Travel Enthusiasts

Ahmadabad Heritage Photography Trail

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 16:22:00 +0000

Times group in assosiation with Gujarat tourism organized 'Ahmedabad Heritage Photography Trail'. It was a 2 days event. The event was well organized. There were about 50 enthusiastic photographers from different parts of India. I was one among them. Mr. Debashish Nayak guided us through the trail. He is the advisor of heritage program to the Ahmedabad municipal corporation.

The event was flagged of by the Gujarat Governor Mr. Om Prakash Kohli. The trail theme was 'mandir to masjid'. The itinerary were: 'The House of MG, Siddi Saiyad Jali Mosque, Adalaj Stepwell, Sarkhej Roza, largest utensil collections museum 'Vechaar' at Vishala, Swaminarayan Temple, Poet Dalpatram Memorial Chowk, Chaumukhji ni Pol, various Jain temple, Haveli, Jumma Masjid'. Finally there was a session on heritage and photography.

The House of MG
It is one of the old haveli which was beautifully restored. This is a heritage hotel around 5-6 km from Sabarmati Ashram.

Siddi Saiyad Jali Mosque
This is located just opposite to 'The House of MG'. The mosque was completed in the year 1573 and is one of the most famous mosque of Ahmedabad. This is the last significant monument from the Sultanate period. It was built by Sidi Sayyid.

Adalaj Stepwell
'Adalaj Step well' also known as 'Adalaj ni Vav'. In Gujarati, the stepwell is called a Vav. It was built in 1499. It has five stories with beautiful carvings.

Sarkhej Roza
This comprise mosque and tomb. It also has 16-pillared pavilion built in honour of Sufi saint Shaikh Ahmad Khattu Ganj Bakhsh who was spiritual advisor to Sultan Ahmed Shah. Sarkhej was a prominent center of Sufi culture in the country.

Vechaar - Largest utensil collections museum
Day 1 of our trail concluded with the visit to Vechaar utensils museum which is a part of Vishalla, a traditional restaurant. This museum hosts a variety of ancient to present time utensils and other tools. They also have 'chair museum' in the same compond.

Swaminarayan Temple
Day 2 of our heritage walk started with this temple which is located in Kalupur. This is said to be the world's first Swaminarayan temple. This was built in the year 1822. The havelies (mansions) are located to the west, east and north of the temple.

Poet Dalpatram Memorial Chowk
Dalpatram was a great poet who supported social reforms in Gujarat. In tribute to his contribution to Gujarati culture and literature, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the citizens of Ahmedabad proposed a memorial at the site of his house. The key feature of statue is life like appearance with every possible details attached to it including texture of the shawl.

Jain temple

Jumma Masjid
This Masjid is also known as Jami or Jama Masjid. This was built in 1424 during the reign of Ahmed Shah I. It is considered one of the largest mosque in Gujurat.

Fantastic Aerial View of Niagara Falls - Skylon Tower

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Sun, 21 May 2017 13:34:00 +0000

Another great way to enjoy fantastic views of Niagara Falls is from the Skylon tower which is located few meters away from the falls. This has revolving dining room restaurant which rotates 360 degrees and observation desk. The ride to observation desk in glass enclosed elevators was smooth and one can enjoy the spectacular views of the falls. It takes just 52 seconds to reach the top.
Skylon tower which is regions tallest stucture. It has interior and exterior observation desk. From here one can view American Falls, Canada Falls and the Niagara River. It was fun watching the aerial view of the falls and the city at the end of the day.

Bird Kingdom @ Niagara Falls - Canada

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Mon, 01 May 2017 16:14:00 +0000

This place is located approximately 1 km away from Niagara falls, on the Niagara pathway. This is world's largest indoor aviary. Bird Kingdom exhibits interesting, a different varieties of beautiful birds and reptiles. There are birds of small to larger size. You can get close to free flying birds. Here visitors are allowed to feed Lorikeets. It is a cool place to spend approximately 1 hour with family. But, we spent little more than 2 hours taking pictures. It was hard to take some of the birds picture do you to lighting. We had wonderful experience and enjoyed the colourful birds, especially at the top floor of the building. This is our first and unique experience of the indoor aviary.

Map:

Heart of the Niagara Falls

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 16:37:00 +0000

"Let the day extend for today alone so that we keep on soaking the beauty of natural wonder Niagara Falls". - SriKri

If you are visiting Niagara falls, make sure to visit both USA and Canada sides. This will give you complete picture of the falls. In this post we will take you through Canada side of the falls.

After last nights mesmerizing view of falls from USA, we headed to Canada. Clearing immigration was very quick and easy. It is advisable to carry Canada dollar, as in some place USD is exchanged for CAD 1:1.

There are lots of parking place available. But during weekend, that to long weekend, getting parking near falls is not easy. We managed to park our car few kilometer away from the cruise. We strolled along the side of Niagara pathway enjoying the nature and magnificent beauty.

Horseshoe Falls

This is also called as Canadian falls, as most of the falls is in Canada. We took the Hornblower Niagara Cruises to get near the falls. There was long queue waiting for their turn to board. We were given red waterproof poncho before boarding. This boat takes you near American Falls, bridal falls and then finally into heart of the falls. Whooo!!! what a fantastic place to be. So close to the falls. Even though we were fully covered, still we got wet due to the mist and the wind blowing towards us. The whipping wind blew and the mist hit the boat thereby making everybody wet. It was like a storming rain and not the mizzle. The moment we could feel the experience of people when the Titanic ship got hit by the iceberg. Don't worry we are completely safe here ;-) . We had couple of minutes to enjoy the falls.

Note:

Maid of the Mist tour operates from American side and Hornblower cruise operates from Canadian side. These two offers a couple of different types of cruises and check the prices on their respective websites.

Map:

Direction from Niagara US to Hornblower Cruise Niagara, Canada

Twist in the Fantastic Fireworks and Illumination of Niagara Falls on Canada Day

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 09:00:00 +0000

We completed our trolley tour and got down near observation desk. That is what we thought so. After alighting, we realized it was different location than what we had planned. We walked few miles to reach the top of American Falls. We were very much excited to see both illumination and fireworks. Already illumination of the falls had began. Wowww!! what a lovely view it was. Spent 30 minutes enjoying the colours on the falls and capturing photos. Then we started searching for best location to capture fireworks. Before locating the position we tried to understand the place of firework display. After interacting with few people, we positioned our self few minutes before the start. But placing tripod and taking photo in the crowed was not going to be easy. Ahhh... Fireworks was just few minutes to start and battery completely drained out capturing illuminated falls. We were lucky that the near by shop was opened. We charged till the start of the fireworks.

It was a Canada day. Hence the fireworks was on the Canadian side. The spectacular fireworks display lasted for 10 minutes. There was lot of wow moments during the display. This is the first time we have seen a fireworks in such a large scale and we were happy to capture it. We were initially skeptical about taking photos as we had left the initial place and we had to be content standing behind the crowd. As the event started, we were able to get near the railings and take picture without any obstruction.

Once the fireworks was over, we then proceeded to observation desk. This is another vantage point where one can see the illumination of the falls. It was already 11 pm and we did not feel like leaving the place. We reluctantly left the place. We had to leave as we had to travel back 15 miles and start our Canada tour the next day.

We loved the trip to Niagara falls. What an awesome view it was. "God has planned something special for us".

Three Sisters islands - Niagara Falls

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 05:18:00 +0000

After enjoying the Bridal Veil falls at "Cave of the Winds", we had plenty of time before Niagara Falls illumination and Fireworks. Hence we decided to visit nearby places. We had two options, take the trolley or have a nice little walk along the path from the Cave of the Winds to 3 sisters islands. We took trolley so that we could cover many places and without getting exhausted.

Three Sisters islands provides different perspective and close up of the river before the water drops into the Horseshoe falls. If you have time while visiting Niagara falls, visit it. It is a good place to spend some time and great opportunity for taking photos.

Map:

Get a real close to the Niagara falls - Cave of the Winds

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 01:54:00 +0000

Why Niagara is natural wonder? Wait wait... we will take you along with our wonderful journey to Niagara in our series of posts.

Are you ready to get wet? Then your first stop should be Cave of the wind from the American side. The entrance is near parking lot 3. After buying the ticket head straight to get the slippers and plastic cover. Put all your belongings inside the cover provided. Then follow the sign and take the elevator to reach the Cave of the wind.

There are series of decks at the falls which takes you to different vantage point. At the lower desk we spotted the rainbow that was playing hide and seek. You can see the full rainbow very near. There was an area where we could even touch the water falls. The top most part of the cave of the wind is the Hurricane Deck. Hurricane Deck is the area where we are real close up to the falls. OMG what a view!!!

Here the falls is directly above us. It is so lovely to watch the water splashing on us. We were totally mesmerized by the view of Bridal Veil Falls. The thundering sound of the falls, rushing through the rock, the gushing wind partially drenching with the mist makes the falls beautiful. Got wet in spite of the ponchos. Holding the hand together tears were rolling as we gazed at the waterfalls as well as enjoying the rainbow. Our heart was dancing on seeing such a lovely view. We could feel how the mother nature has given the human to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of nature.

From Canada side one can visit Journey behind the falls. But the experience is different from that of Cave of the winds. We were in dilemma to choose between American side and Canada side. We had brainstormed with friends and relatives who had visited both the sides and we browsed through the websites to get some idea some about the place. We read that, in "Journey behind the falls" one can experience the falls from behind and cannot touch the falls. Finally we decided to go for "Cave of the winds". One day we would like to visit from Canada side.

Tips:

1) Use waterproof camera/phone to enjoy the mighty Falls
2) During summer, one or two hours before the sunset, the light directly shines on the Bridal Veil falls. This gives photographer chance to take good pictures.

Entry fees:
Cave of the winds(USA) in USD:
Adult: $17.00
Child (6-12 years): $14.00, (less than 6 years): FREE

Journey-behind-the-falls(Canada) in CAD:
Adult: $16.25 + Tax
Child (5-12 years): $11+tax, (less than 5 years): FREE

American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls

Enjoying at Hurricane Deck:

Map of Cave of the Winds/Parking Lot:

Soak in the beauty of natural wonder

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 17:52:00 +0000

This is our first trip to Niagara falls. Only in films and posters did we see boat filled with people in blue, red ponchos and water gushing at the waterfalls. We were in awe of Niagara falls. After long years of wait, we planned our trip and finally made it.

It was 7-8 hours long drive to Niagara falls from Middletown. This is also our first ever long drive outside India. So we were little apprehensive about the journey. It was the start of long weekend in US and it was also a Canada day. But the very site of waterfalls was in our eyes/mind. This urge to see this place was above all other thoughts and we went on with the plan.

On the way we took several breaks. There are service area/rest area every ~35 miles (~56 km). Hundred miles before the destination at the service area we visited tour office. They provide discounts on the tours and guaranteed car park free of cost. But we had our own plans which did not match the tour. We took some brochure related to Niagara falls and left. Based on the information, we modified our plan while on drive.

We checked-in into the Hotel in Buffalo and took short break and freshened up. We were told that getting parking near the waterfalls would be difficult. But we were surprised and happy to find lots of place for parking when we reached at 5 pm. That to close to the attraction.

Wowwwww! what a spectacular waterfalls. This was our reaction when we saw the waterfalls for the first time. We couldn't take our eyes out of it and we were speechless for a moment.

Tips:
1) There are lots of parking space near "Cave of Winds". Check this place first. Parking fee is as low as $10 for a day.
2) If you don't There is parking place near information center. This is approximately 20 minutes by walk from the "Cave of Winds".

Map:

Cave Temple - Denkanikottai

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 01:40:00 +0000

Denkanikottai is located in Krishnagiri district in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is around 27 km from Hosur and 65 km from Bengaluru.

Why the name Denkanikottai?
There was a demon by name Devakandan who got the astounding strength by way of boon from a 4 faced Lord Brahma. He started troubling the sages as well as the Deva. To kill the demon, Lord Venkatesa took the form of hunter and killed him with the help of the instrument by name Denkani. From that time this place was called by the name Denkanipuram. Then it was named as Denkani kottai (fort). Over a period of time it was renamed as Thenkanikottai.

Cave Temple:
Gavi Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy temple is located in Denkanikottai. As the name suggests, the main deity is Lord Narasimha. Gavi means cave in Kannada. Of the 10 avataars, Lord Narasimha is the intense avatar of Lord Vishnu.

History:
History goes like...

During the period of exile, Pandavas stayed here at the cave. Pandavas sculpted the Lakshmi Narasimha and started worshiping daily. After staying for some time Pandavaas left. Thereafter it was not worshiped. Over a period of time Kaliyuga also started.

There was a king by name Dharmavarma who started ruling this place Denkanikottai. Once he visited the nearby forest for hunting. He didn't get anything even after waiting for a long period of time. Feeling disappointed he started to return. On his way back he saw a small hillock. He was in search of an animal in the cave. He could not find any animal. But instead he found the priceless possession. Can you guess it? Yeah you got it right. It is none other than the sculpture of Lakshmi Narasimha. Even though he could guess that the sculpture is that of God he was not able to identify the deity.

He approached the sage Kanva (who is the immortal) was doing penance. The king took the sage along with him to this cave. Sage on seeing the sculpture, immediately recognised and said this is Lord Lakshmi Narasimha who slayed the demon Hiranyakashipu. The sage narrated the whole incidence about Lord Vishnu taking the form of Narasimha and slayed the atheistic demon. When Prahalaada approached the furious Narasimha, he gave up his aggressiveness and gave the darshan as Lakshmi Narasimha. The sage through his clairvoyant told that the sculpture was sculpted by the Pandavas. The sage instructed the King to start the pooja for the sculpture which is sure to benefit the people. The King after hearing built the temple around the cave. Thereafter this temple was in prosperity.

During the invasion of the foreigner most of the part in and around this place was demolished and the assets were looted by them. After the incidence this place lost its pride. The poojas were also stopped. After many years, only on the eve of Lord Narasimha Jeyanti the temple was opened and for the rest of the year it was locked. Since past 10 years with the help of devotees the temple was renovated. Daily pooja is being done.

This hillock is easily approachable by steps as well as by road (though road leading to temple is not good). It has 108 steps.

The procession deity is Vasantavallavaraayar. He is blessing the devotees along with the consorts Sridevi and Boodevi. One would see the procession deity only on the procession days and on special days. For safety reason the procession deity lives in the another temple. During special days deity is specially anointed and adorned.

Special Days: New Year, Thai pongal (usually 14/15th of January), Vaikunda Ekadasi, Narasimha Jeyanti, full moon day and on new moon day.

Rare Lakulisa sculptures

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Sun, 03 Apr 2016 04:35:00 +0000

Who is Lakulisa?
Lakulisha is considered as the last avatar of Shiva. Lakulisha means the lord with a mace or stick. For more details you can visit wikipedia.

Around 25 km from Madurai lies the rock cut Shiva temple as Lakulisa (Lagulisa) at the Aritapatti village. This temple is unexplored by tourists as it is hidden in the small village. The drive to Aritapatti is filled with paddy fields and all around greenery, with the chirping sound of the birds making yet another ride so calm and peaceful.Beyond certain point we cannot take our vehicle. This rock cut Shiva temple is situated over the small hillock. Once you reach Aritapatti, inquire local people for the Shiva temple. People are friendly and they will guide you to the place.

Depending on the season you visit, you might need to climb and go around the hillock to reach the other side of the Temple. If there is no water in the pond, then you can cross over to visit the temple. When we visited it was a rainy time, and it rained the previous week and the pond was filled with water. Villagers sent their kids to guide us without any expectation. There were 5 kids and all were very excited, chit chatting with us. They were with us till we returned to the starting point.

As per the Department of Archaeology - Tamil Nadu, local people call this Shiva temple as Idaichchi mandapam. This Shiva temple is an example of the early Pandya rock cut temple architecture. This belongs to the 7th to 8th century A.D. It has a Garbagriha as well as the front mandapa. This is one of the rare Lakulisa sculptures found in Tamil Nadu.

Lakulisa

Apart from the Pandya rock cut Shiva temple, Aritapatti has various stone inscriptions belonging to different ages, 2000 year old Jain beds and water source atop the hill with a small dam. People here are not much aware of the history and are not aware of the location. We had difficulty in locating these places. We inquired many people, but in vain. There is no signboard leading to these place. Luckily, one person had knowledge about the history and he directed us. We captured few shots and returned.

Map:

Scenic drive in Gravel road - Bettamugilalam

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Mon, 22 Feb 2016 16:40:00 +0000

Bettamugilalam is about 100 kms from Bangalore and 30 kms from Panchapalli Dam. From Panchapalli dam we proceeded towards Bettamugilalam.

The ride towards Bettamugilam was filled with thrilling experience. We followed the map to Bettamugilalam. We were half the way from destination. We checked Google map which showed U-turn and drive via Denkanikottai. But Nokia's HERE map showed different route. We got confused and asked many locals if the road will take us to Bettamugilam. Everyone said yes except one person (and he was correct) who directed as through Denkanikottai as Google map indicated. We were in total confusion which route to take. We made up our mind, took risk and continued the path we were going. After few kilometers we felt something was not correct. We asked the locals whether the car is accessible towards Bettamugilalam. He said yes car can go in this way. Still we were not convinced, but continued our journey. The road was very bad (no roads, only rocks) condition. At one point it became even more worst road to drive. As we were driving, again enquired with the person from the other side in his 2 wheeler. He scared us by saying it is time for herd of elephants to cross the road. Finally managed to reach Bettamugilalam before it was dark.

The road was bad but the surrounding scenery towards the Bettamugilam was awesome. Fresh air to breath and greenery all around. It was evening and the orange hue was making the sky more lovely. When we were approaching the check post at Ariyur forest, the police asked how did we manage to come as there was no road. That is when we realised that "unpaved road" option was checked in map.

The 4 km of unpaved gravel roads was not easy. But enjoyed the drive. It is best to drive 2 wheeler in these path than travelling in the car.

Note: There is no facility like restaurant and rest room.

Map: The route we took.

Panchapalli Dam - A weekend getaway

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 13:28:00 +0000

Panchapalli dam is a little known place that is situated around 85 km from Bangalore, in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu. The small dam is built on the river Chinnar and is surrounded by beautiful green hills. A serene dam with beautiful skies and the bright sun.

The road we took was Bengaluru -> Attibele Anekal road -> TVS factory -> Madhugiri -> Denkanikottai –> Panchapalli Dam.

There was a heavy traffic jam towards Hosur. Hence we took Attibele Anekal road. The road condition here was ok-ok till TVS factory. After this, it was good. The road leading to the dam was greenery and scenic. There were not many vehicles on the road. Immersed in the beauty of nature that surrounded us, we drove slowly breathing the fresh air. We stopped at the mini waterfall for the photo session.

When we reached the dam, we were expecting that this place would be crowded with people during the weekend. To our surprise, we did not see anyone else other than the gardener. We spent some time strolling and taking photos near the dam. On the other side of the dam there is a park. We walked down to the park and had a relaxed evening.

In old Tamil film there is a song,

Aandavan padachan enkitta koduthaan
anupavi raja nu anuppi vachaan
enna anupavi raja nu anuppi vachaan,
aandavan padachan enkitta koduthaan

God created this Universe, Gave it to me
he asked me to enjoy the gift of nature so he sent me here
he asked me to enjoy the gift of nature so he sent me here

This was true with us. After hectic week at work, got sometime to enjoy the gift of nature and relax.

Note:

No shops or hotels nearby. It is good to carry food and water.

Other Information:

Map:

Multicoloured Mirror Temple (Darpana Mandira) and Mural Paintings @Sri Kanyakaparameswari Temple, Bengaluru

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 17:16:00 +0000

Sri Kanyakaparameswari temple was built in the year 1989, built on the 14ft hillock. It is located in Kumara Park West next to Sriram Conventional Hall Bengaluru. Not many people know or heard about this temple. Hence we struggled a bit to locate this. We came to know about this temple from wikipedia when reading some other article. Temple is not visible from distance.

Goddess Sri Kanyakaparameswari is adorning the temple with her divine smile holding parrot on the left side. The other deities are Lord Venkateswara, Sri Kedareswara are in the Southern style. The temple exhibits some of the important pilgrimage centres in India like Badari, Kedar, Haridwar, Benaras, Puri Jagannath, Sri Rama Janmabhoomi, Madurai Meenakshi and Vivekananda Rock using Mural paintings. This temple is the fusion of both North and South Indian temple architecture. The richly carved sanctum, arches and the idol of Sri Kanyakaparameswari are made of white marble by the renowned sculptors of Rajasthan.

If you want to get the prasad (crystal sugar), drop Rs. 2 coin in the Annapoorneswari idol located before the exit door.

Darpana Mandir:

Darpana in Sanskrit means mirror. This temple is located above the main temple. The special feature is the ceilings are beautifully ornamented with multi coloured mirrors depicting Nakshatra mandala, Dwadasha Rashis, Dashavatars and planets. The statues of Gayathri, Geethopadesha and Vishwa roopa Darshana sparkles our eyes with multi coloured mirrors in their background with the special sound. Twelve important events highlighting the life history of Vasavi is depicted here. We really loved the statue of Hanuman tearing the chest showing Rama and Sita in his heart with the electronic effect.

Entrance fee Rs. 5.

Map:

Ahmedabad - Love at first sight

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 10:46:00 +0000

This is the place which I loved as soon as I set foot on the city. Though I visited this place long ago, this is one of my favourite city which I would like to visit again. On the bank of river Sabarmati lies a city Ahmedabad, locally known as Amdavad. The river Sabarmati bifurcates the city into eastern and western parts. This city has a great historical and cultural relevance. Oh! one cannot miss the cuisine of Ahmedabad, very famous for its mouthwatering dishes in the country. It has a unique taste with different sweet flavour which we won't find in any other place. The food that will make you fall in love with it instantly.

I have tried to explain my love with this city in Drive, Design and Connect category along with some historical background.

Ahmedabad is the important city in Gujarat and has a number of industries. It is also well known for textile industries. The place is famous for its handicrafts and clothes mainly of traditional Gujarati dress that is famous all over the world. It is popularly called as "the Manchester of the East". This city is the hub of construction, communication and commerce. Apart from these, the city also holds a great importance in the academic front and has a number of educational institutes, one among them is Indian Institute of Management (IIM).

Ahmedabad was earlier known as Karnavati named after the ruler Karandev which dates back to 15th century. This was renamed as Ahmedabad after this place was conquered by Sultan Ahmed Shah. Initially city was built to the east of Sabarmati. Later the city was expanded with beautiful structures and lakes on both sides of the Sabarmati river. There are number of monuments which hold a great importance in the history of Ahmedabad. During the British rule modernization of the city took place.

Ahmedabad is a city having mix of tradition and modern. It has various malls,restaurants, temples and museums. Few of important places to visit are Kankaria Lake, Sardar Patel National Memorial, Sabarmati Ashram, Teen Darwaza, Akshardham Temple, Jama Masjid and few more places.

Ahmedabad is very well connected by road, rail and air. The city is accessible from the major cities of India and it has an very good road connectivity by expressway, several national and state highways. This makes it easier for people staying nearby the main city to travel to and fro Ahmedabad. The city transportation system is mainly dependent on roadway systems. Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) will be a lovely experience especially for tourist as it connects the most part of the city. There are few places which are not very well connected and the road network is not fully developed. Hope this will be addressed soon.

This post is written as part of the #madeofgreat Zonal War campaign by Tata Motors and Indiblogger.

Markonahalli Dam - Beauty of Nature combined with Engineering Marvel

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 16:31:00 +0000

After visiting a couple of archelogical places we wanted to relax and enjoy the nature. Hence we decided to visit Markonahalli dam which is about 100 km from Bangalore. This is a calm and quite place to spend the weekend, especially for all the nature lovers. We spent about 90 minutes sitting on the bench seeing the water and hearing chirping of birds. On the other side of the dam, there is a beautiful park and kids play area. This Dam is built across the river Shimsha by Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV under the guidance of Sir M. Visweswaraiah.

The speciallity about this dam is it shows exemplary work of Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah. Siphon systems are created to flush out the excess water. As per the dam official, this is Asia's first Siphon dam. This is a must visit place for civil/mechanical students for its engineering marvel. Here water is sucked into the pipe from the small openings due to air pressure difference and pushed into the well which is approximately 90 feet. One can see the turbine like structure inside through which the water flows. This is done to control the flow of water. When it crosses the danger mark, crest gate will be opened manually with the help of motor. In case of power problem they have a handle to open. As per the official, during monsoon season when the dam is full, this will look like the turbine is rotating. In reality, it is not the case. We were lucky to see this before the dam was full.

For food you need to travel approximately 2 km from this place. The first restaurant you see when you touch Bangalore Tumkur highway when returning to Bangalore is Adyar Ananda Bhavan.

Other Information:

Map:

Bheema's Gigantic Footprint @ Bheemana Hejje

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 16:18:00 +0000

Can you imagine the size of the Bheema's foot? Visit Bheemana Hejje located near Alur before Nelamangala, which is about 25 km from Bangalore. Here you will find gigantic left foot impression on the stone which is said to be of Bheema. If you are lost in middle or not able to find this place, ask the locals for Bheema Anjaneya Temple.

Previous night there was heavy rainfall, this place was filled with water. Hence the impression is not clearly seen. We have tried our best to mark the impression.

Road opposite to Makali Govt. High School will lead you to Bheemana Hejje where you can see huge Hanuman Statue. One could easily miss this Govt. school. This is about 400 m from the Highway (Bangalore - Tumkur road).

Other Information:

Map:

Brindavanam Krishna - Kakolu

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 16:05:00 +0000

Kakolu is around 8 km from Avarkhandapura and approximately 35 km from Bangalore. The gentlemen who gave the key for Venugopala Swamy temple in Aivarkhandapura, suggested and provided route to this place. It was all greenery from Aivarkhandapura to Kakolu through KMF Nandini farm route. Inhale the freshness of the air that will take you to the magical place. The road in few stretch is not good.

The speciality of this temple is Lord Krishna is carved out on a life size Brindavanam and next to this sanctom is the idol of Hanuman carved on a pillar with the conch and discus on either sides with the Garuda at the back. As per the priest this temple about 500 years old. People are not aware of the history of this temple. On searching internet, we found pdf document regarding this. Hope this will be helpful for others who would like to know more details about this temple.

Venugopala Swamy temple Kakolu website/blog: http://kakolukrishna.blogspot.in/

Other Information:

Map/Direction:

Map:

Venu Gopalaswamy Temple - Aivarkhandapur

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 17:21:00 +0000

Venu Gopalaswamy Temple is located in Aivarkhandapur (Ivar Kandapura), few meters away from Dharmeswara temple. This was also built during Chola period. The temple is entirely renovated and we did not see any trace of Chola style from outside. As the name suggests this temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna and he is blessing the devotees along with his consorts Rukmini and SatyaBhama.

We were not aware of this temple until priest in Dharmeswara temple informed about this and directed us. At first we could not locate this temple. We went little further narrow road and enquired with a gentleman standing outside his home. He said the temple is nearby but it is close for the day. We were disappointed and thought of returning back with frustration. But to our surprise, he said, but the key to the temple is with me, I can open the main door for you. We were dumb stuck for a moment, did not know how to react. We parked our car next to his home and walked 100 meters to narrow lane leading to this beautiful and small temple. Though he did not open the door of the main sanctom as there was no priest available at that time, we were able to have very good darshan of Lord Krishna from the grill door.

Other Information:

Map:

Aivarkhandapur - Taste the scoop of Mahabharatha

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 16:47:00 +0000

It would be nice if you have a time machine to travel back to the period of Mahabharata.Would you like to travel in time machine to this place to experience a slice of Mahabharata? Then visit to Dharmeswara temple @Aivarkhandapur, a place near Hesarghatta situated just 25 km from Bengaluru.

Five people (Pancha Pandavas) found this place, hence it is called Aivar-Khanda-Puram. The main sanctum of Dharmeswara temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Inside the temple, lingas are specially dedicated to Nakuleswara, Sahadeswara, Arjuneswara and Kuntigudi. It is said that these Shivalingas were consecrated by Pandavas during their vanavasam (exile). Later during Chola period this temple was built and later renovated. We can find Chola period inscription stone outside the temple premise.

Interesting Fact:

According to the priest, Bhima was angry with his brothers for losing in gambling. Hence, Bheema consecrated linga a few meters away from the Dharmeswara temple.

One may ask, when Pandavas were here, then there should be a Krishna temple also. But there is no mention about this. Wait! there is a temple dedicated to Lord Krishna For more information watch out for our next post :) .

Temple Timings: 8 am - 9:30 am
5 pm - 8 pm

Before planning to visit this temple, you can contact the temple priest.
Mobile # +91 9742481235

Tips:

1. Better to pack food from home or have lunch at dhaba.
2. You can club this trip with Hesarghatta lake. When we visited, there was not much of water in the lake.

Other Information:

Map: Below are the co-ordinates, marked screen shot of the map and direction map. You can use the below co-ordinates in your GPS. We searched net and were not able to find this information. Hence for your convenience we have provided in both latitude/longitude and degree format.

Latitude, Longitude: 13.137467, 77.495166
Degree, minutes, seconds: 13°08'14.9"N 77°29'42.6"E

Nominated for "Liebster Award"

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 04:45:00 +0000

It is awesome for being nominated. Thank you very much Ranjani and VJ Sharma for nominating our blog for "Liebster Award". It is a honor to be nominated by fellow bloggers. This motivates us to continue writing the blog.

The Liebster Award:

The Liebster Award is given to recognize and/or discover new bloggers and welcome them to the world of blogging.

Rules:

If you have been nominated for The Liebster Award AND YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, write a blog post about the Liebster award in which you:

1. thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.

2. display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)

3. answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.

4. nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)

5. create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.

6. list these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here.) Once you have written and published it, you then have to:

7. inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

Below are the answers to Ranjani's questions:

1. Why do you love travelling?

There are lot to learn from travelling and it is fun. Right from the time we leave our home, there are many new and different things we see around us. We come to know about the history, various cultures, behaviors of the people, food habit, their architect, art , jewelry , dressing etc.

2. What made you start writing the blog? Who/what became your inspiration?

We always wanted to share our thoughts to the world. But never got any topic write. One day we struggle to get information on particular location and its details. After lot of search and wait we were able to get details. This inspired as to write blog on travel and provide information such that people don't waste time.

3. What are your tips to make the trip memorable?

Travel together with family/friends.
Make your own itinerary
Enjoy at your own pace and don't be in hurry to cover all the places.

4. What was one of the most unusual/unexpected travel experience you’ve encountered?

There are quite a few unusual/unexpected travel experience. Sharing one of them below.

It was first time driving car in USA and had to cover 3 hours journey. When we had covered half the way and driving in free way, completely on the left (carpool) lane, car display indicator started showing "Low Tire Pressure". We were not aware of the nearby places, how to handle such situation in USA nor we had mobile to call for help. We managed to exit the freeway, travelled few miles and asked nearby people for gas station with pressure check and was lucky to find one. The gentleman in the gas station was very helpful. He helped us and did not take any money from us.

5. What are the most important things you take care when planning for a trip (write 3 points)?
a) Camera and Battery (very important :))
b) Hotel reservation
c) Clothing

6. Which is your best trip so far?
Tough question to answer. There are lot of good travel memories in our 8 years of travel together. We still cherish our first trip together to Manali.

7. What’s your preferred mode of transportation while traveling?
We prefer our own car for travelling.

8. If you are a working person, how do you manage time for travelling and also for writing blogs?
On the lighter side, when not writing blog, we travel. When travelling, we don't blog. But for work, we travel ;). Going for work is like going to tour.

We plan our trips during weekends.

9. What are your tips to save money during travelling?

Plan well ahead.
Look out for best deals.

10. What is your dream destination?

There are many destinations we dream about. Love to travel the nook and corner of India as well as around the world. In India, particularly we love to see North East.

Below are the answers to VJ Sharma's questions:

1. Why do you travel?

We feel travelling relaxes us and it's a great stress buster. There are many things we learn from travelling right from the time we leave our home.

2. What is your most beautiful memory from your past travels?
It was our honeymoon trip to Manali. It was then we came to know both of us share great common interest in travelling.

3. What are the things you keep in mind when you plan your travels?
Following things we keep in mind when we plan our travels

We try to get as much information possible about the destination
Plan list of places on the way and nearby
Hotel reservation

4. Do you recommend that people should travel? Why?

Yes, we will recommend people to travel as much as possible. There are lot of things to learn from travelling. Enjoy the natures beauty and come out of the confinements of home/office and the gadgets.

5. How do you manage your jobs, family lives? Especially if you travel often.
We make sure to travel together.

6. What is your most favorite destination so far?f
There are lots of favourites. Jaisalmer is one of our favourite place.

7. What is that one place you want to visit, that you haven't visited already? Why do you want to visit this place?
All places in North East India. These are the places less explored area and nature is at its best.

8. What is your favorite travel song?

Zindagi ek Safar hai Suhana from Andaz
Chaiyya Chaiyya from Dil Se

9. What is your favorite mode of transportation and why?

We prefer travelling in our own car. We can travel in our own pace without worrying about the time constraint.

10. Where are you headed to next?
We are yet to finalize our plan. As of now, we are thinking of visiting Gujarat.

My nominees for the "Liebster award" (in no particular order) are:

Alok Singhal - https://singhalalok.wordpress.com/
Rajesh Prabhu - http://myindiantravel.blogspot.in/
Meghana - http://meghanahassan.blogspot.in/
Satyender S Dhull - http://bnomadic.wordpress.com/
Yogi Saraswat - http://yogi-saraswat.blogspot.in/
Magiceye - http://magictravels.blogspot.in/
Arti - http://www.myyatradiary.com/

Harsh Wardhan Jog - http://jogharshwardhan.blogspot.com/
Shoma abhyankar - https://shomabhagwat.wordpress.com

Following are the questions to our nominees:

What motivates you to write travel blog?
How do you plan a trip?
What are the most important things you take care when planning for a trip?
How do you choose the destination?
What is your favourite destination? (Share photos)
Most beautiful place that you visited?
Have you ever thought of quitting job or planning to quit for full time travel?
Have you ever taken camera and forgot to carry battery to a trip? What was your reaction?
What is one of the best travel lessons you’ve learnt so far?
What’s your next travel destination?

11th Century Chola temple - Mukthi Natheshwara @Binnamangala

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 16:22:00 +0000

Binnamangala is about 30 km from Bengaluru, few km before Nelamangala bus stand. A lovely Mukthi Natheshwara temple dedicated to Lord Shiva built by the King Kulothunga Cholan. This temple has been renovated by ASI.

On the day of Pradosham we went to Muktha Natheshwara Temple. Though we planned our visit to this temple the previous day, we made it only on Sunday. The priest in Basavanahalli temple repeatedly told us to visit this temple. God had something special for us :) .

We reached the temple at 4:30 pm. Outside the temple, one of the sculpture had a turban in the head.
We went inside the temple, there were about 3 devotees and the priest was chanting Vedas. The priest with his smiling face and waved his hand, asked us to sit inside. He started performing pooja and Abhisekam. We were sitting near the entrance to sanctum sanctorum. Tears flowed in our eyes as we could feel some divine vibration.

According to Kannadigas this day was also ending of Uttarayana and the following day was the opening of Dakshinayana.

The priest allowed as to take snaps of the deities during pooja. Around the finishing time around 25 people gathered and had the holy darshan.

Later prasad was distributed. Had a pious feeling and started to Bengaluru.

Other Information:

Travel easy with 4G

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 06:45:00 +0000

After the launch of 4G, many people in India started to take 4G seriously as it has become reality. This is an era of smartphone which is powerful than ever before. Smartphones have overtaken computers as the most popular device for accessing the internet and people are always hooked to it. However powerful the phones may be, this has to be supported by a high speed internet for loading the page faster, uploading lots of selfies/images, downloading movies, music and lots more...

What to do with this unbelievable speeds provided by 4G? Here are some of our thoughts as how it will benefit us as a traveler, photographer and as a music teacher.

Augmented reality

This is one of the technology that is fast growing and is closer to the real world. Augmented reality adds images, videos, sounds and various other visual formats. To have this in real time, we need the power of speed for uploading/downloading, which is easily available in 4G.

As a travel enthusiasts couple, we explore lots of places.

One day it could so happen that we may come across a beautiful place/architecture/structure. But no one is there to guide us or provide information on this.
When we are hungry and searching for a restaurant, but unable to find any.

In these situation what shall we do? Take out the mobile, open the relevant app and point the camera towards the building/place and get related information in a flash of second. This could be possible only with 4G.

Video/Music on the go

While traveling long distance, we tend to get bored. To engage ourselves, we listen to music or watch movie. But most of the time it so happens that we would like to listen to different music or watch a different movie other than what we have stored in our mobile. In that case, 4G could come to our rescue. Download movies in 3 minutes, watch HD video streaming without any interruption or listen to our favorite podcasting without waiting for them to buffer with 4G.

Upload HD pictures on the go

As a passion towards photography and travel, we take lots of photos and like to share HD images with our friends and relatives. To share these images on the move, we need a network that is capable of uploading many HD photos really fast. We believe that the one and only 4G is capable of this.

Music class on the go

As a Carnatic music teacher, one who teaches online face to face, the travel should not hinder online music teaching. To achieve this one need to have a high speed network with reliable connection where ever we go. 4G seems to be the best choice as it is available across 296 cities.

Rare pose of Lord Venkataramana and Garuda

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 03:04:00 +0000

Basavanahalli is about 30 km away from Bengaluru and a km from Nelamangala town.

In the past Basavanahalli was also known as Shamigiri kshetra and Koundanya ashrama. This place was covered by Shami trees in olden days.Hence the name Shamigiri kshetra,

Why the name Basavanahalli?

In ancient time many rishis(sage) would visit here and meditate While meditating there was a person who frequently came and disturbed the sage. One of the sage got agitated, cursed him to become a Bull. He became a bull.Hence the name Basavanahalli.

In Kannada, Basava = Bull and Halli = Village

A sage by name Koundanya maharishi used to meditate, do his daily prayers near a boulder. So known as Koundanya ashrama. Here one can see a small pond in the conch shape. One day the bull came in search of food. On seeing this bull's condition, Maharishi got piety on it. He went into deep meditation, prayed to Lord Vishnu and pours out his emotion about this to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu asked him to create a Shanku Pushkarani (conch pond) from his conch. Once the bull drank this sacred water, it was relieved of its sin.

Next to this place, there is a temple dedicated to Lord Venkataramana and his vahana Garuda (divine eagle bird). The shrine was said to be consecrated during the time of King Janamanjaya (great grandson of Arjuna, Grandson of Abhimanyu). As per local residents, the temple is built during the Vijayanagar period.

Here Lord Venkataramana pose seen differently. He is posing in abhaya hastham (right hand) palm are pointing upwards and varada hastham (left hand) with the palm are pointing downwards than the usual varada hastham and kati hastham. Even his vahana (vehicle) also seen in different pose. Here in this shrine, Garuda is both the Utsavar (festival deity) as well as the Moolavar (main deity). Most of the locals worship Garuda for their well being. There are many devotees to Garuda here.

Some of the other interesting facts are:

It is said that while Garuda is taken for the procession through the streets, if someone had not offered they had promised, the chariot will not move forward. If it had crossed the place, it would move backward and stop near the home till the devotee fulfills his promised offerings.

Note: Priest of this temple stays near by. If this temple is closed, you can check with local resident to inform the priest when you are planning to visit here during the weekend.

Other Information:

Map:

Chola period temple, Ananda Lingesheshwara @Hebbal, Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Sat, 11 Jul 2015 16:24:00 +0000

The Ananda Lingesheshwara temple is located on the hillock called Ananda Giri in Cholanayakanahalli, Hebbal Bengaluru. This temple is said to be from Chola period. When we visited this place we were surprised to see that it didn't look like Chola period temple. When enquired the priest, he said this temple was renovated during the year 2000. On the side of the temple, we saw Ganesha and Naga stone sculpture which is believed that it was from Chola period.

This temple is approximately 1 km from Hebbal flyover (Bellary road). The roads leading to this temple is narrow and it is difficult to find place for parking car. Somehow we managed to park our vehicle nearby. It would be better to park near Hebbal railway station and walk for about a kilometer.

This temple has two entrance. On the western entrance of the hill, Ganesha temple is located. This seems to be built in the recent past. On the eastern entrance, Kalabairaveshwara (Kalabairava) is located inside the cave. The deity was consecrated in 2013. Inside this cave there is a secrate passage which leads to Nandhi Hills. Kalabairaveshwara is said to be consecrated here after advice of the astrologer Savithru Sharma. This is the only temple in the Hebbal region for Kalabairaveshwara. We need to first visit Kalabairaveshwara and then visit the main temple.

The main temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. To his left Goddess Bhavani and towards his right Lord Ganesha is gracing the devotee.

Temple Timings: 6:30 am to 10:00 am
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Other Information:

Map:

Bengaluru - Nandishwara Teertha Temple, Where Natural Spring oozes from Nandi's mouth

noreply@blogger.com (Sri Kri) — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 16:03:00 +0000

Have you seen a place where the water is flowing continuously from Nandi's mouth? You can witness the same @Nandishwara Teertha Temple where natural spring oozes from Nandi's mouth located at Malleswaram.

The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and Nandi (Shiva's vahana). In most of the temples Nandi lies in front of Shivalingam but the special feature here is that the Nandi lies above the Shivalingam and water continuously flow over Lord Shiva.

In sanskrit there is a saying Abhiseka priyaha Shiva. True to this word he gets his divine bath by his own vahana (vehicle) Nandi. Sitting on the steps of the pond and seeing this makes our mind calm and pure.

This temple lies opposite to Sri Gangamma Devi Temple.

Temple Timings: 7:30 am to 12:00 Noon
5:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Other Information:

Map: