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| Shine bright like the Sun, be strong like the mountain and freely wander like the cloud. PIC taken at Sunrise, TalaKaveri. |
With the advent of happy 2015 comes adding interesting items to my bucket list and things like weekend following the new year day, family members occupied with local pongal function at my native place, friends busy with their work(planning for all their new year resolutions), soothing winter season, above all petrol prices going down :P, things fell in place for a solo trip with one of my beloved partners. Jazzy was more than willing to explore new places being sick of her underground corner parking lot :), while I was tired of pretending to be busy with office work :P. Hence both of us were raring to venture out for a few days, just two of us, leave us alone please :P. We planned to experience at least one in each of green mountains, waterfalls, villages, rivers, highways, early morning drives, late night drives, loud music with open windows, breathe fresh air, feel cold, sunrise, sunset, flowers, wild animals, new people/culture/food and a must surprise/adventure event :).
Day ONE :
As elders advised, every good thing should start after worshiping the almighty and so was my unplanned trip (no advance booking of tickets/lodges) started with going to receive the blessings of Sri Ranganathasamy, Srirangapatna, Karnataka. With all the rush to beat evening traffic in Bangalore, I started off from office just after having lunch and hit the NICE ring road to enjoy a hi-speed ride :). No matter how fast I drove I couldn't reach the temple before sunset, which was my plan, blame it on the numerous speed breakers on channapatna, maddur, mandya, mysore highway. Despite my repeated prayers to the Sun god to wait for me for a few more mins so that I can step into the temple before dark, He was strict on His duty and happily set while I was only one-quarter of the distance from Bangalore to the temple.
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| SUN god on his tireless sincere duty. |
However seeing the beauty of the sunset head-on the highway made me think 'all is well' :). Also wondered if it's possible for man to set his foot on the Sun too :) Anyways will plan my next trip to the Sun :P.
After seeing the temple Gopuram from a distance, I became ecstatic to enter into it as early as possible. Less crowd in the temple added to my joy.
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| Gopuram standing so tall and majestic |
Amid-st intermittent loud chanting of "Govindaaa Gooovinda" by school kids and devotees, I went along with the queue prayerfully. There were several idols of the famous avatars of Lord Vishnu around the main sanctum where our queue passed by. Took darshan of each of them and also offered prayers mindfully. Went mesmerized on the first sight of Sri Ranganathasamy. Without taking my eyes off Him, moved ahead to see Him as close as they allowed us. I must say that the popular Tamil saying "Avan azhagai kaana kan kodi vendum" (one wishes to have a crore eyes to relish the beauty of the Supreme Lord) is more than 100% true. Having the desire to stay in the sanctum only for as long as possible I moved to one corner away from the common crowd and worshiped Him to my hearts content. Priests started their mandala pooja soon and allowed me to witness their daily rituals. Felt humbled and transcendental on hearing the glories of Him by the prayers sung by those priests. Deepa arthi and tulsi leaves along with delicious and sumptuous ven-pongal was offered to all the devotees who gathered for the prayer. Found a lodge nearby and slept off thinking what a lucky start to my trip (only worried that Jazzy was parked out on the road overnight and the possible danger to her :( ). So far so good, good night.
Day TWO :
Early bird catches the worm. Woke up early and got ready and drove off to Triveni Sangam ( confluence of three rivers namely - Kaveri, Kabini and Hemavathy) and wanted to take a holy dip before common crowd disturbs the serenity of the place. To my surprise it was still dark even after 6.30am and I was too scared to enter into water being afraid of any crocodile or snake attack.
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| Grateful to all the rivers for they feed us since our birth and wash away all our sins on our holy dip. |
Enjoying the morning drive and troubling a few by passers once in a while to have a check if I was on the right track(as Vodafone mobile network was not available after SriRangapatna), I reached the Golden temple, Bylakuppe. Most of the places on this route was industrialized. Tibetans monks walking by and their colonies, houses and families around was a different experience for me in India. Seemed to me that they are living a peaceful and well settled life.
Namdroling Monastery is very intriguing. I couldn't help overhearing a monk chanting his mantras deeply involved in himself and not bothered by the visitors talking over their mobile phone, kids playing around and making noise and couples trying for their perfect selfie. I thought I felt a little religious and spiritual too by sitting besides the monk for a few minutes. Glanced over all other sites in that campus before I realized that I was too late for their extravagant daily prayers and rituals. Heard from friends that the reverberations from their musical instruments would lift anyone sky high. Let my pictures describe the beauty of this temple more.
Enquired for a good restaurant serving vegetarian Tibetan cuisine and enjoyed my meal watching all other Tibetans gorging on their non-veg palate. Need to mention that it was a mutual entertainment for both of us to watch each other and informally exchanging short smiles/greetings if we happen to see each other accidentally.
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| Tava fried chow mein and mix veg with Tibetan/Chinese sauce. Without mobile network connection and no proper sign boards on the roads, it was tough to locate Nisargadhama. But the wish to experience safari on a Tusker drove me to the place later than sooner (coining new phrases) :). Spotted deers over there were surprisingly healthy and very energetic. Imagine getting free food within a secure (fenced) environment, an ample space to play around, friends and partners with you all the time and fun with various visitors, who else will not love all these. How lucky are you dear deers!!! :) Bought my share of cut cucumbers for them which they swallowed in the blink of an eye and hankered for more. Unlike me, they were all roaming and having food as a couple, that made me even more jealous of them :) |
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| Deer couple enjoying their little healthy snack. Turned around feeling good with the thought of making a couple happy and wishing them long life only to get shocked by a Tusker walking behind me. Heart beat rate shot up beyond measure before I realized that he was ridden by his mahout. Saw a few of his teeth(almost the size of my head) while he easily gulped full sized uncut cucumbers from my hands. Overtook its speed and went up the ramp to shoot the gigantic yet elegant walk of his. Relieved to realize that he was quite strong and calm to take me for the forthcoming safari. His tusks were bright and sharp. Good that it is not stolen yet :(. All poachers, I curse you to a short life :|. |
Pleasant safari ride made me feel sleepy as if it was a cradle. Isn't it eco-friendly if elephants/horse carts or bullock carts are properly used for our office commute?
A chill place where I spent considerable time after getting scorched by the heat from Sun during the safari was Cauvery in jungle. It was so inviting to dive into the river, alas!, everyone kept away from that idea. So I was wondering if I had missed any caution board, but searched for any trace of crocodile or snake to be extra careful :P. All tress and bush around the river made her shady and sexy :). Bulging rocks scattered across the middle of the river gave everyone a good seating place to half dip our legs and hands and play with water. Had they provided a hammock tied across the river I would have slept there forever.
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| Artificial or man made beauty is no match for pristine beauty. Here comes the better part of the car drive around the ghat section from Madikeri to Bhagamandala. One has to experience it to know it's worth. Introducing my beloved partner, she's worth a mention here. She's so cute, so calm, so reliable, so trustworthy, so efficient, so fair :P, et al. |
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| Beauty(Jazzy) in Beauty(ghat roads).
Went offbeat on an awesome road and found "gopalakrishna temple". After all I am named after Him so I must pay my respectful visit :). Always thankful to the presiding deity "Gopalakrishna playing with his flute" overlooking a dense forest on the mountain for having attracted me to His temple. Spent more than an hour there as I was the only devotee except for the priest reading vedic mantras from a book. Observed the chirping of sparrows along with appreciating the sanctity of all His creations, felt great to know from the Priest that the temple is more than thousand years old.
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| Serene view from the front of the temple ( man destroying forest for his food, paddy cultivation among forest trees :( ) |
Have never seen a Vishawaroopam as in the below picture. In many ways this place is a must visit enroute to Bhagamandala from Madikeri.
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| Vishwaroopam, am I also blessed like Arjun in Mahabharatam to see this form of the Supreme Lord?. |
Didn't have the heart to leave from the awe-inspiring place but got many miles to go before I sleep. Reached Bhagamandala and had a holy dip in dark night in another Triveni Sangama(Kaveri, Kannike and Sujyothi). This time I wasn't afraid of any menace of crocodiles or snakes as there were many Lord Ayyappa devotees chanting their mantras loud enough without realizing that they might deafen every other animate/inanimate beings/things. Worshiped Lord Bhagandeswara(Shiva), Lord Subramanya, Maha Vishu and Lord Ganapathi in Sri Bhagandeswara temple besides Triveni Sangama and went for shopping on the streets to the temple :P Bought a few toys for my nephew and niece and munched on roasted groundnuts, along with hot milk, the taste of it is still on my tongue.
Started checking out rooms to stay there itself that night to reach TalaKaveri very early the next morning. Lodge owner was very happy to see a new comer (me) alone with his car looking for a room. Happily sent off his assistant to show me room no 7 and gave option for me to stay in the room of my choice if I don't like that room. The moment his room service boy opened the door of room no 7 ( actually only that room didn't have any number board stuck to it, we identified that room after seeing neighboring rooms numbered 6 and 8 which had proper boards), I started the flashlight on my mobile before he could switch On the lights of the room. Unfortunately the room was already occupied by an uninvited friend of all of us, ya, I screamed "a snake"(natural human repellent :P). Not sure of its breed, but he/she was happily enjoying the privacy. I was too eager to take a snap of it and was asking the assistant to switch on the light silently. He had disappeared from there already and hurried past a few rooms. I came out and called him back, for which he feared that he didn't know how many snakes were inside :(, gosh!!!. We both ran away to the entrance without even closing the door and I headed straight to my car to look for other lodges to sleep before it's too late.
Day THREE:
Excited about seeing the sunrise from TalaKaveri Hill, woke up and got ready very early and rushed off to the place while it was still dark. It was damn foggy and clear visibility was reduced to only a few meters, so came back to the hotel and was whiling away time(about an hour). Breathtaking view on the way to TalaKaveri in the early morning.
Overtaking other youngsters who were struggling hard to move up any further, climbed up about 400 steps in one shot quickly, had a little pride in being fit. Lost my breath and was panting for a few mins after reaching hill top. Rest of the experience there is invaluable.  |
| Sat for pose while coming down, but not tired yet :P |
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| Look, I am different from others here :) |
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| Pepper |
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| Coffee |
After driving along a back breaking road to Chelevara falls, had a refreshing bath for two hours in the afternoon. Joined a gang of friends there who were all fun to be with and they took me higher up the falls away from the normal crowd. We enjoyed a lot there, sharing jokes and chit chatting. I must say that one can't get such luxurious bath and natural massage for so cheap in our modern cities.
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| VIBGYOR!!! |
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| Solo bath in the falls, wonderfully luxurious :) |
