Photoblog: Kabini Backwaters

A one day journey i carried out with my friends to the backwaters of Kabini Dam, famous for the pachyderms which throng this place in summer, as this the last watering hole available. Few snapshots from that trip

The Serene Kabini Dam Backwaters

  

Kabini Backwaters

Another Snapshot of the Kabini Backwaters

 Machan overlooking the Kabini Backwaters

GangaikondaCholapuram

(in continuation of East Coast Diaries)

An hour's drive from Kumbakonam, you arrive at the small village of Cholapuram which houses the very famous Brihadeshwara Temple, not to confuse with the Brihadeswara Temple at Thanjavur. This is an exact replica of the main temple at Tanjore but a much smaller in magnitude. Preserved by the UNESCO as a World Heritage site, this village is devoid of any visitors except for the handful of tourists who arrive to see the Navagraha Sthalas nearby.

The main entrance to the Shiva Temple at GangaikondaCholapuram

Stone edicts depicting the coronation of the king.

The tall gopuram of the temple at GangaikondaCholapuram

The World Heritage Site of GangaiKondaCholapuram

Darasuram

(in continuation of East Coast Diaries)

The village of Darasuram lies around a km from Kumbakonam, just off the highway towards Thanjavur. This little village holds a masterpiece of its sorts of Chola Architecture, the magnificent Airavateswara Temple. ASI has put in lot of efforts to maintain this heritage and cultural site and in restoring its lost grandeur.

The magnificent Airavateswara Temple

The main highlights of this temple: is the lofty vimanam, the hall of the main sanctum is designed as a chariot supported by wheels, horses and the elephants. The detailing in the sculptures on the pillars, inside the hall of the sanctum is superb. It has carvings of the puranas as well as lives of the people way back in the 12 century. This temple was built in the 12 century by King Raja Raja 2 of the Chola dynasty.

Intricate carvings in Airavateswara Temple

The entrance to the main hall of the sanctum looks like a chariot

Kumbakonam: The divine town

(in continuation of the East Coast Diaries)

Some History:
Kumbakonam is referred as a Temple town because of a large number of temples surrounding the town. There are temples in every lanes and by-lanes of this town. The name Kumbakonam is derived from the word, kumbam, meaning a broken pot. Legend has it, Lord Shiva, as hunter, chose to shoot an arrow at the pot and break it, so that its contents could spill and life would form again. This was after the great deluge and before the advent of kaliyuga.

Seeing Around:
Adi Kumbeswarar Temple
Is home to the famous Shivalingam , from which the town derived its name. As we entered the main temple, we passed by the temple elephant with painted forehead and necklace laded with bells, nodding its head now and then, swaying around, as if it were welcoming the pilgrims.
The sculptural wealth inside the temple is amazing not to the least. There were no hallways or mandapams, or any pillars and the ceilings which were not ornamented with fine sculptural architecture

Gopuram of Adi Kumbeswarar temple under renovation when we visited

Sarangpani Temple
Is the biggest temple in Kumbakonam. Striking elegance of this temple is the 44m tall, 11-tiered gopuram which rises above kumbakonam.
The idol of Lord Vishnu rests is a half lying, half raised posture. The main sanctum is shaped like a chariot. The statues of the dvarapalas guarding the entrance to the sanctum were enormous.

The tall gopuram of Sarangpani Temple

Other temples Of Kumbakonam:
There are many other temples in kumbakonam town. The Nageswarar and the Chakrapani temples being the prominent.
Other things not to miss are the Mahamaham Tank, where the pot broken by Lord Shiva and the nectar which spilled from the pot filled the tank.

Other things not to be missed in Kumbakonam:

• Kumbakonam's fine degree filter coffee, almost all eateries in Kumbakonam will serve them in two containers, one tumbler and the other shallower so you can sip in when it is light hot
• The temples of Darasuram and GangaikondaCholapuram, both UNESCO World heritage sites and both unique on its own.
• The brass vessels which are famous here.
  

East Coast Diaries: Tranquebar

(Continuation Of the East Coast Diaries)

The travel from Chidambaram to Kumbakonam was a complete road maze. We were traversing the same set of roads to and fro in search of the Navagraha temples( read in the later part of the blog). En-route we heard about this coastal Sea-side town from a local and decided to make it, hoping it will be wonderful outing on a beach side.

Tranquebar or Tharangambadi as it is locally known lies 50 km South East of Chidambaram. Found by the Dutch East India Company, it was a thriving port during the 1600s under the Dutch rule. The main tourist attractions in Tranquebar are the Dutch Fort, Fort Dansborg built during the Dutch rule in India and Masilamani Temple on the coast of Tharangambadi. Tranquebar also boasts of a very beautiful and pristine coastline devoid of lot of tourists. Fort Dansborg is now converted into a museum housing the personal collections of few Dutch Travelers who made it to this port town during the 1600s. The entry fee into this dutch fort was a bit expensive, but, i guess it was for the renovation effort underway to restore the fort. You may as well find lot of Dutch Travelers rather than Indian tourists . Dutch backpackers trying to find the roots of their ancestors. After a customary exchange of a few "Hello's" and "namasthe" with few Dutch Tourists, it was time to bid farewell to this port town and leave for our final Destination, Kumbakonam.

Fort Dansborg on Tranquebar beach

Coast of Tranquebar

Staying options in Tranquebar is limited only to a high end resort. Neemrana groups runs a Bungalow on the Beach resort with prices starting from Rs4000/-. Other than that there are no options of staying back in Tranquebar.

Pichavaram: A quiet getaway tucked away from Town

(In Continuation of the East Coast Diaries Trip)

This was an accidental visit, Outlook Traveler weekend getaways recommended this place but with very less info on the place and the whereabouts. We asked a local person the route to this place. He defined it as good and we were out moving towards the destination. Almost making through the villages and the backdrop of the countryside with paddy plantations, we made it finally to Pichavaram entrance after a 15 km drive. This place looked very similar to a huge lake but in fact was a mangrove swamp filled up by the rising tides. This place was one of its kind in India very rich in bird life. Was able to recognize few birds after we set out for boating. A must visit place if we are visting Chidambaram.

Mangrove Forests Of Pichavaram

Boat house at Pichavaram

Chidambaram

(In Continuation of the East Coast Diaries Trip)

Chidambaram is one holiest shrines in South India. The temple town of Chidambaram is just around 350 kms from Bangalore. Chidambaram is famous for the Lord Nataraja Temple ( shiva performing the ananda thandava dance) . The temple of chidambaram is believed to be around 1200 years old and is very huge. The legend is the "ananda thandava " cosmic dance was a duel between lord shiva and Kaali (Godess Durga) , Shiva had lifted his left foot towards the sky in the Urdhuva Tandava posture, a definite male gesture, and Kaali could not reciprocate, thereby causing Shiva to emerge victorious.

Chidambaram East Gopuram Entrance

The Nataraja Temple is dotted by four large gopurams on each directions of the town. We had settled ourselves to a hotel room nearby to the main West Gopuram entrance and we had a nice balcony from where we had a bird's eye view of the West Gopuram entrance of the temple. As time slowly ticked by, sharp around 7pm we made to the temple. We had a glimpse of Lord Shiva dancing in his divine form. people had gathered around the base to have a glimpse of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva resides in Chith-sabhai , an elevated platform where the lord Shiva, nobody accept the priests(or the guardians) of the temple are allowed in chith -sabhai, however one is allowed to enter the kanaka-sabhai. Final pooja was being performed, Lord was getting decorated as he would be carried in a palanquin to the sleeping quarters where the Lord would rest for the night. This pooja is very special and cannot be missed.

Early morning we woke up around 6 and we left to have the final darshan of the Lord. Again a special pooja is performed to bring the Lord from his sleeping quarters. The Lord is carried around the inner most sanctum and a special pooja is performed. We were later allowed to enter the kanaka-sabhai and have the darshan of the Lord and also allowed to witness the the "Chidambaram rahasyam" . What was this Chidambaram rahasyam? As far as we came to know from the priest, worshiping Shiva in the divine form of space is the Chidambaram rahasyam. We were shown where Shiva will be worshiped in the form of space, curtains were pulled, and before the lights fade out in the background with the priest holding a aarthi, the curtains are pulled back again and the rahasyam is never revealed.

We slowly moved out from the inner sanctum, took the blessings of Lord Shiva and moved out slowly gazing at the temple architecture. So marvelous was the design of the temple that it is simply too astounding to describe. We moved at almost tortoise pace around the temple and we moved out of the inner sanctum.

Outer Parakramas of Chidambaram

Once we were outside the temple of Chidambaram, we visited the large Ganesha statue near the west entrance. We moved on towards the North entrance and was fascinated by a nandi statue nearby the tank and I stood there gazing at the gopuram of the temple. It was just incredible. This temple was indeed very huge. Slowly we moved out of the temple thinking of the lord and made our way to the next destination, Pichavaram.

Outer Parakramas Of Chidambaram

Nandi statue near Chidambaram Tank

Pondicherry: A little bit Of French In India

Day: Nov 14 2008, Time 1100am

I do not have to explain the Geography or the history behind the city of Pondicherry. Pondicherry is a union territory comprising of territories pondicherry, mahe, karaikal and yanam. pondicherry had been a french establishment until it was merged with the Indian union in 1956 after a special treaty with the French. Pondicherry still enjoys many special status, like it has its own legislative assembly, it has accorded french as an official language.

Pondicherry might look like an average Tamil city once you enter it, but in contrast there are lot of changes within the city. Roads look better, pavements are cleaner, the police over here sport a cap which dates to the french colonial era, everything almost looks something different.

Entrance to Pondicherry(or Puducherry as it is known)

We arrived in pondicherry around 11am, since we did not have any plans to stay back in Pondicherry(we had to make up to chidambaram the same day), there was no effort done on searching any rooms in this city, but i would almost suggest a day stay in pondicherry to catch the sunrise across the beach and also to laze around the city when everything around you moves at a snail's pace.

Pondicherry is divided into two divisions, mind its not the people who are divided,only the city. The north part of the city is the French quarter, with its wide pavements and cemented roads, neatly maintained plush bungalows or villas used by the erstwhile french commanders and officers during their establishments in the 19 century. The other, south part of Pondicherry consisting of the Tamil quarter, which is like any other city in Tamil Nadu or the rest of the country( but i guess much better than an average Indian city).

Most of the tourist concentration is across the Beach Road or the Goubert Avenue and the Aurobindo Ashram.

Pondy police lazing it out on the beach after a hard days work

We started to laze around the beach road for a few hours moving up and down over a km of the Beach road, this was enough for my parents and they stopped by Bharathis park. I left them there and started hanging over the pretty French quarters to check out the villas. Almost every street is named in french here. you can see tourists moving around the french quarters in their bicycles. I even had the chance to glimpse an electric bike. It took me almost around 2 hours to completely roam around the French quarters. I was almost tired by this time and the clock was almost ticking 3. I reached back to the park and we had our lunch at a chettinadu restaurant called "Appachhi", i do not know what the name meant, but the food was absolutely delicious, could savour some chettinadu cuisines like biriyani and karaikudi chilly chicken.

A signboard in French

French quarter pavements

French villas

We started towards chidambaram at around 430 after some shopping in the Tamil quarters.

East Coast Diaries: Making it to Pondicherry

Day: November 14 2008, Time: 630am

We had early morning darshan at Thiruvannamalai. You can also read my other blog about my earlier visit to Thiruvannamalai here. You will be able to recognize Thiruvannamalai temple by the large gopurams on each direction of the temple. The gopurams over here are the tallest next only to the main Gopuram in Srirangam temple. The majestic Arunachala hills at a distance adds glory to this wonderful pilgrimage center. The annual Karthika festival attracts lots of devotees here who go barefoot to the top of the arunachala hills and light the lamps ending the 10 day festival.

Giant Corridors inside Thiruvannamalai Temple

We had breakfast at Hotel Ramakrishna, which is one of the popular vegetarian restaurants around here. At around 830 am we started towards Pondicherry with a small pit-stop in Gingee Fort. Gingee town is about 30kms from Thiruvannamalai. It was the bastion of Tippu Sultan, and the fort built is spread across 3 hills. The fort is absolutely very large and it would almost take a day to hike it.

Gingee Fort spread across 3 hills

Gingee Fort

It was a comfortable 2 hours drive from here to the coastal town of Pondicherry.

East Coast Diaries: Travelling Back to Thiruvannamalai

Day: November 13 2008, Time 730 am.
I was picked up from Bangalore because I had been working late the previous day, my parents with a driver drove all the way from Mysore to pick me up here. And as it would may be, Bangalore traffic made us to move to our destination much slower than intended. Our initial plans was to visit the Golden Temple at Sripuram near Vellore and the Vellore Fort and wind up our journey at Thiruvannamalai.
By the time we had crossed into Tamil Nadu it was already 1030 am, now it was around a 3 hr drive from Hosur to Vellore, but the fantastic roads made us to forget the distance. We were travelling through NH7 from Hosur to Krishnagiri, here we have to take a deviation towards left to Vellore.
Vellore is about a 3 hours drive from Krishnagiri. Once we reached Vellore, we made our way to the Sripuram Golden Temple. The main goddess over here is the Lakshmi. Once we had taken the special tickets for the Darshan, we were asked to proceed along a star-shaped pathway leading to the temple, everyone visiting the golden temple have to proceed in a star shaped pathway before reaching the main sanctum. The main sanctum is almost covered in gold, which reflect back with the crystal clear waters surrounding the temple. In the waters you can find devotees who have strewn with bangles and money. Photography is not allowed inside the premises of the Golden temple and all your camera equipment is confiscated before we enter the shrine itself.
After finishing our darshan here, we had lunch in Vellore town and then we proceeded towards Vellore Fort. Vellore Fort forms the center of attraction of the main Vellore Town. The Fort is covered on 3 sides with water. This fort was the bastion of the Vijayanagara Kings and eventually fell to the Adil shahis of Bijapur.

Intricately Carved Sculptures Inside Jalakanteshwara Temple

Inside Jalakanteshwara Temple

Jalakanteshwara Temple

Inside Vellore Fort is a beautiful temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, Jalakanteshwara Temple, its intricate architecture similar to the temples as in Madurai. Legend has it the Vijayanagara kings fearing the Adil Shahis victory hid the main idol of the deity, but he hid too well and it has not been recovered till now. Its a nice place to move around for an hour or two and understand the significance of this place.

Vellore Fort

At around 5pm we started from Vellore towards Thiruvannamalai, a good 76 kms away from Vellore. We reached Thiruvannamalai around 630 pm, booked our rooms and went to have darshan, thus ending our first day of our journey.

Around Gopalaswamy Hills

Time 5 am
I woke to a brand new day as I had grown older by a year now. Monday mornings are usually crammed up, bustling traffic, even Mysore is not spared on those frantic Mondays. But, I chose to stay back at home on this special day and plan to visit Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta situated somewhere in bandipur national park.

We started around 6am, the sun was steady high and i guessed it would be a very bright sunny day which i thought would take away the essential purpose of visiting the hills. Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta as the name specifies is covered with veiled mist all round the year. That's the specialty of this place. As we slowly started our ascent towards the hills situated at an altitude of 1300m above sea level, the conditions around started changing dramatically. What was supposed to be a bright sunny morning was slowly changing, the clouds were almost covering the peak of the hills almost making it invisible to the bare eyes.

Thick veiled mist covering the peak of the hills

We reached the base of the temple at around 830 and we were almost shivering as the clouds grazing by us gave that punch of coldness.It was as if the clouds were singing in praise of the lord. The sight which behold in front of us was almost like a picture used on my desktop wallpaper.

The whole place around Gopalaswamy betta is frequented by wild elephants

Nobody was present around the temple. It was just my parents and me and the whole place to ourselves. The temple priest arrives only by around 930 because the only bus to this place arrives by that time. we had the whole one hour to ourselves with nobody disturbing us. And luck what may, soon after walking a few distance away from the temple, we spotted a herd of wild elephants grazing in the plains below:). That was awesome. Watching these beasts in their wild habitat, it was just amazing. The whole place around Gopalaswamy betta is frequented by wild elephants because it falls in the core zone of the Bandipur National Park. We came back to the temple after watching the elephants and the temple priest had arrived by that time. He conducted pooja for us, and explained to us the importance of this place. This temple was built by the erstwhile cholas way back in the 12 century.

The temple was built by the Cholas in the 12 Century

We sat there for a while, took a deep fresh breath as the air had the purity of the surroundings. we started back around 11 to Mysore with our minds still in the backdrop of misty hills of Gopalaswamy.

Around Gopalaswamy Hills

Postcards From Backwaters

Some more pics from the backwaters

The ancient temple complex built by Hoysalas

An Evening at the backwaters of Cauvery

Another weekend, another hangout with my very close friends. The decision to have a hangout here was all of a sudden and surprising. Well, let me introduce you to the team who joined for this memorable outing.

The team(from left): Raja,me, Manohar,Raghavendra, Somasundar ( a.k.a Soma),Amith,Krishna & of course Nitin.

The Team photo on the bridge across Cauvery

It was 2pm on a wet Saturday evening, it had been drizzling a lot from the morning, and by afternoon, the cloud storm intensified leading to torrential rains. It was impossible to move out in such rains. It was around this time Krishna called me up to join for an hangout at the backwaters of River Cauvery. We all met at manu's place,with rain clouds still playing hide and seek . Four of us, me, raja and amith were stuffed into Krishna’s car and the rest into manu’s car. We drove off with the rains still pouring on and very good music being played on the player. We passed by Mysore’s Electronic City, home to companies like Infosys, LnT & SPI ( My friend Raja works here, so couldn’t leave out his company) Soon we were nearing the K.R.S dam, most of the crest gates had been opened and the water was gushing in full force. We headed straight towards a small village where a temple which used to be submerged all the time when the dam was full, was being renovated and bunds being built to block water from again flooding the temple complex.

On the banks of River Cauvery

The rains had finally stopped, so that we could enjoy the place in peace. Not too many visitors, Few locals(like us), few people from outside, and very few people who had been entrusted with the work of renovating the temple. Soon we were enjoying the vast backwaters of river Cauvery having our photo-sessions then and now.

The ancient temple complex

Looking at how all the guys enjoyed the much needed break, it was bringing all our memories of our college life back to us.

An island on the backwaters

We moved around a bit, watched the sunset, evening lights around the reservoir were being turned on. It was already getting dusk, so we decided to pack off towards mysore. The enjoyment had made everybody hungry and something like hunger cannot be controlled by the boys. So we stopped by a midway dhaba and ordered a little bit of everything, Soon we were all busy eating and discussing about our lives which i believe stretched for the next 1 hour and we were back in our homes by 9, and to top of it, I had to take another round of my dinner, lest I angered my mother.

This is how an evening which was turning out to very pale due to the rains turned out actually to be very memorable!!

©All image courtesy is provided by manu’s camera and he is the sole owner of all the photos.

A final word of thanks to Manu’s camera Sony DSC-H3, Krishna’s W350i, Amith’s W700i for providing the photo courtesy. I shouldn’t forget the two beautiful cars which bore all our brunt’s and the poor roads around the city.

Krishna's Car

Manu's car with Manu in the middle