SHANDE

INTACH's Parichay at Gavipuram

2013-04-05T01:34:00.000+05:30

Sathya Prakash explaining participants about the location. Photo courtesy: Times of India

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is a non-profit organization set up in 1984 with a mandate to protect and conserve India's vast natural, built and cultural heritage. The Bangalore chapter of the organization organizes a monthly meet-up called parichay at various historical ly significant locations of the city. I was one of participants in their recent parichay at Gavipuram.The parichay was hosted by Prof. Sathya Prakash Varanasi who's convener of Bangalore chapter and an architect by profession.

One of striking information shared was that Bangalore is the older than all Tier-1 cities in South India. Lot of people associate the city with the IT boom of last two decades. But the story of the city dates back to 900 A.D. and one of proof for that the history is the famous Gavi Gangadeshwara Temple. Mr. Aruni from INTACH who was also present for the parichay briefed us that due geographical significance Bangalore was a trading center and most of early settlers of the city were from trading community. Due unpredictable weather conditions the land in and around Bangalore was considered unsuitable for agriculture, therefore people from farming community were negligible in relative others parts of the country.

One of circular discs of Gavi Gangadeshwara Temple

Gavi Gangadeshwara Temple

The temple whose primary deity is Shiva is inside a natural cave. One of the unique features of the temple is two gigantic circular discs Suryapana and Chandrapana which as per researchers was used to determine solisitice, equinox etc. The temple will be in mainstream media every year for an interesting phenomenon on Makara Sankranti day when the sun rays piercing through the windows, Nandi's horns falls on the Shiva lingam.

Maratha Settlement

When Bangalore was briefly under Shivaji's rule, lot of Marathis who were part of administraion of the city had set-up their houses in Gavipuram itself. A few traces of the settlement are still intact and samadhis of a few key people of the community like Sajjan Rao, B.Narayan Rao can be found in same location but in dubious condition.

Samadhi of Sajjan Rao which is in dubious stinking condition

Gavipuram as Heritage Ward ?

Considering the significance of the locality in Bangalore's history/culture, INTACH has made numerous request to BBMP for declaring Gavipuram as a heritage ward. Unfortunately, all voices have fallen on deaf ears and recently the locality has been a witness to a few unfortunate developments. A 100 years old Goverment school building was recently demolished despite all opposition. Another ugly development is construction of a high-rise from Jain Housing next to samadhi of Narayan Rao, which has totally anulled charm of the locality.

High Rise from Jain Housing

Inspite of all these hicupps the volunteers of INTACH have not given up and have constantly knocking the doors of civic authorities for retaining and maintaning the unique of heritage of Gavipuram as well as rest of Bangalore.

Let's all channelize our efforts and put our best in preserving and spreading word of Bangalore's heritage structures.

A charming place called Orchha

2013-03-25T00:55:00.001+05:30

Jehangir Mahal

It's an old tradition in Bundelkhand to address the very first wedding invitation card to a person by name Hardual Singh, who's worshipped as a god in the region. The reason behind this special status, dates back to times when Jujhar Singh was the king of Bundelkhand and his brother Hardual Singh was the prince. Due to some unfortunate miscommunication, Hardual had to sacrifice his life inorder to prove his innocence against his alleged affair with his sister-in-law Champavati. That's one of interesting story from charming place called 'Orchha', which we don't get to read in our textbooks. Usually, the unique history of the place is often overshawdowed by glamourous history of nearest city Jhansi.

Sunrise Amidst Mustard Field

After my friend's wedding in Satna, I had a day out in Khajuraho and subsequent day I had an early morning taxi ride from Khajuraho to Satna. The route was quite interesting as every 20 km on the highway we were switching states i.e. U.P. to M.P. and vice versa. The photographic moment of the journey was witnessing the sunrise amidst mustard fields next to the highway. After the picturesque journey, I was in Orchha quite early in morning and witnessed that life has its own definition at the historical place. Apart from a few piligrims, the natives of the city were relaxing indoors by extending their overnight sleep :)

Raj Mahal and Jehangir Mahal

The major monuments in Orchha are Raj Mahal and Jehangir Mahal. The latter one was constructed to commemorate the visit of Emperor Jehangir to Orchha. The monuments comprises signature architecure of this region i.e. chatris and mix Hindu/Islamic architechture. The place is must visit for its sound-n-light show in evening. It's very informative and majority of information in this post is from the same show :)

Raj Mahal

Story of Rai Praveen

Rai Praveen was a poet, musician and dancer in court of Bundelas. Once she was captivated by Emperior Akbhar and set managed herself free through her oratory/debating skills. On her return she was falicitated with a dedicated palace besides Jehangir Mahal.

Rai Praveen Mahal

Ram Raja Mandir

Ram Raja Mandir has a unique story attached to it. It's the only temple where Lord Ram is worshipped as a king and that too in structure which was previously Queen's Palace. One of the queens of Orchha after fulfilling her wish to visit Ayodhya, got back with a statue of Lord Ram. Since the Chaturbhuj temple was under construction she decided keep the idol in her palace itself. But before leaving Ayodhya, Lord Ram had stated to the queen that his idol will remain at the place where it's installed first. By the time she realized this, the idol was temporarily installed in palace and it had to be retained there by coverting the palace into a temple.

Ram Raja Temple

Chaturbhuj Temple and Lakshmi Temple

Other major temples in Orchha are Chaturbhuj Temple and Lakshmi Temple. Chaturbhuj temple was supposed to be Ram temple for the reasons mentioned above the rani mahal adjacent to it was convered into a temple. A 10 minutes walk from Chaturbhuj temple would take you to Lakshmi Temple at an elevated location.The temple is rectangular on the outside and octagonal on the inside. The idol of the deity has missing for last 20 years, but one should visit this place to view beautiful paintings and witnessing 360 degree view of Orchha from the terrace.

Lakshmi Temple

Cenotaphs/Chatris

Cenotaphs are one of the signature monument of Orchha. They have erected as a memorials for kings of Orchha.

Cenotaphs

Banks of Betwa River

An early morning visit banks of Betwa river will provide one more key aspect of the place. You can visit thousands of piligrims to Ram Raja Temple taking a sacred dip in the river. There's a single lane bridge across Betwa River where vehicles (HTVs, LMVs) move on either ways by using headlights as mutual exclusion signal.

Bridge Betwa River

Vital Information:

Sound and Light Show Timings:

Summer: English: 7.30 to 8.30 pm; Hindi: 8.45 to 9:45 pm
Winter: English: 6.30 to 7.30 pm; Hindi: 7.45 to 8.45 pm

Ticket to Monuments: Combo ticket to all major monuments are sold at fort complex only. It's not sold seperately other monuments.

Retrospect: Aero India 2013

2013-02-11T09:51:00.000+05:30

On 9th,10th Feb 2013, the epicenter in Bangalore shifted from various malls and pubs to northern part of city in Yelahanka Air Force Station for bi-annual show of metal birds. I was very keen on attending the 2013 edition as I had missed last two editions for being out of Bangalore. Infact, in 2007 due to some confusion I didn't event take my prosumer camera to the show.

Overall it was a decent outing with fellow photographers from Bangalore Photowalk. Here're a few of my thoughts about the show

Performances

Suryakirans were a big miss. The signature performace from previous editions was missed by all aerobatic enthusiasts.
Russian knights put up a decent show but it was too tough for them fit into big void created by Suryakirans.

Display/Show Area

The static display of a few monster aircrafts blocked the view for most people. From next time organizers should ensure that people from exhibition area show have a proper view of the aerobatics.
The loud speakers used for commentary on the show were not loud enough. Many of us missed on the information which would have complemented overall experience of the show.

Ticketing at AXIS Bank:

The guy at the counter didn't have proper keyboard skill. The UI of the software was pathetic. Attaching RFID tag was all laborious process.
On top of all the above things at AXIS bank was done by a single person.
There was no priorirty for people who had booked the tickets online.

Miscellaneous:

Food courts could be bigger and more organized. It was very sad to see many people end up sitting on the ground.
Surprisingly all refreshments bottled water, coke, red bull were sold at MRP ! which very rare in mass events when outside food is strictly prohibited inside venues.

Connecting the Dots to Solve Traffic Problem

2013-01-28T11:48:00.000+05:30

The Alternative, a neo generation media platform for sustainable living had organized a panel discussion on effective transport solution for Bangalore City and how the dots can be connected to solve perenial and alarmingly increasing traffic problem of the city. The panelist comprised of reknowned people Ashwin Mahesh (Mapunity), Rohan Kini(Bums-on-Saddle), Sanjeev(Namma Railu), Das (CyBaNa).

Following were a few key points discussed during the meet:

On surface it's traffic problem but basically it's housing problem. People are forced to stay away from their workplace for value-for-money homes.

Real-time bus information is currently not feasible because of complex bus numbering system. At an intermediate bus-stop they may be hundreds of different route-numbers passing through and by the time you invest time to have a glance of timing of a bus to your destination, the actual bus may have already passed by :)

Small public transport buses would be effective at localities where roads are narrow. All corporations in India are in need of small buses for optimitizing their margins. Unfortunately due to lack of synergy between bus makers and the buyers i.e. Bus transport corporation, the concept of small buses has never taken off.

Auto is a sustainable transport and should be effectively used for last and first mile connectivity. However, auto drivers don't prefer short rides, as long rides ensure them higher revenue eventhough margins are lower. There shud be some mechanism to ensure guaranteed short rides which would create win-win proposition.

Why no sharing auto system in Bangalore? Actually, it has been happening informally. Due to steep terrain autos in Bangalore can't carry many passengers.

Commuter train has taken backseat because of inefficient management of Bangalore city station and legacy signalling system. A train in Bangalore city cannot proceed until a train in front of it crosses Cantontment station. Inefficient utilization of city station is other factor, with 10 platforms they handle the same number trains currently handled by Kacheguda(Hyderabad) station with only 3 platforms.

Bangalore is an awesome city for cycling. The topography of the city facilities cycling throughtout the year unlike other major cities in India.

Das who has termed the word CyBaNa (Cycle, Basssu, Nadiyadu) iterated the major factor is Prestigu problem of Big Fat Corporate Cats whose monster gas guzzaling vehicles occupy majority of road surface in the city.

[Photo courtesy: The Alternative ]

New Year Switch at Jhansi

2013-01-05T18:13:00.000+05:30

Jhansi Railway Station

1st Jan 2013, 00:00:01, in the waiting room of Jhansi railway station dozens of guys and gals mostly from a peer group started cheering loudly, distributing cakes and also started wishing apprehensively all the strangers around. For a moment I felt that it was some party where people usually celebrate the year switch with lot of cheers. It's the neo-mode of celebration from Gen-y, where people wanna celebrate on their own at public places, instead doing mudane things at home or a pub. Personally for me the dejection of being in a railway station for new year switch was completely annulled :)

I guess all of us would face similar tricky situation in life, when you to balance between personal passion and professional commitments. I had to make the most of my extended trip after Shreesh's wedding in Satna but had to get back to work for very first working day of 2013, and not to mention in an economical way. The major problem with the endeavor was that I had to spend the year switch celebration at Jhansi and most probably at railway station of the city. I took the plunge since Seena was supposed to be with me unique off beat experience. When Seena dropped out from the entire trip due to professional commiments, executing this offbeat endeavour looked challenging but I still stuck to the plan despite all typical apprehensions.

Diwan-e-Khas of the Jhansi fort, which was later converted into a tank by Britishers.

On top of all hindrances, my ticket back to Bangalore was not confirmed. It was in WL3 from the day I booked it till the penultimate day. So at noon time of 31st Dec, I had to prematurely leave charming place Orchha with a hope of some workaround/jugaad at Jhansi railway station, apart from some amount of sighseeing in Jhansi. After reaching Jhansi, I realised that there's not much to explore apart from the fort. The glamourous history of the fort was interesting but my sightseeing was disturbed by a few revellers in the fort, who after seeing DSLR in my hand were behind me like anything to take their portraits. Later, I paid a brief visit to Rani mahal which was in a pathetic condition. I moved on towards the railway station to find out whether there can be a workaround with my WL ticket.

There were no breakthroughs. More than 12 hours for the train departure and being optimistic about the ticket confirmation, I decided to relax for rest of the day in the retiring rooms at station itself. Unfortunately, the rooms were not available, the lady at the counter said with a flat face "rooms aapko nahi milenge" :) without any other choice around the station I got back to the city and checked-in at a room close to the station. From window of the room, approach tracks to the station were fairly visible and I could see various trains approahing the Jhansi station. Utilizing Indian Railway's then recently launched rail radar, I managed to identify a few trains. While doing train spotting, I got curious about a large unique structure in background which didn't look like a natural structure. Thru googling I found out it's a statue of Dhyan Chyand, ace hockey player from golden era of India's national sport, whose hometown is historic city of Jhansi.

Dhyan Chand's statue atop a hill

The train spotting went for a while but the apprehension of ticket not getting confirmed started lingering very frequently. It became quite intense by 4 pm when there was only one hour for chart preparation. Infact, there was no progress in WL, I started to think about plan B to Z. "Which are all the alternate options ? Can I board the Rajdhani Express without a confirmed ticket or can I go in some southbound train in an unreserved compartment to nearest major city with an airport and fly from there to Bangalore."For this brainstorming I made use of Ixigo's trip planner. Which is quite an efffective tool to find out options of traveling from one city to other also provides different combinations w.r.t time, price and distance.

When it was the time to check the ticket status after chart preparation the battery of my netbook drained out completely and due to power shut down I could put it for recharge. The only option left was to find out the status was through SMS. Then finally at 6.30 pm I got an SMS reply which scrolled elegantly on my Lumia phone with birth number and coach. The SMS confirmation put me totally in celebration mode and the new year celebration for me started at that moment itself !

Around 10 pm, I managed to get to the station by taking a shared auto. In food court of the railway I couldn't find a chair to sit ! I was totally surprised, since it was new year time I had expected a rather deserted station. The platform was also crowded but I managed find a seat just a few meters away from food plaza. Since there was 2 more hours for my train to arrive, I got into observation mood for passing the mode. Majority of employees of food plaza were cribbing internally "WTH, I have to work on this new year night and my friends will be having a gala time at some pub". Even the Railway employees who were on duty at that time were cribbing for the same reason. Then, there were other category of people in saffron/yellow clothes, may be heading for then upcoming Kumbh Mela in Allahabad. They were absolutely not bothered about the celebration and were setting up their beddings on the floor of the platform. In fact, they were double checking safety of their fat cash and were keeping it in a steel box :)

In between all this as the midnight approach, the platform got relatively crowded by Gen-Y people and they all cheered the switch from 2012 to 2013 at 00:00. Perhaps, railway station is the safest public place to celebrate new year in Jhansi !

Last but not the least it was time to wait for arrival of my train. After 12 midnight, I managed to find some space in the waiting room. Most of the people who were present were glued to the TV sets watching special coverage on mourning of people in New Delhi and other cities for unfortunate death of Nirbhaya(Delhi's braveheart). Finally, at 1.20 pm train 12430 arrived in platform #1, bringing end to my sweet, short and unique endeavor at Jhansi.

Bangalore Photowalk: Desk Calendar 2013

2012-12-16T22:35:00.000+05:30

It's a showcase from photography enthusiasts from Bangalore Photowalk. We're showcasing Bangalore city in its true sense in four different versions of desk calendars ( Heritage, Nature, Street, Events). You can find my photograph from Lalbagh being featured on the page of September in Nature category.

Find more details about the calendar at Desk Calendar 2013.

Mana Village near Badrinath

2012-12-02T00:00:00.000+05:30

It's famously known as the last Indian village. Before getting there, through my limited imagination I had thought it would be a small village and right next to it there will be an International border. And one can say get a glimpse of face-to-face positioning of Indian and Chinese Army.

In reality, it turned out to be a small village with loads of mythological significance and 50 kms away from the international border. It's believed that Pandavas had passed through Mana when they on thier journey to heaven. There's a famous stone bridge created by Bheem (stronger among the Pandavas), aptly name Bheem Pul.

One of the interesting things is Veda Vyasa's cave which is around 5000 years old. Vyasa Maharishis had formulated to divide vedas into four parts, decided to write Mahabharata and also scripted Bhagavath geeta at the same place. Whereas, he had narrated Mahabharata to Lord Ganesha at a close-by cave known by name Ganesh gufa.

Water gushing out from the origin of the river Saraswati is an interesting site. The short and swift river joins Alaknanda river at a confluence(sangam) a few hundred meters ahead.

Apart from all mythological stuffs, don't miss out on having a cup of tea at a shop famously known as "India's Last Tea Shop".

Gandikota, Belum, Horshley, Talakona

2012-11-18T01:03:00.000+05:30

The weekend before Diwali, we travelled to places in and around Kadapa to locations which are not part of typical tourist itinerary. The trip was organized by none other than Shrinidhi, one of the hard-core planners in my friends' circle. As per plan, a part of the team travelled from Bangalore to Kadapa and the rest with Srinidhi traveled from Chennai by self-driven Xylo.

After morning fresh-up and a little bit of rest we headed towards our first destination Gandikota Fort, which is around 90 kms from Kadapa. On the way, we witnessed series of cement factories, one of the dominant industries in the region.

Gandikota Fort comprises of structures such as mosque, temple, granary built by rulers of different dynasties. The fort is famous for breathtaking view of Penar river valley which in other words is called Grand Canyon of India. The APTDC guest house near the fort is a decent place for food and also overnight stay.

The destination for post lunch session was Belum Caves. Frankly speaking, I didn't have much expectations from this place that to after seeing limestone caves in Andaman. But to my surprise the artifical illumination inside the caves was a photographic treat and the gorilla tripod stuffed inside my messenger bag came handy.

After Belum Caves visit we ended the Day-1's proceeding by witnessing sunset of Mylavaram Reservoir. Our basic agenda of day-2 was to cover Horsley Hills, Talakona waterfall and head towards Tirupathi to catch the train towards Bangalore.

The day-2 started with a brief visit to Rishi Valley International School. It's one of top residential schools in India, famous for its holistic pedagogy and dense surroundings comprising 200 species of birds. They can easily start a specialised course on Ornithology :)

Horsley Hills is one of the famous hill stations in Andhra Pradesh and similar Nandi Hills near Bangalore. The place is named after a British Officer by the same name. One major attraction in the hill station is big eucalytus tree planted by the officer in 1859.

The last destination of the trip was Talakona waterfall. It's nice place to unwind, relax and have fun with water. One go upto top tier of the waterfall by taking a uphill route, but we decided give a skip due to lack of time.

Retrospect:

Google Maps on iPad2(iOS 5.1) was very handy. It saved a lot of time while navigating in unknown roads.
The service of Suvarnamukhi Travels (Bangalore-Kadapa) was pathetic (Stinking interiors, torn seats etc. )

Valley of Flowers Trip : Brief Itinerary

2012-10-14T10:11:00.000+05:30

Here's a brief itinerary of our trip to Valley of Flowers. We were fortunate enough not to face any delays due to weather/landslides. However, to be on safer side one should keep 1-2 days buffer in their plan.

Day-0: 11th August 2012

Morning flight from Bangalore to Delhi
Took a train from New Railway Station to Haridwar
Overnight stay at Haridwar

Day-1: 12th August 2012

Took an early morning bus from Haridwar to Govindghat.
Reached Govindghat at 6 pm after strenuous journey
Overnight stay at Govindghat

Day-2: 13th August 2012

Started with hike from Govindghat at 7 am
Reached Ghangria at 6.30 pm in evening. Had a tuf time in last part due to rains
Checked in at a decent hotel in Ghangria

Day-3: 14th August 2012

Started the day with hike to Valley of Flowers.
Reached corea area by 1 pm but couldn't shoot landscapes due overcast condition
Back in Ghangria at 5.30 pm
Watched documentary show on VOF at DCF office in Ghangria

Day-4: 15th August 2012

Hiked to Hemkund Sahib, but could not complete the hike because a mule stamped on my foot.
Had a tough downhill descent while getting down due to slipperiness (rain+mule shit).
Was back in Ghangria at 7 pm !

Day-5: 16th August 2012

Revisited Hemkund Sahib by taking a mule.
Visited Gurudwara and Laxman Mandir and had an awesome Khichdi at langar of Gurudwara

Day-6: 17th August 2012

Descended to Govindghat by opting for a mule again.
Took a taxi to Badrinath and checked in at Ananth ashram at Badrinath
Visited Mana Village by taking one more taxi from Badrinath
Explored Mana Village by hiring a guide.

Day-7: 18th August 2012

Left Badrinath at 5 am in morning by hiring a taxi.
Changed over to a different taxi at Chamoli, as our Taxi-1 had wheel wobbling issue
Had brief stop over at Rishikesh to visited Laxman Jhula
Reached Haridwar in evening and visited Har-ki-Pauri and the places around
Had dinner at famoush Chotiwala restaurant
Overnight stay at Haridwar

Day-8: 19th August 2012

Took an early morning train(Jan shatabdhi express) from Haridwar to Delhi.
Reached Delhi and checked-in at a hotel for fresh up
Had lunch at a south indian restaurant in at Connaught place
Left Delhi by taking 8.55 pm flight. Reached Bangalore around midnight.

If you have any queries in specific please post a comment below or send me an email at sandeep@shande.in

Also read: VOF - Summary and Retrospect.

Filmmaking workshop by Pawan Kumar

2012-09-22T23:22:00.000+05:30

Photography/Photo-walking has been one of my serious hobbies for last couple of years, . But since the advent of video DSLRs there's a major urge to try out videography (short film making). In the quest for the same, I did try out video slide show, time-lapse and editing a sequence of video footages shot from Go-Pro camera. But the overall outcome was far from satisfactory.

One fine day in last week of August I got an email from my blogging buddy Raveesh Kumar asking whether I am interested to join him for filmmaking workshop conducted by college-mate Pawan Kumar. I decided to take a plunge without any second thoughts.

Preparation/Home-work:

As per Pawan's instructions, I watched one of my favorites movie '3 idiots' from filmaking point of view. Infact, I watched the movie twice: once in normal mode and second time with director's voice-over. With director's commentary, it was very amusing to know that so many things are taken into consideration even for making a simple shot.

Theory Sessions:

After the initial round of introductions, the workshop started with an unusual approach. We were asked to write down about our current disturbance in our personal life. As per Pawan, most renowned filmmakers have made movies which were product of their disturbance. Lifeu Ishtene was derived from his personal disturbance which he had two years back. In the rest of the session, we were introduced a structured approach of converting disturbance into a story, and then into screenplay with individual shots.

Practical Sessions:

In evening session we divided ourselves into groups and had to go thru a brainstorming of choosing one story which was based on individual disturbances of group members. With quick group discussion, we shortlisted two stories considering the praticality(we had to complete the shoot in a short time). Since both the shortlisted were pretty decent, we decided to split-up the group for making two different movies independently.

Planning/Shooting:

After day-1 of the workshop we (myself, Raveesh & Narendra) sat for an hour at a CCD near to workshop and scripted all scenes of the movie. Then came the question of location for the shoot. Thankfully, my engg classmate Jyotirmayee allowed us to shoot at her office Hivemind Solutions. The actual shoot was real fun, it was a maiden experience for all of us and we enjoyed every moment. With proper structured screenplay we managed to complete the shoot within 2 hours. And the ideas were free flowing like anything, a few of them were incorporated on the spot. Here's alpha version of the movie. More fine-tuned version is in pipeline but we are not able to proceed ahead for time being because of hardware constraint.

It's just the beginning, we have a ong way to go. Just to re-iterated what Pawan said in the workshop, "In filmmaking 10% is talent and 90% is management". Quite obvious after we had the maiden first hand experience.

If you want to take a plunge like us, kindly register for the upcoming workshop on Oct 27th,28th.

Also read: Raveesh's post on the workshop

Visit to Valley of Flowers: Summary and Retrospect

2012-08-26T11:00:00.000+05:30

It's often regarded as a Botanical Wonderland. The high altitude meadows "Bugyal" in summer becomes carpeted with spectacular flowers of every colour and is aptly called 'Valley of Flowers' or VOF in short.

Overall it was a 9 day long affair in the month of August 2012 and yet another trip with usual gang of Jatin, Ravi and Naveen, the folks with whom I had visited Sikkim and Ladakh.

Here's a brief summary and retrospect before series of blog posts about the trip

Totally it took three days for reaching the base of VOF from Bangalore. One day from Bangalore-Delhi-Haridwar by flight+train, second day by bus from Haridwar to Govindghat and third day by hike to base location Ghangria(Govinddham).

We were very fortunate for not facing any landslide issues during the trip. It rained pretty heavily in Uttarakhand a week prior to our trip and also during subsequent week. In others words, the timing of our trip was perfect!

Being at Ghangria, we covered famous Sikh pilgrimage place Hemkund Sahib, which is more steeper hike relative to VOF.

Apart from the two hikes we covered a few key locations in 'Dev Bhumi' Uttarakhand (Badrinath, Devprayag, Haridwar and Rishikesh)

Mana, a village which is 3 kms from Badrinath and famously called 'Last Indian Village' is must visit place for its unique charm and mythological significance.

There're no ATMs in Ghangria as well as Govindghat. Make sure that you and your trip-mates have sufficient cash in their wallets for bearing expenses of four days.

Food items in Ghangria are expensive for obvious reasons :) ..For eg: the price of Bisleri bottle at Haridwar is Rs. 15, at Govindghat it's Rs. 20 and at Ghangria it's Rs. 40 ! The biggest rip-off of the trip was Bournmita Milk for Rs.70 at one of the hotels :)

For Govindghat-Ghangria hike, hiring a porter for carrying baggages is highly recommended. It's a 13 km uphill task and we made a wrong decision of carrying part of luggage on our own. We had kept half of our luggage at a cloak room in Govindghat itself but it won't be required if you hire a porter for carrying your stuffs to Ghangria.

During our visit there were record number of visitors for VOF National park. On 14th August the count was 257 and on 15th August 2012 it was 270 !

Majority of visitors during our stay were from Bangalore! We could listen Kannada at every step in Ghangria.

Beware of 'mule nuisance' on hiking trails. Once a mule stamped on my feet by mistake and I could not walk 15 mins due to momentary pain. Also, be prepared bear with smell of mule's shit and slipperiness created by it.

Don't compromise on footwear. It made a huge mistake by opting for an older shoe for this hike and also by wearing slippers for Hemkund hike.

Since majority of hiking path is paved with stones, using a stick for hike is recommended. Customized wooden sticks which are usually used by Hemkund Pilgrims are available for Rs. 20 at Govindghat/Ghangria

Be prepared to live without your cellphone network at Ghangria. In Govindghat, only BSNL signal is available.

Expense Summary ( All figures are in )

Per Head Expenses:

Flight: Bangalore-Delhi-Bangalore: 10500 ( Strikes of Air India and Kingfisher made this thing expensive)
Train: Delhi-Haridwar and Back: 107+107
Bus: Haridwar to Govinghat: 350
Mule: Ghangria to Hemkund and back: 950 (for one mule)
Mule: Ghangria to Govindghat: 500 (for one mule)

Group Expenses (for 4 people):

Jeep: Badrinath to Haridwar: 7000
Jeep: Govindghat to Badrinath: 700
Cab: Badrinath to Mana and back: 300
Accomodation

Haridwar: 700 ( 1 night)
Govindghat: 600 ( 1 night )
Ghangria: 2400 ( 4 nights )
Badrinath: 800 ( 1 night + dinner )

Majestic to Whitefield by Train

2012-08-09T19:29:00.000+05:30

It’s yet another usual day in Bangalore city with traffic snarls at all major business hubs. Somewhere between KR Puram and Whitefield Railway behind one of largest housing complexes of the city a passenger train bound to Arakonam comes to a screeching halt at an unscheduled stop. Utilizing the micro stoppage, dozens of decently dressed people mostly from IT background get down and start walking towards their workplace by hiking on and around the railway tracks. Whereas, typical travellers in the train will be wondering by having question mark expression on their faces .. have these people have gone crazy ? what're they up to ?

Actually, the effort of mini-hiking is negligible in comparison to positives i.e. reaching workplace with just an hour ride from Majestic(SBC), by-passing all notorious traffic bottlenecks Kundanahalli, Marathahalli, Richmond, HAL and Graphite-India. If you can’t believe here’s the GPS log captured during train travel from Majestic to Whitefield. Distance=23.3 km, Time=42 mins, Max Speed=127.6kmph; the stats which is impossible to emulate when you travel by road between Majestic-Whitefield :)

Train:Bangalore-Whitefield

It’s the frugal transport system followed by techies who reside around Majestic and work in Whitefield. Due to inept town planning by local administration, the commute time by roads from heart of the city to whitefield has increased 2x times over last 2-3 years. The authorities planned for IT hubs but forget to create livable residential hubs. And the people residing in old and traditional localities have no option to make "long commute" part of their life.

The frequency of trains from Majestic to Whitefield and vice versa are limited, no complaints as they're meant for long distance travel. There’re only 3 trains in morning from Majestic (Bangalore City Station, SBC) i.e. Chennai Express at 8.00 am, Arakonam Passenger at 9.20 am , Bangarpet passenger at 9:45 am. In cliched terms, there’s no perfect option ! For catching 8.00 am train you need to rush from your home at a time when majority of people in your locality (around Majestic) would be snoozing their alarms and buses won’t be reliable for reaching railway station on time. But if you manage reach the station on time then you’re ensured to be in Whitefield Station(Kadugodi) by 8.45 pm. However, the scenarios are different for 9.20 am and 9.45 am trains. There will be a bus every 5 mins which will take you to SBC station on time but problem is that you will manage to reach office by 10.30 am (best case) that too after hiking on the railway tracks. If you want to avoid hiking then you need to get down at Whitefield Station and then take a bus from Kadugodi towards ITPL/EPIP and you will waste your precious 30 minutes and manage to reach office by 11.00 am (best case). And for obvious reasons you’re bound to be greeted through raised eyebrows from your colleagues.

Train Option	Pros	Cons
Chennai Express at 8.00 am	* Possibility of reaching your office by 9.00 am (best case)	* Lack of reliable first mile connectivity (early in morning) from localities around Majestic. * No option of getting down at SGW * No back-up option. If you miss this train you either opt for 2.5 hrs bus ride from majestic or wait for next train at 9.20 am
Bangalore-Arakonam Passenger at 9.20 am	* Very difficult to miss this train * Option of getting down at SGW	* Unreliable w.r.t. timings. Sometimes gets delayed by 30-40 minutes
Bangarpet passenger at 9:45 am	* It's an EMU train. Can make up the delays with swift acceleration/deceleration	* If you choose to get down at whitefield then you can reach office by 11.30 am (best case).

On top of all pros and cons you will have a peaceful ride to office, inhaling fresh air most part of the journey. Best moment in morning would be experiencing cool breeze between Bangalore East and KR Puram station which is rarity when you’re on roads or in an AC bus/car. In evening, for getting to Majestic from Whitefield there’re limited options as well.

Train Option	Pros	Cons
Arakonam-Bangalore Passenger at 5.50 pm	* Takes you majestic by 6:45 pm(best case) and 7:00 pm(worst case) * Option of boarding at SGW * Reliable most of the times. Can’t recall any day where it has arrived/departed more than 15 mins late at/from Whitefield	* Very difficult to catch. One needs to leave desk by 5:00 pm
Chennai Express at 7:00 pm	* Can catch this train by leaving workplace at 6:15 pm	* Unreliable w.r.t timings. Usually it will be 15-20 mins and one day it arrived 1 hr 20 mins late. * Sometime it gets stuck near Baiyappanahalli for 30 mins for allowing 2 trains from Salem side to proceed ahead.

However, all the cons can be ignored after having looking at impressive stats on a Friday evening, that too on a day before holiday weekend. Distance=23.3km, Duration=56 mins, Max Speed=102 kmph !

Train: Whitefield to Majestic

Let's analyze this frugal public transport through Cost, Time and Convenience

Cost: Excellent. One-way fare on a passenger train is Rs. 4 only :)
Time: Above average. Even though actual transit time is very less, delay in trains, first and last mile connectivity increases overall time.
Convenience: Average. From one perspective you can have non-bumpy ride along with breathing natural air. But from a different angle, less frequency of train and occasional crowd in trains makes things inconvenient.

Note:

All train timings are based new time table w.e.f 1st July 2012.
SGW is the official name of the platform-less unscheduled stop between KR Puram and Whitefield. Most passenger trains stop here for picking/dropping railway employees working at power sub-station.
Recent report from RITES on Implementation/Revamp of Commuter Rail System (CRS) in Bangalore looks promising.
Namma Metro will take ages to touch Whitefield. It comes under phase-2 and recently BMRCL has started Geo-techincal survey at a few locations.
In morning, Sanghamitra Express at 9 am is also a fair option but it doesn't stop at Whitefield Station. People working in ITPL/EPIP need to get down at KR Puram and take unreliable 500 DF/DG from the bus stop adjacent to KR Puram station.

What's others say:

Aditya Kavoor: A year on rails
CNN-IBN: Train, solution to traffic woes ?

A trip to Lepakshi

2012-07-22T19:38:00.001+05:30

Distance: 140 kms (by bus), 125 kms(by car)
Route:

Bangalore--Yehlanka--Doddaballapur--Gouribidanur--Hindupur--Lepakshi (By bus/train)
Bangalore--Chikkaballapur--Bagepalli--Lepakshi (by Car)

From Bangalore photowalk group we organized a day outing to Lepakshi a place which is just beyond Karnataka's border in Andhra Pradesh. Unlike normal mode of transport i.e. through car pooling/hired-bus we decided to do the trip differently for creating more photo opportunities on-the-move.

We took the Yeswantpur-Vijaywada Passenger train to Hindupur which departs from Yeswanthpur Station at 8 am. The train was supposed take us our destination by 10:30 am but due routine delays (passing signals) we managed reach Hindupur by 11:30 am. After reaching Hindupur we moved on to Lepakshi Veerabhadra temple by taking autos. (Lepakshi is around 15kms from Hindupur)

Built by the brothers Viranna and Virupanna, Veerabhadra temple is a notable example of the Vijayanagar architectural style. It's famous for its sculptures, which were created by the artisans of Vijayanagara empire. Those who have already been to Hampi are bound to have deja-vu moments for obvious reasons.

The temple is not built as per any proper architecture. From the entrance there's no symmetrical structure leading to garbhagudi. Some of the structures are incomplete and a few look to be experimental. The construction was abruptly stopped when the brothers were accussed of wasting money on the temple.

Five headed serpent's strucuture which is one major attraction in the temple is believed to be made by artisans just to kill time :)

A huge Nandi bull made out of a single granite stone is one of the attractions in Lepakshi is a kilometer away from the main temple. It's tallest Nandi statue in India and of course tallest in the world.

After photowalking around and exploring the temple we moved back to Hindupur by local bus and traveled back to Bangalore by private bus as APSRTC/KSRTC buses were completely packed. Apart from the occasional loud telgu songs played by the bus driver we didn't face any other issues while returning. Finally, we were back in Bangalore by 8:45 pm concluding our fruitful day out of Bangalore.

Ladakh: Tso Kar, Sarchu, Keylong and Manali

2012-07-20T01:46:00.001+05:30

The Manali-Leh road is a world on its own and must travel route if you want to say your Ladakh trip as complete :) For various logistical reasons we decided keep it in last leg of our dream trip. After overnight stay at Karzok (Tso Moriri) it was time to start our return journey towards Manali. The high altitude sickness which had dominated for most part of the trip suddenly started to disappear. Unfortunately by the time I got properly acclimatized to high altitude, the trip was almost over :)

Unique Landscapes on Leh-Manali Road

Our first planned site visit was Tso Kar lake. But we decided to give it a skip as it didn't look impressive from distance. The journey continued with a few pit stops for lunch, bio-breaks etc. Once we crossed Pang(world's highest military transit camp), the landscape changed abruptly. From Pang to Sarchu the landscape/roadscape was so impressive that our Ladakh sightseeing for last 6 days visit seemed inferior. May be we had not these visual in typical tourist post cards from Ladakh.

Tented Accomodation at Sarchu

After passing through LaChuLungLa and Gaata Loops we crossed the borders of Jammu and Kashmir, reached our first halt in Himachal Pradesh i.e. Sarchu. With Rigzin's influence we got tented accommodation at Sarchu at affordable rates (inclusive of dinner, breakfast).

Suraj Tal Lake

After overnight stay at Sarchu, the journey towards Manali continued with uphill ascent to Bara-lacha Pass and a brief stopover in front of SurajTal lake.

Convoy of Indian Army

Further ahead we had an unexpected pit stop due to movement big convoy of Indian Army with more 30 trucks ! By noon time we were in Keylong and our mobiles managed to receive signals after a gap of 4 days ! Since we were about to reach Manali a day before, Jatin had thoughts doing de-tour to Chandrataal from Keylong. But none of the drivers in Keylong agreed to get there and we had no option to continue our plan-A i.e. journey towards Manali.

Rohtang Tunnel: Work in Progress !

One of major hurdle for getting to Manali was Rohtang pass which is a nightmare for travellers between Manali and Leh. Before the ascent of Rohtang pass Rigzin showed work-in-progress for Rohtang tunnel which after construction would considerably cut down travel distance/time between Leh and Manali .

Traffic Jam at Rohtang Pass :)

Then before getting to Manali, the ultimate thing happened. Traffic jams due to minor landslides and rush of tourists mostly from Chandigarh. With that our out-of-civilization trip to Ladakh ended and we were back to real chaotic world :) There's not much say about our 2 days stay at Manali. Only cherishing experience was food at Manikaran Gurudwara and cakes from German bakery in Kasol.

Ladakh: Tso Moriri Lake and Karzok

2012-07-12T01:26:00.002+05:30

It's one of the picturesuque lake in Ladakh and home many vulnerable species of birds. It's is 15000+ feet (higher than Pangong Lake) above sea level and entirely within Indian borders. Since Bollywood is yet to project the place on silver-screen and you will witness only a few traces of commercial tourism here for obvious reasons. For getting to Tso Moriri we took an offbeat route i.e. directly from Pangong Lake via Rezang La Memorial.

Our overnight stay was at Karzok, which is only major settlement on banks of the lake. As usual our Rigzin helped us in getting accommodation at affordable rates. The power situation was very bad and our multi-pin socket came in handy to make efficient usage of short supply :)

The saga of high altitude sickness recurred again during my evening walk besides the lake. Infact, the situation turned so bad that I puked besides the concrete structure (in the above pic) while capturing the beautiful landscapes :)

And not-to-be-missed spot close to the lake is greenish Kyagar Tso, which is relatively a small lake besides the approach roads to Tso Moriri.

Google+ one year anniversary photowalk at Bangalore

2012-06-26T23:13:00.001+05:30

On 30th June Google+ will be celebrating its first anniversary with a worldwide photowalk! Cities from around the globe will be organising the world's largest photowalk (current number is 85+ cities) and anyone with/without a camera is welcome to be part of it.

On behalf of Bangalore Photowalk group, I will be hosting Bangalore edition of this massive worldwide photowalk. Following are the details

Meeting Point: Lalbagh Hillock ( in front of Kempegowda Tower)
Start Time: 7:30 AM
RSVP at : Plantcast

If you don't live in Bangalore, check out the link to see if there's one happening near you. For more information on this world wide photowalk check official Google plus page of the event.

It's 6 years !!!

2012-06-25T14:47:00.000+05:30

Six years back i.e. on 25th June 2006, after a bike-trip to Nandi Hills, I decided to start this blog to post my experiences of the trip in public domain. Since then, it's been a wonderful journey of sharing and it has made to me try out interesting things in parallel to my day time commitments.

As iterated in my previous anniversary posts due to sharing on FB the frequency of blogging has reduced but somehow the gradual rate of increase in visitor to this blog has kept me going. Recently one of my friend Manish had posted a status "If Twitter is T20, FB is ODI and then Blogging is Test Match", which pretty much sums up why blogging is still considered supreme in the era of FB, Twitter and Instagram !

Special mention about Srinidhi and Raveesh who also achieved this 6 year anniversary feat recently.

Also read my previous anniversary posts:

Ladakh: Rezang La Memorial

2012-05-13T15:45:00.000+05:30

After overnight stay at Merak in Pangong Lake we continued our road trip towards Tso Moriri. Typically, people get back to Leh from Pangong and then proceeds towards Tso Moriri but we decided take an offbeat way and ended up saving one day. One of the highlight of offbeat track was the famous Rezang La Memorial.

The journey towards Tso Moriri started on unasphalted roads and after a few kms you encounter a board "Rezang La Memorial, 13 Kumoan". With our usual instinct we took out cameras and started shooting in burst mode. To our surprise, Rigzin our driver-cum-guide brought the vehicle to screeching halt and said that we should definite spend five minutes at the place.

The fenced memorial is a recognition for sacrifice of 114 soldiers who were posted at '13 Kumoan', during 1962 China War. Under the leadership of Major Shaitan Singh they chose to face the enemy instead of retreating. We were lucky enough here the entire story from an ex-army man.

The location is very close to Line of Actual Control between India and China. One can find camps of Chinese Army across the mountain facing the memorial.

Ladakh: Pangong Lake

2012-04-21T23:59:00.000+05:30

The geeky Chatur realises that he has won the battle but lost the war when he gets a phone call over Airtel network from Fungsuk Wangadu (Rancho). It was a perfect climax for an entertaining movie with picturesque Pangong Lake as backdrop. The scene has made the location in wishlist of all bollywood movie buffs and since then the lake is popularly known as '3 idiots' lake.

Getting from Leh to Pangong turned out to be day-long journey. After completing our sightseeing in around Leh, Nubra Valley, we started towards the lake late in morning with a stopover at Thiksey Monastery. Then on the way to our destination we ascended Chang La and more stunning landscape on other side of the pass. But the quest for getting the view of '3 idiots' was constantly iterating in our minds. We used to have brief stopovers here-n-there, but getting to Pangong Lake at golden hours was our top priority.

After passing through several curves, bends, uphills, downhills and funny road signs we got the first glimpse of bluish waterbody with brown landscape in foreground as well as background.

The view got better and better as we approached the banks of the lake. As we got down form our Scorpio there was nothing stopping us from just clicking-n-capturing the 360 degree view of the place which made us feel being on a different planet !

As the daylight started to fade-out we got into our vehicle and moved along banks of the lake towards Merak village where we had planned to stay overnight in a home-stay. The high-altitude sickness after being absent for whole day reappeared again. After getting inside the home-stay, I just lied down flat when others were busy shooting the star trails.

After sufficient overnight rest, next day in morning my body back in equilibrium and had sufficient energy to have a stroll around the Merak village. Apart from us there were no humans actively moving around the place. The only sound on our ears was the salty water of the lake splashing the banks.

Then it was time to call our family back in Bangalore. In contrast to what was shown in '3 idiots' lake there was not even single trace of any mobile signal several kms around the lake. There was only one telephone in the village which connected to rest of world through a satellite dish. The connectivity and equipment was provided by BSNL, power by Tata BP Solar.

After our breakfast at our homestay we started our journey towards Tsomori Lake. Typically, tourist return back to Leh from Pangong and reach Tso Moriri through a seperate route. We opted for the road less taken which was not in great condition but end-of-the-day we saved one-day of our trip by traveling to Tso Moriri directly from Pangong.

Ladakh: Thiksey Monastery

2012-04-19T23:49:00.000+05:30

On our way to Pangong Lake, we had a stopover at Thiksey Monastery, the place which we had skipped while exploring stuffs around Leh. For its uniqueness and surrounding landscapes the monastery definitely deserves a half day visit.

The monastery is located atop a hill. We were very fortunate to have an excellent weather conditions for witnessing panoramic view of the valley from the monastery.

Maitreya (Future Buddha) Temple at the Monastery. The 15 meters high statue is largest of its kind in Ladakh.

The courtyard of the monastery which has been shooting location for many bollywood movies and Mani Ratnam's Dil Se was one of the first to be shot here.

Prayer wheels besides the steps leading to the monastery. The wheels were freshly painted for upcoming Monastery festival.

Chorten/Stupa: a holy structure with three parts – a square bottom, a circular middle section and a thin cylindrical top portion. Chortens are installed on the approach to monasteries to ward off evil.

View of 12 storeys monastery complex from the approach road.

Ladakh: Nubra Valley, Panamik, Diskit, Hunder

2012-04-14T01:22:00.000+05:30

After crossing world's highest motorable road we entered into Nubra Valley which is popularly known as Grand Canyon of India. Due to its proximity to Line-of-Control with Pakistan, the area is very sensitive and for getting there tourists need to take permits in advance. The area also acts as a base to jawans going towards the Siachen Glacier which popularly known as world's highest battlefield !

Our first destination in Nubra Valley was Panamik. It's the last place upto which civilians are allowed on the road towards Siachen Glacier. And on a clear day one can get a glimpse of world's highest battlefield from here. We were lucky to be with company of a person (Rigzin) who had actually stayed in Siachen and he narrated us a few tales from the place during his deputation. Panamik is also famous of hot springs, but they are not that impressive.

Our next destination was Yarab Tso, which is popularly known as hidden lake. One has to hike uphill on a hillock for 15 minutes getting to banks of the lake.

After visiting, Yarab Tso we had get on Shyok Valley to reaching Diskit. Before that we made a brief visit Samstanling Monastery. It was just on-the-way visit.

A junction close to Khalasar. One road goes towards Panamik and other towards Diskit. Not-to-metion amazing landscape in combination with BRO sign boards in foreground.

Unknown spot which we came across a few kms before Diskit. The reflection of brown mountains on overflown water from Shyok river turned out an amazing postcard of the trip.

Another one from the unknown spot near Diskit. The photograph has earned different interpretations from different people.

Hunder Sand Dunes, because of a few unique spots like this Ladakh is famously known as Deserts in the Skies. A few sequences of Mani Ratnam's movie Dil Se were picturised at the same place.

Bacterian Double Humped Camles at Hunder Sand Dunes. Only place in India where these endangered species are found.

Also Read: Ladakh Trip: Summary & Retrospect Ladakh Trip: Itinerary in brief

Bangalore Karaga 2012: An overnight photowalk

2012-04-08T16:39:00.000+05:30

From childhood days, I have been hearing about Bengaluru Karaga festival as one of the famous local festival of the city. My mother used to describe that in the festival a few enthusiastic people carry a heavy pots on their head and run around the Pete area of Bangalore. For years my knowledge about the festival remained constant and occasionally I used come across a few photos in newspapers about the festival which is celebrated in usually in summer time. Frankly speaking, I didn't even bother to have a glance at wikipedia page of the festival.

Recently, when I came across a coffee table book Bengaluru/Bangalore: In First Person Singular by a renowned photographer Mahesh Bhat, I came to know about more interesting aspects of the festival. Next, I got all handy information from Mahesh and decided to venture out on the day of the festival with fellow enthusiasts from Bangalore Photowalk.

The festival is celebrated on first full moon day of a lunar new year (Chaitra Poornima). The focal point of the event is 800 year old Dharmaraya Swamy temple in Thigalapete which is stone throw distance from SP Road. As per plan we extended our photowalk on MG Road on Good Friday to be at the right place well before the start of the festivities. In contrast to our regular photowalks, this one started as late as 9.30 pm !

The venue was brimming with thousands of people especially from Thigala community and some of them had come from far away places to be part of the festival. A huge gathering means business to some people. The roads side eat-outs which usually shut their shop at dusk time, started opening at 9 pm onwards to cash on with the overnight celebrations. Our initial plan was to shoot upto midnight. But witnessing the enthusiasm of the people we decided to stay on till the time we get exhausted !

We discovered a vantage point, a stair case next to the temple where we could get a decent view of activities inside as well as outside the temple. Like us most people in the crowd were busy hunting for their vantage points in order to get a proper glimpse of the Karaga. And there were typical masalas of an Indian festival like minor stampede, lathi charge by police constables etc.

It was a long wait indeed for the Karaga by standing on our one and half feet and rubbing shoulders with people around us. From our vantage point we did some timepass by playing dum charades with a few young people inside the temple.

A few minutes past 1 o'clock the ultimate thing happened. The head priest of the temple manifesting himself as draupadi, with a pot dressed with jasmine on his head came out of the Garbhagruha. Wikipedia aptly describes this moment in following words:

Thousands and thousands of eyes awaiting the karagashakthi to come out from the Garbhagruha. The enlightened Karaga Shakthi comes out like a thunder light from Garbhagruha.

After doing 3 rounds around the Garbagruha, the Karagashakti came out of the temple being showered with jasmine buds and not-to-mention applause, whistles from the crowd. It moved around the chariots which had come from various temples in pete area and later started it's long overnight journey in the Pete area.

It took a while for us to digest the breathtaking experience. We relaxed on terrace of temple for a while by having a few sips of water, eatables and also discussing briefly about spirituality. Then, we headed towards the famous Hazrat Tawakal Mastan Shah Dargah. A hindu deity entering a muslim shrine is very interesting story indeed. Long back time, the Sufi saint suffered some injuries during Karaga procession. Seeing the unfortunate incident, the Hindu priest stopped to apply turmeric to the Muslim saint’s wounds. Touched with this, the Sufi master asked that the Karaga stop at his tomb after his death. And so the tradition began in those days is followed even today !

Around 4.30 am, the Karagashakti entered into the Dargah and the unique moment was cheered a with huge applause by people who had gathered at the venue. The volunteers of the dargah supported us to take close shot of the Karga but atmosphere was so energetic that we could not do much justice with our cameras.

We had plans of visiting Ananmma and Yehalanka gate temple to have one more glimpse of the Karagashakthi. Since we could reach these temples on time, instead we decided have our last glimpse at Avenue road junction where people had opened the doors of their shops partially to get it blessed from Karagashakthi.

As the daylight started to fade in, it was time to conclude one of amazing photowalks which started at dusk time and ended at dawn time. While getting back home we had a stopover for breakfast at Brahmins' Coffee Bar which turned out be icing on the cake. It was truly an awesome, electrifying and energetic experience which we managed without dinner and sleep :). Special thanks fellow photo enthusiasts from Bangalore Photowalk: Vinod Krishna, Shivani Venkatesha, Vikram Ramesh, Shilpa Kala, Praveen, Sasi Kumar. And not to mention Mahesh Bhat who was not with us physically, but if I had not read his book this experience would not have materialized.

Here's a nice description by Mahesh Bhat about the festival:

The festival is older than Bangalore in many ways and brilliantly captures the spirit of the people who call this city home. Imagine — a Hindu festival with a Telugu lineage, being celebrated by Tamils in a Kannadiga locality where the idols are placed in a dargah as a part of a great custom, proving that communities and religions can co-exist, live in peace and love one another. I think that if there’s a definitive picture in the collection, it’s definitely this one.

Ladakh: Khardung La and Beyond

2012-03-31T00:45:00.000+05:30

Khardung La is world's highest motorable pass situated 40 kms from Leh. One has to pass through this road for getting towards Nubra Valley. It's very strategic pass for Indian army in order to supply essential items to Siachen glacier.

The ascent from Leh to Khardung La happens very abruptly by road i.e from 12000 ft to 18000+ft in 1 hour. While ascending from Leh one can experience beautiful downhill view of Leh. Drive was quite challenging especially after witnessing a fallen vehicle besides the road. However, our experienced driver Rigzin negotiated the things dexterously.

After passing through South Pullu we reached the world's highest motorable road a.k.a. Khardungla Pass. Sipping a cup of tea at world's highest cafeteria is must to neutralize yourself from nauseated conditions :)

Our destinations in Nubra Valley and its distances from Khardung La. Still many hurdles and roads to cross ! Panamik is the last place where civilians are permitted go and have a glance at Siachin Glacier.

She's Angmo server at a eat-out in Khardung .. 25 kms from Khardung towards Khalsar. Inspite of being in nauseated condition I ordered a half plate of dal-chawal to get this candid click.

Controversary with Altitude:
As per wikipedia page, Khardung La is wrongly believed to be world's highest motor-able road. The official altitude 5,602 m (18,380 feet) claimed by the summit signs has been inflated for the purpose of record breaking. The elevation provided from modern GPS survey by a team of researchers is 5,359 m (17,582 feet). Infact, as per my GPS logger the altitude of place was 5,380 m (17,700 feet) :)

Futher Reading: Nubra Valley, Panamik, Yarab Tso, Diskit, Hunder

Also Read: Ladakh Trip: Summary & Retrospect Ladakh Trip: Itinerary in brief

Ladakh: Leh and Around

2012-03-29T00:17:00.001+05:30

This is a photo-essay from part of my memorable trip to Ladakh last year. Also read about summary about trip at Ladakh Trip: Summary and Retrospect

Places Covered which we covered in Leh and around

Shanthi Stupa
Leh Palace
Hemis Monastery
Sindhu Ghat
Stok Palace
Sangam: Indus and Zanskar
Magnetic Hill
Gurudwara Sri Pathar Sahib

Shanti Stupa is a domed shaped Buddhist structure constructed by Japanese which holds relics of Buddha at its base. Other than religious things the place is must visit for witnessing panoramic view of Leh

Beautiful landscape as scene from Shanti Stupa. We were lucky to witness very dynamic weather comprising haze, drizzle, rainbow and sunshine within span for 1.5 hrs !

With lamas at Hemis Monastery when they were preparing for upcoming monastery festival

Sindhu Ghat: On the banks of river Indus and one of the rare Hindu structure we came across in Ladakh.The site was inaugrated by Shri. Atal Behari Vajpayee in 2001. The place is in between Hemis and Leh.

View of Indus Valley from Stok Palace. The place is bit de-tour from Leh-Hemis road.

Confluence of River Indus(Sindhu) and Zanskar which besides Leh-Srinagar highway. After a few kms from this confluence the river enters into PoK. Zanskar river will be completely frozen in winters and a few adventurous people trek on the frozen river in Jan-Feb every year. The trek is popularly known as 'Chadar Trek'.

One of the miracle spots in Ladakh. The magnetic effect is so strong that it pulls a four wheeler against a downward slope !

View from Leh Palace. The big ground in frame is the ground where they play Polo in Leh.

Kannada KBC Blog

2012-03-28T22:53:00.001+05:30

Kaun Banega Crorepati has now headed to South India with launch regional versions in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. The Kannada version of the show which started two weeks back is being hosted by leading actor from sandalwood Puneet Rajkumar. My initial reaction was not enthusiastic as it would be repeat of the Hindi version. But to my surprise the game is loaded with lot of questions related to Karnataka and Kannada which has made it very different from the Hindi version.

Along with my blogging buddy Raveesh, I am involved in a dedicated blog for the game show where all the questions are being archived episode wise. Apart from the actual questions, we will posting set of 15 practice questions every week which will be handy reference for people who will be preparing for the game show. Please visit kannadakbc.blogspot.in and provide your valuable feedback.

Also, read my old post Callback from KBC one of my attempt for getting to the hot seat of Hindi version :)