PAYANIGA

A Visit to Avani Betta

2009-07-05T23:45:52Z

One peculiarity of being in Bangalore is each road going out of the city leads you to a different countryside after a journey of an hour or two (assuming you are not stuck in traffic jam). Last year around this time on an early morning I, with couple of friends took a road leading towards the Sun. Road leading to Kolar (Old Madras road) to be specific. As you move out of Bangalore and beyond Hosakote, countryside changes completely. Density of trees reduces, dry lands welcomes you. Further down the road, trees get replaced by boulders - heaps and heaps of boulders. Small hillocks scattered on either side of the road with more rocks than trees on them, but each one having their own story to narrate. Of so many hillocks we stopped at Avani betta near Mulabagilu for few hours. And we weren’t disappointed.

Avani betta, name because of the village Avani at the foot of the hill, has its roots linked to Sage Valmiki, Ramayana, and the legendary war between Rama & his sons Lava-Kusha. A legend says that sage Valmiki’s ashrama was at the same hillock and hence Avani betta is also called as ‘Valmiki Parvatha’. The story which is linked to Avani starts after Ravana gets killed and Rama & Seetha move back to Ayodhya. It’s said that the story after Seetha is sent out of Ayodhya to forest (referred as ‘Uttara Ramayana’ happened here) - birth of Lava & Kusha, defeat of Rama’s army by his own son & then the legendary war. For each place described in Uttara Ramayana there is an equally comparable place here in Avani betta - to name a few are the place where the horse of Ashwamedha yaaga was tied, place Seetha & her sons lived and the place where Seetha witnessed the war between her husband & her sons. The cave which is said Seetha gave birth to Lava and Kusha is considered as sacred. And now the cave is a huge ditch as every devotee who visits the place grabs a fistful of mud while leaving.

On top of the hill there is a small temple of Goddess Parvathi, which makes devotees & few monkeys are the only visitors to the hillock, barring people like us. Another common sight at this place is one gets to see stacks of small stones usually three in each stack. There is a general belief at this place that if the brides stack stones, the newborn baby will be a healthy one.

Though Kolar and surround area is dry and devoid of greenery, there are many interesting places nearby - Antaragange, Kaivara, Kurudumale, Markandeshwara betta - to name a few. Thanks Srik for taking back in time to Ramayana. Now I need to plan to visit other places nearby.

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Desktop Calendar: July 2009

2009-06-29T14:26:26Z

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Background Photo: Loch Ness, as seen from Urquhart Castle, Scotland.

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I Was Here: Siddaganga

2009-06-27T17:24:43Z

The first family (God & his family) - Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvathi & Lord Subrahmanya - captured at Siddaganga Mutt, Tumkur. During my day trip to Mandharagiri and Kaidala, I paid a brief visit to Siddaganga in July 2008.

PS: It’s been a quiet month, void of any travel for me. Except that I’m back in London. I’ll try my level best to write all pending travelogs.

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To The Less Known Hoysala Kingdom

2009-06-24T20:59:52Z

Do you long for the feel of the rain brushing against you? Do you relish being out when it rains? And would you enjoy a dose of history to go with the freshness of the monsoon?

Then come and join us for the rainy-season edition of the tour of ‘Less Known Hoysala Kingdom’. We are heading to the fringes of Malnad. See the only Hoysala Temple that has not one but four shrines. Visit the beautiful tank with small shrines all around the water, surrounded by coconut trees in a quiet village. See the remains of the ancient town of Dwarasamudra strewn with carved rocks in a large open space.

It’s not me who’s travelling on the Hoysala trail, but Arun & Lakshmi, fellow travel bloggers are organising a two day tour to less known temples of Hoysala Kingdom on July 4th and 5th. For more details on the tour & registeration, click here.

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I Was Here: Manjeshwara

2009-06-10T17:15:02Z

I was there at Manjeshwara in March 2008. This photo was taken at Sri Anantha Padmanabha temple.

PS: I’ve moved from Blogger to Wordpress. Migration is still in progress. If you stumble up on any broken links or missing images, please bring it to my notice. Thanks :)

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Desktop Calendar: June 2009

2009-06-02T04:09:00Z

Background photo: Yagachi Dam near Belur, Hassan district, Karnataka. (from the archive)

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Good Bye, England

2009-05-08T01:47:00Z

My three months stay in UK has come to an end. I’m flying home in few hours. During this three months I managed day visits to Bath Spa, Avebury & Oxford, a weekend at London and then a 1200 miles long drive covering Scotland & Lake district in four days. That means, I’ve got loads of stories to share!

On the other front, I sold off my good-old Nikon D70s and after being loyal to Nikon for five full years, switched to Canon.

That’s it for now. See you all back in India :)

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I Was Here: Jageshwar

2009-05-02T14:38:00Z

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

by Lady Antebellum

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

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

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Desktop Calendar: May 2009

2009-04-30T11:14:00Z

Background photo: Light House which is no longer being used. As seen from Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol.

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The Performers

2009-06-24T20:58:52Z

Compilation of performers -

A Bagpiper at The Royal Mile, Edinburgh

The Huckleberries at Bath Spa.Their music is nice, soothing. I had couple of hours’ spare time to catch train. I spent more than half an hour listening to them. They have a website too.

Irish folk dancers at Bath SpaA foot-tapping music and equally good dances. The dancers didn’t looked like professionals. But the way they enjoyed & involved in their bits - music, singing and the dance attracted people. I could see almost every spectator foot-tapping to the music.

A trained daredevil at Bath Spa

Here is a video of a bagpiper, shot at The Royal Mile, Edinburgh. The video is a tad overexposed.

PS: Payaniga completed 3 years of travel writing yesterday. First post was published on Apr 25th 2006. :)

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