i-visit

Matheran

2010-12-27T06:06:00.000-08:00

Matheran (Marathi: Marathi: माथेरान is a city and a Hill Station municipal council in Raigad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a hill station in Karjat Tahsil and is also the smallest hill station in India. It is located on the Western Ghats range at an elevation of around 800 m (2,625 feet) above sea level. It is located around 90 km from Mumbai, and 120 km from Pune. Matheran's proximity to the three Metros makes it a popular weekend getaway for urban residents. The name Matheran means either "forest on top" or "mother forest".

It was late when we reached Neral. We started our journey from Pune and we got the train which goes to Karjat. We had to get down in Neral. The journey was horrible because the train was too crowded. We did miss the site scene while we travel to Neral. We got to see many tunnels and bridges which reminds me our picnic to Yadakumeri. once we reached Neral thought of staying in Neral since we were not sure whether we get the vehicle or not. But Navs was not willing to go back to Mumbai by skipping Matheran. So I had to stay back with him. We were waiting for long for the cabs. Actually there are lot of omnis which take you to the peak but they need 5 passengers. Later three people came and so we went to the top. The vehicles will go to some point later we have to walk or ride on horse. We decided to walk. It was so dark that time,I was not sure whether we will get room or not. But still we went up. Once we make to the peak we started searching for room. So we got it in one small home stay. We stayed there. Morning we started to explore the places around. Better come to the peak by train. Since we couldn't get teh tickets we had to come by omni. The train starts from Neral station itself.

Matheran is an eco-sensitive region, declared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India. It is one of the few places in the world where vehicles are not allowed, which makes the place different from others. Matheran takes you over a hundred years back in time when there were no vehicles.

Because of vehicles being banned in Matheran, the place is quite peaceful despite the thousands of visitors coming to visit throughout the year.

There are lots of lookout points that provide spectacular views of the surrounding hills and valleys. Matheran has a reasonably dense forest cover.

There are around 38 designated look-out points in Matheran, including the Panorma Point that provides a 360 degree view of the surrounding area and also the Neral town. From this point, the view of sunset and sunrise is breathtaking. The Louisa Point offers crystal clear view of the Prabal Fort. The other points are the One Tree Hill Point, Hart Point, Monkey Point, Porcupine Point, Rambgh Point, and more.

History

Matheran was discovered by Hugh Poyntz Malet, the then district collector of Thane district in May 1850. Lord Elphinstone, the then Governor of Bombay laid the foundations of the development as a future hill station. The British developed Matheran as a popular resort to beat the summer heat in the region.

How to reach

One can go via Mumbai/Pune. The toy train will get from Neral station. Should book well in advance.

Total distance

Appro. 6-8 kms from Neral railway station.

Daulatabad fort, Aurangabad

2010-12-23T21:02:00.000-08:00

We had visited Daulatabad fort on Dec 23rd 2010.Once we finished visiting Ellora caves on the way back we visited teh fort. It was a very huge fort and still strong enough. It was built very nicely and unfortunately we couldn't click more pics since our camera battery got exhausted. Still we keep teh memories.

History

Daulatabad (meaning “City of Prosperity”), is a 14th century fort city in Maharashtra, India, about 16 kilometers northwest of Aurangabad. The place, was once as known as Deogiri, (circa the sixth century AD, when it was an important uplands city along caravan routes and is now but a village, based around the former city of the same name.

Starting 1327, it famously remained the capital of Tughlaq dynasty, under Muhammad bin Tughluq (r. 1325-1351), who also changed its name, and forcibily moved the entire population of Delhi here, for two years, before it was abandoned due to lack of water.

Once known as 'Devgiri', this magnificent 12th century fortress stands on a hill just 13 km. from Aurangabad. It was given the name Daulatabad, the 'city of fortune', by Muhammad Tughlaq, Sultan of Delhi. Initially a Yadav stronghold, it passed through the hands of several dynasties in the Deccan. One of the world's best preserved fort of medieval times, surviving virtually unaltered, Daulatabad yet displays the character that made it invincible.

Arguably amongst the best constructed forts all over the world, this fort never in its lifetime witnessed a battle. Only once was the power transferred on this fort, and that too was by treachery!

It has 7 lines of defense all the way up to the Baradari (palatial building on the top) and each line is constructed in such a way, that even if that line is captured, it is impossible to use it to attack the fort by directing the fire inwards.

A series of secret, quizzical, subterranean passages lie coiled like a python amidst the fort. Here flaring torches were thrust upon an unwary enemy. Or hot oil poured down his path, as he deliberated in the labyrinth. Also the heat from a brazier was blown into the passage by a process of suction suffocating the entire garrison within. The Fort itself lies in the body of an isolated hill; the steep hill - sides at the base falling so sharply to the moat that no hostile troops could scale the height.

The moat, 40 ft. deep and carved into solid rock with mechanical drawbridges teemed with crocodiles. A 5-kilometer sturdy wall, artificial scarping and a complicated series of defenses made Daulatabad impregnable.

The 30-meter high Chand Minar (Tower) built much later with 3 circular galleries had a defensive and religious role in the fortress.

The area of the city includes the hill-fortress of Devagiri (sometimes Latinised to Deogiri). It stands on a conical hill, about 200 meters high. Much of the lower slopes of the hill has been cut away by Yadava dynasty rulers to leave 50 meter vertical sides to improve defenses. The fort is a place of extraordinary strength. The only means of access to the summit is by a narrow bridge, with passage for not more than two people abreast, and a long gallery, excavated in the rock, which has for the most part a very gradual upward slope.

About midway along this gallery, the access gallery has steep stairs, the top of which is covered by a grating destined in time of war to form the hearth of a huge fire kept burning by the garrison above. At the summit, and at intervals on the slope, are specimens of massive old cannon facing out over the surrounding countryside. Also at the mid way, there is a cave entrance meant to confuse the Enemies.

The Fort which according to Indian ancient texts falls under the classification of Misra durg or mixed fort as it combines the qualities of Giridurg (mountain fort), Dev durg (God's fort) and Bhumi durg (land fort). The fortification walls were built at different periods by different dynasites like the Yadavas, Khilji, Tughlaq, Bahamani, Nizam Shahi and Malik Amber bears a marked resemblance to medieval European forts in the disposition of projecting towers, covered passages and bastions. The walls consist of arrangements of the underground secret passage with safety arrangements, in the style of buildings which give the bastions, despite their grim appearances, a touch of beauty by insertions of carved stones and dainty architectural details at various places.

The fort has been considered as the most powerful, puissant fort that offered robust resistance to the enemies. An invincible fort, one of the best preserved in comparison to other forts in the vicinity of the same period. Its sound and sturdy quality exists due to the powerful wall about three miles in perimeter and defended by a moat and gacis that runs round the hill at its foot and between this outer curtain and the citadel, also known as Dharagir and Duwagir. These details have been extracted from Professor Dulari Qureshi's book Fort of Daulatabad.

How to reach

Same as Ellora caves

Ellora caves,Aurangabad

2010-12-23T05:26:00.000-08:00

We left Mumbai on 22nd Dec night around 9:00pm Davagiri exress train to Aurangabad. We reached Aurangabad around 4:30am in the morning. From there we got a taxi to reach our hotel called Panchavati. We took rest till 7:30am and once we finished our breakfast we asked the travelling agency to book a car for us. So we hired Indica on that day and headed towrds Ellora caves. It will take 3-4hrs to go around the caves. Suggested to hire taxi and hire guide as well.

Ellora is an archaeological site, 30 km (19 mi) from the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra built by the Rashtrakuta rulers. Well-known for its monumental caves, Ellora is a World Heritage Site. Ellora represents the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture. The 34 "caves" – actually structures excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills – being Buddhist, Hindu and Jain rock cut temples and monasteries, were built between the 5th century and 10th century. The 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12), 17 Hindu (caves 13–29) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves, built in proximity, demonstrate the religious harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history.

Buddhist and Hindus caves

It was initially thought that the Buddhist caves were one of the earliest structures, created between the fifth and eighth centuries, with caves 1-5 in the first phase (400-600) and 6-12 in the later phase (mid 7th-mid 8th), but now it is clear to the modern scholars that some of the Hindu caves (27,29,21,28,19,26,20,17 and 14) precede these caves. The earliest Buddhist cave is Cave 6, followed by 5,2,3,5 (right wing), 4,7,8,10 and 9. Caves 11 and 12 were the last. All the Buddhist caves were constructed between 630-700.

These structures consist mostly of viharas or monasteries: large, multi-storeyed buildings carved into the mountain face, including living quarters, sleeping quarters, kitchens, and other rooms. Some of these monastery caves have shrines including carvings of Buddha, bodhisattvas and saints. In many of these caves, sculptors have endeavoured to give the stone the look of wood.

Most famous of the Buddhist caves is cave 10, a chaitya hall (chandrashala) or 'Vishvakarma cave', popularly known as the "Carpenter's Cave". Beyond its multi-storeyed entry is a cathedral-like stupa hall also known as chaitya, whose ceiling has been carved to give the impression of wooden beams. At the heart of this cave is a 15-foot statue of Buddha seated in a preaching pose. Amongst other Buddhist caves, all of the first nine (caves 1–9) are monasteries. The last two caves, Do Tal (cave 11) and Tin Tal (cave 12) have three stories.

Cave 1 is a vihara with eight cells, four in the back wall and four in the right wall. It had a portico in the front with a cell.Possibly served as a granary for other viharas.

The Vishvakarma (Cave 10) is the only chaitya griha amongst the Buddhist group of caves. It is locally known as Vishvakarma or Sutar ka jhopda (carpenter's hut). It follows the pattern of construction of Caves 19 and 26 of Ajanta. On stylistic grounds, the date of construction of this cave is assigned to c.700. The chaitya once had a high screen wall, which is ruined at present. At the front is a rock-cut court, which is entered through a flight of steps. On either side are pillared proticos with chambers in their back walls. These were probably intended to have subsidiary shrines but not completed. The pillared verandah of the chaitya has a small shrine at either end and a single cell in the far end of the back wall. The corridor columns have massive squarish shafts and ghata-pallava (vase and foliage) capitals. The main hall is apsidal on plan and is divided in to a central nave and side aisles by 28 octagonal columns with plain bracket capitals. In the apsidal end of the chaitya hall is a stupa on the face of which a colossal 3.30 m high seated Buddha in vyakhyana mudra (teaching posture) is carved. A large Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa) is carved at the back. The hall has a vaulted roof in which ribs have been carved in the rock imitating the wooden ones.

The Hindu caves were constructed between the middle of sixth century to the end of the eighth century. The early caves (caves 17–29) were constructed during the Kalachuri period. The work first commenced in Caves 28, 27 and 19. These were followed by two most impressive caves constructed in the early phase - Caves 29 and 21. Along with these two, work was underway at Caves 20 and 26, and slightly later at Caves 17, 19 and 28. The caves 14, 15 and 16 were constructed during the Rashtrakuta period. The work began in Caves 14 and 15 and culminated in Cave 16. All these structures represent a different style of creative vision and execution skills. Some were of such complexity that they required several generations of planning and co-ordination to complete.

Cave 16, also known as the Kailasa or the Kailasanatha, is the unrivaled centerpiece of Ellora. This is designed to recall Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva – looks like a freestanding, multi-storeyed temple complex, but it was carved out of one single rock, and covers an area double the size of Parthenon in Athens. Initially the temple was covereed with white plaster thus even more increasing the similarity to snow covered Mount Kailash.

All the carvings are done in more than one level. A two-storeyed gateway resembling a South Indian gopuram opens to reveal a U-shaped courtyard. The courtyard is edged by columned galleries three storeys high. The galleries are punctuated by huge sculpted panels, and alcoves containing enormous sculptures of a variety of deities. Originally flying bridges of stone connected these galleries to central temple structures, but these have fallen.

Within the courtyard are three structures. As is traditional in Shiva temples, first is large image of the sacred bull Nandi in the front of the central temple. Central temple - Nandi Mandap - is housing the lingam. Nandi Mandap stands on 16 pillars and is 29.3 m high. The base of the Nandi Mandap has been carved to suggest that life-sized elephants are holding the structure aloft. A living rock bridge connects the Nandi Mandap to the Shiva temple behind it. The temple itself is tall pyramidal structure reminiscent of a South Indian temple. The shrine – complete with pillars, windows, inner and outer rooms, gathering halls, and an enormous lingam at its heart – carved from living stone, is carved with niches, pilasters, windows as well as images of deities, mithunas (erotic male and female figures) and other figures. Most of the deities at the left of the entrance are Shaivaite (followers of Shiva) while on the right hand side the deities are Vaishnavaites (followers of Vishnu). There are two Dhvajastambhas (pillars with the flagstaff) in the courtyard. The grand sculpture of Ravana attempting to lift Mount Kailasa, the abode of Lord Shiva, with his full might is a landmark in Indian art. The construction of this cave was a feat of human genius – it entailed removal of 200,000 tonnes of rock, and took 100 years to complete.

The temple is a splendid achievement of Dravidian art. This project was started by Krishna I (757–773) of the Rashtrakuta dynasty that ruled from Manyakheta in present day Karnataka state. His rule had also spread to southern India, hence this temple was excavated in the prevailing style. Its builders modelled it on the lines of the Virupaksha Temple in Pattadakal. Being a south Indian style temple, it does not have a shikhara common to north Indian temples. – The Guide to the Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, 1996, Takeo Kamiya, Japan Architects Academy and archaeological Survey of India.

The Dashavatara (Cave 15) was begun as a Buddhist monastery. It has an open court with a free-standing monolithic mandapa at the middle and a two-storeyed excavated temple at the rear. The layout of the temple is closely related to caves 11 and 12. Large sculptural panels between the wall columns on the upper floor illustrate a wide range of themes, which include the ten avataras of Vishnu. An inscription of grant of Dantidurga is found on the back wall of the front mandapa. According to Coomaraswamy, the finest relief of this cave is the one depicting the death of Hiranyakashipu, where Vishnu in man-lion (Narasimha) form, emerges from a pillar to lay a fatal hand upon the shoulder of Hiranyakashipu.

Other notable Hindu caves are the Rameshvara (Cave 21), which has figurines of river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna at the entrance and the Dhumar Lena (Cave 29) whose design is similar to the cave temple on Elephanta Island near Mumbai. Two other caves, the Ravan ki Khai (Cave 14) and the Nilkantha (Cave 22) also have several sculptures. The rest of the Hindu caves, which include the Kumbharvada (Cave 25) and the Gopilena (Cave 27) have no significant sculptures.

Jain caves

The five Jain caves at Ellora belong to the ninth and tenth centuries. They all belong to the Digambara sect. Jain caves reveal specific dimensions of Jain philosophy and tradition. They reflect a strict sense of asceticism – they are not relatively large as compared to others, but they present exceptionally detailed art works. The most remarkable Jain shrines are the Chhota Kailash (cave 30), the Indra Sabha (cave 32) and the Jagannath Sabha (cave 33). Cave 31 is an unfinished four-pillared hall and a shrine. Cave 34 is a small cave, which can be approached through an opening on the left side of Cave 33.

he Indra Sabha (Cave 32) is a two storeyed cave with one more monolithic shrine in its court. It has a very fine carving of the lotus flower on the ceiling. It got the appellation, Indra Sabha probably it is significantly ornate and also because of the sculpture of Yaksha Matanga on an elephant, which was wrongly identified as that of Indra. On the upper level of the double-storied shrine excavated at the rear of the court, an imposing image of Ambika, the Yakshi (dedicated attendant deity) of Neminatha is found seated on her lion under a mango tree, laden with fruits.

How to reach

Hire private vehicle/MTDC bus from Aurangabad to visit the places.

Total distance

30km from Aurangabad.

Nearest places to visit

Daulatabad fort,Bibi-ka-Muqabara,Ghrishneshwara temple

Elephanta caves,Mumbai,Maharastra

2010-12-22T04:35:00.000-08:00

This time we had planned for longer trip and Naveen had started exploring places in Mumbai,so he suggested to visit Elephanta caves in Mumbai. We have started from Bangalore in the morning flight around 5:50am and reached Mumbai at 7:30am. We stayed in my cousin's room in Andheri(E). Around 12:00 we caught the local train(fast train to Churchgate and by the time we reached churchgate it was 1:30pm. So we sat in boat and headed towards elephanta caves. Its almost 1:30hrs journey by boat to reach the place. They will charge 130Rs per trip.

The Elephanta Caves are a network of sculpted caves located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri (literally "the city of caves") in Mumbai Harbour, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the east of the city of Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The island, located on an arm of the Arabian Sea, consists of two groups of caves—the first is a large group of five Hindu caves, the second, a smaller group of two Buddhist caves. The Hindu caves contain rock cut stone sculptures, representing the Shaiva Hindu sect, dedicated to the god Shiva.

The rock cut architecture of the caves has been dated to between the 5th and 8th centuries, although the identity of the original builders is still a subject of debate. The caves are hewn from solid basalt rock. All the caves were also originally painted in the past, but now only traces remain.

The main cave (Cave 1, or the Great Cave) was a Hindu place of worship until Portuguese rule began in 1534, after which the caves suffered severe damage. This cave was renovated in the 1970s after years of neglect, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 to preserve the artwork. It is currently maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

The island is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length with two hills that rise to a height of about 500 feet (150 m). A deep ravine cuts through the heart of the island from north to south. On the west, the hill rises gently from the sea and stretches east across the ravine and rises gradually to the extreme east to a height of 568 feet (173 m). This hill is known as the Stupa hill. Forest growth with clusters of mango, tamarind, and karanj trees cover the hills with scattered palm trees. Rice fields are seen in the valley. The fore shore is made up of sand and mud with mangrove bushes on the fringe. Landing quays sit near three small hamlets known as Set Bunder in the north-west, Mora Bunder in the northeast, and Gharapuri or Raj Bunder in the south.

The two hills of the island, the western and the eastern, have five rock-cut caves in the western part and a brick stupa on the eastern hill on its top composed of two caves with few rock-cut cisterns. One of the caves on the eastern hill is unfinished. It is a protected island with a buffer zone according to a Notification issued in 1985, which also includes “a prohibited area” that stretches 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the shoreline.

History

Since no inscriptions on any of the caves on the island have been discovered, the ancient history of the island is conjectural, at best. Pandava, the hero of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, and Banasura, the demon devotee of Shiva, are both credited with building temples or cut caves to live. Local tradition holds that the caves are not man-made.

The Elephanta caves are "of unknown date and attribution". Art historians have dated the caves in the range of late 5th to late 8th century AD. Archaeological excavations have unearthed a few Kshatrapa coins dated to 4th century AD. The known history is traced only to the defeat of Mauryan rulers of Konkan by the Badami Chalukyan emperor Pulakesi II (609–642) in a naval battle, in 635 AD. Elephanta was then called Puri or Purika, and served as the capital of the Konkan Mauryas. Some historians attribute the caves to the Konkan Mauryas, dating them to the mid 6th century, though others refute this claim saying a relatively small kingdom like the Konkan Mauryas could not undertake "an almost superhuman excavation effort," which was needed to carve the rock temples from solid rock and could not have the skilled labor to produce such "high quality" sculpture.

Some other historians attribute the construction to the Kalacuris (late 5th to 6th century), who may have had a feudal relationship with the Konkan Mauryas. In an era where polytheism was prevalent, the Elephanta main cave dedicates the monotheism of the Pashupata Shaivism sect, a sect to which Kalacuris as well as Konkan Mauryas belonged.

The Chalukyas, who defeated the Kalacuris as well as the Konkan Mauryas, are also believed by some to be creators of the main cave, in the mid 7th century. The Rashtrakutas are the last claimants to the creation of the main cave, approximated to the early 7th to late 8th century. The Elephanta Shiva cave resembles in some aspects the 8th century Rashtrakuta rock-temple Kailash at Ellora. The Trimurti of Elephanta showing the three faces of Shiva is akin to the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Shiva), which was the royal insignia of the Rashtrakutas. The Nataraja and Ardhanarishvara sculptures are also attributed to the Rashtrakutas.

Later, Elephanta was ruled by another Chalukyan dynasty, and then by Gujarat Sultanate, who surrendered it to the Portuguese in 1534. By then, Elephanta was called Gharapuri, which denotes a hill settlement. The name is still used in the local Marathi language. The Portuguese named the island "Elephanta Island" in honour of a huge rock-cut black stone statue of an elephant that was then installed on a mound, a short distance east of Gharapuri village. The elephant now sits in the Jijamata Udyaan zoo in Mumbai.

Though the main cave was restored in the 1970s, other caves, including three consisting of important sculptures, are still badly damaged. The caves were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 as per the cultural criteria of UNESCO: the caves "represent a masterpiece of human creative genius" and "bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared".

How to go

One can reach Elephanta caves via Churchgate/gate way of India. There will be lot of boats which will take you to the island.

Two days in Bay of Bengal

2010-11-26T23:19:00.000-08:00

Brief note about Pondy

The Union Territory of puducherry comprises of four coastal regions viz- puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. puducherry and Karaikal are situated on the East Coasts in Tamil Nadu, Yanam in Andra Pradesh and Mahe on the West Coast in Kerala.
puducherry is the Capital of this Union Territory. It is on the east coast about 162 kms south of Chennai (Madras) located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. There are no hills or forests in this region. The main soil types in this region are red ferrallitic, black clay and coastal alluvial.

Main languages spoken in the region are Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. English and French are other languages, which are spoken by a considerable number of people. Majorities of the people are Hindus. There are quite a number of Christians and Muslims, whereas very few Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists.
puducherry is a unique place. Many feel that it has a distinct spiritual vibration. Stories of resident sages come down through its history from the earliest days. The nickname “Pondy” sums up this shared feeling of belonging, of having come home.
puducherry is best accessible by road from Chennai, Bangalore and even from Kerala.Chennai has an international airport which directly connects to the highway to puducherry. And good transit hotels are available in the vicinity for travelers who arrive in the night.

We left to Pondy on Friday night by train and reached there on Saturday morning at 10:00am. Once we reached our hotel we had nice breakfast and started to explore the place. We hired activa on first day. There are not much places to visit but I feel food is awesome. We had a delicious food for two days. We could relish the cheese garlic bread,french fries at rendezvous and a mug of beer. One should try out the varieties of dosas we get there,really worth trying. There are lot of Italian restaurants but hardly get Italian foods. We were in search of Italian ice creams but we couldn't find one. One can go to Mahabalipuiram from Pondy if you have private vehicle, its 90kms away from Pondy.

Places to visit

Auroville
Aravinda ashram
Beaches
Paradise Island
Churches
Cafe corners

How to reach

Can go by private vehicle or by train/bus. Can hire vehicle over there

Total distance

Nearly 450kms from Bangalore

Somanathapura and Shivanasamudra

2010-10-24T03:59:00.000-07:00

This trip happened all of sudden. On Saturday night when I saw Navs online,I just pinged him and asked whether he is free on Sunday,he said yes. Then I asked him what if we could plan for Somanathapur which was long pending spot to visit. He agreed. So we decided too leave 6:00 in the morning. So we started around 6:15am from our room and headed to Mandya. It was breezing heavily in the NICE road. We stopped in Mysore highway near to Maddur in Adigas for breakfast and had Open butter masala dosa :). We took the divertion near to Maddur to go to Shivanasamudra since Navs haven't seen that place earlier. So got to see Bharachukki and gaganachukki falls once again. Later came back till Malavalli and took the divertion and headed towards Bannur. When we reached Somanathapura it was 9:30am

History
Somanathapura ಸೋಮನಾಥಪುರ (also known as Somnathpur) is a town located 35 km from Mysore city in Mysore district, Karnataka, India. Somanathapura is famous for the Chennakesava Temple (also called Kesava or Keshava temple) built by Soma, a dandanayaka (commander) in 1268 CE under Hoysala king Narasimha III, when the Hoysalas were the major power in South India. The Keshava temple is one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture and is in a very well preserved condition. The temple is in the care of the Archeological Survey of India as a protected heritage site.

The reigning monarch was Narasimha III (1254-91 A.D.) whose full regal title runs into a sizeable paragraph: "Sri Vishnuvaradhana, Pratapa Chakravarti, Hoysala Bhujabala, Sri Vira Narasimha, Maharajadhiraja, Raja Paramesvara, Sanivarasiddhi, Giridurgamalla etc.

The temple, however, was built by the celebrated army commander, Somnath. Some years earlier he had founded a village on the left bank of the Kaveri River, which he had named Somnathpur, after himself.

The temples in Somnathpur are not as widely known as the ones in Belur and Halebid, though they all are from the same period. Somnathpur is more representative of the age, since it did not suffer destruction as much as Belur and Halebid did and hence offers a better view of the period's architecture. Often it is referred to as the poor cousin of Belur and Halebid. Somnathpur's temples adhere to the typical Hoysala style of architecture, where the temple is designed as a mini cosmos with scenes carved on the walls including Gods, Goddesses, dancing girls, musicians, gurus and all kinds of animals including elephants, lions, cows and monkeys.

Its unique design and perfect symmetry are ignored amidst the farms and agricultural lands of surrounding villages. It is visited more by foreign tourists than domestic.

At the temple, the outer walls are decorated with a series of star-shaped folds and the entire surface is covered with carved stone plaques. The walls above the plinth are also carved with exquisite figures of gods and goddesses, taken from the Hindu puranas, and meticulously arranged in vertical panels.

The most widely known temple is the one dedicated to Keshava, built around 1268 AD by which time the Hoysalas had completed 260 years in power. However, the temples of Somnathpur were not built by the king, but by popular army commander Somnath. He founded a village on the banks of the Cauvery and then embarked on constructing temples in a bid to further his immortality.

The temple itself, stellar in shape, has three profusely carved pinnacles with a common Navranga and stands on a raised platform.

The three sanctum sanctorums once housed beautifully carved idols of Kesava, Janardhana and Venugopala. Today, the idol of Lord Kesava is missing but the other two still adorn the sanctum sanctorums in their original form.

How to reach
1.Bangalore-Ramanagara-Channapatna-Maddur-Malavalli-Bannur-Somanathapura.
2.Bangalore-Kanakapura-Malavalli-Somanathapura.

Total Distance
150kmx2

Two days in Sakleshpur

2010-08-22T06:07:00.000-07:00

Its been pretty long time since we been for a long ride by bike. So we decided to go to Sakleshpur. Actually we wanted to ride our bikes when its raining. So Sakleshpur is came into our mind. Rather than the place, we were enthusiastic to drove our bike for a long. So we started our journey on 14th August Saturday around 7.00am from Bangalore. Our teammates already reserved the stay at the place called Jenukallu resort. We reached our destination at around 12.00 noon. It was nice journey,when we reached Sakleshpur it started drizzling and when we moved further it was started pouring heavily. So we were dripping wet when we reach the place. Roads were very bad and slippery so one of our teammate fell down.The best thing I wanted to mention over here is the coffee we had on our way. We stopped our bike in one point to stretch for a while and we had coffee in one small canteen. The coffee was ultimate,even we don't get such taste in any of the coffee day for sure.

The place
Sakleshapur or Sakaleshpura the town with the bountiful is located on the border of Malnad and Bayaluseemae in Hassan district of Karnataka, South India. It is located at an average elevation of 949 metres (3113 feet). Since it has temperate climate on the Western Ghats, it is suited for growing Cash crops. Coffee growers from the neighboring villages throng to sell coffee at Sakleshpur. The town lies on National Highway 48 (NH-48), which connects Mangalore with Bangalore.

History
Long ago a Shiva Linga which is broken/ cracked was found in these regions. Hence Sakala means Bhirukada or Bhinnavada meaning " broken " or "cracked" . There is a Shiva temple at the entrance of the town. It is also means Sakal Aaishwarya Pura meaning Town with all Wealth, river, coffee, cardamom, pepper, hill stations education etc. Sakaleshwara swami rata yatra or Car Festival takes place every year in February.

Our destination is Jenukallu
The western ghats is a trekkers paradise. A trek to JENUKALLU mountain, which is the second highest peak in Karnataka will be the most memorable experience.

From the top of Jenukallu Mountain on a clear day, one can see the coast of Arabian Sea in Mangalore. Needless to say, you will be on top of the world after climbing the peak of JENUKALLU. If you are not interested in long distance treks, then the mountain which stands right next to the resort is the place for you. You can watch the beautiful sunset and sunrise and of course the mesmerizing landscape of western ghats.

JenuKallu Valley Retreat is located in near Devaldkere village, 265 kms away from Bangalore, 27 kms from Sakleshpur in the Western Ghats. Our resort is strategically located on the hill ranges of JenuKallu and serves as a wonderful way to experience Nature. Sakleshpur is located in the Western Ghats, a mountain range that stretches from Kerala to Gujarat. The southern range, which includes Bisle reserve forest and the region around Sakleshpur is listed as one of the 18 most diverse spots in the world in terms of flora and fauna. The sub-tropical climate and heavy rains during the wet season create an environment where several unique plant and animal species flourish.
Marked by its tranquility and verdant greenery, Sakleshpur lies in the southern section of extensive mountain range of the Western Ghats. One such mountain range is the JenuKallu mountain which is the second highest peak in Karnataka only next to Mullayanagiri.

Trekking
First day we decided to climb a small hill to get a full view of the place. It looked like a simple task of walking on the ridge from one peak to another!! We could see lot of leaches on the way to hill. I got a bite for sure. I was not realized it first,when I got to see the blood clot on my feet. From the top of Jenukallu Mountain on a clear day, one can see the coast of Arabian Sea in Mangalore. Needless to say, you will be on top of the world after climbing the peak of JENUKALLU. If you are not interested in long distance treks, then the mountain which stands right next to the resort is the place for you. You can watch the beautiful sunset and sunrise and of course the mesmerizing landscape of western ghats.
In the night they have arranged a campfire for us and we had a fun till late night and slept lateron.

Temple visit
On the second day we decided to visit the temple and falls.So our vehicles headed towards the temple. The day was 64th Independence day. We got to see the flag hoist in one small school when we were passing. We visited Betta Byraveshwara Temple which was near to our resort. This Temple is in a serene location on a hill top. It looks like the road is constructed newly to the Temple. I was astonished upon seeing a brand new sulabh sauchalaya (Toilet) next to the Temple!! It was too much for a Temple located in a remote location. But anyway, the Temple is quite old and provides some nice view of the surrounding places.We then climbed a small hill to get a full view of the place. The Jenukallu gudda and digallu peak were the prominent ones.We spent some time just watching those peaks and lazed at a small pond next to the Temple. Later we went to see the Devaladakere falls. Some of us had nice bath over there. We were there for few mins then came back to our place and packed our bags and started back. Again we got the rain when we started from there.

How to reach

Bangalore-->Tumkur road-->Nelamangala road-->NH48-->Kunigal-->CR Patna-->Hassan-->Sakleshpur-->Take right turn at Anemahal-->Hanbal-->Devaladakere-->Athibeedu-->Jenukallu valley retreat

Total distance

265kms from Bangalore
From Sakleshpur to resort 27kms

One day visit to golden temple

2009-12-20T02:36:00.000-08:00

Ops.. we had planned to go for outing after a long time..after a year. Anyways it was decided to go to Rangasthala and ghati subramanya but last minute plan got changed and all decided to go Vellore golden temple. Even I heard about it and seen some mails about the place,so interested me to visit once. So we left B'lore at 7:30am on Saturday. This time we went by car. Its 250km away from B'lore.Road was good but have to pay for toll in 3 places.

About Vellore:
==========

Golden Temple - when uttered this word, immediately people thinks of Amritsar and the Highest Body of the Sikh's pride Golden Temple. But now it has got a good competition! Yes, an estimated over 600 Crores of Indian Rupees spent, to construct a true Golden Temple for Goddess Mahalakshmi, the presiding deity, (installed and maintained by Sri Narayani Peedam) in this Temple at Sripuram, which is situated 6 km away from the District Headquarters - Vellore, North Arcot District in Tamilnadu. Now, the temple is complete, open to the general public; this town Sripuram has all the facilities one can visit to enjoy his/her spiritual experience.

A Mahalakshmi temple called 'Sripuram' and made of more than a ton of pure gold will glitter and gleam under the sun on August 24 when it is unveiled for consecration by the Sri Narayani Peetam headed by a 31-year-old godman who calls himself Narayani Amma. Devotees hail the temple as 'one of the wonders of the world' and say that it is the only temple covered fully with gold.

More than 400 gold and coppersmiths from the Tirupathi Thirumala Devasthanam are said to have worked for six years to craft the Rs. 600-crore golden temple located on 55,000 sq ft of land on a 100-acre salubrious stretch in Malaikodi, about 6 km from Vellore in north Tamil Nadu. According to official sources, the gold bars were purchased through RBI in "a transparent manner "

First the coppersmiths set to work creating a copper base on the temple structure with engravings and etchings before the gold, beaten into nine layers of foils, was draped around it. The sanctum sanctorum will hold the deity of Mahalakshmi made of stone granite, but covered with gold protection layers. (Kavacham - adornments).

While coming back we visited Vellore fort. It was huge fort.

Vellore Fort is a large 16th-century fort situated in Vellore city near Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It was built by the Nayakar governors of the Vijayanagara Empire and was constructed with large granite blocks. The fort is known for its grand ramparts, wide moat and robust masonry.

The Fort's ownership passed from the Nayaks, to the Bijapur Sultans, to Marathas, to the Carnatic Nawabs and finally to the British, who held the fort until India gained independence. During British rule, the Tippu Sultan's family and the last king of Sri Lanka, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha were held in as royal prisoners in the fort. The fort houses a Christian church, a Muslim mosque and a Hindu temple, the latter of which is famous for its magnificent carvings. The first rebellion against British rule erupted at this fort in 1806, and it is also a witness to the tragic massacre of the Vijayanagara royal family of Emperor Sriranga Raya.

While on the way back we visited Yalagiri hills.

How to reach:

Bangalore - Vellore (via Hosur) - 220 kms (On national highway routes - NH7 > via - Hosur Road - Electronic City - Attibele(NH7) - Hosur - Kamandoddi - Shoolagiri- Melumalai - Kurubarapalli - Krishnagiri > NH46> - Bargur - Vaniyambadi - Ambur - Pallikondaj - Vellore. - around 4 hours drive)

One day picnic to Mekedatu and Chunchi falls

2009-09-21T23:20:00.000-07:00

We have planned to visit Mekedatu and Chunchi falls on this weekend. So planned to start early morning at 5:00am,but unfortunately it started drizzling at 4:30. So had to wait for 30mins more to rain to stop. So we all gathered at METRO, kanakapura road. We 7 on four bikes headed towards Kanakapura...We decided to go to Chunchi falls first.The falls is settled 90 km away from Bangalore city. It is 16 km before the Sangama and is located in the Kanakapura taluk. The waterfall is about 6km away from the deviation. The waterfall is nestled among the amazing ranges of rocks on the banks of the River Arkavati. It is located on the way to Yelehalli from Sangam. One can reach to Chunchi falls from Kanakapura. The waterfall is in the backdrop of scenic settings and it offers eye catching panoramic views of the surroundings. It is surrounded by dense and green forests. The falls is a popular picnic spots. Even though it is a small waterfall, the beauty of its rushing cascades of water in a green setting enchants tourists.

Mekedatu
========
Mekedatu means Goat's Leap in Kannada. ‘Mekedatu’ is the place where the Kaveri (Cauvery) River flows through a narrow ravine. Legend has it that the channel was so narrow that sheep would jump across, and hence the name Mekedatu (Meke = sheep/goat, datu = cross in Kannada) Here the Cauvery river jumps in to deep narrow gorge over which even a goat can leap. One can drive only up to Cauvery Akravati Sangama. After this you can cross the river in coracle ( circular boats ) or by walking if the water level is low. From here Mekedatu is 4km downstream. There is two buses available at the other end which can take you till Mekedatu, but the buses are in horrible condition. We had to pay 40Rs each for round trip. The journey was jumpy ;) The rocks at Mekedatu get slippery during monsoon. Once we back from Mekedatu we decided to go to Shivanasamudra and Talakadu but we couldn't make it Shivanasamudra. When we reached Talakadu it was almost 6:00pm so few of our mates took bath in river and we had chicken and fish and started back to B'lore.

Mekedatu is about 93Kms from Bangalore. The first 89Kms till Sangam can be undertaken in a vehicle, but for the last 4Kms we need to cross a river and either take a different transport bus or
go walking.

How to reach
B'lore-->Kanakapura-->Sangama

Distance
90kms to Chunchi falls

Family picnic to Belur and Halebidu

2009-02-21T20:30:00.000-08:00

Few words about Belur

Belur is a small town in the Hasan district of Karnataka. Here, kings of the Hoysala dynasty constructed the 'Chennakeshava' (handsome Vishnu) temple. It is about one hundred feet high and has a magnificent gateway tower (gopuram), built in Dravidian style. The main temple, surrounded by a group of subsidiary shrines, stands in the center of a rectangular, paved courtyard along the perimeter of which are ranges of cells fronted by a pillared veranda. The temple has lost its super structure but looks very imposing. It has a pillared hypostyle hall (navaranga), a square vestibule (antale ), and a solid, stellate vimana. Three entrances lead into the hall, each being flanked by a shrine. The doorways are guarded on either side by the gorgeously decorated doorkeepers called Jaya and Vijaya. The extensive hall is supported by forty-six pillars, each of a different design. There is one monolithic pillar can be seen near to navaranga.None of the pillars or carvings are similar thou it looks so, when we observed closely there will be slight changes in each design.The symbol of Hoysalas is a man killing a tiger.

Symbol of Hoysala dynasty

The temple was built using the soft soapstone with very intricate carvings.The temple looks like a casket and its 178 feet long(east-west wise)and 156 feet broad(north west wise)
The unique pillars were manufactured by rough-finishing a monolithic block of stone and then mounting it in upright position on a wheel. This was rotated against a chisel, set as a turning tool. Each pillar has a bell-shaped member towards the lower half of the shaft. A sloping bracket has been fixed to the capital by means of sockets. The brackets were carved from single slabs into images, enshrined with leafy aureoles of beautiful maidens known as 'shilabalakis'. The seductive, voluptuary emphasis is remarkable. The subjects are all secular and mostly represented are voluptuous maidens. All are graceful, charming and fascinatingly chiseled out. Each damsel is celestial, with exuberant serene beauty, exhibiting the virtuosity of the sculptors. They all are in conformity with the art of dance and sculpture ( 'Natya' and 'Shilpa' shastras). Hence, their breasts remind of the moon, the waist resembles that of a swan, and their hips remind those of an elephant.

Bittiga, the fourth and mightiest monarch of the Hoysala dynasty, was converted from the Jain faith to the Vaishnava faith by the sage Ramanuja. The king changed his name to Vishnuvardhana and built temples with great vigor and dedication. In order to commemorate his victory over the Cholas in the battle of Talkad, he built Belur Temple in 1117 A.D. and it took 103 years to complete and Vishnuvardhana's grandson Veera Ballala II completed the task.The intricate workmanship includes elephants, lions, horses, episodes from the Indian mythological epics, and sensuous dancers (Shilabalikas).The inside is even more richly carved on its panels and pillers. There is not a portion of the structure that has been left uncarved.The architecture is extremly complex, yet regard for proportion is well maintained. If you insert a thread into the pupil of an eye on one of the sculptures, it would emerge through the nose. suspend a taut string from the forehead of a dancer and it will fall straight to an uplifted toe. The queen Shantala, though a Jain by faith, was noted for catholicity of her religious outlooks. She was a well-known dancer and on one of the temple's brackets her dancing pose has been sculptured in the most ornate and in exuberant style.

The single pillar which stood outside the temple is a monolithic stone and surprising thing is only its three edges are touching the ground and we can pass the paper or kerchief under the pillar. It stood in gravitational force. Hats off to the technological idea which they had so long back.Such technology we can see in Hampi temple as well.

In the rich marble screens of the navaranga there are twenty-eight grill windows. Some are pierced with the conventional patterns. They are generally star-shaped, with bands of foliage, and with figures and mythological subjects. On one of the screens king Vishnuvardhana is shown beside his queen Shantala. A metallic icon of the period depicts the king in a standing posture which gives the exact idea about his stature, personality, dress and different ornaments he wore.

Historians find a tradition that the ancient and medieval Indian artists rarely sign their work of art. However, the Hoysala sculptors have broken this custom and signed their sculptures. They engraved their names, titles and even the place of their origin at the foot of their art work. The stone inscriptions and copper plates of the period give some more details about these artisans. Mallitamma was the most prolific of all known Hoysala artists and more than forty well-executed sculptures stand in his name. Dasoja and his son chavana(though legends assign it to one Jakanachari) were migrants of a nearby town called Ballegavi. Javana is credited for the sculptures of five madanakai damsels and his father is credited for another four. Malliyanna and Nagoja have included birds and animals in their sculptures. The sculptures located in the navaranga were carved out by Chikkahampa and Malloja. It is a great pity that no biographical details about these artisans are available. What these sculptures brought them in return to their hard and extremely pain-taking work must have been a pittance! However, even after a lapse of eight centuries, the art lovers of the whole world can adore them.

The temple occupied nearly 4 acres of land and there are other temples like Kappechennigaraya,Vijayanarayana,Saumyanayaki,Andal etc.

Halebidu

One of the rich carvings in Halebidu
Halebidu (which was previously called Dorasamudra or Dwarasamudra) was the regal capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. It is home to one of the best examples of Hoysala architecture in the ornate Hoysaleswara and Kedareshwara temples.
The Hoysaleswara temple was built during this time by Ketamala(Kethumalla) and attributed to Vishnuvardhana,Kethumalla was king's chief minister.He showed his loyalty to his king by builting the temple and worshiped as God.Then it was sacked by the armies of Malik Kafur in the early 14th century, after which it fell into a state of disrepair and neglect.Even while british govt. was in rule in India took all the shilabalika's whichever was in good condition(un destroyed by muslims). One can see the places in each nook blank.
The temple complex comprises two Hindu temples, the Hoysaleshawara and Kedareshwara temples and two Jain basadi. In front of these temples there is a big lake. The town gets its name the from the lake, Dhwara samudhra which means entrance from ocean. The two nandi bull statues which are on the side of the Hoysaleshwara temple are monolithic. soap stone or Chloritic Schist was used for the construction of these temples. However a number of sculptures in the temple are destructed by invaders. So the temple is incomplete. Halebid means ruined city. There is an archeological museum in the temple complex.

The Hoysaleswara temple, dating back to the 1121 C.E., is astounding for its wealth of sculptural details. The walls of the temple are covered with an endless variety of depictions from Hindu mythology, animals, birds and Shilabalikas or dancing figures. Yet no two sculptures of the temple are the same. This magnificent temple guarded by a Nandi Bull was never completed, despite 86 years of labour. The Jain basadi nearby are equally rich in sculptural detail.

Its worth to hire guide and get to know the description about the carvings. Each carving tells different stories and to be frank to get to know each temple it will take not less than 2-3 days.Belur is famous for inner beauty where as Halibidu outer beauty.

Though this was my fourth trip to Belur and Halibidu I never say no to visit these places whenever I get chance to go.

How to reach
============

From Udupi-->Karkal-->Ujire-->Moodigere-->Kottigehara-->Belur-->Halebidu

Distance
Nearly 250kms

One day picnic to Antharagange

2009-01-31T03:58:00.000-08:00

We received a call from our friends on Friday night at 10:00pm saying we have to go to antharagange tomorrow. We had no proper plan to go out for that weekend hence last weekend we had been to Hampi. So this was the new place we heard about and we decided to go. So morning around 6:00am we left B'lore and headed towards Kolar. It was so chilling ride I swear we were literally shivering. We came to normal condition once we had morning breakfast at hoskote.

Antharagange hill, considered to be the hidden treasure of natural resources, is situated near Kolar, the land of gold. The hill is just a stone’s throw away from Kolar and any season is just fine to visit the place. It is a hill range with huge volcanic rocks and boulders scattered all over. Thorny shrubs cover the hill, while there is dense plantation forest at the base.
Antharagange, enriched with Shola forests, has been attracting tourists from various parts of the country, throughout the year. The region, covered by seven to eight huge hills, is also known for its rich wildlife and biodiversity.

Antharagange water source,temple
Reaching this place is in fact a real good physical exercise as one has to climb thousands of steps. The Kashi Vishweshwara temple, situated on top of the hill, attracts a good number of devotees. Water flowing out of the mouth of a small basava (bull) statue installed beside the temple is considered as the 'prasadam' of Lord Shiva. This water flows into a pond beside the temple.

Flight of steps, halfway the hill leads to an ancient temple. The spring at this temple is claimed to wash off your sins. The forty-five minutes hill climbing will keep you panting for breath and opens up for an extensive and beautiful green plateau on the top. Anthargange is an ideal location for light trek, rock climbing and camping. Big and small boulders have helped to form cave like formations offering exhilarating network of cave exploration activity.
Later we finished Antharagange trip and had lunch and headed towards to nearest place called Kotilingeshwara temple.

Kotilingeshwara temple
Kotilingeshwara is the presiding deity of the temple of the same name in the village of Kammasandra in India. Kammasandra is a small village situated in Kolar district of Karnataka state. It is about five kilometers from Kolar Gold Fields and about 6 Kilometers from Aalamaram. This place has the distinction of having the biggest Shivalinga in the world. The main attraction of this peaceful retreat, which is surrounded by plush greenery, is a huge Shivalinga. Measuring 108 ft (33 m), this shivalinga is tallest of its kind in the world and accompanying it is a 35 ft (11 m) tall Basava, surrounded by lakhs of small shivalingas spread over an area of 15 acres. So far, around 86 lakh shivalingas have been installed. The entire project involves the installation of one crore shivalingas of various sizes, hence the name ‘Kotilingeshwara’

How to reach
B'lore-->KR Puram-->Hoskote-->Kolar-->Antharagange
To Kotilingeshwara
Kolar-->railway crossing-->Bangarpet

Distance
70kms to antharagange 22kms to Kotilingeshwara

Exploring Hampi

2009-01-28T00:51:00.000-08:00

Hampi was our long awaited destination and this time we made it without proper plan. We initially thought of going somewhere and end up with visiting Hampi,but I swear the trip was worth. I never seen such an huge heritage empire. The place contains huge rocks everywhere. We spent two days in Hampi and within two days its difficult to cover whole Hampi but somehow we managed.

Origin of Hampi:
The name Hampi is evolved from Pampa, the ancient name of the river Tungabhadra. Also Pampa is the daughter of Bhramha, the Creator God. She was a devoted worshiper of Shiva, the God of Destruction. Impressed by her dedication Shiva offered her a boon and she opted to marry him! The place thus came to be known as Pampakshetra (land of Pampa) and Shiva as Pampapathi (consort of Pampa).
The Hemakuta Hill in Hampi is the place, according to the myth, Shiva did his penance before marrying Pampa. Kama , the God of Love, felt sympathy for Pampa for her love towards Shiva. He disturbed Shiva from his deep meditation. That attracted Shiva’s wrath. Known for his anger, Shiva burned Kama with his third (fiery) eye. Rathi, Goddess of Passion and also Kama’s consort pleaded for mercy with Shiva. Shiva grants Kama’s life back, but only as a character and not as a physical being.
On Shiva’s marriage with Pampa Gods from the heaven showered gold on the place. This hill in Hampi is called Heamakuta, literally means heap of gold.
The places mentioned here has a continuous religious history ever since known timeframe. It just happened that the Vijayanagara Empire came in-between and gone as an episode in Hampi’s long history. Even today the annual ceremonial marriage festival & the betrothal are important festivals in Hampi. With time, Shiva became more popular here as Virupaksha. Virupaksha, an incarnation of Shiva, literally means the one with oblique eye. This refers to the fact that Shiva has three eyes. The third fire eye on his forehead opens when he do the destruction.

Virupaksha temple

Mythology link:

Kishkinda:

Another set of folklores associate the landscape in Hampi with the Hindu epic Ramayana. The monkey kingdom, Kishkinda, is portrayed as the region around Hampi. Anjayaneya Hill, located across the river Tungabhadra, is believed to be the birth place of Hanuman.
Rama and Lakshmana , reaches Hampi in search of his lost wife Sita. On hearing their story Hanuman brings them to Sugreeva. He eventually takes them to a cave and shown them a set of jewels. Rama recognizes them as that of his wife Sita. Sugreeva explains them that Sita dropped them at this site when the demon king Ravana (of Lanka) abducted her on his flying chariot.
Later Rama kills Vali, the rebellious brother of Sugreeva, and installs Sugreeva as the undisputed king of the monkey kingdom. Hanuman offers for help to fly to Lanka. He returns with the news that Sita was indeed in the custody of Ravana. Hanuman offers Rama the help of his monkey army to make a bridge across and attack Lanka. Rain plays the spoil spot and the plan gets postponed till the rains are over. Rama and Lakshmana takes refuge during the rainy season at a nearby hill called Malyavanta. The epic goes on till saving Sita from Lanka and further. What signify are the locations narrated in the epic. The place is treated sacred since it born the footprint of Rama, one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Hanuman , who is a loyal follower of Rama is iconic of devotion and valor. Probably Hampi has much more icons of Hanuman than any other gods. Rishimukha Hills where Hanuman met Rama & Lakshmana is a hermitage. The cave where Sugreeva supposedly hide the fallen jewels is on the way to Vittala temple via the riverside ruins. Matunga Hill , name after the sage Matunga ( who cursed Vali with death on stepping to this spot) is the highest spot in Hampi. The hilltop temple dedicated to Rama on the Malyavanta hill is an important pilgrimage and tourist location. A heap of ash hill at a village near the Vittala temple is believed to be that of pyre of Vali.

Stone chariot

History:

The typical version Hampi’s history starts with a popular folklore. Two local chieftains, Hakka & Bukka , reports to their guru an unusual sight they saw during a hunting expedition. A hare chased by their hound suddenly turns courageous and start chasing back the hound.
Vidyaranya, the guru, tells them that the place is so special and asks them to establish theirs local capital at this place. The seed of an empire was sown.
Over the next 200 plus years (1336 AD – 1565 AD) four dynasties ruled Vijayanagar.
History of Vijayanagar’s had been a saga of resistance against the northern Sultanates as well as building of its spectacular capital in Hampi.
The capital was one major trading center. Anything from horses to gems was traded in Hampi. Art and architecture found its special place in Hampi. The rulers were great patrons of art and religion. Most of the kings associated names of their favorite gods with their names.
Some of the kings were renowned for their ambitious projects.
King Krishnadeva Raya (1509-1529 AD) of the Tuluva Dynasty stands tall among the rest. During his regime the empire saw its peak.
By this time Vijayanagara Empire covered the whole of south India and beyond.
The Krishna Temple that you can visit in Hampi was commissioned by him to commemorate the victory over the Gajapathi kings of Utkala (in present day Orissa state)
.The warring Deccan Sultanates could finally join together to defeat the Vijayanagara army at Talarikota, a place north of Hampi.
Vijayanagar army suffered heavy losses. The capital city was plundered, its population massacred. Treasure hunters ransacked its palaces and temples for months. Kings lost, capital fallen, population fled, Hampi turned into a ghost city. For centuries Hampi remained as a neglected place. This erstwhile metropolitan with more than half a million population slowly turned into a jungle where wild animals roamed freely.
The area came under many kings from time to time with the flow of history. But it was no more considered strategic and hence neglected.
UNESCO’s World Heritage Site was conferred to Hampi in 1986.

Pond

Lotus Mahal,Elephant stable

Vijayanagara Empire

Sangama Dynasty
Harihara Raya I 1336-1356
Bukka Raya I 1356-1377
Harihara Raya II 1377-1404
Virupaksha Raya 1404-1405
Bukka Raya II 1405-1406
Deva Raya I 1406-1422
Ramachandra Raya 1422
Vira Vijaya Bukka Raya 1422-1424
Deva Raya II 1424-1446
Mallikarjuna Raya 1446-1465
Virupaksha Raya II 1465-1485
Praudha Raya 1485

Saluva Dynasty
Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya 1485-1491
Thimma Bhupala 1491
Narasimha Raya II 1491-1505

Tuluva Dynasty
Tuluva Narasa Nayaka 1491-1503
Viranarasimha Raya 1503-1509
Krishna Deva Raya 1509-1529
Achyuta Deva Raya 1529-1542
Sadashiva Raya 1542-1570

Aravidu Dynasty
Aliya Rama Raya 1542-1565
Tirumala Deva Raya 1565-1572
Sriranga I 1572-1586
Venkata II 1586-1614
Sriranga II 1614-1614
Ramadeva 1617-1632
Venkata III 1632-1642
Sriranga III 1642-1646

Vijayanagara Architecture:
Nature is at its bizarre best in Hampi. The manmade things not far behind either. Somehow lunatic landscape of Hampi offered a brilliant background for the Hampi’s architects.
Over the years Vijayanagara (what is now popularly called as Hampi) developed a unique style of architecture, later came to be known aas Vijayanagara Architecture. It borrowed boldly from various schools of architecture prevailed at the time and blended them superbly to make its own style of architecture. For example the ornate temples look more of the Tamil country style. Making their palaces in using the Islamic style architecture was no taboo to the otherwise Hindu kingdom. Some of the beautiful monuments in Hampi are made out of a brilliant mix of the Hindu and Islamic style of architecture, popularly called as the Indo- Sarasanic architecture.
Hampi had one this in abundance, rock. Millions upon millions of boulders shaped the geography of Hampi. And even its history.
By and large Hampi’s architecture falls in three categories: Civil, Military and Religious.
Each of them applied different codes. But there is a common factor among the whole of Hampi’s architecture that projects out as the Vijayanagara School of architecture. While the earlier Vijayanagara style was bold, coarse and plane the later ones were ornate, sophisticated and ambitious in scale.

Architecture of Aquatic Structures :
Known for its peculiarities, Vijayanagara architecture stands out even in its aquatic/irrigation structures. The remains of a giant aqueduct (Bukka’s aqueduct) located in Anegondi (Virupapur Gadde area) can offer you the scale and ambition of such projects.
You can reach here by taking a coracle ferry from near Virupaksha Temple followed by a short trek. Also the main road that goes towards Koppal from Anegondi (via the popular hill top Hanuman temple) passes adjacent to this.
In any case this less frequented by visitors stands in contrast among a cluster of tiny hamlets as a giant monument. Many meters above the ground level, it's not known how water was fed to the top of this aqueduct. Probably water from the river below was manually fed to it during its operational days.
Many pillars support the top portion that carried the water duct. Thanks to its style of construction, from a distance the aqueduct would look like a ruined bridge. Huge blocks of dressed rectangular granite was used the make the pillars and the top structure. Larger blocks were used at the lower levels and the block size gradually reduces as it goes up, a typical of Vijayanagara style architecture. This was advantages both for structural stability & constructional efficiency.
It's possible that the top duct (now missing) portion was made of brick and plastered with lime mortar, or installed with rows of ducts chiseled out of long granite boulders.
The next place to see a plethora of waterworks is the Royal Center Area. The Octagonal Water Pavilion, protruding to the main road, probably contained some sort of a water fountain. One of the best-preserved aqueducts can be seen inside the Royal Enclosure. Chiseled out of long slender boulders and supported by granite pillars, they were used to feed the many tanks in side the enclosure.
The chain of aqueducts was used to bring water from the Kamalapura Tank and feed the tanks and wells in the enclosure.One of the main branches of this aqueduct supplied water to the geometrically thrilling Stepped Tank within this area. In fact the very discovery of the Stepped Tank was due to this branch of aqueduct leading to particularly nowhere. The archeologists dug the ground at its end point and the tank emerged.
Radically different from the rest of tank constructions in Hampi, the Stepped Tank is made of made of finely finished black schist stone blocks. It seems the tank was made elsewhere and later brought and assembled at its current location. Practically every stone is earmarked for this purpose and some bears even 'sketches' by its architects. The purpose of this tank is not very sure, mostly it was used during the religious ceremonies by the royals.
Two bathing pavilions of the Royal Center - the Queen's Bath & the Octagonal Bath - are popular for its architectural merits.
The Queens bath is a plain looking building from outside. But the interior is elaborate with a giant tank at the center and overlooking balconies projecting to the tank. The corridor around with its arches, domes and the protruding balconies makes it look more like to a palatial structure than a bath. A water channel encircling the building acts as the means to feed water as well as a barrier from intrusion.The Octagonal Bath is located near a cluster of palace bases. A large open verandah made of cubical pillars supporting the beams runs around this octagonal tank. A giant octagonal platform with fluted decorations on its vertical faces it is located at the middle.
Another interesting structure is the Stepped Tank (also known as the Courtesan's Well or Soolai Well) of Malapannanagudi, a village on the way to Hampi. The well is constructed with series of steps and arches in the typical Islamic style architecture.
Tanks are an integral part of temple architecture. They served both ceremonial and functional purposes. Most of the temple of Hampi has tanks constructed in its near vicinity. The Manmatha Tank near Virupaksha temple is by and large still functional. Temple tanks of the Krishna Temple and the Vittala Temple have elaborate pavilions attached to it. The central podiums of these tanks were used to place the images of the God & Goddess during the boat festival part of the annual temple celebration.
The temple tank part of the Achyutraya’s temple is a place to observe the tank architecture in its close proximity. The tank is empty and also in a much ruined stage. Nevertheless the Archeological Survey of India is repositioning the scrambled pavilion structures around the tank. On the steps around the tank one can see the chains of carvings, especially that of elephants one following the other. The entrance to the tank is decorated with the typical Vijayanagara style pillars. Friezes of rampant mythical beats and other mythological themes decorate the pillars. This tank also known as Lokapavani tank is located at the end of the Courtesan’s Street, close to the Varaha Temple.

Temple Architecture:
A typical Hindu temple has a cluster of structures with sanctorum as its nucleus. A smaller temple could be a single chambered shrine with the image of the God or Goddess is installed in its sanctum. A large temple can be an elaborate campus with many auxiliary structures within it.
Large Vijayanagara temples are typically enclosed within giant compound walls. Tall pyramidal towers make the gateways to the temple campus. The principle shrine at the center of the campus and the main towered gateway are in the sale axis. Usually this axis is along the East-West direction with the temple facing the east. Immediately around the principle shrines are the auxiliary shrines of the Goddess (typically the consort of the God) and gods of the Hindu pantheon.
For example a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu would have an image of Vishnu in its main sanctum. Somewhere nearby would be a shrine dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu. It is not unusual to find the shrines of a number of other gods associated with Vishnu.
A very typical example of Vijayanagara (Vijayanagar) style temple architecture is the Virupaksha Temple at the Hampi village. The temple is dedicated to Lord Siva, the god of destruction. Next to the main shrine are the two shrines of Goddesses Pampa and Bhuvaneswari. For majority of their grand temples, Vijayanagara borrowed the Tamil country’s architecture (The Chola’s Architecture) for making its towers. The lower portion is usually made of giant granite blocks with a huge wooden door installed at the centre of it. Either side of the doors is carvings of the doorkeeper deities wielding clubs or other similar weapons. Either sides of the passageway are carved with life-sized nymph figures or images of gods.
The top portion of the pyramidal tower is made of brick & mortar. The exteriors of which is packed with terracotta images of gods, demigods, people, animals and host of other mythological themes. The pinnacle is usually an inverted barrel shaped with two hones projecting on either side. The hones resemble that of cows, a sacred animal in Hinduism, and the tower is thus called Gopuram (the home of cow).
Usually a large elevated hall with porches stands in between the entrance tower mentioned above and the main shrine. These open halls are one of the architectural pieces that best demonstrate the Vijayanagara architectural skills.The hall structure stands on a platform with porches. The platform is typically a few feet tall with fluted sides. Chains of intricate carvings go around the platform. The porches, typically located on all sides, give access to the top of the platform. Granite pillars support the usually flat roof structure. These pillars are carved with rampant Yalis (giant mythical creatures). Generally the Yali pillars seems facing the porch or the central hall portions. The other pillars are carved with images of gods and other mythical themes. Vijayanagara architects succeeded in using these monolithic giant pillars as an integral artistic feature of the architecture than merely as a structural inevitability. Though many large temples in Hampi have them in plenty, the halls of Vittala Temple are the best place to see them in close proximity.
A semi closed small hall called Antarala connects the hall to the sanctum.
Usually large temples would have a large standalone hall, typically like the hall above explained, used for the annual ceremonial wedding of the god and goddess.The long pillared cloisters along the inner side of the compound wall are another typical feature of the Vijayanagara architecture. This was used us a community dining hall and for prayer.
Apart from the above one can find many structures and artifacts like the lamppost, the flag post etc that are of ceremonial and functional significance.
The wide street leading to the temple was used as the chariot street for the annual chariot festival.

TB dam

Places to visit:

Virupaksha Temple
Hampi Bazaar
Matanga Tank & Shrines
Monolithic Bull
Achyuta Raya’s Temple
Courtesan’s Street
Varaha Temple
Chakratirtha
Yantrodhara Anjaneya Temple
Sugreeva’s Cave
Saraswathi Temple 1
Chandikesvara Temple
Uddana Veerabhadra Temple
Krishna Temple
Badavilinga Temple
Lakshmi Narasimha
Hemakuta Temples
Sasivekalu Ganesha
Kadalekalu Ganesha
Vishnupada Shrine
Veerabhadra Temple
Hemakuta Hill
Matunga Hill
Akka Tangi Gundu
Archeological Museum
Band Tower
Basement of Palaces
Bhima’s Gate
Domed Gateway
Elephant Stables
Fortified Walls
Ganagitti Temple
Granaries
Guards' Quarters
Hazara Rama Temple
Horse Stable
Jaina Temple
King's Audience Hall
Large Stone Trough
Lotus Mahal
Mahanavami Dibba
Malayavanta Raghunatha Temple
Malyavanta Hill
Mohammadan Watch Tower
Mosque
Noblemen's Quarters
Octagonal Bath
Octagonal Water Pavilion
Palace of Krishna Devaraya
Palace of Vira Harihara
Pan Supari Bazaar
Parshwanatha Temple
Pattabhi Rama Temple
Pattanada Yellamma Temple
Public Bath
Queen's Bath
Ranga Temple
Royal Enclosure
Srinagarada Hebbagilu
Stepped Tank
Stone Door
Tenali Rama Pavilion
Treasury Building
Underground Chamber
Underground Siva Temple
Watch Towers
Water Pavilion
Water Tank

How to reach:
By bus/train/vehicle via Tumkur-->Chitrdurga-->Hospet
Distance
350kms from B'lore

One day trek to Nijagal betta and Devarayana Durga

2008-12-07T20:41:00.000-08:00

We decided to go for one weekend trekking this time. So my friend Naveen forwarded the link on, the place called Nijagal betta..So on Sunday we decided to go and started at around 6:30am from JP nagar,we 6 ppl with 3 bikes headed towards Nijagal betta..We went by NICE road..it was chilling weather in the morning with the cold breeze blowing. When we crossed half way we got to see sunrise. We knew Tumkur highway is always busy with trucks..somehow we managed to overtake the trucks and reached one small city. We had thatte idli and tea there as a morning breakfast and continued our journey. Reached dabaspet at around 8.30am and went further away and stopped our vehicle near to Reliance petrol pump and started walking towards the betta.

Sunrise and reuined temple at Nijagal

About the destination:

Nijagal Betta is not popular, it’s got a Dargha on top with a temple in ruins at the base and a twin-kalyani. The climb to the top was not tiring at all.

Nijagal Betta is a hillock of ruined temples, forts, caves and striking rock formations. However, much of all this, save for a portion of the fort wall, is not visible from the road. It’s believed that Hyder Ali and Peshwa Madhav Rao fought a war here.

Though the hill is accessible from a nearby village, the nearest path is from the highway.

But the path becomes rocky as you climb, thus giving a better foothold.

can see NH-4 and Mysore railway track,Carving of Hanuman
Half way up the hill, the two outer layers of the fort come into view. The fort is believed to have been built by Chikkadevaraya Wadiyar in the mid-17th century.

There are plenty of abandoned structures worth exploring. The path has many sculptors from the Hoysala period and also has rock etchings that appear to be pre-historic, but this hasn’t been authenticated.

This path finally leads to a set of adjacent caves that nestle a small Sri Siddeshwara (Shiva shrine) and Dargah, which are popular among local villagers.

We finished our Nijagal trekking by 10.30am and we had enough time so we thought of visiting Devarayana durga which is the nearest fort.

Located 80 Kms from Bangalore (Bengaluru) on the way to Tumkur, this beautiful countryside of Devarayana Durga is dotted with hill top temples and is an ideal place for trekking.

Yoga Narasimha Swami Temple: The temple, built in the dravidian style of architecture, faces east and is said to have been constructed by Kanthirava Narasaraja I. From the inscriptions numbered Tumkur 41 and 42, we learn that the enclosure and tower were repaired in 1858 by the Mysore king Krishnaraja Wodeyar III.

Outside the temple is a small pond and beside that is the way to go right to the top of the hills. We ventured on the pathways, no steps here and went towards the top, we had to navigate through some rocks, narrow pathways before reaching the top. The top of the hill has some building structure which I am unable to say what.
It looks like a place where the person keeping watch would rest.

Yoga narasimha temple,Devarayana durga
This place offered splendid view of the places around and it was quite a wonderful experience to be able to stand there with the cold breeze blowing. It took me to a totally different world all together. It was an experience which cannot be put down in words. People say what do you get by going up the hills, I say you have to climb one and see the view from the top to really understand the true feeling.

How to reach:

Tumkur Highway(NH-4)-->Dabbaspett-->Reliance Petrol pump(opp)

Distance

80kms from B'lore

One day trek to Savanadurga

2008-10-02T03:28:00.000-07:00

The Story:

Savandurga is a large monolithic rock which is located 60 km west of Bangalore (Karnataka, India) off the Magadi road.The hill rises to 1226 m above mean sea level.

Savandurga is formed by two hills known locally as Karigudda (black hill) and Biligudda (white hill). The earliest record of the name of the hill is from 1340 AD by Hoysala Ballala III from Madabalu where it is called Savandi. Another view is that the name is originated from Samantadurga attributed to a Samantharaya, a governor under Ahchutaraya at Magadi, although there is no inscription confirming this. This was the secondary capital of the Magadi rulers such as Kempegowda. from 1638 to 1728, Mysore took over this place and Dalavayi Devaraja occupied this place with the palace at Nelapattana. In 1792 Lord Cornwallis captured it from Tippu Sultan and this was described by Colonel Wilks. Robert Home in his Select views in Mysore (1794) shows distant views of the hill from Bangalore. He called it Savinadurga or the fort of death. There were no steps to reach the hill.

Savanadurga also called as Savinadurga(death of fort) We got to know the truth behind that name when we climbing the rock,one false step could have meant a downward plunge,

huge rock,first fort

Our Journey:

We left bangalore at sharp 6.00am and reached the rock around 7:45am. The climate was cool that time. We couldn't have morning breakfast and decided to finish our trek in empty stomach..We started at a brisk pace climbing the monstrous rock, but had to slow down in few places. At some places, the rock slants upwards at an angle of 70 degrees and the ascent is difficult. If you are scared of heights, then do not look down! You might not continue upwards and may feel like descending immediately.

View of reservoir,Temple located at the peak,scenic view from the top

To simplfy the way, somebody has been marked by arrows on the rocks using white paint..The other way is to follow the foot holds carved on the ground and the electric lines overhead. It took us right to the top, in few hours..We had to watch carefully where we treaded. Savandurga is pretty steep in some places, so be prepared to push your physical fitness. To inspire us three dogs accompanied us from the base of the rock. Some how one stopped in middle but remaining two were there till we finish ascending...One dog was so loyal to us,even it was with us till we reach the base of the rock. It was stopping if we had to stop in between. We were calling it as fandu ;)

According to the villagers one could finish climbing by three hours but we finished within 1:30hours.The way down would be a lot faster, but be careful that you don't slip. Also try as much as possible to climb on two feet rather than go down on all fours.

Fandu is resting,we sat for a while in another fort

How to reach:

Bangalore-->Magadi-->towards Ramanagaram-->Savandurga

Distance:Nearly 70kms

Melukote

2008-07-27T00:06:00.000-07:00

Yoganarasimha and Cheluvaraya swami temple
This was our long awaited and pending picnic from past few months. We thought of going on May end but somehow it got delayed. Anyways we could make it this time. It was 25th Jul we experienced series bomb blasts in B'lore city. SO we thought of postponing our picnic this time,so we mailed each other and dropped the plan. So after going to home according to the news,we got to know that those bombs were low intensity and couldn't cause much damage and public no need to worry. This was the boosting statements for us and we again decided to stick to our plans. So we have planned to start at 6:30am.
Me Naveen,Praveen,Shyam,Avi,Abhi we six left with three pulsar bikes. Since we left early there was not much traffic and once we got Mysore highway it was traffic free road. May be ppl were scared to comeout due to blasts. We reached chennapattna and then Mandya,took the divertion from there and headed to Melukote temple. The farmers are growing sugarcanes there and making jaggery. We could savour the smell of jaggery,so nice it was. When we reached Melukote it was started drizzling. We reached the foot of the hill,left our bikes and shoes there and started to climb the steps. I think the temple has got nearly 1000 steps. The God Yoganarasimha on the top of the hill. The temples are 900 years old and are very beautiful with carvings around the temple.
At the foot of the temple there is a lake called Kalyani kere. Which is very huge and beautiful. I really getting angry on uncultured ppl who making it dirty by writing their names and their lovers name.

Kalyani kere
Later we visited Cheluvaraya swami temple which is also beautiful one. There, one of an Iyengar who was marketing his puliyogare. I heard about it so we thought we could taste it. It was amazing and really tasty one. So we planned to pack it for us and visit the Rayagopura and Akka thangi Kola.

Rayagopura
Rayagopura became famous now a days after shooting Barso re song from Guru. This is a nice monument with carvings. The below Rayagopura there is two lakes called Akka and thanki kere. Thangi kere water is sweet and Akka kere salty. We had our puliyogare there and had sweet pongal too. We could see chariot of Chelvaraya temple were pulled by devotees. We again came back to puliyogare hut and had sweet pongal. Now we thought of going to Thonnur kere and later Srirangapattana. So we started our bike and headed towards Jakkahalli and from there to pandavapura. So we reached near to thonnur kere and walked for a while to reach the top.

Thonnur kere
The lake was too huge and beautiful. Looks very deep too. It was already 3.00pm so we dropped our plans to Srirangapattana and headed back to B'lore. While we were back it was very cloudy and started to pour. So we stopped in Mandya and had a cup of tea and Maddur vada and continued and reached B'lore by 6:30pm.
What is the story:
=================
Due to incessant wars between native Hindu kings and invading Muslims the place got ruined. The main deity Cheluvanarayana got buried under the ruins. The Utsavamurthy was however taken away to Delhi, along with the other riches of the temple, by the king Mohammed Badshah.

Sri Ramanuja (born in 1017AD) was camping in Thondanur for propogating Srivaishnavism due to the strong influence of Jainism in the region then. He brought many people into the folds of Srivaishnavism including King Vishnuvardhana. One night, Ramanuja dreamt of Lord Cheluvanarayana beckoning him to unearth the Vishnu idol from the ruins, in a nearby place. With the help of King Vishnuvardhana and his army, Ramanuja arrived in Yadavadri in 1099, and dug up the idol of Cheluvanarayana and reinstalled the Lord in a newly constructed temple. He also established regular prayers and processes for the Lord. From then, the place gained the name "Yathishaila" (Saint Hill).
Once the main deity was established, Ramanuja felt the need for a utsavamurthy in the temple. Again Lord Cheluvanarayana informed in a dream that the temple’s utsavamurthy was available in Delhi in the palace of the king. In spite of his old age, Ramanuja immediately travelled to Delhi and approached the king with all his radiance and charm. He requested the king for the return of the idol of his dreams. The muslim king, who was highly impressed by Ramanuja’s power and devotion agreed to return the idol. The idol however was in possession of the young princess who was deeply attached to its beauty. The princess agreed to hand over the idol to Ramanuja with great difficulty. Ramanuja accepted the idol and started on his return journey to Melkote. The princess who could not bear the separation followed the idol with Ramanuja to Melkote. Even today, there is a small idol of the princess at the feet of Ramapriya in her memory and is identified as "Bibi Nacchiar" (Muslim Angel).
Today, Melkote (known as Thirunarayanpuram among Srivaishnavas) is one of the four most sacred centres of Srivaishnavism in South India, the others being Sriranagam, Thirumalai and Kanchipuram. Ramanujacharya composed the following chant (shloka) in recognition of the places,
The main deity in Srirangam is in a sleeping posture and hence the place is called "Bhoga Mantapam" (House of relaxation). Thirumalai is called "Pushpa Mantapam" (House of flowers) as the deity is always decorated with flowers. Kanchipuram is known as "Thyaga Mantapam" (House of relinquishment) as the main deity bestows the devotees. Thirunarayanapuram is known as "Gnana Mantapam" (House of Knowledge) as the main deity radiates knowledge.

Lord Narasimha Temple:
======================
Temple of Lord Narasimha on top of the hill is one of the oldest temples in the area. It is a picturesque view from the temple. On a clear day visitors have sighted Sri Gomateswara statue of Sravanabelagola from the roof of the Lord Narasimha temple. The cave below the temple commonly known as "Bilswarga" is an extraordinary cave that goes right under Lord Narasimha's idol. It is a challenging trip down the cave with very tight spaces.

Others:
======
Dont miss the Puliyogare and sweet pongal of Iyengars. You can try curdrice as well which is really delicious.

Nandi hills

2008-07-08T00:29:00.000-07:00

Nandi hills

We have planned to go to nandi hills on friday and decided to start saturday(5Jul08) early morning to see the sunrise,contacted all our picnic buddies but many people busy on saturday. So we four only decided to go by Pulsar 180 and 150. It was a amazing and thrilling picnic,we started from BTM around 4am in the morning and reached there around 5:30am. We never started so early before to any places from B'lore (but I do remember that we had started at 2:00am to Jog falls once when I was in Udupi).It was a nice chilling ride in NH-7. It was cloudy and full of mist,one cant makeout the road more than 10mtrs. We started so early because we wanted to see the sunrise. So we reached there around 5:30am and we could wait for a while since they only opens the gate after 6:00am. So we took few snaps there. It was drizzling at that time.Waw so romantic atmosphere,we could see couples going around by holding their hands ;) So we went inside after taking the tickets,We had a nice time pass there and crazy moment was we had Amul forstick in that chilling climate..Saw the tippu drop and waited for sunrise. We couldn't got to see proper sunrise but our journey was worth to be frank. Sun was playing around and hiding behind clouds always.

The morning beauty of Nandi hills

After we finished enjoying the nature we came down and decided to move back. We didnt have our breakfast yet. So thought of having breakfast somewhere,it was already 9am. So we started our bikes and reached the the Nandi town. So now we thought of visiting bhoga narasimha temple. What next?? our bikes already headed towards the temple road...Its a historical temple and huge one too.

Bhoga narasimha temple and Shringi kere
We went inside and prayed to God. One could see nice carvings so attractive. We saw the lake called Shringi theertha were monkeys swimming. Amazing,I never saw it before..they are putting dive too. After that we had a breakfast and We started back and reached back to B'lore at 12:30pm. Thanks to Shyam,Naveen,Sathya who made it to happen.

Few things about Nandi Hills:

This range of craggy hills (the highest peak being 1,478 m) holds the shimmering Amrita Sarovar Lake and offers walks of sylvan beauty. A popular health resort today, it was also the place Tipu Sultan and assorted royalty retired when they sought to escape the din of battle and the heat of the plains.
The hills are located about 60km north of Bangalore and about 3940 ft above sea level. The deviation road at Oordagere on the Bangalore-Tumkur Road can reach it. On the top of the hill, there are temples dedicated to Sri Ugra Narasimha and Sri Yoga Narasimha. On the lower hill there is a temple dedicated to Sri Bhoga Narasimha. There is a Traveler's Bungalow and a Kalyana Mantap on the top of the hill and a Forest Lodge and Taluk Board T.B. at the foot of the hill.
A flight of 1,175 steps leads from the base of the hills to the top. On top was Tipu Sultan's summer retreat and the remains of Tipu's fort bear this out. Tipu's Drop, a 600 metre high cliff face, where prisoners were hurled down the precipice, is an awe-inspiring sight.
Sir Mark Cubbon, when he was Commissioner of Bangalore made this his summer residence. Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Queen Elizabeth II were among the other dignitaries who enjoyed their stay here. More recently, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and the SAARC delegates chose this spot for a retreat after their international deliberations.
You can visit this place at any time of the year. Its best if you are on top of the hill before sunrise. The wind, fog and clouds that blow towards you in the morning is just amazing. To be on top of the hill by 5:30 AM, you need to leave bangalore at around 4 AM. If you are not sure about the route, leave even earlier.

Bangalore to Nandi Hills directions-> From Hebbal flyover take NH7 and then turn right to Devanahalli after about 30 km.From there go till BIAL airport and then take a left diversion at the entry of Chikballapur.The left diversion is too easy to miss since there is no signboard in English.Look out for mount view resorts board .Only when you turn left there is a board ten meters ahead which says Nandi Hills 22 Km.
See
• Tippus Drop the place from where Tippu made his prisoners fall .
• Tippus Summer Residence a beautiful palace on top of this hill. This palace is closed to the general public .
• Temples There are temples dedicated to Sri Bhoga Narasimha, Sri Ugra Narasimha and Sri Yoga Narasimha .
• Rivers The rivers Pennar, Palar and Arkavati originate from these hills.Most of the sources have dried up .
• Brahmashram It is said that Sage Ramakrishna Paramhamsa meditated here.Its a cool cave .
• Nandi At the foot of Nandi Hills is this place with "Bhoganandishwaraswamy Temple",it is a Wonderful Place.(A Must visit)
• Muddenahalli The home town of Sri M.Visveswaraya, the architect of modern Karnataka. Muddenahalli is just a few Kilometers from Nandi Hills. The house of this genius is now a museum.(A Must visit)
• Paapagni The Panchanandikshtra. Visit it is Only 3kms from Chikballapur. (A Must visit)
• Chikballapur Sri M.Visveswaraya done his school Days in this place.And Also visit SSS Temple (Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, Sri Subramanya, Sri Shanimahaathma Temple ), H.S. Garden, Chikballapur.

Shivagange

2008-04-05T23:52:00.000-07:00

The entrance and scenic view from top
The hillock has few temples atop and a statue of Nandi carved out of single stone is a beauty. It is about two kilometers from the bottom of the hillock where there is a village to the top of the hill. There are many temples all along the way.

Nandi
This place is also called as "Dakshina Kaashi" - Kaashi/Varanasi of South India. One strange happening here in Shivagange is, if you do an 'abhishek' of 'ghee' in the temple, the same ghee turns in to 'butter'.
Other places one can visit in the same hill -

* Pathala gange -a a belowground spring, where water level goes down during rainy season and increases during summer!!
* Olakal teertha -- (Olakal = (in Kannada) manual wet-grinder, manual means one has to rotate the top oval shaped stone mannually).
* Nandi on top of the hill
* Shantala drop
* Veerabhadreshwara temple
Other nearest place: Devarayana Durga
The places is mostly crowded all the time. At the same time it because of this number one can find the place very much dirty and full of garbage, plastic being thrown everywhere. Adding to this the shops over here sell water and other beverages in plastic sachets. The monkeys make you scary,they will just attack you if you didn't do anything to stop them. Better hold one stick while going.
Total distance:60kms from B'lore
The route:B'lore-->Tumkur highway(NH-4)-->Dabaspet-->Shivagange

Nagara fort,Shimoga

2007-08-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

Kamalashile temple
It was Aug 15th and we thought ofvisiting to Nagara fort in Shimoga. So one of my friend managed to list the people and invited me too. So I went along with them. We went to Kamalashile temple first. It was raining day and the previous day there was a flood in that place and even temple was flooded. After we had a darshan of goddess Brahmi durgaparameshwari we moved towards balebareghat,in between we stopped to see the balebare falls.

Balebare falls
Later we reached Chakra dam and it was really beautiful scene. It was pouring heavily when we reached there and the beauty of water flow was amazing.

Chakra dam
After that we went to see nagara fort. Which was one of the ancient fort and big one too. It was started raining when we reached there and we couldn't find shelters.

Nagara fort
We left the place after a while and headed back to udupi

Total distance:nearly 150kms
The route:Udupi-->Kamalashile-->Shimoga

Hogenekkal falls

2007-07-25T23:23:00.000-07:00

Hogenekkal falls

This beautiful, quiet waterfall is 25 km from Dharmapuri and 180 km from Bangalore towards Salem. Here the Cauvery River enters the plains and the river dashing against the rocks is a great sight.
We need to depend on teppa(boat) to cross the river. When we went there was heavy rain fall and crossing the river by bridge was not possible. SO we need to depend on teppas. You will be in great surprise when boatman asks you 500 bucks for ride ;)

Teppa drive
Somehow we bargained and they agreed for lesser price..Its very difficult to bargain with them since they know that you came from so far and unless you see the falls you wont go back...Some kind of bussiness trick...Many of us doesn't know swimming..when we asked them they assured nothing will happen..but it was scary. This is another big waterfall on the Kaveri river after Shivanasamudra. So we were dropped to one place and there we played and had a nice bath..later we came to see the real water falls,Oh God !!! it was amazing. It was really beautiful and worth seeing in that season. You cant go near to the falls but you can just see and enjoy the beauty. After some time we came back and paid for the boat..

Falls

Different view of falls
You can get nice fishes in that place. They will fry the fishes and serve to you. and those are fresh fishes from sweet water and delicious too.

Fishes
Total distance:from B'lore nearly 183kms
The route:B'lore-->Hosur-->Salem-->Dharmapuri-->Hogenekkal

Alekhan falls,Charmadi

2006-10-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

Alekhan falls

we had been to Alekhan falls on last sunday with our friends...we had lot of fun...its been very long time since we had gone for picnic ...due to heavy rain in south canara we couldn't able to make any plans....

Beauty of Charmadi ghat
We got the few information on this falls so we thought of going. The beauty of nature was awesome..We took many snaps while on the way to falls..Its very difficult to point the falls since you don't find any clue about the way to the falls. Its written on the road side board saying Allekhan falls but you have to get down few meters to reach the base of the falls.

Beautiful view
Where exactly the falls is:
Alekhan falls is on the way to kottigehara from charmadi. Its just next to the road before 4kms from Kottigehara.This water just next to a small bus stop by name 'alekhan horatti'. Since being both very easily accessible and immensely beautiful it attracts people of all minds both nature aware and 'pollution creating kind'.

Alekhan falls
The distance:65kms
The route:Udupi-->Karkal-->Ujire-->Charmadi ghat-->towards Kottigehara

Om beach Gokarna

2006-05-03T09:16:00.000-07:00

Om beach and Apsara konda

Om beach Sunset from fort
This time we decided to go to Om beach,Gokarna. We left early morning in a tempo traveler, we were nearly 13 people in our list. First we reached Maravanthe beach,stopped for a while and clicked few snaps there. We didn't step into the water since the Maravanthe beach is known to be one of the dangerous beach. We moved towards Igdagunji temple and bowed to Lord Ganesha and took his blessings. When we reached Gokarna it was noon already, we went inside the temple and bowed to Lord Shiva. We touched atmalinga too. We had the lunch in one of poojari's house and moved towards Om beach. The road to reach the beach was not good and the wonderful thing was we have to climb the hill to reach the beach. It was 2.00pm already when we reached Om beach and it was hot too. So we stepped into the water and played in water and few people played volleyball too. The beach was crowded by foreign people. After we had a enough time pass we thought of move back. We went to see one more beach in Gokarna called paradise beach(also known as naked beach ;))
We left Gokarna and later reached Kumta. There we went to see Apsara konda falls. It was end of the season when we had gone for this picnic and falls was not in a good mood to show its real beauty.

Apsara konda
There is a old fort and from there we could see the beach too. We were there for few hours to see the sunset. After sun settled we continued our journey and thought of having evening snacks,as one of our friend was known to that place he suggested us to have benne dose(butter dosa). and it was really tasty.

Benne dose
Total distance:nearly 100kms
The route:Udupi-->Kundapura-->Idagunji-->Kumta-->Honnavara-->Gokarna-->Om beach

Kemmannu gundi

2006-04-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Trip to Chickmagaloor,Kemmannugundi,Shringeri

A view from Mullengiri hill

This was a amazing picnic I ever had. We all decided to go to Kemmannugundi by bike from Udupi.We had decided that we will cover maximum places for two days. So we left with our packed bags on 22Apr at 6:30am. As everyone knows there wont be much traffic in south canara and so we could reach Karkala in 30mins and had nice breakfast in hotel Swagath and continued our journey towards Kemmannugundi. We took via Kudremukh route since the charmadi ghat was spoilt fully. The route from kudremukh would be long route for us but we knew the road will be good. We went till Samse and took diversion to kottigehara. So we reached kottigehara at noon 1.00pm as decided. We couldn't had lunch there since we couldn't found any good hotels around so we adjusted with tender coconuts and biscuits. The road after kottigehara to moodigere was not good which was the hurdle for our speed. We reached Chickmagaloor at around 2.00pm and had lunch there. After lunch we thought of changing our plans,as decided we suppose to go to Kemmannugundi but before that we got to know the place called Mullengiri hill.

So we went through Kaimara and reached the hill,but before that we will get the place called Sithalayyana giri,we rested for a while there. It was really amazing and superb place to be frank. We really missed it if we had skipped that place. Really worth seeing. I never miss that place if I ever had to go there. The scenic view from the top of the hill was awesome but we have to climb nearly 1000 steps to enjoy the real beauty of the nature. We reached there around 3.30pm but still the wind was so chilling in that hot son. Once we decided we will stay there for whole night, such a chilling place it was.We spent little time over there and decided to move forward towards KG. It was nearly 30kms from Mullengiri to KG,so we thought we can reach within 30-45mins,but the road was worst which we never expected. The dirty road made us not to speed up more than 20km/hr. So it was nearly 6.30pm when we reached KG. Our previous plan was,if we could reach before 4.00pm to KG then we could continue our journey towards Shimoga and stay there for night but when we reached KG it was late and sun already settled after his duty. So we got to know from KG to Shimoga its around 70kms distance and the roads were not good moreover we had got no stamina left in us to travel again 70kms. We all exhausted. It was real nightmare to us. So we thought of staying in KG and continue to move in the morning. When we asked for a room the manager said no room availabile today since all were booked. We have no option left other than pleading them. After waiting for a while they said they can arrange a room for us. We were very happy that time,since we left all hope and we couldn't decide what we can do. We cant move out from KG since it was dark already. So we were arranged for a room there and we stayed there. Morning we woke up early and decided to reach "Z"point and shantifalls.
It was very chilling night and we got sound sleep since all were tired. We got up early and started walking towards Z point. It s nearly 3-4kms to reach Z point but our whole team was so enthusiastic to walk and reach the endpoint before sunrise(its difficult to walk later),So we did..thanks to girls who cooperated with us. We were the first group who reached the Z point. We had a nice time pass,chat and cursing each one,pulling each ones leg,fight and we started back from there and reached back to room and had breakfast and decided to vacate.
So as we planned we have to take the way to Tharikere-->Shimoga via Badravati. It was nice journey in the morning,it was so chilling morning so. We have to go through forest and there was a shade through out our journey till we reach Lingadahalli.
The Tharikere road was straight and superb so we could raise up the bike throtle 100km/hr in that road so we did ;) When we reached Shimoga it was already noon 1.00pm and it was very hot,we had watermelon and tender coconut there and moved towards Thirthhalli and we could reach by 2.00pm cos the road was good. We had lunch in one restaurant in Thirthhalli and moved towards Koppa to reach Shringeri temple. Until we reach Shringeri our whole journey was went on travelling,we didn't see anything. We reached around 3.30pm and bowed to goddess Sharadamba and took her blessings. Now we had two options either we have to skip our plans to Sirimane falls and go back to Udupi, since it was late already,else we go and see Sirimane and move. But all are decided to go to Sirimane falls and go as planned. So we went to Sirimane falls and had nice time over there,played in water. The water was very cold,it was already 5.00pm when we reached there. The best part of this falls was it pours through out the year,whenever we go we get to see water. After this picnic I nearly had been more than 5 times to this place.So after taking bath we really became energetic to move forward. We were happy because we could execute our plans properly,On the way to Sirimane two of our buddies fell from bike and that was the sad part,luckily they were not injured other than little scratch on their body.We took the short cut to reach Kudremukh ghat and we really speeded up our bikes because we had to reach down before its getting dark(traveling in ghat section could be dangerous in night),and we could reach down as we decided. We reached Karkal by 7.30pm and had snacks there in the same Swagath hotel ;) and reached Udupi around 9.00pm.
It was wonderful,lengthy and memorable journey I ever had. We really became tan due to hot sun.

Total distance:630kms
No. of days:2 days
The route(first day):Udupi-->Karkal-->Kudremukh-->Samse-->Kottigehara-->Moodigere-->Chickmagaloor-->Mullengiri-->KG hills
The route(Second day):KG hills-->Lingadahalli-->Tharikere-->Badravathi-->Shimoga-->Thirthahalli-->Koppa-->Shringeri-->Kigga-->Kudremukh ghat-->Karkal-->Udupi

Sirimane and Mogebail falls

2006-03-26T21:40:00.000-08:00

Shringeri+Sirimane+mogebail falls

In front of Shringeri temple
This time we decided to go to Sirimane falls. This was my third trip to Sirimane falls. So we left Udupi and went by TT. First we went to Shringeri temple and later went to Kigga falls aslo known as Sirimane falls. It was a nice time pass playing in water.

Sirimane falls
Later we went to see Mogebail falls. We couldn't find proper way to reach the falls even we couldn't hear the sound of water falling too and somehow we managed to go. It was a walk in a thick forest. After walked for a while at last we succeeded to discover the falls. We couldn't go near to the falls,it was very deep. So we managed to play in water. It was chilling water and due to huge trees around, the sun rays was not entering inside the forest. We were there for few hours then we moved back to Udupi.

Mogebail falls
Sirimane is one of my favorite falls too. It will be pouring through out the year,the water wont get emptied there..thats the specialty of sirimane.

Total distance:nearly 70kms
The route:Udupi-->Agumbe-->Shringeri-->kigga-->Sirimane falls-->Mogebail falls

Madikeri,Belur,Halebidu

2006-01-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

Madikeri+Belur+Halebidu

Golden Temple
This time we had two holidays in hand and decided to go somewhere far. So we got flashed in our mind the place called Coorg. The place known to beautiful nature and estates. So on 15th Jan we gathered in Udupi and left to Coorg in one TT. We were nearly 12 persons in our journey. We reached Coorg at noon 1.00pm since we left Udupi early. We decided to check for a room for us to stay the night in Coorg itself. We got a room and we dumped all our bags, got freshen and went to see Raja seat,which was near to our room too.
After that we planned to go to tibetean golden temple, Bailhongla. It was very lovely temple to be frank and very nicely maintained by lama's. After seeing the temple we had lunch there and decided to move towards Abbe falls.
When we reached Abbe falls it was already evening. We were disappointed when we reached Abbe falls since nobody was allowed to get into the water,we could managed to see the falls from far and took the snaps and came. It was already dark when we reached our room.

Abbe falls
We three guys went to see the Omkarashwara temple there. The architecture of the temple was different compare to our places. Later we thought of having some sweet stuffs and asked for honey cake and coffee.

Omkareshwara temple
Night we had arranged for a campfire somewhere outskirts. We got one person to arrange for the same :)
We had nice dance over there,it was a nice time pass and we had our dinner over there itself. We went back to our room around 11.30pm and had a nice sleep.
Morning we vacated our rooms and dumped our belongings in TT and moved towards Kaveri nisargadama.We saw few animals there. Later we went to Dubare,the place was famous for elephants. There we got many info on elephants.
We skipped few places in Coorg. We thought of doing trekking in Brahmagiri/Pushpagiri but we couldn't due to lack of time, didn't go to Iruppu falls,bagamandala,thalakaveri. It was our two days journey and we had planned to visit Halebidu and Belur too,So time didn't permit us to see few places,only we could visit few main places.

Halebidu Hoysaleshwara tepmple Belur Gopura Belur chennakeshava temple
We left Coorg and headed towards hasan. It was a dirty road through out our journey and that made us to skip many places. When we reached hassan it was noon and we had lunch there. After our lunch we headed towards halebidu. The temple known for its sculpture. A gem of Hoysala temple architecture, the Hoysaleshwara temple of Halebid is ornamented with a plethora of exquisite carvings and sculptures. It was built by Ketamalla, a minister of Hoysala ruler Vishnuvardhana, in the 12th century AD. It is believed that the construction of the Hoysaleshwara temple never reached completion as the Hoysala rulers were forced to relocate their capital in the face of attacks by the rampaging armies of Malik Kafur.
The Hoysaleswara temple enshrines the deities of Hoysaleswara and Santaleswara, named after King Vishnuvardhana Hoysala and his wife Queen Santala. The composite structure of the Hoysaleswara temple comprises a pair of identical temples, each with its own east-facing linga sanctuary opening on to a hall and a screened porch. As the two halls are joined together to create a spacious columned interior, the temples function as a single monument.. Its very sad thing that few of the monuments were spoilt. The more sadest thing was the present generation people carved their names on Nandi idols and many more places. Which was real painful to see.
We left Halebidu and headed towards Belur since we were running out of time. The road from hassan to Halebidu was ultimate and from Halibidu to Belur also too good. So these two roads were only the good roads in our journey.
We reached Belur in the evening, The first thing that catches one's eye, is the beautiful ornamental Gopuram of the Channakeshava Temple. It stands tall , giving a feeling that one is entering a grandiose royal court. As one steps onto the temple's sacrosanct platform, in a corner of the vast courtyard are tossed a golden horse and a temple chariot. The winged figure of Garuda, Lord Vishnu's carrier, stands at the entrance, facing the temple, its palms touching in homage. The main structure of the temple, which is a stellar, stands as a homogeneous architectural unit on a raised platform.

We left Belur and moved towards moodigere and took the charmadi ghat way. The ghat was real spoilt at that time and it took 2hrs to reach Ujire.

Travel distance:nearly 300kms
The route(first day):Udupi-->Mangalore-->Madikeri
The route(second day):Madikeri-->Hassan-->Halibidu-->Belur-->Ujire-->Udupi

Yadakumeri trek

2005-06-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

Yadakumeri trekking

This was my first trek in my life which I had been on last weekend. The trek starts from a Yettinagundi (around 20Km from Sakleshpur). You've to trek for around 17Km to reach Yedakumeri station. Some of our friends stayed in one of our friend's house in Udane on previous day and me and my friend reached them next day morning. We hired a jeep till gundya then we walked in NH-48 till Yettinagundi. So we had walked nearly 30kms on that day from morning till evening. The whole trek is amidst dense forests and you've to tread on the railway sleepers. You'll miss out most of the scenery as you've to keep seeing every step. This was very scary while we were crossing the bridges. Its nearly 100ft in height or more than that and you could see the thick trees down,if you slipped one step you will end up your life in 100ft steep and getting the body also very difficult.So we were very careful while crossing the bridges.
The whole route is full of tunnels and bridges....which are quite scary for the weak-hearted ones. A battery is a must to enter tunnel as they are pretty long and pitch dark.
You'll find many water sources on the way where in you can swim and bathe. Yedakumeri was our final destination (if time was not the problem then one can go till Kukke Subramanya where you'll encounter with the longest tunnel and bridges....it requires an extra day).
Railway Briges
Whats that Yadakumeri...
Yeadakumeri is actually a junction....it has some really breathtaking views. Of course....you cant expect high quality rooms over there...you'll only get rooms which will protect you from rains...there are no doors for the rooms...no toilets around.
Its really worth visiting this place once....if you're planning, make it fast.....cos this path will be closed for trekkers once the trains start plying (currently meter to broad gauge conversion was being done).

Cave
This was very adventurous trek I ever had...ops crossing the railway bridges was horrible experience,you don't get any side rails to hold,you have to totally balance your body,you shouldn't rush. The great thing was we used to get longest bridges one by one. Crossing the caves also a horrible experience,there were lot of bats leaving inside the caves. They will shit on you and you have to stop in between while 1000's of them were flying once...you have to be very careful..

Some info:
How to get there : you have to manage to go till Yettinagundi
How long is the trek: nearly 20-25Kms
How long will it take: Assuming that you take 2 breaks (lunch & breakfast), spend some time in swimming and bathing and some short breaks for resting you'll take around 10 hours.
Where to stay: at Yedakumeri junction....few rooms are available....carrying tent would be a good idea.
Is it risky: yes some of the sleepers on the bridges are burnt and are very weak....people might find it very scary,crossing in a group may not be suggestable.
Must haves: powerful torch, food (you get absouletly nothing on the way), water bottle and something to sleep on..