Time: 27th-28th Nov 2019
Place: Mantralayam
Company: Family (3 cars)
Occasion: Religious family function
Highlights:
Generally I never prefer to go to Mantralayam via Road. The preferred mode of transportation is always train. The last time I remember going on road to MALM was sometime in the late 1980s with my dad's colleagues in 3 cars. I remember sitting in an Ambassador car in the front beside the driver and helping him with the wiper buttons - those huge knobs in the middle of the car which one has to pull and push - all through the night amidst heavy rains! And since then, all I remember is going via trains.
However this trip was tricky. The religious family function got advanced by 1 week on 25th Nov plus, location changed from Udupi to Mantralayam & hence we could not be ready with a train reservation. So, all we were left with was to go via road in own car or rented car, the latter being too expensive. Plans kept changing till the moment of departure (such as tatkal train ticket booking, who has to go in which car, etc.). Wifey & daughter were not intending to come but decided to join in at the last minute.
Day 0:
Finally left the house at 3 pm, picked up daughter from school, and by the time we left in 2 cars, it was almost 4 pm. However, it was traffic all the way till airport. At the first toll, it was already 6 pm! So stopped at Krishna Bhavan for some nice snacks, coffee/tea & bio-break. Next break was at 9:30 pm for fuel - both for car and ourselves near Ananthpur. Again commenced at about 10 pm, missed a turn at Gooty, got stuck due to a road-block, took a deviation, etc. From Gooty to Adoni, road condition is horrible. It is almost 80 kms but takes almost 2-3 hours. Right about midnight, we came across another of our relatives' car stopped due to the silencer clamp having got loosened, touching the road at every bump. So we did some load balancing (since that car was way too over loaded) and now we had a convoy - the problematic car in the middle (going real slow due to the bumps), my brother at the front and me at the back. It was another nice driving experience - right from midnight till 2 am! Adoni to MALM road is super-awesome. By the time we checked-in to the hotel room and unloaded our luggage and hit the sack, it was almost 3 am.
Day 1:
Alarm got us up by 6 am - just a 3 hour sleep. Plan was to go to river Tungabhadra for holy bath. Meanwhile another car had just arrived at about 5:30 am. So by the time we could gather that family and reached the banks it was already 7 am. A boatman offered to take us to the middle of the river where water was fresh, flowing and nice. Had the holy bath, offered our prayers and it was time to head back. Quick darshan at the Mutt - since it was Thursday, the temple was crowded. We skipped entering the line as we were getting late to the function.
Finally it was about 8:15 am when we reached the function which was held in another temple near our relative's house. Homa took place till noon. In the interim, one of our relatives took us to the sanctum sanctorum of Raghavendra Swamy Mutt since he was from the priests' lineage. Up close, we felt so blessed & so lucky. Back at the function, we had some upma as breakfast.
Homa concluded, and we awaited Raghavendra Swamy chief pontiff. He came at about 1 pm and then performed the Pooja rituals until 3 pm. That done, we had lunch starting at 3:30 pm! That done, we bid good-byes to our MALM relatives and rushed to the hotel room for a quick nap before another long night drive. Some of us got nap but some didn't - yours truly included in the latter!
Finally it was time to depart. We started at 8:30 pm. The Adoni-Gooty stretch seemed to get over much quicker this time - mainly because we did not have the 'problematic' car with us! After the Gooty toll, we all (3 cars) took a break for a 10 pm coffee! And then it was expressway drive all the way till home. We reached home at about 2:15 am. Hit the sack for another short sleep overnight before heading to office.
Overview: I never prefer to drive overnight. Maybe until 10-11 pm is still ok. Until 2-3 am is like once in a decade. But probably for the first time in my life, I have done two consecutive overnight drives until 2:30 am! And considering no solid sleep in-between. This one ranks as one of the craziest things I have done in my life. For the record, even though I did not drive the whole stretches, I did drive on both nights from 7 pm onward all the way till the end - racking up 700+ kms entire trip. Apart from the drive, the river bath was a nice soothing experience. And, of course, the religious activities + Brundavana Darshan up-close was the reason why this trip was totally worth it.
Place: Mantralayam
Company: Family (3 cars)
Occasion: Religious family function
Highlights:
Generally I never prefer to go to Mantralayam via Road. The preferred mode of transportation is always train. The last time I remember going on road to MALM was sometime in the late 1980s with my dad's colleagues in 3 cars. I remember sitting in an Ambassador car in the front beside the driver and helping him with the wiper buttons - those huge knobs in the middle of the car which one has to pull and push - all through the night amidst heavy rains! And since then, all I remember is going via trains.
However this trip was tricky. The religious family function got advanced by 1 week on 25th Nov plus, location changed from Udupi to Mantralayam & hence we could not be ready with a train reservation. So, all we were left with was to go via road in own car or rented car, the latter being too expensive. Plans kept changing till the moment of departure (such as tatkal train ticket booking, who has to go in which car, etc.). Wifey & daughter were not intending to come but decided to join in at the last minute.
Day 0:
Finally left the house at 3 pm, picked up daughter from school, and by the time we left in 2 cars, it was almost 4 pm. However, it was traffic all the way till airport. At the first toll, it was already 6 pm! So stopped at Krishna Bhavan for some nice snacks, coffee/tea & bio-break. Next break was at 9:30 pm for fuel - both for car and ourselves near Ananthpur. Again commenced at about 10 pm, missed a turn at Gooty, got stuck due to a road-block, took a deviation, etc. From Gooty to Adoni, road condition is horrible. It is almost 80 kms but takes almost 2-3 hours. Right about midnight, we came across another of our relatives' car stopped due to the silencer clamp having got loosened, touching the road at every bump. So we did some load balancing (since that car was way too over loaded) and now we had a convoy - the problematic car in the middle (going real slow due to the bumps), my brother at the front and me at the back. It was another nice driving experience - right from midnight till 2 am! Adoni to MALM road is super-awesome. By the time we checked-in to the hotel room and unloaded our luggage and hit the sack, it was almost 3 am.
Day 1:
Alarm got us up by 6 am - just a 3 hour sleep. Plan was to go to river Tungabhadra for holy bath. Meanwhile another car had just arrived at about 5:30 am. So by the time we could gather that family and reached the banks it was already 7 am. A boatman offered to take us to the middle of the river where water was fresh, flowing and nice. Had the holy bath, offered our prayers and it was time to head back. Quick darshan at the Mutt - since it was Thursday, the temple was crowded. We skipped entering the line as we were getting late to the function.
Finally it was about 8:15 am when we reached the function which was held in another temple near our relative's house. Homa took place till noon. In the interim, one of our relatives took us to the sanctum sanctorum of Raghavendra Swamy Mutt since he was from the priests' lineage. Up close, we felt so blessed & so lucky. Back at the function, we had some upma as breakfast.
Homa concluded, and we awaited Raghavendra Swamy chief pontiff. He came at about 1 pm and then performed the Pooja rituals until 3 pm. That done, we had lunch starting at 3:30 pm! That done, we bid good-byes to our MALM relatives and rushed to the hotel room for a quick nap before another long night drive. Some of us got nap but some didn't - yours truly included in the latter!
Finally it was time to depart. We started at 8:30 pm. The Adoni-Gooty stretch seemed to get over much quicker this time - mainly because we did not have the 'problematic' car with us! After the Gooty toll, we all (3 cars) took a break for a 10 pm coffee! And then it was expressway drive all the way till home. We reached home at about 2:15 am. Hit the sack for another short sleep overnight before heading to office.
Overview: I never prefer to drive overnight. Maybe until 10-11 pm is still ok. Until 2-3 am is like once in a decade. But probably for the first time in my life, I have done two consecutive overnight drives until 2:30 am! And considering no solid sleep in-between. This one ranks as one of the craziest things I have done in my life. For the record, even though I did not drive the whole stretches, I did drive on both nights from 7 pm onward all the way till the end - racking up 700+ kms entire trip. Apart from the drive, the river bath was a nice soothing experience. And, of course, the religious activities + Brundavana Darshan up-close was the reason why this trip was totally worth it.
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