RSS FeedFlying Citizens of Kokkare Bellur
May 7, 2010 Birds, Karnataka, Kokkare Bellur, Mandya, One day outing, Summer
Kokkare Bellur – I visited the place again, third time. Last to visits were in the months of January and April. This time it was mid of March. There were plenty of Painted Storks and Pelicans. Busy with their nesting for the season, listening to the whirring sound of their wings was a nice experience. It was overcast day and when I reached the place it was past 10AM. I managed to get these photos with my 18-200 lens.
Photos from my previous visits: Jan 2007 and Apr 2008
A Visit to Avani Betta
Jul 6, 2009 Karnataka, Kolar, One day outing
One peculiarity of being in Bangalore is each road going out of the city leads you to a different countryside after a journey of an hour or two (assuming you are not stuck in traffic jam). Last year around this time on an early morning I, with couple of friends took a road leading towards the Sun. Road leading to Kolar (Old Madras road) to be specific. As you move out of Bangalore and beyond Hosakote, countryside changes completely. Density of trees reduces, dry lands welcomes you. Further down the road, trees get replaced by boulders – heaps and heaps of boulders. Small hillocks scattered on either side of the road with more rocks than trees on them, but each one having their own story to narrate. Of so many hillocks we stopped at Avani betta near Mulabagilu for few hours. And we weren’t disappointed.
Avani betta, name because of the village Avani at the foot of the hill, has its roots linked to Sage Valmiki, Ramayana, and the legendary war between Rama & his sons Lava-Kusha. A legend says that sage Valmiki’s ashrama was at the same hillock and hence Avani betta is also called as ‘Valmiki Parvatha’. The story which is linked to Avani starts after Ravana gets killed and Rama & Seetha move back to Ayodhya. It’s said that the story after Seetha is sent out of Ayodhya to forest (referred as ‘Uttara Ramayana’ happened here) – birth of Lava & Kusha, defeat of Rama’s army by his own son & then the legendary war. For each place described in Uttara Ramayana there is an equally comparable place here in Avani betta – to name a few are the place where the horse of Ashwamedha yaaga was tied, place Seetha & her sons lived and the place where Seetha witnessed the war between her husband & her sons. The cave which is said Seetha gave birth to Lava and Kusha is considered as sacred. And now the cave is a huge ditch as every devotee who visits the place grabs a fistful of mud while leaving.
On top of the hill there is a small temple of Goddess Parvathi, which makes devotees & few monkeys are the only visitors to the hillock, barring people like us. Another common sight at this place is one gets to see stacks of small stones usually three in each stack. There is a general belief at this place that if the brides stack stones, the newborn baby will be a healthy one.
Though Kolar and surround area is dry and devoid of greenery, there are many interesting places nearby – Antaragange, Kaivara, Kurudumale, Markandeshwara betta – to name a few. Thanks Srik for taking back in time to Ramayana. Now I need to plan to visit other places nearby.
Mandharagiri
Mar 8, 2009 Karnataka, One day outing, Pilgrimage, Tumkur
Ask anyone in Tumkur for directions to Mandharagiri, it’s most unlikely that you will get proper details. But wait, now ask for directions to Basadi Betta (or Basti betta), almost everyone knows how to go there. Basadi Betta is a small hillock off Bangalore – Tumkur road. The name Basadi betta is due to the jain temple (basadi) on top of the hillock.
While travelling towards Tumkur from Bangalore, some 10 KMs before Tumkur you can see this small hill with word ‘Mandharagiri’ written (in Kannada) on face of the hill. It’s not adjucent to the highway but have to travel (turn right while comin from Bangalore) couple of kilometers to reach the foot of the hill. A hundred or two steps of climbing takes you to the basadi door. While the southern gives the urban landscape, on the other side lies lake Maidala (once source of drinking water to Tumkur city) with the backdrop countless number of hills. Out of them, Devarayana Durga & Ramadrvara Gudda are the prominent ones (or the names which I know :D).
With respect to architecture, the basadi doesn’t attract many people. But the place brims with devotees during festival season & a calm place for many away from the buzzing life. An year ago, a monolith of Chandraprabha Theerthankara was installed at the foot the hill. The statue which stands at a height of 21 feet is claimed to be the tallest statue of Chandraprabha Theerthankara. In case if you are driving by Tumkur and need a break, then you know where to go.
Interesting places near Tumkur:
Kaveri, Kapila and Sphatika
Jan 4, 2009 Bike Trip, Karnataka, Mysore, One day outing, Pilgrimage
“Do you want to go on a boat ride? I’ll take you to Sangama, Agasthyeshwara temple and bring you back.”
I heard a voice right behind me when I was parking the two wheeler near Gunja Narasimha Swamy temple in T Narasipura (Tirumakudalu Narasipura). I couldn’t see any boats except for few coracle look-a-likes but made of iron (called as ‘kupparike’ in Kannada).
“You mean on those?”, I asked Bhaira, owner of the voice to which I got an affirmative gesture. After enjoying a coracle ride in Nanjanagud few months ago, now it was time for more fun on those floating metals. Those floating objects (‘kupparike’) are mainly used for extracting sand from the river bed. During their non-working hours of sand extraction, they ferry people to the other side of the river. And those boats are 10 to 12 ft in diamter and 1.5 ft deep.
Tirumakudalu refers to the confluence of three rivers – Kaveri, Kapila (a.k.a Kabini) and Sphatika (a mythical spring or lake) – similar to the mythical river Saraswati which joins rivers Ganga and Yamuna in the North. And the place Narasipura got the name because of the famous Gunja Narasimha Swamy temple.
As we drifted along, our conversation continued. Bhaira became our guide along with the job of boatman. Agasthyeshwara temple which is sandwiched between rivers Kaveri (southern bank) and Kapila (northen bank). Legend says that the temple was built by Sage Agasthya, hence the name. And Bhiksheswara temple which is on the northen bank of river Kaveri is said that the temple has links to the Neolithic phase (stone age).
When you stand near the sangama (confluence) of the three rivers and you get to see temples in all directions – Agasthyeshwara temple, Bhiksheswara temple, Moolasthaneshwara temple, Anandeswara temple to name few prominant ones along with the abode of Gunja Narasimha Swamy.
It was around 2PM when I reached the place and unfortunately all the temples were closed. May be thats a sign to visit the place again leisurely. :)
Places in & around Mysore:
Prashanth M
