Traveling into the past – Trip to Melukote, Hosaholalu, Govindanahalli and Kikkeri

I can call this one day trip as a journey in time machine towards 12th century. Last Saturday (20/12/2008) Murali, Chethan and I had been to some Hoysala temples around Mandya.
We stared from Koramangala at 7.30 AM and drove straight to Kamath for breakfast. After a filling breakfast we moved towards Mandya. We took a right turn towards Melukote after 1.5-2 kms from Mandya town. Melukote is around 35 kms from Mandya. In Melukote, we visited ‘Kalyani’ (huge man made pond, with steps on all sides and stone ‘mantapa’ built around that), Narasimha Swamy temple (an ancient temple, crowded and built on top of a hill), Cheluvanarayana swamy temple (ancient temple with lot of beautifully crafted stone pillars and sculptures) and ‘Raya Gopura’ (an uncompleted stone ‘Mantapa’ with beautiful carvings) in the same order. After visiting these places we went to ‘Sukha bhojana’ (‘Happy Meals’) which serves ‘Puliyogare’ and ‘Sakkare Pongal’ (sweet Pongal) . We immediately became fans of these dishes. Try not to miss this place.
After having lunch at Melukote, we drove towards Hosaholalu. From Melukote we need to go to K R Pete (25 kms) and Hosaholalu is 2-3 kms from K R Pete. There is a 12th century Hoysala temple (Lakshminanarayana), which is preserved well by ASI. There were no visitors when we reached there. This temple has beautiful carvings on the walls, similar to the carvings in Beluru and Halebidu. Took some photos and left to Govindanahalli (also called as Gavihalli).
Govindanahalli is 20 kms away from Hosaholalu. You have to come back to K R Pete and drive towards Kikkeri (ask locals for direction). Once you reach Kikkeri take left after the police station to go to Govindanahalli (5 Kms). Ask locals at Govindanahalli for the location of the temple. This Panchalingeshwara temple built in 12th century has five ‘Gopuras’. Even this place was free from visitors and we spent our own time in taking photographs of this time tested temple. Even this is well maintained by ASI. This temple has two beautiful Nandi idols.
After Govindanahalli, we came back to Kikkeri and asked locals for directions to the Brahmeshwara temple, amazingly none of them knew much about it. After multiple enquiries and a drive through narrow roads of the village we finally arrived at a temple on the banks of a river. It was around 5.30 PM and no one except us was around the temple. As we entered the compound, we were shocked to see the most beautiful and the most neglected temple we saw on that day. There is a Nandi Idol in front of this temple which is slightly smaller than its siblings in Beluru and Halebidu. This temple has beautiful carvings on its walls and there are a lot of stone pillars with various carvings.
It was around 6.30 PM when we left this place and drove towards Mandya (We could have drove to Chennaraya Pattana, but we wanted to skip the mad traffic after Peenya). At 8.15 we were in MacD waiting for our burgers. We reached Koramangala at 10 PM.
A beautiful day trip from Bangalore where we covered 4 ancient temples, drove nearly 400 kms, took a lot of photographs and had the experience of ‘travelling into the past’ in a time machine.
Lessons Learnt:
· All AA sized rechargeable batteries will not work for some cameras. MAh rating is important. (Chethan’s camera was sitting idle because of this)
· Adjusting shutter speed and aperture gives more DoF for landscapes.
· Sometimes Auto-Rickshaws drive on the right side at Melukote J
· Metering is important to get clear images (Thanks Murali)
Route taken:
Bangalore -> Mandya -> Melukote (~35 Kms. Take right towards Melukote after 2 kms from Mandya town. Watch for the sign boards.) -> K R Pete (25 Kms) -> Hosaholalu (3 Kms) -> K R Pete -> Kikkeri (20 Kms) -> Govindanahalli (5 kms) -> Kikkeri -> K R Pete -> Melukote -> Mandya -> Bangalore
Vehicle: Chethan’s Swift
Expenses: Approximately Rs 900 per head
Team: Myself, Chethan and Murali

Photos: [Click here for more photos]

Kalyani at Melukote

Yoganarasimha Swamy Temple at Melukote

Cheluvanarayanaswamy Temple at Melukote

Cheluvanarayanaswamy Temple at Melukote

Raya Gopura at Melukote

Lakshminarayana Temple at Hosaholalu

Panchalingeshwara temple at Govindanahalli

Brahmeshwara temple at Kikkeri
Brahmeshwara temple at Kikkeri

Ourselves @ Govindanahalli

Thirunelli and Tholpet Reserve Forest

During Deepavali (Oct 27th)long weekend I had been to Virajpet with Family. We visited Thirunelli , a temple located in Kerala, and Tholpet , a reserve forest on the border of Kerala and Karnataka. Thirunelli is an old temple in Wayanad district, approx 60~70 kms from Virajpet and 25 kms from Kutta. This is located on top of a hill and this hill is surrounded by mighty western ghats. Tholpet is a reserve forest on the way to Thirunelli from Virajpet, just after Kutta. Forest dept offers a 24km jungle safari. Unfortunately we went there on a long weekend and traffic on this safari trail was more than that on Kutta - Virajpet road. Guides say that on normal day chances of spotting a gang of elephants and bisons are very high. This safari is open from 7-10 Am and 3-5 PM. If you have your own jeep, you can drive it. Otherwise you have to rent a jeep, which will cost nearly 450 Rs.

Photos:

On the way to Thirunelli, after Kutta:

Thirunelli Temple:

Some shots from the Tholpet Reserve Forest :

Brahmagiri

This is my second trek with Kamesh's Group. Needless to say, another wonderful experience.

Friday night we boarded a TT near Kanteerava Stadium at 10 PM. After picking up few guys from Majestic we headed towards Sreemangala, Kodagu. By 5.30 in the morning we reached the IB at Sreemangala. You need to book your trekking well before the date at the range forest office at Sreemangala. They will arrange a Forest Guard as a guide and adviser throughout the trek.
Pavan, a friendly forest guard accompanied us from here onwards.

After having good breakfast at a house nearby the Irupu temple, we headed towards Narimale Forest Camp. This is a forest guest house in between the forest, 5 kms from Irupu Falls. This stretch is heavily infested by leeches. I have at least 10 scars on my feet even after 10 days.

[Leeches do not kill you, they just bite you and suck your blood till they want and then leave. They do all these activities without your knowledge. Bleeding will take some time to stop even after they leave you. Best medicine is to carry some powdered salt and put it on the leech when you see them sucking your blood. You can use Tobacco leaves or lime for the same purpose.]

We started the trek from Irupu Falls at 10 AM and reached the Guest House by 12.45 PM. We walked for ~5 Kms and the path ranges from moderate to difficult. Here we settled down for 30 minutes 'plucking' the leeches, rearranging the bags, having some chocolates etc. We started towards Brahmagiri Peak at 1.30 PM and reached the peak by 3.30 PM. Total distance walked was around 7~9 kms. The trail takes you through almost flat grasslands. Only the last km of the trek is enough to take the breath out of you. But this is the most beautiful part of the trek.
The peak was windy and we started back immediately and reached the IB at 6 PM.

During the entire trek of Day 1, rain was playing hide and seek with us. We had packed everything in plastic covers and that saved our clothes, food, cameras etc from getting wet.

After we returned, Kamesh started cooking food for us. It was rice and Sambar!!!!!!!!!. I cannot explain how delicious it was. Plate full of steaming rice and spicy sambar and pickle. Kamesh, Thanks, You made our day. After dinner, we slipped into the sleeping bags and what a sleep that was!!!!. There was solid background music of beetles and sound of lashing rain.

We got up at 7 AM. Had Maggi. Started walking towards Munikal Caves. This is around 5 kms from the IB and the terrain was same as previous day's. We took two hours to reach the caves. These caves were used by sages in the earlier days. This place can be used as camping site as this has a source of water. After this we returned to the IB at 11 AM. Packed our bags and started walking towards Irupu Falls. It took two hours. By 1.30 We were under the Irupu Falls, enjoying the 'water massage'.
At 2 we went to the same house (where we had breakfast previous day) for lunch, and again a stupendous lunch. At 3.30 we started towards Bangalore and reached home at 12 AM.
PHOTOS:

My Camera

Chethan's Camera

Irupu Falls:

Brahmagiri Peak: Data:
Team: 13
Vehicle: TT
Cost: 2500 per head, all Inclusive.
Distance Travelled: Bangalore to Irupu: 280 Kms Approx.
Distance Trekked: Two days and 38~40 Kms Approx.
Precautions and Preparations: Permission at Range Forest Office, No Littering, Possibility of wildlife sightings, LEECHES, No Alcohol / Smoking, Rain/ winter gear and lot more

Kuala Lumpur

I was in KL from 10th to 16th of Feb. I was there to attend the Unified Messaging Voive Ignite session by Microsoft.
Also, KL was rocking as Chinese new year celebration was going on. Diggerent shades and hues of red were everywhere. Chinese dance, music, food and lot more. Not to forget the unique Chinese Dragon Dance.
I visited Petronas Twin towers, Geting, Batu caves, Aquaria KLCC, China Town and a few malls. KL is not very costley city. I felt as if I am in a clean city of Tamil Nadu with a lot of foreinger tourists :).
Most of the taxi drivers are friendly and they usually do not demand too much. Also bargaining is open. One can catch the fast train from the airport to the city central and then catch the taxi to the hotel.
I stayed at hotel Mid Valley, which is a good business hotel. The cost was around 180 MYR for double bed with breakfast.
Click HERE for the photos.

Hampi, Mantralaya and Chitradurga.

Hampi... I was dreaming about this place from a long time. I visited Hampi two days before Christmas of 2007. That long weekend (22nd Dec to 25th Dec) we visited Chitradurga, Hampi, Mantralaya and Vani Vilasa Pura Dam.

The journey started with a wonderful drive from Bangalore to Chitradurga on 22nd. The distance is around 200 Kms and the 80% of the road is in fantastic condition. It takes around 3 hours from Nelamangala. Chitradurga is famous for the fort built by 'Madakari Nayaka', who used to rule that region. Also there is a place called Chandragiri Caves, which was the hiding place of kings during the wars and difficult times.

On 23rd Morning we drove towards Hampi. Hampi is nearly 140 Kms from Chitradurga. Needless to say, this is a UNESCO world heritage site. Ruins of Vijayanagara Empire are spread across few sq Kms. Where ever you see or go, there will be a ruined old temple or some broken idol or some age old stone 'mantapa'. All these structures are built by solid granite stone. They have wonderful carvings all around.
These wonderful monuments are not really maintained well. In most of the temples one can walk and touch the idol wearing sandals / shoes and no one is bothered. Most of the roads are in bad shape. People treat these places of historical importance as mere picnic spots.
Virupaksha Temple, Vittala Temple and Stone Chariot, Narasimha Idol, Kamala Mahal, Hazara Rama Temple, Summer Palace etc are the places to see.
We started our journey towards Mantralaya at 5.30 PM. Mantralaya is around 220+ Kms from Chitradurga.

On 24th, got up at 4.30 in the morning and visited Raghavendra Swami Temple. We also went to a nearby (25 Kms) temple called 'Pancha Mukhi'. After having lunch in Raghavendra Swami temple, we drove back to Chitradurga via Bellari. The journey of around 250 Kms took nearly 7 hours and we reached Chitradurga at 7.30 PM.

On 25th, while coming back to Bangalore, we visited Chandragiri Caves in Chitradurga and a beautiful dam built by Sir. M.Vishweshwaraiah at Vani Vilasa Pura.

Route we followed:
Bangalore -> Nelamangala -> Tumkur -> Chitradurga -> Hospet -> Hampi -> Raichur -> Mantralaya -> Bellari -> Chitradurga -> Vani Vilasa Pura -> Hiriyuru -> Tumkur -> Bangalore.

Total Distance Covered: 1500 Kms

Suggestions: Avoid Summer time. Better to make your own arrangements for food. Hire a proper guide. Book your accommodation in advance if planning to stay overnight.
Avoid LONG WEEKENDS and HOLIDAYS.

PHOTOS:
Link to HAMPI photos.
Link to OTHER photos.