From Udyavara we headed towards our next destination - Kunjarugiri, a hillock (giri = hill, mountain) with temple of Goddess Durga atop. One can reach the top either by steps (a hundred or so) or by road. Though we wanted to climb the hills, we didn't want to risk our luggage on the bikes with so many monkeys around. There were so many monkeys near the temple, I stood gaurd near our bikes while Srik went inside the temple. And later we switched. To the west of Kunjarugiri, there is another smaller hillock. And there is a temple of Parashurama.

From there we visited Pajaka, the birth place of Sri Madhvacharya, the founder of the Dvaita school of philosophy. He is the one who installed the deity of Sri Krishna at Udupi. A priest volunteered and took us on a guided tour. It is said that Sri Madhvacharya used to visit the Durga temple everyday & worshipped the goddess. Listening to the stories and the legends, took me to my childhood days of reading books and comics. And how we tried enact or immitate the mythological heroes.

After traveling 500+KMs in todays and visiting many places, we were tired. We reached Srikanth's Aunt's house in Surtakal. Before calling it a day, we met another fellow blogger Venu Vinod. At the end of day two, our trip meter read 540 KMs & distance for the day 100KMs.

Day Two:

Udupi - Malpe - Bengre - Udupi - Udyavara - Kunjarugiri - Pajaka - Kaup - Surthkal

Day One:

Bangalore - Kunigal - Hassan - Belur - Yagachi - Chikkamagalur - Balehonnur - Jayapura - Sringeri - Agumbe - Hebri - Udupi

From Nelija, we rode towards Kakkabbe where another Igguthappa temple at Paadi is situated. Again here the temple was closed due to renovation. After spending some time roaming around the place, we started our journey back home, to Bangalore.

During our visit over 2 dyas, we managed to see few places. But still there are plenty of places that I've to visit - Tadiyandamol, Brahmagiri, Nalknaadu aramane, Abbi falls, Dubbaare - the list is endless.

Bhagamandala is a pilgrimage place in Kodagu, Karnataka, in India. It is situated on the river Kaveri in its upstream stretches. At this place, the Kaveri is joined by two tributaries, the Kannika and Sujyoti rivers. It is considered sacred as a river confluence (kudala or sangama, in Kannada and Sanskrit respectively).

It is a common practice for pilgrims to take a dip in the sangama and perform rituals to their ancestors before proceeding to Talakaveri, the birthplace of Kaveri. During Tula Sankramana which falls on October 17th or 18th, pilgrims assemble here in large numbers.

After spending sometime there & a quick visit to Bhagundeshwara temple, we headed to Talakaveri, the birth place of river Kaveri located at Brahmagiri hill. Quick bits from Wiki –

Talakaveri, is the place that is generally considered to be the source of the Kaveri River. It is located in the Brahmagiri hill (not to be confused with the Brahmagiri range further South) near Bhagamandala in Kodagu district, Karnataka, 1,276 m. above sea level. However, there is not a permanent visible flow from this place to the main river course.

Continued - Lord Igguttappa temples

Related links:

• Sringeri
• Kambadahalli
• Himavad Gopalaswamy Temple

Photos from my recent visit to Sringeri, Goddess Sharada's abode. Nothing much to say from my side, enjoy the photos :)

More details about Sringeri & it's history -

• Temples and Shrines at Sringeri
• Karnataka Tourism

Mid June. Clear Sky, with scattered clouds. Rains were due in this part of the country. And we decided to pay a visit to Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta (Betta in KAnnada means 'Hill'). Four of us - Dwaraka (on his RD 350), Muruli (Shogun), Sreekanth (Pulsar 150) & Myself (Pulsar 150). We met at Mysore road very close to University junction at 5.15 in the morning and headed towards Mysore. Bangalore to Mysore was a non-stop run & we covered a distance of 130 KMs in just 90 minutes. From there we headed towards Nanjanagud and stopped there for breakfast. After gulping down extra salted Dosas & Idlis, we continued our journey. Crossed Gundlupet & we reached foot of hill by 9.15AM. And it's approximately 10 KMs to the peak.

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta is located in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka and is part of Bandipur National Park. The name - Himavad meaning fog, as the hill be covered with fog almost through out the year. Yes even during peak summer. And Gopalaswamy, beacause of Krishna temple. This temple was built in early fourteenth century by Cholas. And main speciality of the place is wild elephants which can be seen in herds of 60s-70s. Unluckily we were not able to sight them :(

We reached the top by 9.45 and it was completely covered by fog. Fog was so dense that we felt it's raining. Visibility reduced to 30-40 meters; we parked our bikes, went on a walk around the temple & to a view point. Wind was blowing heavily & we sat there at the top savouring the moment.

From there we walked back through fog towards the temple. It took us almost half an hour to come out ofter the darshan as the temple was crowded. When we came out, it was completely different view & a dramatic change. Fog had cleared and we had clear view. We sat there near the emple admiring the beauty. By noon we started back home.

Reached Mysore by 1.30+ & stopped there for lunch. After a heavy lunch rest of the three headed back to Bangalore & I rode towards Kunigal. Route for all of us was same till Maddur and I took a deviation near Maddur to reach home by 4.45PM

Almost 12 hours journey including breaks. A total distance of 430 KMs.
Route taken -

Bangalore - Maddur - Mysore - Gundlupet - Gopalaswamy Betta - Gundlupet - Mysore - Maddur - Kunigal

Saturday was gone. I didn’t want Sunday to go wasted like the previous day. Stuffed my camera to my bag, on the steeds and started towards Kambadahalli, a little known Jain pilgrimage around 140 KMs from Bangalore, 70 from Kunigal and 18 KMs from the Jain Kashi of South, Shravanabelugola. It was a pleasant climate & NH48 was almost empty. Rode non-stop and reached Kambadahalli taking an hour's time.

About Kambadahalli:

Kambadahalli in Kannada translated to English means village (halli) of the pillar (Kamba). The name is due to the manasthambha (the pillar in front of temples) with statue of Brahmadeva Yaksha atop the pillar. The place is in Nagamangala talukm Mandya district.

Kambadahgalli on Wiki

An ancient site connected with Jainism - An article in The Hindu

First one goes like; the village got the name because of the pillar and the bells tied at the top of it. The bells at the top of the pillar tell the villagers about the bad news to come. They don't make noise without a purpose, when they do that means someone in the village is going to die in a day or two. Those bells doesn't ring even during storms and sometimes they ring even there is no slight breeze. Spooky! Elder people in the village who are around 70-80 years confirm that!!

Another story goes like Kambadahalli was a prominent place & a Jain pilgrimage around 10th century. It's claimed that there were 72 Jain temples in & around Kambadahalli, and now there is just one. As time passed what once was Jain dominated place started losing their domination. And other community gained momentum. There is a water body to the north-west of village and is main source of water for irrigation for the surrounding places. One year there was heavy rain which damaged the tank bund of the water body. It was damaged to such an extent even after repairing the bund, even a small rain damaged it and resulting in loss of crops. This cyclic process - repairing the water body and getting damaged due to rain went on for years until one day the village head dreamt of a solution. In his dream, the God asked him to demolish all the Jain temples and use those pillars, stones to repair the tank-bund. And villagers followed the head's order. End result, number of Jain temples came down to one from 72 and tank-bund problem got resolved.

How to reach there from Bangalore:

Bangalore – Nelamangala – Kunigal – Bellur Cross – Kadaballi – turn left – Bindiganavile – Kambadahalli
Or
Bangalore – Nelamangala – Kunigal – Bellur Cross – Nagamangala – Kambadahalli