.55 pm East-coast express train to Bhubaneswar.

Day 2: Train delayed by 2 hrs. It finally left VSKP station at 1.35 am instead of 11.55 pm and we duly reached BBSR at 9.25 am instead of 7.25 am. An idle glance of our return ticket (HWH-YPR from BBSR on 14th at 3 am) by the VKSP-BBSR TT changed the whole course of this trip. He mentioned that HWH-YPR train might be diverted off BBSR and asked us to check in advance. When we did so at the BBSR railway station, we were told that it was diverted till 15th Sept and we had to make alternate arrangement. There was just one more train and it was waitlisted in 150s. Another option was to reduce our holidays and leave to BLR earlier than scheduled. But we went with flight option and booked the flight tickets for 14th from BBSR to BLR in Air Deccan. Couple of days of frantic calls to IRCTC and emails in cyber café finally led us to cancel the train tkt with full refund.

Took accommodation in Pejawar Mutt, BBSR which is about 4 kms from Railway station which we covered in a taxi. Quick freshening up and quick bite and quick nap! Took a “package” auto for sight-seeing BBSR and surroundings. First stop was Udayagiri and Kandagiri where nice caves have been excavated on hillocks. Nice view on hill tops esp the BBSR airport and runway strip. Lots of monkeys around and one has to be careful with eateries.

Next stop was Lingaraj Temple: the main temple of BBSR and the main reason for Bhubaneswar to be named as Bhubaneswar (Lord Eshwar has taken birth in the form of a rock from the Earth (Bhu)). Local pundits loot devotees and one has to be careful. But nice information such as flag-hoisting schedule, food processing and procedure for the God where the passageway from Kitchen to sanctum-sanctorum doesn’t even allow sun to cast its light for even Sun isn’t allowed to see food prior to Lord seeing food, Vishnu-Eshwar combination due to which actual Linga missing in the idol, etc. About 100 odd small temples scattered everywhere in the temple premises.

Next stop was Dhauli Giri which is located on a hillock. It was here that King Ashoka saw blood everywhere and took an oath to stop war and adopt Buddhism and peace forever. A nice calm spot with excellent 360 degree view.

Next stop was Mukteswar-Siddeswar temple. Nothing to write home about but nice garden to spend time and nice sculptures.

Next stop was Ram Mandir. Smiling idols which please one and all. Also a nice place to sit in the evening and spend a relaxing time.

Return to acco + dinner + sleep.

Day 3: Left acco at 8 and took bus to Puri. On and off rain indicated tropical climate. Nice green picturesque 1.5 hr journey. C T Road in Puri is the most hep place in Puri with lots of hotels and restaurants and it is also the nearest road to Bay of Bengal. Like Ocean Drive in Miami! Took a hotel there (Hotel Jayashree) which was both reasonable and neat plus a slight view of the ocean from our room balcony. Freshened up + Breakfast + charted out plan for next 2 days with hotel’s travel agent.

Quick dip in the Bay of Bengal before visiting Lord is supposed to increase the Punya counter. So did that! Auto-wallah came at 12 sharp and he took us to Lord Jagannath temple which was about 3-4 kms. Hotel’s temple pundit met us there and guided us around. Without him, other pundits would have looted us. A huge temple which took us about 2-3 hrs to complete viewing (similar passageway from kitchen to sanctum sanctorum as in BBSR, museum depicting story, innumerous small temples, sculptures and carvings, the darkened kitchen itself, sanctum-sanctorum itself, the famous wooden idols, Anand Bazaar where prasadams are sold in lots, etc). Camera, umbrella, cooked food, mobile phone, leather, etc not allowed inside temple. Hence no snaps.

Lunch at Grand Hotel! It was grand! Then auto-wallah took us to Chandan Talab where we were actually supposed to take bath after bath in BoB (but we took bath in hotel itself). Next stop was another temple where Lord Jagannath stays for 9 days every year – the other end of the main road where main temple lies - based on a mythical story. Next stop was another small Ram temple.

Back to hotel. Relaxed and then went to beach in the evening for a lazy time amongst the waves and the moon. I went to cyber café (irctc issue) while others visited one more temple. Dinner at Ambrosia (yummy) and sleep.

Day 4: Up at 4.30 to view sun rise. But clouds covered it completely and at 6 am, it was already up amongst clouds while we were still hoping it would rise from ocean! Ready by 9 after breakfast at Dakshin.

Taxi took us to Chilka lake after 2 hrs drive. A 3 hr boat ride to view dolphins (nice!), sea-mouth (Chilka lake entering ocean) and red crabs (yuck). Enjoyable but it got boring. Then headed to Konark via Puri. Had lunch in Puri.

Reached Konark at 5. Visited Chandrabag river and ocean beach on the way along with another Ram temple where Mahanadi tributary runs parallel to the Bay of Bengal. Beautiful places.

Got a guide at Konark called Malla. One of the best Govt approved guide (apparently there are a number of unofficial guides acting as official guides). He gave us a complete 1 hour clear-cut explanation of the whole Konark Sun Temple. Like what kind of stones were used to construct the Sun Temple, how were the stones clamped to one another without concrete, how the structure of Sun Temple was divided mainly into 3 sections (Dancing Hall, Prayer Hall, Sun God’s sanctum sanctorum) and how the sun’s first rays of the earth were falling directly on the Idol back in the days when the temple was on the shores of Bay of Bengal (in 18th century, the sea receded due to a heavy cyclone) through the Dancing Hall and the Prayer Hall even when Sun moved slightly north-south during Summer and Winter, the 7 layers on the door frame depicting the Sapta Rishis who came up with 4 main Vedas (rules of life), the 24 wheels carrying the idol depicting 24 hours in a day (and many more implications), with each wheel having its own connotations such as 10 avatars of Vishnu, activities of a woman, etc, the places in the premises causing destruction like kitchen being beside well, not depicting togetherness as Fire and Water do not go hand in hand, the ruins made by Moghul Emperors, the sanctum-sanctorum’s complete ruins (mythical story being that whole of the building was controlled by a powerful magnet placed at the top which set the walls exactly in place but this magnet had to be removed because it was causing problems to shipmen in their navigation devices whilst they were passing near shore on the Bay of Bengal and due to this removal, the whole building collapsed), the 3 avatars of Sun (youth, middle aged and old) depicting one Sun’s transition to another Sun, the significant carvings at each side to reflect prominent character with their prominent identity symbols, the nearby olden Sun temple, carvings even of how the stones were being obtained for the Sun Temple construction and of the workers and the master architect and the King who was behind it all, and many many such important and relevant information which easily creates an expression of awe. Clearly a must-see place especially because of its scientific and historical value.

Back to Puri, one more visit to Lord Jagannath temple. This time comparatively less people than morning and had nice darshan. Dinner and sleep.

Day 5: Left to BBSR in private bus. A strange incident at the bus stop where conductors of different private roadlines manhandle you and the luggage, and virtually toss you into their bus! Reached BBSR airport at 11. Well on time for check in, security check and boarding. Uneventful flight journey back home to Bangalore. Reached to a raining home at 5 pm.

Overview:

1. Badrinath, Rameshwaram, Dwarka and Puri constitute the char dham in India (4 must see pilgrimage places) and this trip concludes the odyssey that began in 2004 May with Badrinath.

2. If the VSKP-BBSR TT had not noticed our return train ticket, if my mom had not given that TT that return ticket, if he had not been from Bangalore to comment on Yeswantpur, we would’ve gone to BBSR railway station on Day 5 at 3 am only to learn that the train had been cancelled. Distress that would have ensued then is unimaginable. I thank the VSKP-BBSR TT who came to us like a messiah. Learning is to confirm return ticket once you arrive in a foreign place if date of boarding is not far off.

3. This was a trip fraught with lots of inconveniences and yet was successful in the end in its own way. Like how the train tickets were never favorable (YPR depart and arrival, improper timings (3 am depart from BBSR and 6 am arrival in Krishnarajapuram, etc)), like how Puri and BBSR and Konark trip kept getting postponed for such a long time, like how irritating the taxi driver was who took us from home to YPR station on Day 0, like how reservation chart had wrong place for ‘Reservation till’, like how Simhachalam just closed as we entered and we could neither spend required time nor could see surrounding picturesque beauty, like how we had to wait for the bus at Simhachalam for almost a panicky hour, like how VSKP-BBSR train was delayed for 2 hours, like how it was raining on and off in Puri partly because of which we could not see sun rise and like how return train was cancelled. Yet, alls well that ends well.

One more memorable trip!

Mysore DC again!

Time: Aug 30 2008

Place: Mysore Infosys DC, Balamuri Falls, KRS

Company: Family (Wife and parents)

Highlights: A sudden plan formed on Saturday morning at 7 am just because we got up early! Left at 9.30 am (never before left to a picnic so late in the day!). Reached Mysore Infosys campus at 1 pm. Went around the campus, played Table tennis, saw the sports complex and the multiplex. Had lunch, cycled, swam but couldnt go bowling as it was full.

On the way back, glimpsed through the overflowing Balamuri (they have stopped walking along the concrete while the river skimmed through it because river is no longer skimming through it, its going on it in pours) and then to KRS (almost full dam with gates open and the same brilliant Brindavan garden). Couldnt see the lights nor the musical dancing fountain due to rains and also had to head back before it was too late. A nice drive back home, via Kamat Lokaruchi where we had dinner. Safe arrival by 10.30 pm.

Hubli

Time: Aug 24 2008

Place: Hubli

Company: Family (wife and mom in law)

Highlights: Wife's father's first year death anniversary. Left at 6 am on Janshatabdi Express and reached at 1 pm. Very comfortable journey and a pleasant weather. Went to Mutt in Hubli where proceedings took place from 3 pm to 6 pm followed by lunch. Back by Rajahamsa Executive 8.30 pm bus which reached Bangalore next day at 6.15 am. Very uncomfortable.

Karighatta and Ghosayighatta

Time: Aug 3 2008

Place: Karighatta, Mahadevpura and Ghosayighatta

Company: Family (2 cars)

Album: Click here

Highlights: A sudden plan formed on Saturday thanks to mom resulted in this unexpected trip to Karighatta, Mahadevpura and Ghosayighatta. All nearby places to Srirangapatna.

Karighatta boasts of Lord Venkateshwara temple atop a small hill (which can be accessed through both steps and road) and river flows at the bottom of the hill.

Mahadevpura also boasts of a small temple with the river flowing just beside it in great fury.

Ghosayighatta also has the river flowing just beside the river but comfortable steps make it easy to enjoy the river. With heavy rainfall in the last few days, Cauvery was dangerously full. A thoroughly enjoyable day.

The Yearly Tirumala Trip

Time: Jul 25-27 2008

Place: Tirumala

Company: Family

Highlights: To and fro in the overnight passenger train. Up the hill in Jeep and down in bus. Had booked a hotel near Tirupati bus stand for freshening up. Kalyanotsavam Seva at Tirumala. Had to book 3 months in advance through DD. A running commentary of the things around for wife and sister-in-law and s-i-l's dad as they were unfamiliar with the place. Lunch at Uttaradi Mutt in Tirumala.

Although this could be categorised under the "Yearly Tirumala Trip", it was a special one because it was the first with my wife.

Honeymoon in Mauritius!

Time: Jul 15-22 2008

Place: Mauritius

Company: Wife

Highlights:

Day 0: Left at 8.30 pm in Volvo bus to the new Bengaluru International Airport. Just me and my wife all the 40 odd kilometers in the bus. Like a big limo. Someone surely has to rethink about the timings, route, etc of the bus to reduce such gross fuel wastage. Reached the airport by about 10.30 pm. Waited for check in.

Day 1: Check in. Immigration. Security Check. Boarding. 3 am. Sleepy. Air Mauritius flight via Chennai. Chennai at about 5 am. Disembarked to allow them to clean the flight. Kind of mismanaged ambience in Chennai airport. Security check again. Boarding again. 6.30 am. Some issue about baggage being unloaded by mistake in Chennai. Uneventful and safe journey. Wonderful clouds at 37000 feet, as usual. It’s a different world out there. But when we came below the clouds at about 10.30 am local time Mauritius (12 noon IST), it was all bleak and cloudy and raining, thus damping the spirits. After days of research into weather and choice of honeymoon destinations, one wouldn’t want to land in a rainy place. Anyways. Immigration and visa. (Visa on arrival in Mauritius). Baggage claim. Currency conversion. No direct conversion from INR to Mauritian Rupees (MRU). INR to USD (1:40 approx) and USD to MRU (1:26 approx). A long journey (2 hours) to our resort (Casuarina) in a coach along with others. Welcome drink and briefing at the resort about do's and dont's. Our room. Seemed fine. Lunch. Miserable. Hard for Indian Vegetarians. Beach in the bleak weather. Another briefing by an agent of Seaside holidays, the partner of Make My Trip, with whom the whole package had been signed with in the first place. Briefing on do's and dont's of the next 3 days, and the optional water sport activities. Hard time deciding within a short span of time although we were well prepared and knowledgeable about things to expect. Finally decided on the best few. Table tennis. Champagne in the room, although wine was promised. Dinner, like break fast, complimentary. Better than lunch.

Day 2: Wonderful continental breakfast. Bread, omelet, fruit salad, juice, yogurt. 8.50 SIC (seat-in-coach) to a destination where a jetty transferred us to kind of middle of the ocean where we were put oxygen masks to go 10 ft below the ocean water to the sea bed where we walked for about 15 mins amidst the fish and other ocean fauna. An amazing experience. Then, super high speed boat transfer to an island (Ile aux Cerfs). On the way, visited waterfalls, sitting in the boat itself. Also went for parasailing, kind of in the middle of the Indian Ocean with a distant view of Mauritius. Lunch in the island. Yuck! But nice island with shallow water (2-3 ft) for miles together. Hence the beautiful view. Sometimes emerald green and sometimes sky blue. Back at resort by 5. Table tennis again. Nice refreshing dinner.

Day 3: Easy day. Toured the northern sections of Mauritius. A supermarket for shopping, some nice viewpoints of Port Louis such as Fort Citadel and a church, and finally Caudon waterfront where many Bollywood films are shot. Nice 3 hours spent on the waterfront with nothing to do but laze around.

Day 4: Toured the southern sections. Took about 1.5 hours to get to south. Chameral waterfalls. An artificial waterfall – river diverted to create the view. But considering that the river water is made to flow to ocean, someone has to rethink this. Enough water is going to the ocean as it is!

Next destination: Seven colored earth. It wasn’t all that sunny for us to appreciate it but good enough. Apparently a volcano didn’t have the sufficient push in it to burst out and instead it burnt the surface of the earth. The oxides within changed the color of the earth and hence the name. A unique place in the world.

Next destination: Ganga Talab. (Ganga Lake). A lake in front of a Hindu Temple which was purified by tumblers of River Ganges from India (poured by Indira Gandhi and some saints) has completely transformed its entire properties into similar properties that are akin to the actual Ganga river in India. Hence the name. No bathing allowed nor any ashes-depositing.

The temple in itself is a Shiva temple. Apparently this is the 13th Jyotirlinga in the world. There are 13 Jyotirlingas in the world. 11.5 in India, 0.5 in Nepal and 1 in Mauritius. Details of the 12 Jyotirlingas can be found here. (Kedarnath [tail] and Pashupathinath [head] in Nepal are considered as one Jyotirlinga. Hence the decimals!)

Apparently, here in Mauritius Jyotirlinga temple, during the 2004 Mahashivratri celebrations, a lady saw the 3 eyes of Shiva on the idol which has been photographed. Also, the white milk that was poured on the Shiva idol turned into blue. This too has been photographed.

No business transactions are held inside the temple except offerings by devotees. Many idols placed within to cater to all sects of Hindus. Also a gigantic Shiva idol (about 108 ft) is placed nearby. It is the 2nd tallest Shiva idol, next only to the tallest in Gurgaon, Delhi, India. This however is not the angry Shiva idol but the softer one, without the third eye and no damrot (the sound-making toy). Also this Shiva avatar is the one with normal clothes and wishes well for all.

Next: Lunch in an Indian restaurant on a green leaf, the traditional style. Expensive, but nice. Next destination: Biggest Crater on Mauritius. Formed by the Volcano that created Mauritius. Nice view of the horizon/ocean from there. Next: Clothes shopping + Diamond shopping + Ship models shopping. Back to room. Welcome cocktail drink in the resort.

Day 5: Went in submarine! 30 mins in the sub again in the middle of the ocean. This time to view the aqua life, a ship wreck and coral reef of the ocean. Nice experience, although I felt a little queasy. Spent a relaxing time at the beach. Just got tanned, read novel and heard the little waves. Also, for the first time, enjoyed the sea water on beach. Also went to an hour tour on glass bottomed boat to see more of the aqua life.

Day 6: Went to gym in the morning. Walked the full length and breadth of the resort to explore everything! Went to swimming pool and lazed around. Again, a nice novel under the sun, after an hour in the pool. Went pedaling on Indian ocean. Went to Spa and steam bath after lunch for a nice 30 min massage. Realized that spa is nothing but the Indian age-old tradition of mom giving child the nice oil bath on Sunday mornings!

Day 7: Checked out by 11 but kept the luggages till our pick up scheduled at 3. Went on local bus to Grand Bay beach and spent about 3 hours there. Just walking on the beach, doing art on beach sand, going to a nearby temple and eating roadside chapathis! Pick up to airport by Seaside Holidays at 3 pm. Reached airport by 4.30. Check in. Immigration. Security Check. Boarding at 7 pm.

Day 8: Reached Bangalore at 2.30 am. Home at 4 am. Again, the 3 am Volvo bus occupied only by me and my wife!

Overall expenditure of roughly about INR 80000 per person. An enriching experience, and a good destination for honeymooners.

My Engagement!

Time: Apr 13, 2008
Place: Hubli
Company: Parents and Relatives
Album: Click here
Highlights: Well, my engagement! Thats it!

Munnar

Time: Apr 4-8 2008
Place: Ernakulam, Munnar
Company: Colleagues and some of their girl friends, including mine (;))
Album: Click here
Highlights:

Day 0: Left to Ernakulam in Airavatha Volvo KSRTC bus from Bangalore at 8 am. Seat spacing distributed throughout the bus because of issues in booking through ksrtc website. Bollywood movie Apne aired in bus. But thanks to Hogenekal issue, as soon as we entered Tamil Nadu through Hosur, an anti-element of the society threw a stone on our bus and the windshield cracked. Although glass pieces flew all over the bus aisle (including Preetham’s lap), the windshield didn’t shatter. Went to Krishnagiri Police Station to lodge an FIR to claim insurance.

Day 1: Reached Ernakulam at 10.30 instead of 8. Aankhen movie in the bus. Tempo Traveler reached the spot where we got down. Stifling heat. Went to service apartment rented by Diana. Freshened up. Diana’s house at 1 pm. Photo session with her. She was all the more bubbly, thanks to the occasion of her engagement. Lunch. Left to Munnar at 3.30 pm. Reached Munnar at 7.30 pm. Checked in at Munnar Tourist Home. Walk to Munnar town for dinner and a visit to Church (which was closed).

Day 2: Breakfast at Saravana Bhavan. Yummy! Wait to Ashwin, who was supposed to join us at Munnar from Bangalore directly, turned sour as he didn’t reach till noon and we had to carry on without him. Went to view point and walked amidst tea estates. Also visited couple of dams (remember one of the names as Mettupatty Dam), played with rifles, couple of gals went horse-riding, mirthful conversations and played the fool with camera. Other places visited include Echo point, Top station and Pampadum National Park. Went for a long walk inside the forest on a road which is supposedly the highest (in terms of MSL) in South India comparable only to roads in Himalaya. Trekked too. Couple of them got leeched! Back to Munnar town and Appam dinner (no mention of non veg as 12 of them preferred veg!).

Day 3: Went to visit Nilgiri Thar on another National Park. NT is a mountain goat not found anywhere else other than in Himalayas. Found plenty of them. Moreover, natural beauty was insurmountable. High peaks, classic tea estates, over-the-clouds, greenery-everywhere and beautiful, beautiful air! Saw South India’s tallest mountain peak. Called fondly as Elephant Face because of the resemblance. Came back and hogged omelets! Left to Ernakulam at 12 noon. Reached Ernakulam by 4 pm. Pizza Hut. Train to Bangalore at 5 pm. Dumb C, Antakshari, PJs, Love Stories (!) of colleagues, etc!

Day 4: Reached Bangalore at 4.20 am. On the dot as per schedule.

On the whole, a wonderful trip. Also, most memorable, as it was the first with my fiancée.

Dwarka

Time: Mar 8 - 15, 2008

Place: Mumbai, Khandala, Lonavla, Dwarka, Bet Dwarka, Somnath

Company: Parents

Album: Click here

Highlights:

Day 1: Left to Mumbai in airplane. It was about 14 months since I had last flown. Felt nice. Taxi from airport and accomodation arranged by neighbor. Went sight seeing in Mumbai at 1 pm. Places seen (and what I felt) are as follows: Siddhi Vinayak temple (improper queue system), Haji Ali (unclean on the pavement), Lakshmi Temple (very nice; its said that since Lakshmi (Goddess of Money) has sat here, everyone makes wealth in Mumbai), Hanging Garden (nice), Gateway of India (construction going on) and Chowpatty beach (liked the concept of renting mats!). An hour of traffic to go and 2 hrs of traffic to go back home. Rashid, our taxi driver, was a very nice fellow. It felt nice to be in the same city as Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar and many such stars, who roamed in the same streets at one point of time!

This was my second visit to Mumbai. I had last been here in 1990, thats about 18 years ago, and I do not remember anything other than the visit to Essel World, stay at Gurudwar with local trains passing by and the steam of the steam engine that emanated from me when my mom gave me a good bath after she learnt that I hadnt taken bath (since it was cold water!) since 7 days! I liked the main Highway (the road that goes to Ahmedabad) connecting many parts of Mumbai, and how fly-overs are constructed at every major junction. The speed with which everyone hurried reminded me of US city highways like the one in Chicago, Rt 9 in Boston suburbs and Rt 90 in Boston. The skyline at Marine Drive (filled with lots of couples' PDA) especially when the lights lit up reminded me of New York's Manhattan. Just as how 'the city never sleeps' and 'all roads lead to Mumbai'. Of course, it is the 7th filthiest city in the world but one should appreciate the way how Mumbai never stops when there is a bomb blast or a flood-rain or if it is midnight or early morning. I liked it!

Day 2: Left early to Gateway of India again with Rashid to go to Elephanta Caves. An hour's boat ride to go and an hour's boat ride to come back and 2 hours to spend there. A toy train to go from port to main (is)land. A climb up the mountain for about 15-20 minutes. Nice caves, (broken) idols, etc. Lots of monkeys. A further climb of about 10 minutes leads to the peak (Cannon Hill). After reaching Mumbai again, had a nice South Indian lunch near Sion circle and left to Khandala. Mumbai-Pune expressway is as good as any international freeway. Khandala is just about 2 hours from Mumbai outskirts. Khandala/Lonavla are twin cities. Got a nice valley-view inn for a reasonable rate. Went to sunset point and saw the beautiful nature interspersed with man-made expressway!

Day 3: Early morning view of the valley with its now-and-then train-spotting was a treat. Went to Lion's Point (so much resemblance to Grand Canyon) and then to Bhushi Dam (a treat in winter when water falls through the steps) and then to Whalwhan dam (a great initiative by Tata) and finally to Karla Caves (have to climb 250 steps; caves in the rock resembling Canada-side view of the Niagara Falls; steep path beside a towering cliff). Journey back to Mumbai. Since we had time, went to Juhu Beach (but couldnt go to ISKCON). Rashid dropped us off at Mumbai Central where we caught the Sourashtra Mail to Okha at 8.25 pm. First time in my life, I went in AC 2 Tier (even used the Upper class waiting room). Was oh-so-wonderful!

Day 4: A lazy day. Got up at 10.30. Whiled away the time till 4 pm when finally we reached at Dwarka, train being an hour late. Excellent hospitality at Madhwa Mutt (Tel no 0992 4090326. Manager MR Ramesh). Gomathi River joins Arabian Sea near the temple and so the river itself is salty. River dries up to a trickle between 7 pm and 7 am. But the river can be crossed using boats too to go to another vast beach which is absolutely deserted. A stunningly beautiful beach with clear water which now and then keeps giving out multiple-shell-shaped conches. Story goes that actual City of Dwarka has submerged in the ocean. So, riches from that Palace where Lord Krishna ruled keeps coming out to the beach in the form of conches, pearls, etc. Esp found at night 2 am or 3 am when the Sea has receded.

Temple itself is magnificent. Constructed by Vajranath (who is son of Aniruddha who is son of Pradyumna who is son of Lord Sri Krishna) by the power of Manthras using Vishwakarma as an architect. It has 2 portions : Front and back. Front has 4 storeys indicating Chardham (Badrinath, Puri, Rameshwaram and Dwarka) and back has 7 storeys indicating Sapthapuri (Mayapuri aka Haridwar, Avanthika aka Ujjain, Madurai, Ayodhya, Mathura, Kashi aka Varanasi, Dwarka). Temple is about 5200 years old. It has 2 side doors. One is called Swarg (Heaven) dwar (Door) and another is called Moksh (Enlightenment) Dwar. The Former has about 56 steps indicating something (couldnt understand!). One thing I didnt understand is why this temple was an exception in terms of idol facing towards west. Almost all temples that I have been to face East (exception of Udupi which has a convincing story though) but this was facng West.

Day 5: Bath at Gomathi. Took a taxi and visited Nageshwar (one of the 12 Jyotirlingas), Gopi Thalab (where we get Gopi Chandnas for sandhya vandanam when lake gets dried up in Summer) and Bet Dwarka (western-most point of India, situated on an island where Krishna had his residence; have to go in a jetty filled to the brim and scary with hardly any life-jackets aboard; very windy too and birds try to get foods from patrons who throw stuff into the air and sea). Returned back to Madhwa Mutt. Went to Badakeshwar temple in the evening for an unbelievable sunset. Its a temple situated on the sea and almost 200 degrees from north to south is just arabian sea. The sea shores are similar to those picturised in Bollywood flicks taken in Australia. Again, hardly any crowd which adds that much more to the naturally beautiful scene. Again back to main temple, saw aarthi (30 mins stranded in queue, but filled with awesome Krishna devotees who kept singing amazing songs one after the other)

Day 6: Private bus to Somnath. left at 7.30 am and reached at 2.30 pm with stops at Harshad Mata and Moola Dwarka. Nothing great about them but just another tourist spots. Road from Dwarka to Somnath is almost beside sea shore for full 7 hours. Took a temple trust's room. Took an auto to visit nearby places like where Krishna was shot at, shot from and finally departed Earth. He was shot on the foot by an unsuspecting archer from a distance who thought it was a bird. Archer breaks down when he realises his folly but Krishna consoles him that it was all a part of master plan and this is how he had to leave Earth. Also archer is none other than Vaali who was killed ignominously in Krishna's previous birth as Rama. Hence, justice to all! Krishna was then resting below a tree and it is this tree that we can see now. Also the place from where the archer shot is another facinating place where we can see 3 Lingas (Shiva's idols) in open sea washed every now and then by waves!) Krishna finally departed from a place called Prabhas Kshetra where his feet are etched as a mark of respect. A board displays his end date as Feb 18 3102 BC 2:27:30 hrs. (He was born on Jul 19 3228 BC). Another nearby place where Kapila, Hiranya and Saraswathi (underground river) meet as a Triveni Sangam and then finally head towards Arabian Sea. Lots of 'punya' if one takes bath here, and hence we increased our punya counters!!

Somnath temple itself is great. Old and new temples are one beside the other. Another Jyotirlinga darshan. Nice light and sound show depicting rise and fall and rise and fall and rise and fall (phew - yeah, it sorta gets boring) of the Somnath temple. But an interesting fact is that there is a tower in the temple premises (just beside the sea) from where there is absolutely no obstruction direct to the south pole.

Day 7: 9 am Somnath to Veraval railway station in Auto. 10 am Veraval to Rajkot in Jabbalpur express train. 2 pm lunch at Rajkot station. 5 pm Saurashtra Mail (from Okha) to Mumbai. [Tradional sleeper seems so unluxurious after AC!!]

Day 8: 7 am Mumbai Dadar. Taxi to Domestic airport (international standards). Long wait from 8 am to 1 pm). Indigo flight back to Bangalore.

Bichchale and Chippagiri

Time: Feb 9-10 2008
Place: Manthralaya, Panchamukhi, Bichchale and Chippagiri
Company: Parents and brother’s in-laws
Highlights:

Day 1: River bath. Water receding by the year. As usual. Darshan from up close, thanks to mom’s relatives. Saw the garlanding. Meditation hall and pooja. Lunch.

Went to Bichchale, about 30 kms from Manthralaya. Place where Raghavendra swamy’s best disciple Appannacharya was born. Saw Appannacharya’s house which is more than 400 years old. Raghavendra Swamy used to sleep and pray in that house and the place where he used to sleep and pray is marked for Pooja.

R Swamy did penance in this place for about 13 years. Beautiful place with nice gushing river just beside the Brindavan. Absolute peace and a perfect place to perform penance.

Place called so for this reason: Appannacharya used to beg (bikshe) and he used to tie the obtained rice in cloth and put it up on a tree. After the Pooja was done, he used to sprinkle the holy water on that rice and it used to become food. Henceforth and with time it came to be called Bichchale.

Place has other notable things like grinding machine which was used to cook R Swamy’s favorite dishes, both swamy’s self (found and) placed idols, etc. Supposedly a very powerful place where ‘dreams come true’.

Then went to Panchamukhi. R Swamy did penance here for 12 years after which he was asked by the Gods to enter Brindavan in Manchale (which is now called Manthralaya). R Swamy was Prahallad in one generation, Vyasaraja in another generation and R Swamy in this generation.

Day 2: Went to Chippagiri via Adoni and Aloor. Place is known for Vijayadasaru’s holy place. Again, nice serene place, amidst farm lands, and situated outside the city limits. It was in this place that he found an idol inside a small pond (which is now a holy pool) and did Pooja to it. Upon death, this idol was kept on his burial and a small sanctum sanctorum is constructed as hinted by Vijayadasaru through one of his great disciple’s dreams. Finally went to Kasapuram near Guntakal. Famous lord Hanuman temple.

Salumarada Thimmakka's Hometown

Time: Jan 6th 2008
Place: Hulikal (home town of Saalumarada Thimmakka)
Company: Volunteers of treesforfree.org
Album: Click here
Highlights: Leisurely trip to Hulikal with volunteers to meet Thimmakka who has done so much to the society by way of planting trees. Also went to a rose garden and had a small meeting there to discuss plans for 2008. Needless to say, some nice games like Dumb Charades, Blindfold, etc.

Mysore DC again!

Time: Dec 30th 2007
Place: Mysore Infosys DC, Mysore Palace
Company: Adiga and Guru (High school buddies)
Highlights: Swim, pool, bowling and lunch at the DC. Siesta at Guru's (who is training Infy BPO freshers currently) room in Mysore. Palace under lights. Awesome. Wonderful night drive back in Adiga's new Palio Stile.