Hampi

Yeah! its time for yet another trip and this time it was Hampi (a.k.a Humpi or Hampe) is both a historic & religious place. This was the capital of the Hindu empire, Vijayanagara, who ruled the south India during 14th to 16th century AD. It's about 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of Bangalore.

Raghu had initiated our trip plan …with Prashant and me, as usual our old gang J We started out journey by taking the majestic Hampi Express train from B’lore on Friday the 13^th {nov-2009} which reached Hospet @ early hours on 14^th nov.

We wished every one on the train Happy Children’s Day!

Without wasting any time in the railway station we headed towards the bus stand coz we had done all our RnD before reaching Hampi as to where to stay and all…so we reached bus stand looked for couple of hotels and lodges and found one called Hotel Shanbhag International…truly one of the best place to stay in Hospet I must say. The rooms cost you around 700 INR and very very spacious…

Got freshen up by 9 AM headed towards Bus terminal and took a bus to Hampi which is around 12 KM from Hospet and would cost you just 10 INR. On the main street of Hampi is the Virupaksha temple we visited that then headed to hire a Bicycle u get lot of Bicycle and mopeds for rent on the main street. A bicycle per day would cost you around 50 INR.

Day 1: Saturday Nov-14 2009

We even saw the riverside ruins on a coracle, a circular shaped country boat to cross the river. A huge floating basket is a more appropriate description than calling it a boat. They are huge flat basket like craft to ferry people & sheep (yes sheep!). About 6 feet in diameter, coracles are made of bamboo, cane, plastic sheets and a fine coating of bitumen to make it leak proof! A coracle ride would cost u around 50 INR. Day 2: Sunday Nov-15 2009 Stone Chariot inside Vittala Temple complex built on a rectangular platform of a feet or so high. All around this base platform is carved with mythical battle scenes. Though the chariot is not resting on it, the four giant wheels attached mimic the real life ones complete with the axis shafts & the brakes. A series of concentric floral motifs decorate the wheels. It appears from the marks on the platform, where the wheels rest, the wheels were free to move around the axis. You can still see the remains of the painting on the carvings of the chariot. Probably because it was relatively protected from the natural wearing elements, the undercarriage of the chariot spots one of the best-preserved specimens of this kind of paintings.

The main highlight of the Maha-Mantapa is its richly carved giant monolithic pillars. The outermost of the pillars are popularly called the musical pillars. These slender and short pilasters carved out of the giant pillars emit musical tones when tapped. Probably these do not belong to any of the standard musical notes, but the musical tone of the vibes earned it’s the name. Unmindful curiosity of the visitors has damaged many of these pilasters and tapping on it is banned for the sake of preservation.

The southern hall is dominated with the rampant mythical creatures called Yalis. The capitals of each of the pillars branches into heavily ornate corbels with terminating with lotus buds. The northern hall is surrounded with a series of pillars with the Narasimha (the man-lion incarnation of Vishnu) themes. The most notable ones are that of Narasimha slaying Hiranyakashipu on his lap. Prahlada is seen sitting at the base in a praying posture. The ceilings of the halls too are of interest with the lotus like carving at the centre. Further west is a closed hall with two porches on either side. Further ahead is the sanctum.

After that we headed towards back to Hospet and had a great lunch @ Waves restaurant {Hotel Mallige} I must say one of the best restaurant after Krishna palace available in Hospet. Evening took a bus to TB-Dam that marked end of our trip and then packed off the bag and waited for our bus to arrive, as usual KSRTC maintained its standard, 10-30 PM bus departed @ 12 midnight J but EOD it was very satisfying journey.

Thanks for Raghu to booking the tickets. Thanks to Prashant for accompanying us.

The total cost of the trip was 1851 INR

The year that was....2008

Himada Gopalswamy betta

Trip to

Himada Gopalswamy betta

on 15^th August 2008

Celebrating Indian Independence in Style

Yo folks !!

Had an exciting friday and an amazing Independence day on 15^th August 2008 ,thought let me share it with you all. Read thru the matter and adjust maadi.

Woke up on friday and reached our office by 5 AM. All my crew for the day Shreyas, Vibha, Anisha, Rishii, Saurav and Sundip were all set to go to Himada Gopalswamy betta, close to Bandipur which was another 70 kms drive from Mysore. On the way we had a traffic jam coz an Independence day parade was passing by even we joined the kids from various schools and shouted out some slogans on Indian independence, BHARAT MATA KI JAI....

The literal translation of Himada Gopalswamy betta would be "Misty Gopalswamy Hill". Apparently, it does live up to its name for most part of the year. There is a temple at the top, dedicated to Krishna (I think). It must have been one treacherous trek through forests and hills in the olden days. People were sure, quite dedicated to GOD back then :-)

We reached there at around mid-day but the view from top of this hill is truly breath-taking. It is one of the highest peaks (1454 meters above sea level) in the Bandipur National Park. Herds of wild elephants are seen regularly near this peak. A lake, a few hundred feet below the peak serves as the local watering hole for the other wildlife.

We tried to cross Karnataka border by walk, and b in TN but gave up in middle coz this was the time we planned to shoot some good pics and ya shot 2 videos on some gr8 bollywood songs Pehala Nasha and Pappu cant dance saala. Well the videos r with the concerned ppl. I personally dont take any responsibility if something happens to u guys after watching these videos.

On the way u can see fields covered with sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers sunflowers and sunflowers.

Here we shot out 3^rd video of the day from DDLJ, the song Tujhe dekha to ye jaana sanam............Vibha and Shreyas even tried some adventure stuff by climbing a tree house with the help of a bamboo ladder.

Sunflowers sunflowers everywhere everywhere sunflowers everywhere...........

Had a gr8 lunch @ Mysore and visited Chamundi Hills in the evening and way back had gr8 fun talking to each other and gave a pit stop on a Highway cafe-coffee day. And reched B'lore at around 9 PM. It was truly a gr8 relaxation and a must visit place guys.

STAY HUNGRY STAY FOOLISH STAY INNOVATIVE

The total cost of tour was 700 INR inclusive of travel n food.

Special thanks to Shreyas for coming up with this idea and Anisha for arranging the cab.

Nanded

Religious ROADIES ka TASHAN

version 8.5

JUJAHAR[JUJII] : MANPREET : MOHIT : JASMEET[JASS]

AMITH : BHAJAN : MANINDER : VISHAL : ANAND

Well it was time again to try something different in my life and this time it was Goa yes all set to Goa but no one was willing to come and it finally shifted to Nanded and Hyderabad coz one of my friend Maninder and his friends were planning to have a visit to Hazur Sahib.

So we all Jujahar(JUJii), Manpreet, Mohit, Jasmeet(JASS), Amith, Bhajan, Maninder, Vishal and myself met at around 8 PM to leave to Hyderabad and to all out surprise a special incident took place and my dear friend Vishal had a joyful mood throughout this tour. To know what happened with Vishal @ the bus stop read this until the end.

We left B'lore at around 9PM on 30^th April. Reached Hyderabad at around 8 in morning the next day.

As our first priority was to book for a cab i was on to it and my dear friend Maninder was on to his job searching a &*%$:-)

Finally got a cab and left to Nanded. That was 1 gr8 journey as u see it was around 270 KM from Hyd.

We had a good meal at some Dhaba on highway the road is damm good i can say.....Maninder suggested of Antakshari..and wow....though i didn't gave much contribution in it i had a gr8 time listening to some of the remixes Maninder was making of bollywood songs.....out of all i must say Jujahar has a gr8 voice .....(he is also part of our company singing troupe)..well end of that competition we came to know that Jujahar had actually created almost 3 song composition and sung....and we couldn't recognize it......any ways i didn't recognize almost all of his hindi classics... MAN oh MAN he has a gr8 talent in singing and thanks to his voice quality coz we had a single cassette in out car we played it almost 10 times and now it was his turn to fulfill our song request.....Apart from Antakshari i would like to mention a great debate on some Hindi words by Manpreet/Maninder v/s Bhajan. I still don't know the outcome of that debate :-)and by the way our own Vishal was the only one who had sung almost all bollywood romantic numbers....yes he still had a effect of what happened in on the bus stand in b'lore(wait for the climax). With all this fun it took all most a day to reach Nanded and reached there around 8:00 PM.

Had a stay in NRI-Nivas all thanx to Manpreet who had done this arrangement. After some great food at Langar, Langar is the term used in the Sikh religion for the free, vegetarian-only food served in a Gurdwara and eaten by everyone sitting as equals, including, non-Sikhs.

Now it was time for my first visit to any Gurdwara in my life yes....this was the first time in my life that i was visiting a Gurdwara ......All those who enter Gurdwara hall must remove their shoes and cover their heads before entering.

Takhat Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib is the principal shrine at about half a Kilometer from the left bank of the river Godavari, Nanded, Maharashtra. This is about to complete 300 years in November 2008. And WOW what an architecture it has......even to my surprise photography was allowed inside such a main complex. They do Ardas (a Sikh prayer)3 times a day, after Ardas they open this special room which houses artifacts from the days of Guru Gobind Singh Ji and Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji.. (the Sangat are not allowed to touch or enter this room) The artifacts are brought out and shown to all, they show a Sword and Kalangi belonging to Guru Gobind Singh Ji and a sword belonging to Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji.

Next day morning at around 5 AM myself, Maninder and Vishal came to Gurdwara again for early morning prayers. We had our hands on making some parathas at a near by dhaba.

And following that the entire day we covered up all most all the Gurdwara's in Nanded.

• Gurdwara Sangat Sahib ; Gurdwara Mal Tekri Sahib ; Gurdwara Shikar GhatGurdwara Hira Ghat ; Gurdwara Nagina Ghat ;Gurdwara Mata Sahib Devan; Gurdwara Baba Banda Bahadur Ghat

I got a feeling that it was not in some part of Maharashtra but i am in some core areas of Punjab yes....u can see lots and lots Punjabi people and culture around here. Lots of Sikhs have got settled in Nanded and an equal number of tourist from around the world visit this place.

After the evening arathi @ around 9 PM had our dinner at Langar and left to Bidar which is in the next state (Karnataka). It is 200KM south of Nanded,. It was almost 6 hour journey and believe me the roads in this state were terrible and i did not find any road first of all , it was as if we were going in space in that dark night we were traveling in some space ship and all thanx to Bhajan for making that journey exciting by telling a ghost story. Finally reached Bidar at midnight at around 2 AM and all thx to sManpreet again for we had our rooms booked.

Next morning i.e on 3rd may got up and visited the Gurdwara called Nanak Chira. The site the Gurdwara is built on was once visited by Guru Nanak himself, on one of his many travels.

To the utter surprise of all, fountain of sweet, cool water gushed out of the hillside. The place hence known as 'Nanak-Jhira'. A beautiful Gurdwara has now been constructed by the side of the fountain. The water of the fountain is collected in a small 'Amrit-Khud' built in white marble.

Then at around noon headed back to hyd. and started exploring Hyd as much as we can...first we saw some tombs ....i am still wondering why the hell we went to visit those tombs when there were lots of other places to visit.....then finally i came to know that it was our driver who wanted to visit those tombs not any of us......

Went to Charminar the most famous landmark of Hyderabad and had a gr8 Biryani wow...that marked the end of our tour........"Jo Bole So Nihal...Sat Sri Akal"

Then started the longest journey of my life that i ever done 14 hrs from hyd-bangalore in a Toyota-Qualis backseat...reached Bangalore next day safe and sound @ around 10 AM...with all these sweet memories and got to know some of these gr8 friends .....who still in this modernized world and being in high profile IT industries keep faith in their love towards religion....

**Title courtesy : Gundeep (Jamseyspear).

Skandagiri

This place is located near Nandi Hills, India

Best time to visit this place is : November to January (Non-monsoon time)

Route: Bangalore - Hebbal Flyover - Yalahanka - Devanahalli - Chikkaballapur - Skandagiri.

About Skandagiri: Skandagri is approximately 65km from Bangalore city on Bellary Road [NH-7 Hyderabad-Bangalore Highway], near Nandi Hills and Chikbalapur. Located at an altitude of 1750 mts, it is every adventurer’s paradise with beautiful night trek, altitude camping, stunning sunrise, serene and swimming clouds.

FACT Files This place is called Kandavara Halli and the mountain is called Kandavarahalli Betta (also called as Skanda Giri). It is located near Chikkaballapura - a small town under Bangalore rural district.

Height -- about 1750m from sea level.

Distance ... From Bangalore 70+ km.

From Nearest Town/Medical Help : Chikkaballapura

Nearest Airport/ Railway station: Bangalore

The Route(Getting there):

There are two routes to Kalawarahalli Betta. One way is to take a turn towards Nandi Hills and go further to kalawara village crossing Muddenahalli. This route is shorter compared to the one from Chikaballapur. Second one is to go to Chikaballapur and then to Kalawara village. From Kalawara village ask for Omkara Jyoti Ashrama / Papagni Mutt. There is a shiva temple and vehicles can be parked there. This is at the base of the hills. Nandi to Kalawara to Papagni Mutt is 6 km. Chikaballapur to papagni Mutt is 3 km.

level of Trekking: Moderate

• must carry Water, first aid box, snacks or light foods as nothing available on the top or on the way to trek from papagni Mutt

Its a popular belief that it is fun on a full moon night to start the trekking expedition at 12:30 midnight and aim to reach the top at around 5:30 AM early morning. This timing allows viewing of sunrise against the backdrop of golden clouds.

Rappelling ...and Monkey Crawl..!!

Saturday 1^st December 2007..

We 6 ...........Sonalika, Rishi, Vikas, Bhavin ,Soumyadeep and myself along with ..Rajendra our guide from Nisarga adventure club b’lore headed to Sawanadurga, a place with a fort on a lofty mountain, about 60 km from Bengaluru. The hill consists of two granite cliffs of 4000 feet tall and 13 kilometres (8 miles) in circumference , one called Bilibetta or white peak, another Karibetta or black peak.

The rocks are challenging. Climbers can endure up to grade 7. It's also ideal for light wilderness treks and camps.

Rappelling is the practice of sliding down a rope to descend a rock face. The technique was developed by climbers, but has turned into a sport of its own……YES and we did it on a 50 feet vertical rock………………..!!!!!!!!

All set down to Go...!!!

Then it was time for a short monkey crawl…….
Well one more adventure filled day added to my list….:-)

All thanks to Sonalika for planning and arranging the whole thing.......