Trip to DevarayanaDurga Hills

Date : July 30th, 2011

On 28th July, Thursday I suddenly felt I need a change this weekend and I casually pinged my friend Sugan to ask what can be done and she said she is fine with any plan. Then I pulled in Vidya, she was also fine to travel that weekend. Then Sugan just put a mail to all my friends about the plan of going on a one day trip.

The place was finalized by me and Sugan as we found Devarayanadurga interesting compared to all other shortlist of ours. By the end of the day as per logistics recieved it was  like only three of us are going to travel, still we kept our plan alive.

29th July, Friday slowly the count started increasing and by the end of the day it was 7 of us set to travel. We decided to take food and hence sugan and me prepared chappathis, tomato chutney, Soya peas fry and curd rice and Aishu and Vidya came with Tamarind rice. The night went cooking and we had about an hour sleep.

30th July, Saturday:

Our plan was to start at 5 30 from Marathahalli, but by technical mistake I switched of my alarm and went back to sleep and got up at 5 o clock which was pretty late. @ 5 30 all others were ready except me and sugan. But its ok, sometimes it happens. Our trip finally started at 7 30 from Majestic.

Photos taken on the way

Places decided to cover:

1. Sri Lakshmi Temple, Goravanahalli

2. Boga Narashimha temple, DD hills

3. Yoga Narashimha temple, DD hills

4.  A Lake nearby, foothill of DD hills

5. Namadha Chilume

From Majestic we took a bus to Pavagada, got down at Goravanahalli cross and from there you get share autos which take you to the temple.

@Sri Lakshmi Temple, Goravanahalli



After our visit to the temple we reached back Goravanahalli cross in auto and took another auto to DD hills, its about 12kms from Goravanahalli cross.

We reached Bhoga Narashimha temple at the foothill of DD hills at 12 noon for the Uchikal pooja, after the pooja there is annadhanam also.

Bhoga Narasimha temple, DD hills



We then took another auto to reach Yoga Narasimha temple which is on the top of the hill. By the time we were all hungry and planned to finish our lunch before visiting Yoga Narasimha. There are steps being laid to reach the hill by walk and the work is still in progress so we had a good place to have our lunch and our photo session.

Yummy food carried..

After the heavy lunch, photo session and refreshment we went up the hill, its about 100 steps u need to climb to meet Yoga Narasimha. Be careful as u can find all your friends there running around you with love ;)

While coming back we walked downhill till Bhoga Narasimha temple. It was a refreshing walk indeed. It will take around 15-20 minutes.

Pond back of Bhoga Narasimha temple

Then again back to auto and we headed to the lake nearby. We asked the auto driver to wait there and promised him we will return in 5min after capturing few photos, but as usual our 5min is never 5min ;)

All posing in different directions and cameras continuously capturing all our fun, meanwhile the auto driver got ready to leave the place. We ran to the auto then.

The bug in our trip: Our plan next was to go to Namadha chilume next but assuming that the place takes a different road from the bus stand (Uradagere - the place where buses from Bangalore or tumkur reaches) we asked the driver to leave us at the bus stop. Then after he left the place we took another auto to Namadha chilume and to our surprise it was the same road to DD hills. He took us across the same lake we visited few minutes before… Back on the same road into the forest... The most adventurous part of our trip is yet to come ;)

Namadha chilume is supposed to be amidst the forest reserve (better to visit the place before dusk) and it was 6 o clock when we reached the spot.

The watchman said its closed and refused to allow us inside, but the auto driver spoke for us and finally the watchman agreed with the condition that we should return back in 5min (OMG 5min again ;) ).. We 7 brave Girls entered in while others were leaving out with a weird look on us. :P You can see a place where water keeps snoozing out, a very tiny steam – it is believed Lord Rama shot his arrow to get water to quench the thirst of his beloved wife Sita. The place gives you a feel that you are amidst a deserted forest reserve. At the entrance of the reserve you can find a deer park - plenty of deer, a lovely sight. :)

We were forced to leave the place before it turned dark. The best part of the to and fro journey to Namadha chilume was that we hired one auto for seven of us, and when the auto had to go uphill three of us had to get down the auto and run back of it for a distance and after some time the next three.. Those were real fun filled moments, memories to be cherished.

It was 6:45 when we reached the bus junction back. With our hearts filled with satisfaction and joy, eyes filled with tiredness we were grabbing our bags from the auto and getting ready for our way back home, our fun didn’t last long, it completely crashed when my friend discovered her handbag was missing and to add spice to that moment my other friend’s mobile was also there in her bag.  Within seconds and before we realized what has happened, three of them sat in the auto and went back to Namadha chilume to look for the bag… The other four left out here in fear about the three who went back into the forest area, meanwhile we tried calling the mobile that was left in the bag, it was not reachable, could not conclude on anything. After sometime the mobile in the handbag got connected and a person picked up saying the bag is in Koratagere Police station, so we came to know the bag is safe. Now all that we wanted is the three girls to come back safe, and we tried calling them to ask them to come back but their mobiles became unreachable, the situation was becoming worse every moment.  It was 7 45 when they came back, we didn’t think about anything, just that second there came a bus to Bangalore which we boarded blindly.

It was after we got into the bus we realized that those three girls should not have gone back, but the panic filled moment froze our minds from taking any wise decision… Anyways they came back safe with a good lesson for all of us… “Practicee makes a mann perfact” (In santhanam style ;) ) We reached back Bangalore at 9.30. Then we just went back and got the bag the next day.

It was a great trip with loads of memories.



Beauty that never expires - LOVE

Any form of love is beautiful and any beautiful thing can be felt and embraced with love.

"Beauty is simply reality seen with the eyes of love"

• Getting our finger arrested between baby's cute pink little fingers.
• Longing of a dad to get kicked by his blood on his chest.
• Running behind ur loved one after a fight to convince him/her.
• Long walk with a friend after years.
• Enjoying  a meal when the number of hands ready to grab the food tends to infinity and the food in the plate tends to zero. ;)
• Moment when a child missed in a party/market/exhibition gets back to his/her parents.
• When our loved one falls ill, the pain on our nerves more than the concerned person.
• The beauty of smiling hiding tons of sadness in the heart in front of a loved one and when the loved one says, "Tell me whats the problem..??? "
• Grandparents listening to grandchidrens complaint about their parents.
• Kids coming up with lame excuses for not eating/to play/when they fail in their exams.
• In college, a student bunking his exam to help his friend pass in the exam the next day.
• When old people counting their days say, "I am going to meet god soon" and when their children or grandchildren try to change their mood saying, "Death for sure will be afraid of you... :P It cant near u so soon... :)  "
• When a child achieves something and says proudly on a stage that all my success is because of my parents, that moment when the parents eyes gets filled with tears and happiness blocking their throat...
• When a girl gets married and during her farewell from home when her parents cry and when their son-in-law promises "I am there for her..."
• A man with his new born angel in his hands smiling at his wife and saying, "Tough time for me with u two angels... ;) "
• When a 60yr old man tell his wife, "I Love You more the older you get."

Can anything be more beautiful than these loved filled moments.... ???

"The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart, and beauty of heart is to love and be loved.."

Painting - When one falls in love with colours

Music - When falls in love with Harmonics

Honey - Bee in love with flower

Poem - When one falls in love with writing

and this post coz of my love for blogging ;)

Without love for something or the other, painting, music etc would have no evolution, and without all these life wouldn't be beautiful.

Beauty... when u look into your loved ones eyes and see what is in his/her heart.

Have u ever noticed the trees in love with clouds, the language they share ?? When the clouds become heavy with water filled amidst it, it turns dark and signals the trees that it is ready to rain. If trees are in need of the rain, they stay silent and signal the clouds to rain, if they are not in need of water, they shake their heads hard and the clouds move away from there. If u have not noticed this till date do have a look the next time, whenever the wind blows hard u will never have rain. The beauty of nature.

When a bird embraces all its children with its wings, its beautiful. When an animal shelters its kids, its beautiful.

“You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her”

This post is for "Real Beauty contest" for the topic "What does real beauty mean to you?" Click on the Real Beauty Icon on the side widget and promote if u love my post ;)

Birds need U this Summer

Summer is here and its going to be equally harsh to the animals around us. Kindly do your tiny bit by keeping a bowl of fresh water and some grains out side your balcony or garden.

AT 120 DEGREES IN AUSTRALIA , IT WAS SO HOT FOR A WEEK THAT KOALAS WERE ASKING PEOPLE FOR WATER . IT'S NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE.

"Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened."

Helping hands are better than praying lips!!!

My beautiful day @ Melkote

Date : 25th March 2011,  Friday Evening 6 o clock.

I started from office and then met Sugan and started our preparation for our trip. Our plan this time was to cook and pack breakfast and lunch for the next day. We headed to Hypercity, a supermarket near our place to buy the required things. We also got a ball to play during the trip.

It was 9 o clock when we reached my room. We started cooking and it was 12 o clock when we had dinner for the day. And again cooking.. Came to bed @ around 12 30. Both of us slowly started chatting and it was about 1 15 when Sugan got up from her bed and still chatting continued. @ 1 45 we discovered we need to get up @ 2 30 to get things ready so decided to sleep, when sleep was about to peep in alarm overtook. Finally got up @ the 1^st ring of the alarm without snoozing. It was about 5 30 when we packed our bags. Ezhil and Vidya were to join us on the way. And then @ 6 started our journey.

Date : 26th March 2011,  Saturday

Sugan and me with 2 big bags were literally running to the bus stop out of excitement. It was 7 when our crew members joined us and our trip was all set from Majestic. We got a Mysore bus “Corona AC”, we were the only ones in the bus and slowly got a little filled. Bus stopped @ Maddur, where we started having our breakfast that we had got packed (Idly with tomato chutney and onion chutney). Then in around 20 minutes from Maddur we reached Mandya.  It was 9 30, we then got a city bus from Mandya to Melkote, occupied the last seat of the bus and we were having great fun playing Dumbsi and Oru varthai oru laksham (best thing was Mr Tamil (Ezhil) was unable to give clues for the word I gave him… It was a great honour for me). Melkote was the last stop and we reached our destination at 11am.

There are two temples there, one is the Cheluva Narayana swamy temple at the foot of the hill and the other is Yoga Narasimha temple on the hill top. You can see lots of small ponds around which have their own story behind.

We first made our move towards Lord Cheluva Narayanaswamy temple which down the road as u get down from the bus.

In front of Cheluva Narayanaswamy temple

Lord Narayanaswamy

Inside Narayanaswamy temple

You can find finely sculpted pillars here.  After a few snaps around there we rushed to Yoga Narasimha temple as it would be closed @ 1pm. On the way while climbing the hill we didn’t take any snaps as we wanted to reach the temple before 1pm when the temple will be closed.

The sun, heavy bags, high steps of the temple really tested our stamina… As we ascended the hill our energy was descending so much (just like that Glucose Ad where the sun drains glucose the little boy with a straw). We were so seriously and silently climbing the steps as we didn’t have energy to converse even. Suddenly Vidya made her move and whispered “Namma lunch sapta udanae bag la irukara cool drinks kudicharalam….” Just a second later all of us were almost on the ground laughing… “Inga sapathukae vali illayama idhella cool drinks vera…” Then watching us laugh she said “illa weight kammi agum nu sonnaen !!!” and some fun here and there we reached the top. We met Lord Yoga Narasimha before the temple was closed. All our vision now was towards food. We had our packed lunch, cool drinks as per Vidya s instruction and sat back refreshing sometime.



Yoga Narasimha temple

Lord Yoga Narasimha

@ The terrace of Yoga Narasimha temple

Those snaps we missed while climbing the hill we covered all while descending. We spent some time @ Kalyani, the big pond down the hill. Slowly dark clouds started peeping in and we also enjoyed few drizzles of rain. It was about 2pm and we had fear of the sunny day but the climate changed all of a sudden and that added more credits to our enjoyment.

Kalyani

The next point of our visit was Dhanushkoti. It is about 2kms from the temple. We took an auto for 50INR to reach there. Oh my god I can still imagine the breeze and the sizzle drizzle when we reached Dhanushkoti. U may wonder how Dhanushkoti moved to Karnataka from Kaniyakumari, so for those interested in story behind it here is it. “According to legend, Sita, while passing through this area needed water, Lakshmana struck an arrow into the rock but the water did not come. When Rama used Varunastra the water at once came out.” There are two fissures in the rock. This spot is on a high cliff with good views, but take care.



On way to Dhanushkoti

@ Dhanushkoti

@ Dhanushkoti

@ Dhanushkoti

@ Dhanushkoti

 

After an hour spent there taking photos and chatting we started back our journey home, from Melkote took a town bus to Mandya and then to Bangalore. It was 10pm when we reached Majestic. We had a great journey with favorable climate and also got buses readily without any latency. ;-)

While coming back we decided to walk and the ball got its work finally, we enjoyed our road back amidst the tall eucalyptus trees on either side of the road and playing ball as we walked…

Way back from Dhanushkoti

So the last place left out is Rayagopura (its located just at the backside of Cheluva Narayanaswamy temple). This is a cluster of very tall pillars with carvings of beautiful damsels at the base. Centuries ago Chola kings wanted to build a tall temple overnight so as to view Srirangapatna from here. The work went on briskly through the night, but when a cock crowed, they left the temple as it was thinking it was already dawn.

In front of Rayagopura

On top of Rayagopura



As I grow old :-)

23^rd March 2011 -- @ Dominos, Graphite India, Bangalore

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Ignore the Preface if not interested as characters are involved :-)
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Sugan, Vinoth, Karthi and of course the gang would be incomplete without me.

Reason for our meet : Had to give a lot of money to Vinoth ;-)

Karthi ---> the only good thing he has ever done is getting me a wonderful Airtel postpaid connection in his name with which I can speak for 2000 min per month local and STD to Airtel mobile... (I speak more than that ;-( Anyway am not ready to listen to any of your mind voices, I talk only to my mom…)

Vinoth ---> Every month pays my phone bill (the reason why I had to give him money.)

@Vinoth : Thanks ellam solla mattaen. Kavalae padadhae.

@Karthi : Yepdi nee solikudutha madhiriyae potutaena. Happy.. :-)

After heavy dinner that night @ Dominos I thought I will sleep as soon as I reach my room. But unfortunately or fortunately it was a very bad night. It was 10 30 when I went to bed after the phone call (with my mom), I always sleep as soon as I go to bed, but this night didn’t want me to sleep, the reason I still don’t know. It was 12 o clock when I finally decided to get out of my bed, took my laptop and was trying to spend some time, found nothing interesting, then started typing contents for this post.

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Note : While reading this post don’t refer “I” to the author, refer it to you and read u will find the post true.

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These were some random memories that night flashing across my eyes…

When I was small I was crazy about few collections like crystal dolls (that I collect even today), rubber (I have about 60 to 70 different shaped erasers like carrot, mango, cashew, ball, bat, letters etc), tattoos (those we get for boomer), chocolate wrappers, etc.. but the thrill was about collecting money.. Every time I get pocket money I start saving. When my mom asks me go to shop to get something I would ask for commission, I used to wait for my birthday when I can get some money from my grandparents, then for Vishu when my parents give me money, by doing all these I would collect some money and get all these collections, I used to have immense pleasure each time I raised the count of my collections. Every week I used to count my collections even. Then after few years the craze slightly took a different shape, I used to save money using the before said ways but this time collections were fabric paint bottles to do painting, this lasted for few years.

But today I need not ask mom for commission for going to shop (neither is my mom going to send me to shop for getting things), I need not wait for Vishu or Birthday, not even for the end of the month to get my salary credited, I can get anything I want now, a house, a car, jewels or anything but I promise u the happiness I had in my childhood fighting and waiting for money and then getting things, I wouldn’t have that crazy happiness now.

This is just an example, but there are many more little pleasures we loose as we grow old.

Someday in school when I got 1^st rank or say a centum in Maths and came home and told my parents, that satisfaction I had when I saw the pride in their face will never come back.

Someday when I scored well in my board exams, when I got into one of the best colleges, when I got my job, -- even these moments I would have seen my parents proud, but a promise again the pride they had and satisfaction I had from that day to today would have a depreciation rate. Say tomorrow I get a promotion in my job I would call my parents and tell them, (now I won’t even be able to see their proud faces, its just a phone call… I know there would come technical advices of making a Skype call but ………………), do u think they will have the same kind of happiness they had when I got 1^st rank in some school days…??? Ask to yourself…. :-)

As we grow old, as days pass by are we gaining or loosing.  When I was just experimenting over this, I felt those that we gain are

FRIENDS,

Weight,

Height,

Personality,

Responsibilities,

Wealth,

Some degree,

Some skill set (work and personal ;) ), etc (I just stopped becoz nothing else came to my mind when I think what I have today.)

What we miss are

The beautiful times we had wit our frenz,

Happiness we get when we are with our loved ones,

Small fights with parents and siblings,

Our childhood smiles,

Our teenage tears,

And then lives one by one (remember everything around us also grows old)

Our great grandparents,

Our grandparents,

Elderly uncles and aunties,

One day our parents,

Then any of our friends, siblings, and one day ME and of course U.…

AND ABOVE ALL THE ONE MANDATORY MISS EVERDAY IS OUR “TODAY”.

Just because my list of what I miss means more than what I have doesn’t actually mean I am a pessimist, but u just look back and ask the same question to yourself today, right now and start making the list just as I did and u will find the same… Person reading this might be of any age but by any chance u can’t escape these.

Today we might have a luxury car, bungalow and all luxuries we need but remember all those comforts we get in life as we grow old are not @ the cost of just money but also @ the cost of our small and silly happiness and satisfaction that we loose as we grow old.

Non materialistic happiness has its own value when compared to Materialistic happiness.

I believe the purity of happiness degrades with age.

Gone are the days when I dreamt of growing up and standing on my own legs making my parents proud, it’s all over. Now I feel I need those childhood days back. Someday in future I may long for my present days.

So remember what ever happens life has to go the way it has to. Enjoy your every second of life without wasting with silly excuses; the thing that has the smallest life span in this world is “TIME”… So don’t waste that precious time reading mokkai’s like mine ;-) ;-)

Ennalae idhuku mela mokka poda mudiyadhu… Enjoy your day.

I am waiting for my tomorrow for my trip to “MELKOTE”... Expect a post about this with cool pictures next week. Stay tuned.

Love filled Rainy day.. !!!

The title maybe kind of romantic but I may not fulfill your expectation. For those who don't believe in coincidence, sentiments, emotions etc kindly don't proceed further.

To brief about this post -- its about an unusual trip to my hometown (Coimbatore) or about mom s love for her child or sweet fight with dad or anything u can fill after reading the post.. (as I don’t want u to run away with my brief description.. Though “brief description” seems to be ambiguous please don’t mind it. ;-) ).

7th Feb, 2011 Monday

My cousins marriage (this is no way related to this post.. Chumma to show some stats.). I took one week vacation (3rd feb to 9th feb) and went to the marriage (in the name of marriage to spend time with my parents who miss me a lot).

Came back to Blore on 9th Feb which was a Wednesday in my calendar (so should be yours.. :P). Just after two to three days my mom started her regular question when are u coming next..?? I really felt bored with the question and to irritate her I said I have no plans of travelling home till end of March. She didnt believe me at the 1st shot and from that day our daily discussion continued over the same topic.. I am a kind of person who would say “yes” if “no” is expected and vice versa ( yeah thimiru pidichava.. :-) ).. I never do what others expect from me.

My dad guesses most of my decisions than my mom (because my mom believes whatever I say as she doesn’t experiment much). She was asking me to come home on 26th and 27th Feb as it would be more than 15 days since I met them and reasonable gap to visit home. Though I booked my tickets for that date even before my mom suggested I pretended to say no I would not come home till end of March.. And that’s enough for my mom to brood over.. My dad had a tough time managing her @ home and had told her that I would have just told simply and I would be coming home that week for sure.. (as told b4 my dad judges me better). My mom tells me each and every move @ home (and so am I) and so did she say what my dad said also. Again my interest to say no I am not coming increased and I somehow managed to make them believe that I am not travelling that week.

25th Feb, 2011 Friday

My regular visitor visited me unexpectedly (fever). I was worried how I will travel, but decided to travel on any cause. I always talk to my mom about more than 30mins in the morning when I go to office and same @ night before I go to sleep. So I was worried how to do that when I was travelling as she would find out I am outside. Was confused.. But my dear visitor helped me manage the scene. My temperature was rising up @ a constant level that it didn’t allow me to work @ office. So I reached home early from office that day. It was about 6 o clock when I called my mom, listening to my voice only she made out I was not well. So I said her that I took tablets and going to sleep, so if I get up that night I would call her or would call her in the morning.

That night travel with my friend Sugan and I was really excited about giving my parents a surprise. There closes the scene.

26^th Feb, 2011 Saturday

Scene @ home : Mom opened the door and found dark clouded sky ready to rain and heavy rain in a few minutes. My mom always used to say that it rains whenever I come home. Thinking of that she asked to herself yst there was no symptom of rain and why is it raining today unexpectedly even though she is not coming.. ?? She couldn’t bear it with herself, so she went to tell the same to my dad but stopped with the fear that he would make fun of her for missing me so much when my dad and my brother were around there @ home. With lots of unanswered questions she came to open the door when calling bell rang..

6:30 am

Got down from KSRTC Rajahamsa @ my beloved college PSG Tech as I would find a direct bus to my home from there @ that time, and in a few minutes my bus came as expected.

7:15 am

In the bus admiring the dark clouds ready to shower on me and in a few seconds drops of rain on my face through the open window. 

Had a very good feeling, the reason could be the climate or rain or the excitement of surprising my parents or all together I don’t know.. :-)

Got down from the bus and walked slowly in the rain with a smile peeping out even without my knowledge. Though my home is just a few steps from the bus stop, I really enjoyed each step of mine.

My mom easily recognizes me the way I bang the door so this time I didn’t want to let her know so gently pressed the calling bell.

Mom opened the door after a while,

saw me,

she didn’t have words to speak,

I could only see unexpected happiness and satisfaction in her eyes as if she won over the whole world.

I made the move,

I shouted loud

“What are u doing sitting inside when ur daughter is getting wet in the rain with fever”

“Where is my dad..?”

“No one in this family are responsible...”

“If I am not @ home everything is improper and blah blah blah...”

Then she took my luggage inside with a smile and whispering “Rowdy is back home...”

My dad slowly peeped out with a smile as if he was not surprised @ all and said I knew U would come and U cannot stay there without torturing us... :-)

My brother raised his eye brows, I could hear his mind voice, “En nimadhiya keduka vandhuta paavi..”

The day went on with my mom telling everyone that I came home giving her a surprise, 

my friend Janani MBBS bar ;-) visiting me after a year, 

visited my fav dhanvantri temple, 

got wet in the rain again in the evening and 

above all a peaceful sleep on my cot in my home sweet home.. :-)