Mantralayam

Time: April 8th-10th, 2022

Place: Mantralayam, Bichchale, Panchamukhi

Company: In-law families (12 members!)

Highlights: We had been thinking of visiting Guru Raghavendra Swamy's Mantralayam since some time and brother-in-law's arrival (with family) to India in summer with the intent of visiting the same place kind of gave a boost to that thought & action. Since the dates had to coincide with his visit, we agreed upon a weekend in April and booked the train tickets to and fro. 

On the day of travel, packed some dinner via swiggy delivery, and got them all handed over to each person since we all had seats in different seats/coaches. Overnight travel in Udyan express and reached MALM at 4:30 am. Took a tempo directly to the reserved hotel in MALM. Soon after check-in, we split into different groups. Some went to river for bath, some for direct darshan, and sub-groups within. As a result, I went with MIL, Mom and Daughter to river and had a nice, pleasant bath. Surprisingly the water was not too cold. Post bath, it was a wonderful experience doing the sandhyavandanam on the banks looking at the dawn. It reminded me of having done the same thing so many times in the past whenever I used to visit this place with my parents during my childhood. 

Then I went directly to the mutt alone. Had darshan of the Brindavan. They had just completed the Abhisheka and I guess were performing Alankara. BIL had mentioned that he'd do 108 circumambulations and I got inspired by that and thought why not. In fact, he always does that whenever he visits MALM. So, I started off at about 6:35 am, and by the time I complete, it was close to 10:30 am. Roughly I was taking about 2.5 minutes per circumambulation. As the day passed, the crowd increased and the sacred rice (Mantrakshathe) on the floor started piercing to the feet. But I did not feel tired. Paavani joined for about 30+ rounds and for her age (11), that was great.

My wife did Hejje Namaskar - which is like she went step-by-step for 3 rounds and then 2 rounds namaskar for each step. It was her first time too. All in all, by the time we all finished (BIL, MIL, etc.), it was about 11 am. We waited for lunch, and it was served at 11:30 am. Lunch done, we went to our room and hit the bed for a much-needed rest. By this time, it was soaring hot.

Got up by 3 pm and got readied for a trip to Bichchale & Panchamukhi. Unfortunately could not get the same tempo driver, so had to make-do with an auto. Issue was it was too slow. So felt like more travel than amount of time spent in the temples. Reached Bichchale at about 6 pm and then saw the house where Raghavendra Swamy used to stay, and then headed to Panchamukhi. The last time I was in Bichchale was just before marriage in 2008 Feb and it was very different. The floods in mid-2010s ravaged much of the place. Thankfully they have re-engineered as much as possible. 

And then we left to our next stop. It was close to 7 pm when we climbed the stairs of Panchamukhi temple. Thankfully there was not much crowd. I remember coming here long ago and it seemed different, maybe because of the glass partition that they have put now inside the cave. Anyways, by the time we reached our hotel was close to 8 pm and we hurriedly checked out with packed dinners from a nearby restaurant. 

Once again auto-ride to railway station. This time, the ride was painfully even slower. But thankfully reached on time. However train was late by an hour, so we finished our dinner on the platform itself. At about 11 am, Udyan express came and we boarded. A new experience for us this time was that this was a AC-3E (economy) berth which meant new berth-layout manufactured recently. It was nice to have experienced it. Although an hour late, it arrived right on time in BLR at 7:30 am. (Side note: Incidentally, when I was a small kid, the exact same thing had happened - Udyan express came at 11 pm instead of 10 pm at MALM but reached BLR right on time at 7:30 am. At that time, my dad had remarked thus 'The driver made up the delay'. The phrase 'make/made up' regarding time had been the first time I had ever heard then other than the 'make up' that I was used to hear about females!)

Anyways, reached home by about 9 am. To conclude, it was a great feeling to have done the seva to Guru Raghavendra Swamy (for the first time)! In all the previous trips, it was just a visit & Darshan...

Mahakal & Omkareshwar Jyotirlingas

Time: Dec 23-28, 2022

Place: Ujjain, Omkareshwar & Indore

Company: Wife and daughter

Highlights: Well, we wanted to visit some place during school winter hols but was not exactly sure where. A lot of places could not be visited due to an unusual spate of continued monsoon and some of them were too cold due to winter. And some countries/states still were reeling under Covid and that left very less options. So, after much deliberation, we decided on Madhya Pradesh. Initial grand plan also included Bhopal, Khajuraho, Gwalior, etc. but after poring over multiple itineraries, we decided on a simple trip of BLR-UJJ-BLR with an outing to OMK, and IND on the way. Just two weeks before the onset of hols, booked the train tickets. Thankfully we got it.

Day 1 - Dec 23rd: The train departed at 1:15 pm. We had stored enough meals & snacks for that day's meals & next day morning breakfast too. It was nice traveling in train once again on a long route. I think that last time we did a long train travel was almost 3 years ago back in 2018 when we went to Ayodhya and also got back from Kolkata. Enjoyed the scenic route via Hindupur. Thankfully the person who was supposed to occupy one of the side lower/upper seats did not appear and hence we enjoyed the coziness of the side berths.

Day 2 - Dec 24th: Full day train journey. Enjoyed playing games with daughter. Reading novels once in a while. Taking nap. Saw the scenic vistas pass by. Highlight of the day was the meals that I had ordered for the first time using irctc website where it'd be delivered directly to the seats at certain stations. The Kolkata trip lesson learnt was that meals from train pantry were not too tasty & very spicy too. So this seemed like a nice option. We had a variety of options since this was almost like ordering from Swiggy, we could see the menu items, ingredients and even reviews. Also wifey is now inclined towards no-onion-no-garlic food and hence this was the best option. The food that we got was good although bit spicy. And it got delivered within minutes of train arriving at the station where I had ordered for it to be delivered. First experience of such sort. Some more great sceneries, vistas between Nagpur & Bhopal. Got oranges once more at Nagpur just like how we did in 2018. Very soon, right on time, the train reached Ujjain at about 10 pm. The auto driver was surprised why we had booked a hotel at the outskirts when we had umpteen hotels near the main temple. Had a tough time finding the hotel too. But we had booked the hotel since we did not want to search at the nth minute on a long holiday. Anyways, the room was nice, so we didn't repent. Before sleeping, we booked a cab for the next two days to take us around Ujjain and Omkareshwar. We also asked about Bhasmarthi for next day at 4 am but it was not allowed due to Covid apparently.

Day 3 - Dec 25th: Right on time at 9, the cab guy had arrived. Our first stop was, of course, the Ujjain Mahakal Temple. Narrow streets led to the temple until parking lot after that we had to walk the next few bylanes to get to the actual temple. We could have taken the free darshan line since it was empty but the starting point was too far away. So we took the simpler, shorter one by opting for the quick darshan. Within few minutes, we were inside the sanctum sanctorum. We had nice darshan of Mahakal, good thing being a wide screen monitor with live screening which was very helpful especially since we could not go near to the linga.

Darshan got done soon after and we just visited the many temples inside the premises, also sat under the shades of many trees, meditated, took some snaps, participated in a bhajan, etc. and whiled away a lot of time. Reason being we wanted to have annadanam which we were told was at 12:30 pm (but it actually started earlier) outside the temple premises. Food was good. Post that, we went back to our cab guy. On the way, we went to Bharat Mata Mandir (Mother India). Very nice gesture indeed by whosoever conceptualized & constructed it.

The cab guy first took us to Bhartrihari Caves. Seems very simple from outside but once we go in, it is astounding. Especially the part where we have to climb down a set of stairs. Quite unimaginable that great seers sat here for long time to do penance. Such dark areas under earth. Matsyendranath idol also is kept here, who is famed for having left his body through his chakras. There were so many people here that it was getting claustrophobic. Also there was one guy to control the traffic but he lost his cool and went away after which it was complete mayhem - in a cave! You can imagine!

Thankfully the next cave was not too deep. It was a simple bend-your-head, walk-few-steps, return-back thingy. Once we came out, we sat for some time in the open temple premises and meditated for few minutes and returned back to the cab. 

Next stop was Gad Kalika Mandir. It was a very brief stop but quite interesting. Seems like this Devi has lot of energy. When my wife sat within the temple premises, her left side of the lip felt like it was getting pulled! Since she was wearing the mask, it was not easily noticeable but she felt the pull distinctly only when she was in the temple. When she came out, it stopped automatically. One more thing was that Paavani went missing for about 5+ minutes and both my wife and I were searching. Finally found her, and she was searching for us too! 

Next stop was Kala Bhairaveshwar Temple. This was the strangest of all temples. Here alcohol is offered to the idol! When the driver mentioned this, we did not believe him but alas, it is true! Alcohol shops line up completely all the way to the temple entrance and one can see everyone buying it - including the wives, mothers, elderly, etc. like how flowers are bought! And then there was huge queue which led as a direct line to Kala Bhairava. Our last darshan of Kala Bhairava was in Kashi during the 2018 trip and it was brief (few seconds) but this was fulfilling. And here, wifey felt like she was sipping with her lips. So the left-side lip-pull gave way to this lip-sipping feeling, and once again this only happened as we neared the idol. She felt like laughing, experiencing all this interesting twitches on her face especially when she neared these energized idols! And it went away when we left the place, thankfully!

Our next stop was Shri Mangalnath Temple. Quite an astronomical place this, believed to be the birth place of Mars! Also a place where astronomical studies took place. After all, in the ancient times, Ujjain was considered to be center of Earth! There was quite a bit of a queue, but it was moving fast. Took some pics and moved on.

Last stop in Ujjain was Sandipani Ashram. This was a very nice place. Apparently Lord Krishna came here for his studies! So it was his gurukul/school! A small museum-like place yet with potent of a temple. Very nice place, filled with lot of trees. Upon finishing this, we had road-side tea (very well made) and then we were done with Ujjain, and off we went to Omkareshwar. The drive was about 3 hours. At about 8 pm, we had dinner at a pure veg restaurant called Hotel Panchvati (quite good). We reached at 9:30 pm, and retired for the night in the hotel where we had previously reserved. There was some discussion with the driver about us having to take special darshan but we politely declined it and we were glad we declined.

Day 4 - Dec 26th: Our room was very close to the Narmada river ghat. I went scouting to see if it was bath-worthy. To my surprise, the river was super clean! Even better, it was warm! Had a nice time in the river, and the view was awesome, with the Omkareshwar temple right across. After bath, we crossed the river and approached the temple. Quite shocked to see the queue, it was enormous. But it was moving, so we stayed put. And it got done within an hour, so it was ok. Unlike Ujjain, we do get very close to the linga. It seemed like Varanasi temple. Out of the queue, we took some break and imbibed the energy around. The whole atmosphere, scenery was worth imbibing! The flowing river in the background added that much more charm.

After this, we walked back to our hotel, took the luggage and then went in search of Mamleshwar temple. It was within walking distance, not much queue here, so darshan got done in a jiffy. The next stop was for lunch since we hadn't had anything to eat till now except for a road-side banana. We had researched this place called Omkareshwar Prasadalaya and headed there assuming it is temple prasadam. It was not, but more of a Trust's offerings. The food was not all that satvik since they had put some negative pranic vegetables, but it was ok. 

The cab came to where we were and we headed back to Ujjain. Initial plan was also to visit Patal Pani but driver said that it'd be not that good since there were no rains. So we dropped the plan. However, we did a stop-over at Lalbaag Palace in Indore. It seemed more like ruins, and nothing much to write about. Although at that time, it would have been a treasure due to its grandeur. It was more like a museum with all kinds of photos of hunters with their guns on hunted tigers, etc. The kings of the then era showing off their might. All dead now, huh. What of it. After seeing the palace's bathroom, bedroom, living room, etc. we exited. The Mysore Palace & the Palaces in Rajasthan are well maintained is what we felt. 

Unfortunately there was not much time left for us to see anything else in Indore. Heard from driver that Rajwada is only good to visit during night time due to bustling street food nearby (not sure if we were duped by that statement!). So had to skip that, but there was a fair going on at the grounds of Lalbaag palace, so we let Paavani enjoy herself with a number of children's rides. The fair was super big - with rides, eatery stalls, shopping outlets, stage-shows, etc. So we spent about an hour or more just moving around different stalls. At about 7 pm, we left Indore and directly headed to Ujjain railway station. We thanked our driver for showing us all the great places and headed inside the station. Munched something for dinner, got into our train (which apparently came from Indore as well) at 10:20 pm, and retired for the night. This journey back was both side lower and side upper, so we secluded ourselves into our small home for the next 36 hours...!

Day 5 - Dec 27th: Full day train! Kind of like these day trip in train, nice to see different cities, villages, states go past the window! Enjoyed reading Wodehouse book after a long time. Once again, had booked the Jain food for lunch and that sufficed for us. 

Day 6 - Dec 28th: Got up early to see the sunrise. It was picture perfect. Nice to see the misty nature of the morning Earth. Train was right on time, we reached Yelahanka and then Yeswantpur right on time at about 10:45 am. Reached home at about noon, and that was it!

Overview: Well, this trip started off with different itineraries that initially included lot of places in Madhya Pradesh such as Khajurao, Bhopal, Gwalior, etc. and it kind of became overwhelming. And we did not know whether we could sustain all of these since it would have become very hectic. Hence, retained the itinerary to be very simple BLR to UJJ and back although despite it took lot of time in train, and just focus on the two Jyotirlingas. Anyways, wife and daughter do not prefer air travel, and we had holidays, so thought we might as well spend some quality time in the train travel. In fact, we spent over 75 hours just traveling in this trip and the time spent with the two Jyotirlingas was less than 10 minutes combined! But it was all worth it, saw many sunrises and sunsets at different parts of India, different kinds of people, varied set of devotees, etc. And with that, our vacations of 2021 came to an end!

PS: While writing this blog, came upon this article and it shocked us to the core about wife's lip-pulling event at Gad Kalika Temple, and how susceptible she is now for such important places of worship...!

Mysore & Peripherals!

Time: Dec 4th & 5th, 2021

Place: Melkote, KRS Dam, Nanjangud, Somanathpura, Mysore Palace (lights)

Company: Wife and Daughter

Highlights: A hastily prepared Friday evening plan for the weekend! Decided to take family car. KRS Dam and Mysore Palace with lights on were two things that was planned but we could not accomplish in the previous Mysore trip. So added couple more places and packed it into a nice getaway weekend.

Day 1: Idea was to first go to Melkote via Mysore Road but in the morning saw that traffic on that road had piled up, and Google Maps showed fastest route was via Tumkur-Hassan Road. And although longer, I was in fact glad since the drive was very smooth and relaxing. When I was maybe about 10 years old, my uncle stayed in Nagamangala and we used to frequent his place during summer holidays or weekend getaways. And it was during that time that we used to travel on this exact route: Nelamangala, Kunigal, Yadiyur, etc.. Sometimes we used to go via KSRTC bus and at other times we used to drive. Back then, dad used to drive and I felt strange that now I was driving on the same route. So much has changed since then. The roads were lined with wide, tall trees then but now it is replaced with wide roads, and it is now two-way with median. In short, the drive was nice and smooth. Our first stop was, in fact, Nagamangala for fuel. And then we headed to Melkote. It was sometime in the '90s that I had visited here, and was my wish to show it to family as well. Although I did not remember much, I did have a good feeling about this place.

Our first stop at Melkote was Cheluvanarayana Swamy. There was not much queue and the darshan was quick. Imbibed the divinity and then we headed to Yoga Narasimha Swamy Temple atop a hillock. Parked the car at the base and climbed barefoot. It was a short climb but still exhausting since the steps are steep. Darshan atop also was quick and then we came out to enjoy the 360 degrees view. Nice, lush greenery everywhere thanks to Cauvery basin. We then headed back down to the car and went in search of Annadanam near Cheluvanarayana Swamy temple. It was right behind the temple but took us some time to get there, and alas, the last batch of pilgrims were having the lunch and we were not lucky. Our next best option based on the research was Subbana's Mess which was just a few minutes away. Luckily we could get a full-fledged lunch here. Although some of the items were extremely spicy for us, we felt very glad since it definitely seemed like home-made food. Pretty satisfied.

Our next destination was KRS Dam. There is a short-route, about 50 kms, from the back-side of Melkote which leads directly to KRS. I have always entered KRS via Srirangapatna and this was the first time I was entering from a different route. All through the 50 kms stretch which is through the Pandavapura district, the roads are lined by lush greenery. It always gives me joy to see the rich Cauvery basin. Finally by the time we reached KRS, it was about 5 pm. Timed perfectly for the Musical fountain.

We visited the Brindavan Garden and took some snaps & videos in front of the landscape & fountains & the waterways. Just being close to the water and the wonderful garden was extremely pleasant and induced a feel-good factor. The last time wifey & I visited was on Aug 2008 but then we had missed out on the musical fountain (I guess I had seen it about 2-3 decades ago). We spent quite some time roaming here and there, sitting on the grass and looking at the other tourists. And then it was time for the musical fountain show. We walked to the other side and got some nice seats. The show was great, just 15-20 minutes and comprised of some nice collection of songs. 

By 7 pm, we left the KRS and reached Mysore Palace at 8 pm. We tried to get a glimpse of the Palace on lights but it had just turned off. I cursed myself for having arrived late, and reflected that I should have taken a better route. Anyways, next stop was Guru Sweet Mart which is famous for having invented Mysore Pak for the then Mysore King. We took two packets and then had snacks as dinner at a nearby Pure Veg restaurant. And then we headed to retire for the night at a hotel nearby where I had reserved beforehand.

Day 2: We left early at about 9 am towards Nanjangud. Our first stop was the Kabini river Bathing Ghat. The water seemed muddy compared to River Cauvery. Surprisingly this day also was ear-marked for Kabini Arati similar to Cauvery Arati in the previous trip. But this time we did not have any plans of returning back for the Arati. Soon after bath, we went towards the main temple Sri Srikanteshwaraswamy Deity. Lots and lots of crowd, despite us opting for special entrance ticket. Also the queue was not well maintained with people coming from all sides due to which it was hardly moving. But finally we were able to get the darshan. We sat for some time to soak in the divinity. 

That done, we went in search for lunch offering. It was just opposite but here too there was far too many people. We stood in the line once again and had to wait for close to an hour. Idea was to get sathvic food but it didn't seem to be sathvic since it contained onion sambar and rice. Nevertheless food was good, and we were grateful for the offering. We then departed.

Our next stop was closeby: Sri Parashurama Temple, supposedly the place where Parashurama did penance here for atoning the sin of beheading his mother. A very beautiful and soothing place with a nice stream flowing. Had a great time, and then departed Nanjangud. A beautiful one hour drive amidst lush greenery to Channakeshwara Somanathpura Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is an Archeological marvel. A simple yet very artistic & architectural site. Spent about an hour here and took some snaps. 

Our final stop was the elusive Mysore Palace on Lights. We failed the last time, we failed the previous day but this time it just had to be done. So we reached the place by 6:30 pm, well ahead of the 7 pm start of lights. We took our place right in front and in the middle of the Palace. Bang at 7 pm, the lights came on and it was indeed a sight to see. In fact I was glad we missed to see the lights the previous night because it is quite an experience to see the lights coming on right at 7 pm, and the entire palace lights up. We spent about 15-20 mins enjoying the sights and then departed Mysore. Had a quick dinner midway and then rest of the journey was uneventful. Reached home at about midnight.

Overview: Well, finally the elusive Mysore Palace Lights wish came true! It was in our minds since a long time and we came close on Dasara day but the floods ruined it. So, an entirely new trip had to be planned, ensuring not much repeats either in itinerary nor in the route. And surprisingly it got fulfilled not too far from the original trip. Added highlights were Melkote, Srikanteshwara Swamy, Parashurama Temple and Somanathapura temple. A nice, soulful weekend getaway from Bangalore indeed - and the Palace lighting up exactly at 7 pm will be in memory for a long time!

Devarayanadurga & Magadi

Time: Nov 21, 2021

Place: Devarayana Durga, Magadi

Company: Family (Brother, Sister-in-law, Parents, Wife and Daughter)

Highlights: Brother visited from US for a short time and after much deliberation we decided on a day journey somewhere near BLR. Initially we planned Hampi or Mysore for 2-3 days but due to floods in every other town, finally decided on one-day-trip to Devarayana Durga & Magadi - kind of a pilgrimage. Booked a 7-seater for 9 am, left at about the same time. Had breakfast nearby, took NICE road and reach Devarayana Durga at about noon. 

Although I had come here about two decades ago, had very vague memories. Also a lot seems to have changed. There was a number of steps to go high up on the hill, so dad couldn't make it. He stayed put at the base of the stairs. Once we reached atop, we were greeted by nice views along with the main deity Yoganarasimha. The temple atop is also very soothing and divine in nature. The priests also seemed very nice and peaceful allowing pilgrims to make the most of the visit. 

We then descended the hill via stairs and also by car to the Bhoganarasimha temple. Not much queue, but once again, very soothing and peaceful atmosphere. Post temple visit, there was annadanam at a nearby hall and it was very fulfilling & hearty. It was about 3 pm when we departed. Apparently there is another place called Namada Chilume which is very historic dating back to Rama's era but the road was blocked perhaps due to the recent floods and landslides. So we missed it.

We then started off towards Magadi. After a pit stop for some nice juice and snacks, we reached Magadi by sunset. On the way, we saw Shivagange. It was mammoth and we decided to hike it up some other day. Anyway, the temple at Magadi was very old (about 1200+ years ago) and very divine. While the family went from main entrance (with steps), I entered from back entrance (without steps). There are lots of deities, the one at the front and one at the back are both equally divine. Within few minutes, Naivedyam started and hence they closed all the doors of the sanctum sanctorum. We had to wait for a long time (almost 30 minutes) and then had the darshan of the main deity. It was very much akin to the Tirumala deity. Had prasadam and then left to home. Journey back home was uneventful. Had dinner on the way and by the time we reached, it was almost 10 pm.

So, what was planned days in advance for a 2- or 3- day ended up with a short 1-day outing. Yet it was soulful. Glad that we visited these nearby places which we otherwise will not.

Gokarna, Yana, Murdeshwar & Jog Falls

Time: Nov 3rd to 8th, 2021

Place: Gokarna, Yana, Murdeshwar, Jog Falls

Company: Wife and Daughter

Budget: Approx 15,000

Highlights: 

Prelude: We had intended to do this trip since almost an year back. In fact, I had come up with 6-7 different itinerary plans such as BLR-GOK-YAN-MDW-JOG-BLR, BLR-MDW-JOG-GOK-YAN-BLR, BLR-JOG-MDW-YAN-GOK-BLR, etc. and similar such permutations and combinations, some of which entailed train journey and some as car travel. But it never happened because weather.com always predicted rain on the days when we wanted to travel. So we ditched and went to other places such as Mysore and Pondi. 

Fast forward to Nov 2021, and we were again on the brink of a long weekend, thanks to Diwali. Weather.com played the usual spoilsport once more and said it'd be raining in this much awaited destination of ours. But this time, we took a chance and thought we might as well try our luck. So as late as one day before the date of travel, we finally booked the train tickets via Tatkal to GOK and luckily got it. Also booked bus return tickets from Shimoga to BLR, and decided that we will figure out the middle part somehow. Also booked the accommodations all beforehand since we thought we might not get acco easily if we went without reservation. Other than Yana, I had been to all the places long, long ago and I badly wanted wifey and dotty to see them too (although Gouri had already seen Jog once before). And hence, we were off on a train journey after a really long time.

Day 0: Nov 3rd - The train from BLR to Karwar #06585 left in late evening. It was an uneventful train journey but it was our first in an AC compartment post Covid started. This meant IRCTC was not giving blankets and pillow anymore, so we had to carry those ourselves! Thankfully our packing was sufficient, and we did not get frozen to the bones although we came very close to it!

Day 1: Nov 4th - Took an auto from Railway station to Gokarna City. Had booked a Yatridham room (Balakrishna Nilaya) very close to the temple. The owner told that we were lucky that the temple is now open for pilgrims and it was closed until last week to all tourists due to Covid since last several months. How fortunate we were that we didn't come before like how we had planned! Thanks to weather.com indeed which made us put off our plans till now!

After a quick refreshment, went walking to the Maha Ganapathi temple first, did our offerings and then walked to the main Atma Linga Temple. It was not too crowded, and darshan got done in 10 minutes. I once again reminded Paavani of the tale of how this Atma Linga came about (have been telling this tale since I guess she was three!) while Gouri meditated. She felt the Divine within her (as she usually does in such sacred places) and after soaking in the energy of the place, we walked towards the Gokarna beach, which was just a few steps away. 

That done, we walked all the way to Koti Theertha where rituals were being conducted. In front of this was Vadiraja Mutt where we had called beforehand for lunch (unaware about the Temple Annadaana). There was a slight delay here but lunch was delicious. After lunch, we had intended to visit Gokarna beaches but we changed plans to finish Yana that day itself despite the looming dark clouds. Back in our room, we quickly changed to adventure clothes and then rented the scooter and we were off towards the Western Ghats. Thankfully the dark clouds did not pour itself on us although it did sprinkle a bit.

It was an hour's journey on the two-wheeler, road was good and I realized that it was my first time I was riding a two-wheeler on winding roads! We were in the middle of the jungle and felt nice to be in nature. At about 3 pm, we reached Yana Parking lot, and then we started trekking towards the monolithic rocks. It was about 30-40 minutes of moderate climb and then there we were! It was massive. Despite knowing and seeing it all on movie (Nammoora Mandaara Hoove), it still was a stunning spectacle to see it looming right in front of us all of a sudden.

The Government has done well to make a path inside the rocks and it was a great experience. We took enough pics and videos and soaked in the atmosphere and environment. Despite the struggles of getting here, it definitely is a place worthy of visit. We stayed almost for an hour and headed back to the parking lot. Return ride was smooth and pleasant although it was nearing dark since the Sun had set already. We were ever so grateful that the Rain Gods stayed put else it would have been tough. By the time we reached Gokarna it was almost 7 pm and we had light beverages in a restaurant and then reached our room. Just before then, the rains came and how! It was pouring cats and dogs and from the comfort of our room, we saw tremendous force of the thunderstorm. How glad we were to have arrived! After about an hour's lashing, it stopped and started drizzling.

We then made our way to the Temple Annadaanam where we had sumptuous dinner of simple rice-rasam and rice-buttermilk. Again we were grateful to whoever had arranged for this food-offering to pilgrims. That done, we retired back to the room and slept.

Day 2: Nov 5th - We left about 9 am with the same rented bike and had breakfast at the same place where we had had tea the previous evening. From there, we went to Om beach. It was a nice drive all through and small trek down to the beach itself. It was very different indeed, the beach being in the shape of Om (in Sanskrit). We even had to walk in the water to get to the beach from the steps, which was nice experience! The sand, the water, the rocks were all of a different formation and it was wonderful. We walked along the beach to as far as we could and spent quiet time with the lapping waves. At the middle of the Sanskrit Om, one can see the waves coming from both sides and converging. Quite a sight to see!

On the way back from Om Beach we went to Kudle Beach. These were the only beaches easily accessible by bike. The other beaches like Half-Moon beach and Paradise Beach involved trekking and we didn't have much time. But even Kudle beach involved about 10-15 minutes of walking on uneven surfaces and once we got there, it seemed like we were in one of the Goan beaches since this was more commercialized with lot of adventure water sports, music in the background restaurants, etc. Here too we walked all along the beach to as far as we could and headed back.

Upon returning back to the town, we again finished our lunch at the Annadaanam complex and checked out of the room and returned the rental bike. I had miscalculated the usage and filled up the fuel tank of the rental bike but alas there is no refund! Anyways - our next destination was Kumta. The Bus station was right opposite our guest house and we took a local bus to Kumta. It was just an hour's journey and Paavani kept me entertained about how Lord Vishnu is worshipped as Saligrama. Very interesting story indeed!

From Kumta, it was another local bus to our resort (JD Home Stay) near Nirvana Beach. Now, this Nirvana Beach came into our itinerary only because of the phytoplankton phenomenon that is apparently very commonly seen in the Nirvana Beach. So we thought we might as well get a resort on the Nirvana Beach. Obviously we could not get it at such short notice. So we settled for next best which was about a mile away from the beach. We thought we could somehow manage but once in the resort we realized we were in the middle of nowhere. Without having an own vehicle, it was very difficult to move from one place to another and in our case, it was the beach. There was no bus, no auto, no nothing to get to the beach and back. Also the resort owner said that bioluminescence can only be seen late in the night like around 2 am. 

At that time I realized that this was one thing we had not researched properly and this halt here was not going to serve the purpose. We indeed need a beach stay to experience that surreality. Anyway, what was done is done, so we thought we might as well visit the Nirvana Beach. So we started walking towards it since there was no other way. Long road was 3 kms but a short-cut was 1 km on a water-splotched muddy road. We took the short cut since it was still daylight and reached the beach via Sandy Shores Beach resort. The beach was just like any other but very less crowded. Except for the camping tourists maybe. We went to Panchabhuta cafe for a Hot Chocolate for the 11-year old and Masala Tea for my wife and I. They took a really long time to prepare but it was wonderful. 

By the time we were done (and bitten by a lot of mosquitos), it was dark and sun had already set. From hereon started a hair-raising adventure since we could only hear the waves but we could not see a thing nor did we know where to go, how to go and nor could we go back the way we came since it was way too dark on that muddy-watery road. Hardly any soul to be seen too. Just with the help of a little bit of cell torch, we made our way along the beach which was now filled with crabs and god-knows-what kind of little insects crawling up and down the sand. We kept walking towards what we thought the 'Main Entrance/Exit' for Nirvana Beach just trying to be away from the lapping waves.

After some time, Paavani saw a motor vehicle moving about in a parallel direction and we realized there was a road nearby. Since walking on a dark road is better than walking on a dark beach, we made our way to the road. Thankfully there was no barricades, compound walls to obstruct our way to that place, and soon we were on another muddy road walking alongside the beach. Thankfully there were few vehicles moving about which gave us little bit of confidence. We enquired for the nearest bus stop and started walking towards it. We took one final look at Nirvana Beach. No bioluminescence. Perhaps next time. Sigh. After bidding goodbye, we walked towards the bus stop. Once there, the shop keeper nearby mentioned that buses were scarce now due to Covid. We called for an auto but there was no response. 

With no other alternative, we started walking towards the resort. It was now a good 3-4 kms away! All in all, we walked that day from 5 pm till 8 pm except for a beverage break. After a long walk, looking at the local houses celebrating Deepavali by lighting actual lamps (unlike electric ones that we have in our apt complex), we finally reached our resort. The cook made a delicious dinner for us and we retired for the night. 

Day 3: Nov 6th - We had a long planned day today, since our final destination of the day was Sagar (had booked hotel there) after finishing Murdeshwar - and full travel was unplanned and unreserved. So we got up early but it was a big breakfast, hence we took our own sweet time. Also the resort was nice and lush green, with beautiful sun rays filtering through the trees. Spent some time taking pictures, and then we were finally off. Got a bus very quickly to main bus stand, and from there got another local bus to Murdeshwar. I thought there would be a number of private buses but was surprised to not find many. But luckily we didn't have to wait for a long time. The bus was packed but convenient enough.

By the time we reached Murdeshwar, it was about noon. The temple was too crowded. The queue to the main sanctum sanctorum was too huge and people were jostling left and right. The temple was about to close for lunch at 1 pm and we just were able to get inside and get a nice darshan. Right after, there was another queue for annadaana. We spent some time meditating and soaking the energy, and after the current batch of lunch got done, we went for our turn. It was once more yummy consecrated food and we were so grateful for the authorities to have arranged such a nice facility for the pilgrims. Thousands and thousands of pilgrims having consecrated food is such a blessing.

Lunch done, we came out of the temple premises. Since the luggage counter was closed from 1 pm to 3 pm, we had all the luggages with us and it was quite a deal lugging them all through the queue and then the lunch and now outside in the hot sun. The next destination was the big Shiva Statue right behind the temple. We climbed the little hill and few steps with all our luggage in the sun towards the top where there was one more small Shiva shrine and a small museum. Alas, even those were closed until 3 pm. So we just sat there in the cool shadow to while away the time since there was nothing else to do. Pretty much all the other pilgrims were also doing the same thing. We could have gone to the beach but then we had to come back up all the way again, so we thought we might as well stay put and take some rest.

As soon as the counter opened at 3 pm, we got into the museum. It took hardly few minutes to see all the statues and carvings. Although they were exceptional, we were out in less than 10 minutes. The museum depicted complete story of Atma Linga, Ravana's penance, his loss to Ganesha and how a part of the covering came to MDW. I reiterated the story to Paavani which I had first heard in my PU Sanskrit class since when it captivated me. Museum done, we quickly we went to the shrine as well and offered our obeisance, and climbed down towards the beach. 

Facing the Arabian Sea, to the left of the temple and to the right of the temple are both beaches but they were very distinct in nature. While the right side had stalls selling several eateries, beverages, toys, etc., the left side was very sparse and rather empty with few fishing boats anchored. We thought of going there first but looking at the emptiness, we thought maybe it was prohibited to the general public. So we went to the commercial beach and spent some time playing with the waves (only knee-length though!). At that time I realized that I had never ventured deep into the ocean (chest high) with daughter and got totally wet. It was so because there was no easy access to freshwater. The resort at Nirvana Beach was one such reason but it was indeed too far off. Pondi resort was good but the beach was dangerous. Other beaches we visited in and around Pondi or in and around Gokarna were plain visits without planned dress change. This made me regret the itinerary and almost made me change the plan to stay over in Murdeshwar (instead of Sagar) but then realized that it would become too hectic the following day since we had a bus to catch at 4 pm from Shimoga to BLR the next day. Traveling from MDW to Jog and then to Shimoga before 4 pm would have been difficult especially with no idea on the transportation. On hindsight, it was good we did not stay back in MDW, since our day in Jog was packed too (next day). 

We still had to cover one more thing in MDW, that being going atop the Gopuram! Something that is very unique, since most temple Gopurams don't allow that! There was an elevator which we took us to the 18th floor of the Gopuram from where we had an amazing 360 degree view. If we had stayed till sunset, it would have been great but we still had a long way to go, so we descended. We then had ice cream and enquired about how to get to Sagar and made our way to the Bus stop. Little did I know that the second adventure of the trip (in as many days) was just about to begin.

I knew there was a KSRTC Rajahamsa bus from Bhatkal to BLR at 4 pm via Sagar and was hoping that we would get it. The online reservation did not work since it does not qualify for a journey more than 50% of the total distance. We got to the bus stop at about 4:30 pm and we thought the bus had left and had to take any other local bus but thankfully saw it entering MDW, which meant the bus was late. When it started departing towards BLR, we asked the conductor but he said he had seats only till Honnavar. We hopped on and soon got to Honnavar. We thought getting a bus to Sagar from here was easy but, oh boy, were we wrong. There was hardly any bus, and there were plethora of passengers wanting to go in that same route, thanks to the holidays. Finally one bus came but the reservations took precedence and they all got their seats. Ironically this bus would go to Sagar via Jog (which was actually our destination)! Then came our turn to board, and we knew we had to go standing all the way from Honnavar to Sagar. This reminded me of my own childhood days when I went standing & sleeping from Sirsi to Ankola on the way to Karwar in a jam-packed bus, and I felt it would be quite an experience for Paavani to go through the same. 

But 30 mins into the journey, I felt pity for her. I was somehow trying to keep her occupied with games such as Atlas, and other word games and she was fine until after 10 minutes she started feeling sleepy. At that time I asked her to lean on me and sleep. But after few minutes, her legs gave away since she was in deep sleep, and I thought she might as well sit on the ground. Thankfully, a lady sitting beside me saw the plight and beckoned her to sit beside herself (triple sharing on a twin seat). She was like a Goddess at that moment for me and my daughter. Although not very convenient, sitting uncomfortably on a seat for 3 hours was better than sitting on the ground amidst feet! Just when I thought a big problem got solved, another one began: the winding roads.

I knew that the road from Honnavar to Sagar was through the Western Ghats and there was bound to be winding roads. Usually daughter and wife get sick when I am driving, and I was hoping that they wouldn't if we travel in a bus since buses generally don't go fast as cars. But I was wrong. This driver was in a hurry. He accelerated and then hit the brakes, accelerated and hit the brakes every time there was a hair pin bend. Forget my wife and daughter, even I started feeling nauseous. Standing, losing balance, sleepy, feeling pukish, worried about daughter and wife, struggling for oxygen in a packed bus, wearing masks due to Covid threat - I regretted not having planned this part of the trip properly. Wife was standing at the back of the bus and I used to see her now and then but now she was no longer visible. Later came to know her legs gave away too (although she was awake) and she too sat amongst the feet all around her! Thankfully one of the guys standing beside me gave me water when I asked and I felt little bit fine. 

I was amazed though that Paavani had not puked yet so far. I was oh-so-glad. I thought wifey had puked too - she couldn't have withstood this onslaught. Last time we three felt so nauseous was on the boat-ride to island of Catalina back on 2013. The lady sitting beside Paavani had to get down at one of the stops, and as soon as she got down, Paavani puked. It happened in few seconds, and there was no sickness bag, so it had to be out of the window. So lucky that it was easy accessible else I cannot even imagine. Another thing I was glad is that it was not raining. Else everyone would have closed the windows suffocating all of us further! Thankfully that was the one and only sickness episode in the entire bus journey. We soon reached Sagar and after getting out, we all sat on a bench just to get some air and get our body back to stability. Wifey had not puked although very close to it. Took an auto to our hotel (I-Roomz Ocean Comforts), checked in, munched something as dinner, and fell to the bed. This was one (un)forgettable day.

Day 4: Nov 7th - Had booked a cab with a local driver with the help of hotel receptionist and the guy was right on time at 9 am. We left the room though at 8 am and went to a nearby eat-out for breakfast. The cab driver was very friendly. He gave complete information about Jog falls. He even took us on the backroads to make us see the Linganamakki Dam, the backwaters of the dam which eventually causes the Jog falls, the place where hydroelectricity gets generated, etc. before actually taking us to the dam site. Our initial plan was to take a bus to Jog and return back (assuming there were lot of buses) but we were wrong. There are hardly any buses plus taking the cab was a good option because we got to know a lot about the place as the driver gave us all the scoop including different movies that were shot in the area. 

There was one more minor sickness episode for Paavani but she was fine otherwise. The Jog Falls itself was very majestic. Although I was expecting far more volume due to the rainy season but it wasn't so. Still, it was well worth a visit. I didn't even remember when I was here last - maybe 3.5 decades ago and the place was definitely better than how it was back then. Took a number of pics and we thought we were done with the trip when the cab driver took us to another strategic place which gives a different view of the falls. It is considered as the back side of Jog falls, the place where the infamous Mungaru Male movie was shot right above one of the falls. This place was great too although there was a great deal of walking, and it was quite hot too. We observed the falls from all viewpoints and we were more than satisfied. Went back to the car, drank some tender coconuts and we headed back to Sagar Bus stand. Bid the driver good bye for showing us the places very well indeed and took a bus to Shimoga. This was an uneventful one hour journey in a near-empty bus.

At Shimoga Bus stand, we had our lunch in a relatively good Veg restaurant and waited for our bus to come. We were supposed to leave at 4 pm but our bus never came. Finally our bus came at 5 pm. It was my first in KSRTC Airavat Club Class bus. I had high expectations but it was just like any other bus with AC. The road from Shimoga to BLR seemed to be undergoing constructions and there was a number of diversions. We had one stop at 7 pm for dinner at a pretty nice restaurant. I wasn't feeling too good to eat but daughter ate. Bad idea. She had one more sickness episode soon after in the bus and this time wifey took care of it very well indeed. It being an AC bus, there was no open windows! So she had the sickness bag ready, still it had to be done in the dark. Thankfully rest of the journey was uneventful, and we reached BLR a little after 11 pm. Took our bike and reached home at midnight, and hit the sack. It was another day filled with adventure.

Epilogue: Finally the eluding trip to Gokarna, Yana, Murdeshwar & Jog got done - after much deliberation and not without a number of unforgettable adventures. Major take-away from the trip: never plan for unreserved travels (legs in the overall travel plan) and assume easy access will exist. Each of the destination was remarkable in its own way and quite memorable. Albeit difficulties, there were also a number of things to be thankful for. Anyway, all's well that ends well. In fact, this year 2021 is perhaps the only year where we three together have been to two sides of the peninsula and touched both Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea...

(Floody) Mysore Dasara

Time: Oct 15th - 17th, 2021

Place: Mysore

Company: Wife & Daughter

Highlights: Well, Paavani had a week-long break and I always want to make best utilization of such breaks especially since even I had a long weekend. What better way to utilize than for what the holidays is given for? Dasara festival! The heart of Dasara is Mysore, so we thought we might as well go to Mysore. Would be a great cultural experience for Paavani. My mom told that I had been to Dasara fest in Mysore before & my wife had been to but I don't remember a thing. So, booked the rental car & the hotel rooms only the day before. Kind of lucky to get the room considering how crowded Mysore would be. But fate had it's own say...

Day 1: Had ordered for car delivery at home by 8:30 am (vroom), and it was bang on time. Car was good. We left around 10-ish, had breakfast at a nearby fast-food and then drove all the way non-stop to Mysore.  Reached about 3-ish. Thankfully no car-sickness episodes like the Madikeri trip although route started off same for both. 

Upon entering Mysore, the scale of grandeur of the festivities greeted us with lights adorned every street. We made our way to the palace but there was so much crowd, so many roads cordoned off, people walking everywhere that we couldn't follow GPS anymore nor was GPS able to guide us ably. We were driving blind. We asked a couple of traffic policemen for the palace, and they directed us to a common parking lot which we just couldn't find. Finally, we came across one public parking spot and were lucky enough to squeeze through it to get one spot only to realize that the parking lot was for the zoo, since we were right opposite it!

Our initial plan was to visit the palace and tackle the zoo next day but since we were right there, we thought we might as well finish the zoo. Entered about 3 pm and it took full 3 hours for us to go through the zoo. It is really vast with all kinds of creatures. W & D really enjoyed a lot. Had some light refreshments and the majestic giraffes at the exit bade us good bye.

Since it was dusk now, we thought we will drive towards the palace to see it in lights. However, the crowd, the traffic, the one-ways, etc. all made it outright impossible. Next best was to park somewhere and walk towards the palace but there was no place to park either. Added to that, it started raining. And it was no ordinary rain - it was like boulders of water gushing out from everywhere with very less visibility. We parked at road-side for rain to subside, and munched some snacks to pass time. But the rain didn't subside, and in fact there was now water all over the roads. So we thought before we get stuck in floods, we might as well go to our hotel which seemed to be close by anyways. 

But that was tricky too. We drove for 10 mins and the roads were now 1-2 ft filled with flowing water. So we stopped again along with other cars & blinking lights. After 10 more minutes, the rain seemed to subside, so we started off again towards the hotel. And then we came to a section of the road which was like a U-shaped meaning started from an elevation, went down the slope and again climbed back up. Now the problem was the lower part of that U was filled with fast gushing water, apparently from a lake which was overflowing due to the rain. We were right at the bottom when there was a traffic jam. Water level is increasing and current is fast and vehicles are not moving forward, it was one tense moment. Thankfully, it moved ahead and we went up the slope and we were out of danger. But the night was not yet over.

We reached the hotel and the parking lot was at a slightly lower basement. I was about to head into that when wife cautioned me, so parked on road-side. SO grateful since, within a few minutes, those cars parked inside got submerged as the water entered the parking lot and there was nowhere for the water to exit, and it became a small pond. Bikes inside the lot completely got submerged as well. It would have been a tremendous damage if I had not stopped at all those places and gotten early, I would have parked inside the lot (since at that time the rain was not so heavy) and I would have literally financially & logistically be doomed! 

Anyways, with flood-like situation outside, I thought at least once we check-in, we would be safe indoors. Alas, the receptionist said that the management had changed recently and the hotel shown online does not belong, and hence no rooms available right now. Which meant, we had nowhere to go since whole Mysore was booked out. And it was already 11 pm. Due to the downpour, the receptionist allowed us to stay in the reception until rain subsided. Meanwhile, a crane had come to dig up the gutter to make way for the water gushing out everywhere. Several households in the neighbour were inundated. Some compound walls had given away and water had gushed inside homes. 

Meanwhile, we hadn't had dinner, we didn't have a place to go and even if we did, roads were logged with water. We were stuck literally outdoors. Our last resort was to stay in the car itself and spend the night. Couple of phone calls to hotels didn't yield any luck. All rooms were booked - it being Dasara and a weekend. Finally caught hold of one hotel near Railway station. They were charging two thousand. It was a small room, space enough only for a cot, and a dirty little bathroom in a very-sidey looking neighbourhood. But the owner was very good. We took it since we badly needed a place to sleep. And, boy, were we glad that we barely managed to escape the wrath of the floods...

Day 2: After about 7 hrs of sleep, we departed soon enough at about 9 am. Had sumptuous breakfast at Adyar Anand Bhavan just beside Railway Station. It was extremely crowded and self-service was tough. Breakfast done, we headed to the Mysore Palace. I was surprised at the crowd - way too much! The place for leaving footwear was unbelievably crowded - people were shouting, temper was rising, totally mismanaged and all blame to the administration. There could have been definitely a better way to manage it. People started leaving footwear where they wanted after being tired up being pushed and shoved everywhere, definitely not a place for the female populace.

The crowd was neck to neck even inside the palace despite it being Covid times. It was the first time in several months that we were in such a crowd after Covid started. Hardly any social distance. But getting back to the Palace - it was wonderful. Just like all those palaces which we saw in France and Rajasthan. The last time I was inside was when I was just about same as my daughter's age - about 10 or 11. I still remember the line being empty and I was running farther and further, and here I was going step after step with nowhere to go nor breathe! The interiors, the views from balcony, the throne were all the same and kept intact.

After about couple of hours, we were back out. Visited couple of temples (inside Palace premises, which is great), we left towards Chamundi hills. On the way, we saw Kamat and had nice North Karnataka lunch. That done, we climbed the Chamundi, and it was a nice drive up the hill with not much winding roads. In fact, we didn't even feel as if we were climbing a hill. Once atop, I was astounded to see a multi-storey parking lot! I didn't know so many people visited here.

After about a short distance walk to the temple entrance, I was even more astounded to see the crowd! It was overflowing with people everywhere. Blame it all on Dasara vacation, and people from all neighbouring cities and towns had poured into Mysore. We took special entrance just so that we can get it done quickly and don't get exposed to too many people in the crowd. But even with special entrance, the pushing and shoving existed albeit for a quick 15 minutes! Had a nice darshan of Chamundeshwari, and then we took some snaps of the landscape.

Back in the car, drove down to Nandi scenic spot. Quick stop, few pics taken and we were ready for next stop: Sadhguru's enlightenment spot. Realized we passed it but could not go back since it was one-way. Also realized that we did not see Mahishasura statue atop Chamundi. So, in search of road back to top, we actually drove down the hill all the way to the bottom, and then climbed it from the other side! It was actually funny that we climbed the same hill twice on a same day within such a short span of time - maybe the only family to do so! Again, went into the multi-storey parking lot and all just for posing a pic with Mahishasura! Also could not go to Sadhguru's enlightenment spot since it was off limits. Some folks asked us to stay off and we had to forego that, which was something we really wanted to see. Anyways.

We were done for the day although we wanted to see the Palace lights. We didn't want to risk another bout of 'floody rains', so thought we might as well get checked into our hotels. This hotel was at the outskirts of Mysore. Nice and clean and no risk of floods in the car park. There was a scheduled Sadhguru's Satsang and we attended that via our mobile itself. Ironically, it didn't rain that evening and the program was re-telecasted the next day. So we could have done the palace lights actually. Anyways, it was time for bed.

Day 3: This day's itinerary was simple - Srirangapatna temple, Ranganthittu and KRS dam. Our first stop was Srirangapatna bathing ghat. The Youth Brigade was constructing a dias in the middle of the river, apparently for the Cauvery river arathi scheduled that evening, on the lines of Ganga arathi conducted in Varanasi. Accompanied with Arathi, was the 'laksha deepa' (literally 1 lakh diyas). And as we were taking bath, a priest was conducting homa on the banks in front of the Ganesha idol. This homa also was a prequel to the evening arathi. Overall, the experience was deep and very spiritual. After bath, the priest asked us (along with many other visitors) to personally do abhisheka and arathi to Lord Ganesha idol, which we did. Felt very pure and pious. The priest also requested us to participate in the evening festivities (which was like once in a lifetime event for us). While we walked away from the ghats, we decided there and then that we might as well attend the Cauvery arathi instead of KRS dam which we could do any other day. 

Next stop was Srirangapatna temple. This temple always touches me. Not much crowd here, so darshan was quick and fast. But we spent quite some time sitting inside the premises. By now, it was already noon-plus. So, headed to a nearby lunch stop at Bangalore-Mysore highway. On the way, we saw Tipu's Death place and then came across Jamia Masjid. We thought we might as well visit it, so went inside. Not much to see, so we just roamed around. We even went up the stairs and took in the grand view of everything around us. Our next stop was lunch at Aduge Mane Restaurant. Food was just fine but very spicy, which I guess is how it is everywhere these days.

Next we headed to Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary. It had been more than 3 decades since I had last visited here, so hardly remember a thing. But Paavani loved it. The boating was the best part. The entire premises itself is very well-made and well kept. The tree houses, garden mazes, walking trails, short bridges (with see-through-flooring), gift shop, benches scattered everywhere - all of this make this place a very nice place to visit, and can easily spend 2-3 hours. 

Post this, we still had couple of hours before the evening arathi started, so we thought we might as well see couple of Srirangapatna's historical places. We ditched the fort and went to Daria Daulat Bagh but it was closed since I guess we were late. We then went to Gumbaz-e-Shahi. Nice landscaping & a small building commemorating Tipu's relatives. Finally, it was time for us to head back to the Bathing ghat. 

Needless to say, there were lot of people. Also, the steps were covered with diyas, and hence space was less. But arrangements were all very well made and complete. We sat where we could. Soon enough (thankfully) the program began. Invocation, speeches by dignitaries, etc. all got done quickly and since some of the pilgrims started lighting up the diyas, the volunteers asked all the diyas to be lit else it would not have looked good. So, within a few minutes everyone participated and we lit all the diyas. And then the arathi began too. It was wonderful to see the respect bestowed upon Mother Cauvery. The Youth Brigade had done a lot prior to this (especially cleaning the river banks from irresponsible pilgrims left-overs) and the guest of honor commended them all. By 7:30 pm, the arathi came to a closure, and we rushed home since we knew it would take a long drive.

And a long drive it was - close to 4 hrs despite being 130+ kms. By the time we reached home it was midnight thanks to a lot of construction underway on the BLR-MYS highway. Road-widening I guess. It was a short and quick dinner at Kamat midway, but otherwise uneventful. Upon reaching home, had a little bit of tug-of-war with the guy who came for rental car pickup and hence had to again drive out a few kms at 1 am. Finally, got back home and retired for the night.

Overview: And thus ended our trip which turned out to be a close-shave for a flood adventure. My first time for a live show of vehicles getting drowned. The force of current while we were in the middle of the road filled with water also was scary especially since we were sitting ducks. At one point, in Mysore I even contemplated returning back to BLR on day 1 night itself considering we did not have a place to stay and the 'more rain' warning continued to flash on weather app. But kind of lucky that we got at least one hotel room & we stayed put with the itinerary. A week later, the road on the Chamundi Hill towards Nandi collapsed and it was barricaded. We were very fortunate to have survived the floods and very lucky to get to see the Cauvery arathi. However, we had intended to finish the KRS Dam and Mysore Palace lights as part of this trip but it was not meant to be, so another trip to MYS beckons...until then, signing off! 

PS: Forgot to mention....Aah, the lush greenery of the fertile river banks of Mother Cauvery!

Isha Yoga Center

Time: Jan 3rd - 5th, 2020 (realized that I had missed to post this before, hence the delay!)

Place: Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore

Company: Wife, daughter, cousins and cousin's daughters

Highlights: One of our cousins (who stays in Aus) had not yet seen IYC and we thought we all will go to show to her. So started planning sometime in Oct/Nov time frame and booked the train tickets & cottages way in advance. Time flew, and it was the day of travel!

Day 0: Lokmanya Tilak express train from Mumbai was late by couple of hours. But it made up the lost time, since we reached on time the next day. It was fun playing with cousin's daughter (toddler) in the railway station especially when she just wanted to board any train on the platform! Took a hard time convincing that we had to wait for our train.

Day 1: Took a cab from railway station to IYC. Got ourselves checked in. Cottages were clean, simple, just bare necessities and wonderful. Relaxed and refreshed & did the Shambhavi practice. Then went for the morning meal (about 10ish). Filling and fresh. Then had a darshan of the Linga Bhairavi and Dhyanalinga. Last time when I was here for Maha shivratri, I couldn't enter the Dhyanalinga but this time I could. Nada Aradhana was going at noon time. Headed back to room to catch up on some lost sleep. Visited the Dhyana Linga again, this time just for plain meditation. Got back to the dining place for dinner. Then relaxed and roamed around the campus's lush green vast spaces under brightly shining stars to discuss about spirituality and Sadhguru. By about midnight, went back to our rooms to retire for the night.

Day 2: At about 5 am itself, we could hear people practising many kriyas. We got up by 6ish and by 7, we left the room to visit the Adi Yogi statue which was just outside. There were couple of peacocks on our terrace which is apparently common here. Me and my male cousin then went to Surya kund to take dip in the holy-mercury-energized water, and then headed to Linga Bhairavi. Devi Stuti was going on and it was exhilirating. Then headed to Dhyana Linga once again, and sat amidst many meditators. It was quite an experience. I felt like I was outside the Milky way galaxy and was able to feel the millions of stars & planets spinning around with Dhyanalinga being in the center. It was weird. Anyways, all done, we went for the brunch at 9:30 am.

Soon it was time to pack and checkout. We had to rush a little since we had to catch the train at 1 pm. After last-minute rushes, we finally left at noon. Took a cab and reached station at few minutes before 1. The journey back was in a sitting train, which was great because we could talk all the way back. We even played word games, memory games, just like how we used to do few decades ago during our childhood train trips. And now we could do it all over again with our kids! Truly a memorable experience. Rest of the journey back home was eventless. 

I always wanted to visit Dhyana Linga and this trip finally made that wish come true. And I am sure this is not the last trip to Dhyana Linga either...