Agumbe Malnad Trip: Be Unhoused O my Soul, only the Infinite is your Goal...

Although monsoons started off late, it didn't fail to make up for the lost time this season. To get the essence and to get drenched, I visited the famous Malnad(literal meaning “Rain Country”) in

Sunset Point Agumbe

Karnataka when it rained the most, July. Recounting the places I visited during one day trip.

#Kundadri Hills, is located 15kms from Agumbe (witnesses 2nd highest rainfall in India and only abode of king cobra), is a monolithic rock formation with a Jain Temple at the top. Rising 3,200 feet above sea level, on full moon day, one can experience sun rise and the moon set simultaneously. The hill is named after a Jain monk Kundakundacharya who is said to have performed severe penance here somewhere around 400 BC. This hill is motorable and gated. Since the gates were shut when we went up, we had to find the priest, Shantinath Pandith, who stays at the bottom of this hill. Visibility was less than 10m and I was literally midst the clouds. Astonishingly, you’ll sight 2 ponds at the top of hill in which, one is 200 feet deep! No wonder, Kuvempu (First Jnanpith

Kundadri Hilltop

awardee for Kannada and Padma Bhushan) penned his beautiful poems here.

At #Kigga Rishyashringeshwara Temple, deer-horned form of Shiva is worshipped and believed to be of Treta yuga( Lord Ram’s times). The Legend of Rishyashringa is very interesting and it would rain if one prays here (we saw Karnataka govt. doing that recently). Beautiful small temple. Serene must visit.

#Sirimane Waterfalls, is hardly 6 kms from the Kigga temple, one among the many waterfalls of the Western Ghats of Karnataka. It’s a very well maintained by govt. and views are simply soothing. Falls is in midst of jungle and your camera will have a busy schedule! Worth

200 feet Pond at Kundadri Hilltop

visiting and do not forget to carry extra pair of clothes (changing rooms are also available).

#Sringeri is a place blessed by Shri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaitha fame. Legend says that the Acharya, during his travels, saw a cobra sheltering a pregnant frog from the heat of the Sun, on the banks of the Tunga river and established Sri Sharadamba temple and Sri Vidyashankara temple, an architectural marvel consisting of 12 pillars known as Rashistambhas (zodiacal pillars). Interestingly, the design of the pillars involve certain astronomical concepts. For example, the first rays of the rising sun fall on specific pillars with the zodiacal symbol on the pillar corresponding to the position of the sun.

#Kavimane & Kavishaila, Kuppalli is the highlight of this trip. It is the home of Rastrakavi

Sirimane Waterfalls

Kuvempu, most celebrated author of Kannada. It was heartening to see his house, place where he spent his childhood and later part of life penning his marvels, household items his family used and his books. The reconstructed house turned museum’s architecture- Thottimane (meaning “Tank house”) - complements the weather (characterized by heavy rain during the monsoons) very well and gives a glimpse into the life of people a hundred years ago in the Malnad. If the kavimane experience is akin to time travel, the Kavishaila experience is akin to walking in heaven. Kavishaila houses samadi of Kuvempu. You can also see another samadi and rarest of rare photo-gallery of Poornachandra Tejaswi, another famous kannada author, thinker, photo enthusiast and son of Kuvempu. I bought Kuvempu's

Sri Vidyashankar Temple, Sringeri

autobiography "Nenapina Dhoniyali" for the memory.

#Agumbe Sunset point requires no introduction. Scenic beauty captured in the serial, Malgudi days is the perfect testimony to this place. Roadside pond near to this point where peddle boats function, was made completely invisible by the fog this time around!

#Eateries near Seethanadi & Agumbe will serve typical malnad food and most of them are cooked in the home kitchen attached to eatery. Pathrode, goli baje, neer dose, halasu gidde, upkari and many others. Rains, food and coffee = Bliss!

Kavishaila

Kavimane- Kuvempu's house

Udupi, Mangalore, Temples, Eateries, Beach, Sun and Fun: Travelogue of Unusual Places

I often keep getting questions on places to visit in and around Dakshina Kannada, i.e. undivided Udupi & Mangalore other than well-known places like Krishna Temple, Kollur Temple, Kapu Beach, Kudroli, Manipal End-point or Malpe Beach. I had to visit my homeown thrice, i.e, Udupi to come up with the unique travelogue which is compilation of not-so-popular places but really worth to visit. I have also included couple of places which are on the way in Bangalore- Mangalore highway where you should definitely stop over next time you drive!

#Manjarabad Fort is just after Sakleshpur town and it is really hard to figure out the location since there exists no welcome or sign board. After a steep climb, exploring this star-shaped fort built by one and only Tippu Sultan is just out of the world experience with amazing visuals!

Manjarabad Fort

#Hotel Laxmi Nivas, Kalladka has special KT or Kalladka Tea with goli baje and tuppa dosa- Go for it! 3kms from B.C Road. Old set-up with wooden furniture and unbelievably spacious! If you are not a chai-party, go for coffee- Rhimjim!

#Pabba’s icecream located at the heart of Mangalore serves various delicious ice creams of Ideal, I highly recommend you to try tiramusu and double decker sandwich!

#Neelavara Mahishamardinee Temple is a beautiful, calmness personified riverside old temple and adjacent to it is Panchami Kaanana which is a place dedicated to snake god. Also visited a Go-shala(place where over 1000 cows are nurtured) run by Pejavara Mutt of Udupi and was very heartwarming to see the infrastructure, productizing the medicines derived from cow and whole wide-spread set up.

#Guddattu Mahaganapathi Temple’s history runs back for about 700 years. It is said that the three feet idol of Lord Vinayaka was emerged by itself here in a rock. This Ganesh is always under water and is uncovered only twice a day!

KT

#Mandarathi is place where Sri Durgaparameshwari resides and boosts 4 yakshagana teams which have a history of 600 years. Interestingly, during the times where art-forms like yakshagana are on a back-seat, Mandarthi Melas(teams) next vacant slot to perform is in 2040 now!

#Kamalashile is noted for its temple of Brahmi-Durga Parameshwari and also a small cave on a hill about one km from the temple. Again a riverside in midst of dense western ghats and many stories told of the place. Serene!

#Ambalpady, Indrali, Kadiyali, Bailur, Alevoor & Kannarpady Temples- Known as Shaktipeethas of Udupi.

Ambalpady Temple

At Ambalpady, on every Friday evening after a special puja and collective prayer offered at Mahakali Shrine, Goddess Mahakali is consulted by devotees through a functionary called pathri, who as a medium gets possessed by the Deity, and offers effective solutions to the numerous personal problems presented by the devotees. The Mahakali Temple also covers nine beautiful statues of Navadurga. Why special mention for Ambalpady- I come from here!

Indrali Temple, built in eleventh century, is situated about 2 km east from Udupi near railway station.

Kadiyali Mahishamardini Temple is again one of the oldest temples in the district of South Kanara and has a history of more than 1200 years.

Rest of the Shaktipeethas, I leave them for you to explore!

#Paajaka Kshetra & Kunjarugiri
Parashuram, incarnation of Vishnu, choose Pajaka, a place 16 Kms away from Udupi for his penance, and established "Durgamatha" on the top of Vimanagiri, now known as Kunjargiri. Parashurama created four Thirthas, a pond of holy water. They are called Gadathirtha, Banathirtha, Parashuthirtha and Dhanusthirtha, in the four sides of Durga bette. It is believed that Parashurama is in deep penance in the cave in eastern side below the Durgabetta even today.

The Kunjarugiri Temple is situated 100 feet above from the ground level and devotees have to climb 257 footsteps to have the Darshana of Goddess Durga.

Pajaka has the birth place of Sri Madhwacharya, founder of Dwaitha philosophy, bears many marks associated with the child-hood incidents of Sri Acharya.

Delta Riverside

#Diana Gudbud, 30 Percent and Idly Roast- Try all of them!

#Railway Bridge & Sri Siddivinayaka Temple, End Point, Manipal- Again scenic place with river Swarna flowing calmly and couple of eateries close-by. Temple also has significant history of over 1000 years and on the day of Krishnangaraka Chaturdashi(don’t ask me when!), it is believed that the holy Ganga arrives at this place and if you have a holy dip in this place, you will hear the sounds of the burning evils you have performed all these day. Anything you hear?!

#Delta Beach & Hanging Bridge, will be the most cherished place of my engineering life at Manipal. Imagine you riding your bike with buddies on a narrow road decorated with coconut trees, left hand side you see the roaring sea, right hand you see the calm river, and the road ends- Life begins! This is Delta for you!

Kodaikanal Summer Tour: The Cool Gift of the Forest

Recently, due to excessive urbanization, Bangalore also has started facing summers in March-April. Garden city where there was no need of fan, today, has become the house of air conditioners. To beat this heat, we set out to the "Princess of Hill stations"- Kodaikanal!

Established in 1845 by British as their summer homes, Kodaikanal is decorated with Meadows and grasslands that cover the hillsides. Gigantic Eucalyptus trees and shola forests flourish in the valleys. English countryside bungalows are very common. Honestly, this land of Kurunji flowers those which blossom once in 12 years, I never expected it to be this beautiful and cold(15-20 degree Celsius)!

From Bangalore it is overnight journey to the nearest railway station- Kodai Road. From there to Kodaikanal is 80kms. Dindigul junction is the previous station to Kodai Road(you can wake up at Dindigul station!). Since we were six of us- we travelled to and fro in a travera and an innova respectively. You’ll easily realize the difference in weather, flora & fauna when you travel to hill station from railway station! To put it in taxi drivers one word difference- “Chillness”.

#Kodaikanal Lake is what defines Kodaikanal. Interestingly this is an artificial, roughly star-shaped 60 acres lake built in 1863. We could sight couples spending their honeymoon in rowboats and pedalos at the Kodaikanal Boat Club located in this lake. Even we did boating in pedalos!

There are numerous shops and roadside eateries surrounding this lake. Early morning, we hired bicycles and rode in the 5 kilometres path that skirts the periphery of this lovely lake. The reflection of pines, clouds, drizzling rain, sun and moon in this spacious beautiful lake, can make anyone a poet!

#Coaker's Walk, 500 metres from the bus-stand, was constructed by Lt. Coaker in 1872, is a 1-kilometre paved pedestrian path running along the edge of steep slopes. We saw couple of telescope observatories and honestly, were a letdown. Apparently, you can see rainbow in the cloud if the

Sun is behind telescope. Anyways we were not that lucky enough. It was a very scenic walk. We did some shopping here since there were lot vendors selling earrings, eucalyptus oil, homemade chocolates and spices.

#Dolphin's Nose, 8 kilometres from the bus stand, is flat rock projecting over a breathtaking chasm 6,600 feet deep. To reach there, it takes a small trek of 2kms in a trail that steeply descends and might slip as well. You can spot ladies selling short snacks from their individual homes in this trail. Couple of viewpoints makes this small walk interesting- mid way to Dolphin’s nose, there is Mountain valley view and further down Dolphin’s nose, there is echo point. It rained a bit when we were there. Looking down at the symmetric Palani hills is in fact, pure bliss!

#Kodai- By The Lake by Sterling Holidays resort is situated on the banks of the picturesque Kodai Lake and styled on the lines of English countryside to compliment the English styled villages that dot Kodaikanal. In this beautiful resort, we had rented a duplex 2-bhk for a day which came with excellent service, excellent living room and breathtaking views. Nalla irukku!

#Food might be a topic of concern if you crave for spicy dishes. If you love having idly, dosa, rice, rasam and sambar- it won’t be much of problem! We had 2 meals, i.e., breakfast and dinner at the Hotel Eden Park, approximately 20kms from Kodai Road railway station. I can easily recommend this place. At Kodaikanal, previous day lunch at Woodlands hilltop restaurant made us turn to Dominos for the next day. The best part- having Moroccan mint tea while the sun starts to fade behind clouds and mercury touching around

15 degrees Celsius in April. Also, we didn’t miss to grab a bite of roadside bread toast, cuppa noodles, and sandwiches, masala teas with biscuits, vadai, sweet corn, peaches, tree tomatoes, passion fruits and baby carrots!

#Missed places- Pine forest where movie are shot, Pillar rocks, waterfalls due to lack of water and eating at Astoria hotel, highly rated local eatery!

[Thanks Pranita, Aditi, Rashmika, Supraj and Anudeep for making this trip memorable.]

Silent Shores... Camera Clicks...

You skip those words that I repeat..

Every tide that comes, holds me firm..

Where I make my way midst tall coconut palms..

Silver corals, holds your name, small street..

Like waters that kiss you in the shore..

Words fall short..

Of the street that I come, has my footprints..

Of the street that I come, is the best..

Of the street that I come, feels the best..

Of the street that I come, looks the best..

Gives me the sense, of every beautiful wave..

To see a river running into vast blue sea..

Silent Shores... Camera Clicks..

Hope you liked the pictures that I clicked in Delta Beach, Back waters and Malpe Beach, all of them at a reach of 3kms from my home!
I have picked the lines from one of my old poem- Small Street..
Thank you!