Trip to Sirsi: Aarankusamittodam Nenevudenna Manam Banvaasi Deshamam

Rains… Clouds… Greenery… 3 words kept buzzing in our minds when we started from Bangalore at 9.40 pm after a hectic week. I took no time and crashed in our pleasant overnight KSRTC sleeper coach bus to Sirsi. Next morning, sleepy town that had unique 5-road circle welcomed us with phone network. Why is it so unique? We went on to discover that our phone networks only when we are this

Yana

circle!

Sirsi is in the middle of Malnad, which is famous for its natural beauty and various other treasures of nature. Monsoon was just wrapping up, waterfalls were overflowing and greenery was all over, we could not have asked for more. We had booked not-so-great Bakula homestay, 9 kms from Sirsi. Although the homestay was in good landscapes, bad food and poor hospitality killed it all- we had a memorable fight with the homestay owner who happens to be related to local MLA! Nevertheless, we had good time by making up with great games of Carom & a long night around campfire!

#Sirsi town is centrally located to all waterfalls, temples, beaches and viewpoints. Town has a famous 16th century Marikamba Temple. We also made sure to get a taste of gobi machurian & gudbud at Hotel Satkar, which was strongly recommended by our taxi driver, Rajeev!

# Yaana , 32 kms from Sirsi, is known for the wonderful rock formation. There are 2 sanctorum: dedicated to Ganga Chandika Bairaveshwara and Parvathi. Priest welcomed us and narrated to us the glorious history that included Sage Ashwattama, Pushpaka

Unchalli Falls

Vimana and Pandavas. We had to trek to go round the temple that displayed the beauty of mammoth tall rocks. Local shops here served very good snacks like bhoti, shankara pole, mirchi mandakki, little hearts & punarpuli juice.

# Manjuguni Venkataramana temple, known as Tirupati of Karnataka, was a special inclusion in our schedule to accommodate lunch. It was one of the best foods we had during our entire trip consisting of typical malnad culinary items like boiled rice, tambuli, kayi payasa and appe mango pickle. Old lady was serving and her enthu was unmatchable. We missed having locally prepared “Attirasa” here.

#Unchalli Falls was classic example of prosperity monsoon boaster’s. It was just amazing with water

Banavasi

hitting the face and those who went close to get better view were drenched. I remember enacting Modi for Swatchh Bharat Andolan by picking up lays packets after wonderful chai here!

#Bheemanvare gudda or Bheeman gudda had best visuals of Western Ghats but not much visibility! Amazing trail of a km that led to top of the hill was the best part. For a moment Sun appeared but we mistook it moon! This explains the God level serenity!

# Magod Falls was the best of all! It had rained a lot on the 50km drive and mood was perfectly set. We arrived to learn that clouds had not opened up since last 3 hours and nobody had caught glimpse of waterfalls. We took round in this zero-visibility park and hoped for luck! Finally the moment

Magod Falls

arrived! Royally following L-shaped fall and then a u-turn, describing this waterfall was beyond words and I got into free anchoring for video makers who had come there! Homemade mandakki and chai was like icing on the cake!

#Banavasi temple, 22 kms from Sirsi, is the oldest town and first capital of ancient Karnataka state and has Madhukeshwara Temple built starting from 2nd century. Tales on how it survived Muslim emperors attacks (havali shivalinga story), shiva linga’s from various parts of India, parallels to Varanasi, amazingly carved 2 eyes of Nandi looking at different directions at Shiv & Parvathi, nritya mantapam with convex concave pillar and architectural marvel wooden bed made up 10 pieces are the best part of this temple. I was carried away. Mind was remembering poem of Adikavi Pampa written when he visited Banavasi in 9th century: “aarankusamittodam nenevudenna manam banvaasi deshamam” “puttidirdode maridumbiyaagi men kogileyaagi nandanavanadol banavaasideshadol” {If to be born, one should take birth in Banavasi. It is a virtue to be born in Banavasi as a human being. If by

Bheeman Gudda Walk

any chance, one cannot take birth as a human being, at least he should be born as a bee or a bird in the garden of Banavasi.}

We left Sirsi refreshed & rejuvenated on an early Sunday morning. We stopped at Shivamogga to watch blockbuster Kannada movie, Bahaddur, and for a heavy lunch at hotel Mathura, before we headed back to Bangalore to reach before 11pm! Sirsi, a must visit! Glorious small town with history, fun and knowledge packaged together!

Here is me describing the beauty of the waterfalls in typical TV9 Kannada channel style:{Shot by Srinivasa, photo-traveller, stranger to me, who was doing photography here!}

[Thanks to Manu D K, Akhilesh, Yashu & Sushma for making this trip memorable! Photo credits: Akhilesh & Yashu]

Bengaluru Diaries: a Hill and a Tree and a Dam in Half a Day...

After residing in Bengaluru (or Bangalore) for 2 years, I had tried exploring it as much I can. Since it is blessed to be in midst of hills on all 4 directions, it enjoys probably “the best” metro climate. And ofcourse, gives away lot of hills and rivers and viewpoints to explore. I have finally

Omkar Hills

decided to put down- “Places to visit in Bengaluru” and will start with the most recent visited ones from Bangalore Southà

#1. Omkar hills

This place is said to be the highest point in Bangalore. It is in RajaRajeshwari Nagar. When driving on Mysore Road from Bangalore, take the left at Uttarahalli Main Road, drive past the BGS Apollo hospital and then take the right next to JSS College. This road goes to the top of Omkar Hills. Omkar Hills has a dwadasha jyothirlinga (caution: elders are bound to get more & more devotional/emotional/sentimental!) temple and Ashram which was founded by Shri Shivapuri Mahaswamiji.

You’ll enjoy the strong breeze here and the panoramically view of the city is super awesome. Just behind the temple is world's second largest clock, said to be bigger than the Big Ben, the clock

Dodda Alada Mara

tower in London, and its making took two years.

Upon climbing a few steps you can see an old banyan tree surrounded by statues (Ramanujacharya, Shankaracharya, Madhwacharya, Jesus, Koran, Buddha, Mahaveera and the Guru Granth Sahib) representing various faiths/religions and singing aloud strong message of unity in equally strong blowing wind.

#2. Dodda Alada Mara or Big Banyan Tree

This tree is a giant 400 year old located in the village of Kettohalli. Before you google this village, it is really easy to access the place if you can identify a small road next to Rajarajeshwari Dental college (near Kumbalagod junction)! This single plant covers 3 acres.  In the 2000s, the main root

Manchinbele Dam

of the tree succumbed to natural disease, and thus the tree now looks like many different trees with over thousand aerial roots.

The tree has fenced boundaries, and benches for people to sit. There is a small shrine, many monkeys, some lays and soothing shades- good picnic place indeed!

#3. Manchinbele Dam

This beautiful dam is constructed by Sir M  Visvesvaraya which is around 9 km s further ahead from Big Banyan tree (don't miss the left at Chandrappa Circle). River Arkavathi forms the back waters of the Manchinbele Dam. You’ll find a couple or two government appointed watchman’s eating your head and money! This place suffers from govt.’s poor tourism showcasing- not much publicity, no maintenance, lack of connectivity, lack of proper security and lifeguards. Apart from that, really wonderful place to be!

On Top of Dam

#4. Ruppi’s Hotel & Resort

This is a place run and owned by Kannada film industries famous Real Star, Upendra. I visited this place for a short snack after visiting Dodda Alada Mara and Manchinbele Dam. This is just a km away from Dodda Alada Mara. Onion pakoda and onion rings that we ordered along with the chai were just delicious. Interiors, cottages, playgrounds and restaurants- all have looked good to me in my first impression. I have promised myself to visit this place again to explore!

Ruppi's Hotel & Resort

I recommend you to cover all 4 places mentioned above in the order- 2,3,4,1! Will take less than half a day and to be at Omkar hills at around 7.30pm will be the best thing to do! It’ll energize you for the rest of the coming week, guaranteed!

No greens,
Cloudy & Chirpy,
I set out to search,
White flowers... 

Bangalore had Blossomed,
Red flowers...
Green flowers...
Blue flowers...

[Photo Credit: Sharath P R, Thanks to Chikkappa [Ramesh], Chikkamma[Ratna], Doddappa[Karunakar] and Munna[Sharath] for being the part of this trip!]

Kumara Parvata Trek: Not For Faint Hearted...

Beating Valentine’s Day traffic I made my way to the pick-up point, Domlur, Bangalore. I had literally no time left for packing since it was a “working” Friday and we (Chandru and Abhishek) had decided only on Thursday to go for this trek. We made sure that we carried essentials like- 2 pair of clothes, torch, towel, soap, dry fruits and chocolates. I knew, scaling up 5600ft Kumara Parvata(a.k.a Pushpagiri or KP) will be a daunting task considering the fact that summer had already set in and humidity would take its toll!

Hiking Ethics!

Comfortable Temo Traveller was arranged by Bangalore Mountaineering Club for 12 of us (including our super-fit guide, Sam) and we left Bangalore by 10pm. Thanks to good road and excellent driving, we arrived at Subramanya, approx. 280kms from Bangalore, around 5am on 15th of Feb. Full moon was still on sight! We took an hour to freshen up in an “unknown” dorm and were all set by 7.30am with a quick breakfast (including Horlicks for extra power!) at Neo Mysore Café, located infront of the Kukke Subramanya Temple.

A lazy 1.2 km droll to base of Kumara Parvata was the most comfortable part of the complete trek! Once reaching the foothill, Sam gave us a briefing and lessons on trekking ethics. We introduced ourselves and soon after, we hit the trail of most challenging 13kms of my life!

Picture Perfect!

Definition of this trek was set as soon we finished a km, catching the breath on these 40-50 degree inclination was real test for both-mental and physical fitness. Luckily, the group was really fast and we didn't realize that we are gonna set a record time soon!

By 9.30am we had arrived at famous house of mid-aged Girigadde Mahalingeshwar Bhat, mostly known as Bhattramane, covering 4kms. This mud house built in 1974 had a cowshed and areca nut plantation, electricity coming from indigenous hydro power and solar power, constant water supply from a water channel of the hillside rocks. We were served simple and tasty lunch, dinner and next-day breakfast here. Also, we spent a blissful night here. Had there been no Bhattramane, I would confidently say that KP would be near to impossible!

No surprise, KP has it’s own mythological importance. KP was the place where Lord

Mantapa

Subramanya (a.k.a Kumara) fought and won the fierce battle against the demon, Tarakasur. Impressed Devendra got his daughter married to Kumara. Hence the hill got the name KP and river that flows- Kumaradhara,.

Post early lunch, we started at 11.15am to scale rest of the 9kms. 3 things kept improving exponentially- beauty, humidity and inclination! We crossed forest dept. check post and caught glimpse of Western Ghats- in 2 viewpoints located at a stretch of a km. Our aim was to reach Sheshagiri(The first main peak before KP) and damn it, we couldn't even sight it till we had trekked for close about 2 hours! We kept checking with Sam, pointing at series of false peaks that we encountered and asking if it was Sheshagiri. Silence and Smile was his constant answer!

I had almost lost my battle till I reached Mantapa, ancient stone structure. Abundant water and oranges we carried, gave me the boost. With high spirits we were back in trail and soon reached Sheshagiri. Views were just incredible and KP was only a km away now. Then started an unbelievable stretch with green shades and later, 70 degree inclination. We had made it to the top of KP by 2.20! Feeling on top was just priceless as I spotted Lord Shiva’s small stone shrine and flag flying high. Couldn't resist writing down-

Did we scale this?

Clouds had calmed,
Flags waving high…
Lying down on rocks,
Cold breeze hit my face… 

Like it had never hit me before!
Like the seasons that changed overnight!
Like these red flowers in green pastures!
Like this longed victory getting longingly closer!
Like the destiny’s invariant smile, that finally smiled!

We started the descent at 3.30pm, skidding most of the times. We were back by 6.30pm at Bhattramane. Some of us were nursing ankle or toe pain, and the tea which welcomed us, followed by an open-air cold water bath and tasty dinner refreshed us and paved way for a most satisfying sleep!

Next day morning, i.e. on 16th, we woke up at 6.30am, had quick breakfast and continued our descent. We reached the base by 10am and after a bath in public bathroom, we went inside the temple, took a round and tried to catch glimpse of the Lord and his blessings!

This trek looked like a philosophical story to me. Constant steep inclines pointed towards

Sunrise

hardships of life. Many false peaks reminded me of distraction one encounters before the ultimate goal of one’s life. Although views at Sheshagiri were the most beautiful, we still went to climb KP, since KP zenith was the main goal. It was a learning experience and burnt my false pride of achieving Hampta pass last year. I learnt to respect every trek and every trekkers!

Bidding goodbye to Subramanya, view of Sheshagiri behind temple gave me Goosebumps! We started at 11.10am, stopped for lunch at 12.45pm at Gandharva restaurant, Sakleshpur, and a Chai break in Bellur cross. After successfully crossing many toll plazas and bearing through some nonsense unheard music, we reached Bangalore by 6pm!

Team seen with Bhattru

Final Tips to make it to KP-->

1. Watch enough of Rafael Nadal’s games for mental fitness and hit gym before 2 weeks for physical fitness!
2. Trek with people who are extremely positive and who can push the team as a whole!
3. Do it at least once in your lifetime!

[Cheers to Chandrashekar, Abhishek, Sandeep, Sushanth, Amit, Joseph, Mathew, Anurag, Jitendra, Gyanesh, Sam and BMC for making the trek super awesome. Photo Credits: Chandrashekar & Amit.]

DWAR: This is how The War was waged Against Rape...

Days roll, ideas change. When entire nation is talking about Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, things that need to be addressed is shown a blind eye. Petty fights for mere media attention have become daily saga. Corruption, economic slides, soaring prices, recurring woman harassment cases, monetizing of health and education sector- has indeed taken us far away from the nation which Mahatma Gandhi had dreamt about!

We hear that this century belongs to India, due to its enormous young population. We age and with maturity, we turn into a leader. We at KnowYourStar.com thought that we should initiate agenda based politics- no man or political party is important to us. Only motive is to make this world we live a better place. Only aim is to collaborate with the current youth for our own empowerment. We named it Dwar or D-war. Door of Transformation! We the change!

It took us no time approaching Ravin Productions. With me and Chandrajith chalking out the screenplay, we had nourished our progressive thoughts. We saw a twinkle in Prateeksha’s eyes when we narrated it to her. Dance sequences were shot under Vyjayanthi madam’s guidance and then the daylight scenes, with Prince Haravinthan and Ruchi getting us best of angles in their cameras, we really saw a beautiful sculpture in making! I have to laud Prince Haravinthan's priceless hardwork in molding video to what we see today. Martin Charles music rendering just added to the flavor. For the work done- Sharath, Ashwin, Shruthi, Nyna, Deepa, Jenifer, Pranita and Kiran sir-guys, pat your backs! A team is a reflection of its captain’s capabilities; director Chandrajith deserves a special mention!

I sincerely thank everyone who led us to this work. Starting from the guy who helped us arrange lights to people who give their honest opinions to correct ourselves. We believe that these 4:42 minutes will be as entertaining as it can get with a small pinch of society quotient.

Dwar is not a series of educational videos, but instead a Movement. Dwar won’t preach, but will trigger a tsunami of thoughts. “Winning Women” is its first video. I am sure, the video says it all. I wish to see no more Nirbhaya cases. I wish to see a country where people live in harmony. I wish to see thousands of protectors all around us. I wish to see a world where everyone walks with their head held high…

It was a no moon day, black and dark…
Crimes on mirror, sent me chills!
The war of shadows, sleepless night…
With trillion heart-wrecking stills!

Thirst of my soil had not quenched…
Unfazed devotion for a world, where-
No business meant business…
No politics meant divine kingdom…
No love meant unconditional love…
No fear meant garden of roses…

I saw a bright bird fly, past the sky
White wings open and spread…
And a blink of hope in the Dwar
Cleansing the dirt and agony…
With a storm! It has brought! A storm!

[This article is written for http://knowyourstar.com/rape/ , official page for launch of Dwar- Door for Transformation! Visit the page for complete story and other wonderful articles! Join the Movement]

Trek to sea of pearls: Dudhsagar Waterfalls

Thursday, after office hours, I looked at my wrist watch. Time was always right. But for a change, there were water droplets in the glass. This reminded me of the experience I lived. Or the joy that flowed. From the top of a split mountain to the bottom of deep valley with white clouds making the picture perfect, I knew, for sure, that the time was always right!

This time around, when monsoons are creating happiness, havoc and agony, I visited the serene Dudhsagar falls of Goa. This is located near Goa-Karnataka border, in between Collem and Castle Rock railway stations. Dudhsagar falls is India’s fifth tallest waterfall and what makes it exotic is the railway bridge that passes forming a two-tiered visual treat.

5 of us boarded the Netravati express from Udupi at 1am and reached Madgaon at 6am, Monday. A Monday that turned out to be a Monday worth remembering forever! After having one of the worst possible breakfast at the station, we boarded a passenger train to Collem, reached the resort we had booked, dropped our

luggage and we headed back to Collem station.

Collem looked like a very small town with very few small shops and mini restaurants. We had our lunch- buns with yummy baaji- ethnic Maharastrian cuisine. We bought some biscuits and carried fruits, a torch, windcheaters and umbrellas, all set for a big trek.

13kms. We set a target of 3hours-oneway for ourselves, since it was already 1.30pm and in worst case, if we couldn’t find a railway transport backwards- we should reach by 8pm. With every 100mtrs, trek started looking more tedious. We kept walking, enjoying the heavy rains every now and then. Needless to say, this was mentally more challenging than physically. Stones the hit our toes made us more determined, 4 tunnels that we encountered showed what darkness was, numerous mini waterfalls kept us

motivated. Fear of encountering a wild animal or reptiles was always there as we made our way along the tracks in this dense jungle.

A kilometer before the falls, the first view of this majestic beauty, took us to a different level of happiness. The hard trek seemed all okay, anyday, for this, anyday! Cloud slowly uncovering the zenith of the waterfall was definitely His work of marvel. This sight gave us the sneak preview of the final climax.

Then, I stood, opening up my arms…
For her, not that she was not coming!
I looked up at her, like a Kid…
She came down, for me, fighting clouds
And bombard with her boundless grace!
I wore a smile of content and sighed,
She left her countless kisses on my face!
Standing on a bridge of the railway track
My journey had taken me to her pearl sea…
Waves of which carried the aroma of milk…
Feeding enlightenment with every silk!
Then, I stood, opening up my arms…

For her, since I knew, she was already mine!

All of us were completely drenched as soon as we stood in front of the waterfalls. Exquisite sight! We felt very lucky when we learnt that a goods train engine would be at Dudhsagar in an hour or two. It arrived and stopped for less than a minute. A Journey standing in the engine, trust me, we couldn’t stop shouting with ecstasy. We reached the resort by 9pm. A Monday well spent!

We had booked tent rooms in Dudhsagar Spa resort, set up in a beautiful backdrop of a wildlife sanctuary, 6kms from Collem. Except for the poor food, I literally couldn’t ask for more from this place. We checked out on Tuesday afternoon to board train to Bangalore

via Londa, in Rani Chennamma Express, reached Bangalore at 7am, surprisingly on-time after an hour delay at the start!

When I sat to write this today, I was really short of words to describe the experience. Hence, if I couldn’t provide complete justice in this travelogue, then pack your bag, head towards her before the monsoon ends- enjoy the struggle, let her get you drenched and fall in love- all over again- with yourself!

[Thanks Pranita, Aditi, Supraj and Anudeep for making this trip memorable. Photo credits: Pranita, Aditi and Supraj.]

Pearls from Crown of Karnataka...

We can spend days together arguing on- “Location” vs. “Place”. I say, every location may not be beautiful. But, every place is always beautiful. This time around, when monsoon was about to set, I enjoyed a two day vacation in one such place, exploring Gulbarga, chest of Red grams, and Bidar, crown of Karnataka (Trust me, both place looked more to be in Maharashtra!), and also visiting Mantralayam, in Andhra Pradesh (Trust me, it looked more like a place in Karnataka!)

Gurudwara Nanak Jhira Saheb

That Saturday was legendary, interviewing two achievers for KnowYourStar.com and attending a family function. Train was scheduled at 9pm from Yeshwantpur. 8pm around, 6 of our friends were waiting for me and my cousin, who was in a hospital consulting with a doctor for the sudden health upset of his mother. We ended up missing the train, for the first time! When situation got under control, we searched for tickets and luckily, were able to book last 2 seats of an Airavat travelling to Mantralayam, starting in less than an hour. I took a deep breath after catching the bus, 5 min prior to its departure!

Bidar Fort Entrance

Sunday, 6.30am, we arrived in Mantralayam, to visit Guru Raghavendra Swami Vrindavanam. It’s built somewhere in 18th century, interestingly, while entering the Vrindavana, Guru Raghavendra Swami stated that he would be there (in the Vrindavana) for 700 years! It was heartening to see the wall pictures (around 30) depicting life of Guru Raghavendra Swami and his previous incarnations tracing back to Bhakta Prahlada and Madvacharya(known for Dwaitha philosophy). River Tungabhadra looked dry but the cloud filled sky made sure that we didn’t encounter the heat this place is known for!

After a heavy breakfast in “Pannaga Udupi Hotel”, we set off to Gulbarga- via Raichur. An hour of bus journey took us to Raichur and to reach Gulbarga, it was a train journey of 4 hours. This is where I penned down…

I see blue horizon kissing soil,

Arch in Bidar Fort

Glittering black fertile soil…
Those scarcely flowing waters,
Midst occasional tall single trees…
I saw an immensely blessed soul,
Toiling under the Sun for our life…
Ensuring us a square of meal,
Forming backbone with his torn attire…
I saw an immensely blessed soul…

Monday morning, after catching well deserved 4 hours of sleep; we were ready for Bidar, couple of hours away from Gulbarga. Bidar indeed had lot to give. We first visited Gurudwara Nanak Jhira Saheb, built by none other than Guru Nanak, around 500 years ago. Pond of never drying clear water, Punjabi neighborhoods and surprisingly, green landscapes. Peaceful delight!

Then we went to the highlight of this trip, a Narasimha temple in a cave. We were in our regular jeans and t-shirt. Guards stopped us when we entered, advising us to change our clothes for better. We found a locker room and just wore a towel to cover our lower half. We entered a cave which was at least 8 feet below the ground. Bats were flying and this cave of approx. 500mtr length, took us by surprise as soon we entered with its water level- almost close to my chest (say 5ft. from ground!). After making our way, we saw the Lord Narasimha at the end of the cave. Storyline goes like this- a demon named Jalasura was killed by Lord Narasimha and for his salvation, Jalasura exists in the form of water in this cave of the Lord.

Narasimha Temple

After changing the clothes, we visited Bidar fort, built by Bahamani rulers and later altered by Aurangzeb of Mughals. Master piece with limited premises open for public. Museum here is really astonishing, with guns to barrels to wooden works to Stone Age utensils to craft works, delight for any art lover. Once we found that it’s too big, even to explore limited premises, we gave up and left to last place for the day in our list, Papanashini Shiva Temple, believed to be worshipped by Lord Rama after his victory over Raavan and Sita Parityaga, to overcome the wrath he gained. This place had serene lake and we decided to trek to the main road, and it was very enjoyable.

Bidar Palace

All the places in Bidar were in radius of 5kms and we (7 of us) travelled in a single auto rickshaw, unbelievable but true! Once we returned to Gulbarga, we visited Market area for special Paani Puris and delicious snacks. Later in the night we caught the train back to Bangalore.

If you are pondering over the missing Sunday night, here it is- it was a jovial occasion of Nikah of our dear friend, colleague at KnowYourStar.com. Special mention for the ambience of hall, KBN guest house, Saath tombs, tasty dinner, amazing weather and loads of fun together, indeed, it was definitely great place to be!

[Wishing Iqlas Ameen and Roohina a happy married life. Thanks to Sharath P R, Kiran E, Vinod B, Basanth S, Ravinder A, Ambarish, Jaikrishna for being part of it. Photo Credits: Sharath P R]

Flying to the Fort of Imagination...

Some places are just frozen, their hidden eternal beauty try to tell those tales that can mesmerise anyone. I was on one such trip this time. Main motive of attending a wedding, constantly kept us helping- to get back to the reality. Yes, I was constantly pulled by those ancient times, a privilege of visiting those places that were built way back in 9th, 11th, 13th and 19th century! An attempt to go back, from where we come, to who we are!

Vanivilasa Sagar

Early Sunday morning, I pulled out my old hat from the cupboard and set off to Davangere, 300 Kms away from Bengaluru, on a car. Once we arrived at Yeshwantpur, outskirts of city, Asian Highway-47 welcomed us. I personally haven’t seen any better road than this- imagine a road- with 4 lanes, no humps, scientific deviations, beautiful landscapes, and fertile fields with crops, ornamental flowers in the divider, clouds, drizzles and very insignificant traffic- this is how AH-47 treated us!

Here goes the Eight places that I visited, in visited order-->

#1. Vanvilasa Sagar or Mari Kanive, built by Mysore Maharaja, is a dam constructed over Vedavathi River. It’s 12kms off Hiriyuru, a major town in AH. We first visited Mariamma Temple, local deity, and started climbing the steps which was carved out in a unique zig zag fashion from a locally available big stones. We were awestruck when we reached the top. This dam was artistically built, which clearly showed out the great taste Mysore Maharajas had for building classic monuments! Long walk on the top of this dam between 2 mantapas (which were at the ends of dam), amazingly carved out 100 odd years back, will definitely make you think- why are we so incapable of building wonders now?!

#2. Halurameshwara Temple is 40 kms from Vanvilasa Sagar, towards Hosadurga. No doubt, was the highlight of this trip. As far as I know- this is neither historic nor beautiful, but it has stories to tell everyone. It has an astonishing well (Ugamagange) in front of Goddess Gange, were you sit and make a wish, and you are sure of getting Prasada in the form of things like- jaggery, grains, dates, bananas, coconut,etc.. The priest interprets the Prasada that you receive and predicts if your wish will come true or not. I laughed my gut off before I went to this place, and just to be a rebellion- made 4 wishes instead of only one that I was supposed to. I received “jaggery with curd”- which comes very rarely, and priest told me that my wishes will come true and that I had made multiple wishes!

Chandravalli Caves

#3. Chandravalli Caves is 40 kms from Halurameshwara temple or 3 kms from Chitradurga (again in AH). History dates back to 9th century here and a meeting room at a depth of 80 foot down from the entrance of caves took me by surprise. Initially a pious saint chose this place for his meditation and later, it stored a treasure chest. The dressing room, bath room, place to keep the treasure and ways they employed to keep it secure- is the reflection of the intellectual capacity back then. Also, serenity here is defined by- dense forest in one side, caves that are enthralling, river that is shining blue, waterfalls roaring down the rocks and gardens with pleasant colors!

#4. Chitradurga Fort is 3 kms from Chandravalli caves, or very close to AH itself, was built in

13th century and it took 211 years to build. It is heartening to see the Rainwater harvesting system being adapted here. A fort that is strategically built in a shape of a rippling snake has 7 mighty doors, surveillance (battheries) centers for soldiers and provisions for them to use rifels and canons, a palace built from mud to keep it cooler in the hot summers, 14 temples, vast ground over 3 kms radius, caves for soldiers and very famous, “Vanake Obbavva Kindi” makes this place special. For around 800 years this fort was safe from invaders. Haider Ali attacked this fort thrice and succeeded in the last. First and second attempts failed only because of the extremely secure architecture of fort. Here we got a chance to catch “Kothi Rama” live, India’s very own Spiderman, he climbed the walls without any help in less than a minute!

P.S: “Durga” means fort and this place is blessed with stones that can be imagined (mentally) to be a frog, elephant, human face, lion, etc. (any shapes, forms- chitra). Hence the name Chitradurga! Modern Chitradurga has Asia’s second largest windmill power generating stations and city looks like as if it has arranged for table fans around it!

#5. Guru Kottureshwara Benne Dose Hotel, 60 kms from Chitradurga, is in Davangere. This is located in Gundi Chowltry road of extremely delightful city of Davangere (formerly known as Devanagari). Crowded place, no money for ambience, but priceless Benne Dosa!

HariHareshwara Temple

#6. Harihareshwara temple is 15 kms from Davangere and is off AH again. This was built in 11th century by Hoysala’s and has their signature star-shaped architecture. Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva being worshipped together, beautiful carvings, majestic pillars, recreational chess board like structure in verandas, gigantic stones consisting of whereabouts in clear Halagannada (mother of modern Kannada) will uplift your mood!

Siddaganga Matha

#7. Siddaganga Matha is in Tumkur, around 70kms from Bengaluru. Has schools and hostels, provides education with no or minimal fees. Completely conceptualized and executed by the pontiff, who is 106 years old, known as “Nadedaduva Devaru”, Dr. Shivakumar Swamiji. Here we finished mangoes that we had bought in Davangere, delicious!

Last, but extremely important and reason behind this trip-

#8. SS wedding hall of Davangere and Silverline guest house (inside Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology) where we spent a night. We enjoyed dumb charades and some new innovative games before we signed off for the day at Silverline. Bapuji institutions are all over in this city and herds of sheep that pass by your car will definitely teach you a lesson or two!

[Photo Courtesy: Pranitha K S. Thanks to Rakesh, Vinu, Manju, Sanjay and Siva for being part of it. Also wishing a Happy Married Life to Santhosh and Soumya. Cheers!]