PAYANIGA

And I know that I, I will do more than just pass through this life
I’ll leave nothin less that something that says
I was here, I was here, I was here, I was here

by Lady Antebellum

Here I start – ‘I Was Here’ – a photo series with a photo or two from the places I’ve visited so far, along with a line or two about the place & may be on photo. I will be posting under this title randomly, without any specific frequency.

I saw these two camera-shy girls playing in the temple premises of Jageshwar. They were enjoying their time to the fullest – full of energey, running around, chasing one another and at the same time shying from the cameras. Captured in October 2008.

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:

• Devarayana Durga
• Kaidala
• Shivagange

Most of my travels are limited to Karnataka and when I came to know that there is trekking plan in Tamilnadu, I jumped in. Parvathamalai, a pilgrimage near Polur in Thiruvannamalai district of Tamilnadu was our destination. Since it takes 4 to 5 hours to climb up, we left Bangalore on Saturday morning to reach Thiruvannamalai by noon. After visiting & roaming around the Shiva temple, we started towards Parvathamalai. It was past 2 in the afternoon when we started climbing.

Parvathamalai is more of a pilgrimage than a trekking spot. We saw pilgrims of all age – from as young as 3-4 years to as old as 70-75 years – climbing up & down the hill en route our trek. There is a temple of Shiva at the top, which the hill is approximately 3500 ft above sea level & is in Thiruvannamalai district of Tamilnadu. There are two routes to reach the peak – one from village Thenmathimagalam which is lengthy but easier and the other from Kadaladi village which is shorter but steep. We took the latter for both climbing up & down.

The path from Kadaladi village starts off like a jeep track and soon narrows down to path where one has to walk one behind the other. Most part of the hill is shrubs with trees scattered all around. That means you can be under a shadow only now and then. The shrubs in the initial stretch were dry & full of thorns. Three fourth of the hill is a steady climb and can be covered without much fuss. The final part is the steep climb on rocks, which is not so difficult if you are there on a bright sunny day. But that will be challenging if you have to climb that stretch after Sun has gone done in the west, with a surprise drizzles making the rocks completely slippery.

We reached the top around 7.30, after the tough final climb. Apart from the visit to the temple & packed dinner which we carried, it was just talking, talking & talking till we slept. Coming down the hill was easier, thanks to gravitational force. We took little over 2 hours to reach Kadaladi. A nice bath in cold water was refreshing before we boarded the vehicle back to Bangalore.

Few things to keep in mind, if you are planning to vist the place and/or stay overnight at the peak – there is no water available at the peak. Every drop of water – be it for drinking or any other purpose has to be carried along. It’s better to carry food, though food is provided at the temple. Reason, most of the devotees climb the hill without bringing food. Last, but most important, please don’t litter.

Photo Credits – Srik. I lost all the photos of the trip as the memory card of my camera got corrupted.

“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:

• Somanathapura
• Nanjanagudu
• Gopalaswamy betta
• Ranganatittu
• Mysore Palace