Srisailam visit on Janmastmi Day

Srisailam: 12-15 Aug 2017

Some pictures at https://www.flickr.com/photos/drprithviraval/albums/72157685208314920

‘Indira - the rain god’ was with me on this trip to Srisailam, AP.  When it poured everywhere including Bangalore, I did not face a drizzle on this Janmashtmi - Independence day trip !

(As per my prayer!!)

Left Bangalore on Saturday 12th morning by 9 am after breakfast and was at Kurnool by 3 pm (371 KM). Saw the Konda Reddy Fort, Baba Mandir and walked around town. Next day left to Srisailam. The Ghat road is lovely going through the forests. Took me 4 and half hours for the 185 KM trip.

Srisailam was full of people, to the brim and there is no other private accommodation available there.  I was lucky to get a dormitory, which was a nice experience. Had not slept in one, since the YMCA school days!  Could see the Krishna River from a distance.  People at the temple town were really enjoying themselves. The Srisailam temple is the abode of one of the 12 Jyothirlinga’s.

Janmashtmi evening was at Puttaparthi. Young college girl students did a play on ‘Meera Bai’ which was exceptional. Left on Tue 15^th morning by 11 am and was home by 2 pm.

In the evening it rained like hell !

Total distance 1125 KMs:

Bangalore > Kurnool > Srisailam > (556 Kms)

Kurnool > Ananthapur > Dharmavaram > Puttaparthi  > Bangalore (569 Kms)

Avenger motorcycle about 39 Kms / litre.  Underlined = Overnight stay

History Srisailam:

The earliest known historical mention of the Hill-Srisailam can be traced in Pulumavi’s Nasik inscription of 2nd Century A.D. Malla Satakarani, an early member of he Satavahanas got his name after ‘Mallanna’ the deity on this sacred hill.

The Vishnukundis (AD 375-612) were the devotees of God Sriparvatha Swamy who was none other than Mallikarjuna Swamy, the presiding deity of Srisaila Kshetram. The Telagunda inscription of Kadamba Santi Varma proves that the Srisailam region was originally included in the Pallava Kingdom (AD 248-575) and subsequently formed the first independent principality of Kadambas (AD 340-450).

The period of Reddi Kings (AD 1325-1448) is the Golden Age of Srisailam that almost all rulers of this dynasty did celebrated service for the temple. Prolaya Vema Reddy, the Reddi King constructedstepped path way to Srisailam and also Pathalaganga.

In the year 1674 AD Chatrapathi Sivaji the great Maratha King visited Srisailam, restored the festivals of the temple under protection of his officers and taken up some renovations. According to tradition the north gopuram of the temple was caused by him.
Later the Moghal Emperors conqured this region and this place was given as Jagir to Nawabs of Kurnool. After the fall of Moghal Emperors this place came under the control of Nizam of Hyderabad. When the Nizam cede the Kurnool District to the British East India Company in 1800 AD, Major Manro took procession of the District and entrusted the management to the authorities of the District Court.
In 1929 a committee was constituted by the British Government for the management of the temple.  In 1949 the temple came under the control of Endowments Department and attained its past glory after it was opened by the road during the year 1956.

Gandikota - Puttaparthi Ride Oct 2016

Gandikota – Puttaparthi

Road Trip: 9- 11 Oct 2016

Some pictures at:-

https://www.flickr.com/photos/drprithviraval/albums/72157673886767361

Had two nights to spare at the ‘Vijayadashmi festival’ time and I took the back roads of Andhra Pradesh (AP) to visit Gandikota and Puttaparthi. It was a remarkable ride tracking through rough roads, though most of AP roads are well done. Quite a bit of road work is going on for better driving conditions.

Left home at 7 am on the 9^th Aug and reached a place called Jammalamadugu by 2.00 pm. This about 15 Km from Gandikota. There was no accommodation at Gandikota hence I stayed at a place called ‘Sagar Palace.’    The AP government runs the place at Gandikota and is very spacious with A/C and clean.  This is the place to stay.  Telephone, mobile: 7382237380.

At Gandikota the places to see are the ‘Grand Canyon’ type of rocks, special to the area with the Penna river flowing through it into the reservoir; Jumma Masjid, Gandikota fort and Ranganatha aalayam.  Could not take much pictures, as it was late, poor light. You really need a day and half to fully go through it in detail.

Through the travel, I went through these rhythmic Andhra names (alphabetical-but not in order):

Batalapalli, Elukuntala, Gorantala, Kadiri, Kappalabanda,  Kottacheru, Kurli, Maddanur, Muddigubba, Pamudurti, Pulivendula, Reddipalli. For lunch I stopped stop at Muddanur and they called it a “Bamman’ food.  Though the outside was shabby inside was clean and finger liking good!

Next day morning, I left to Puttaparthi and went through the celebrations there, including the grand “Purnahuthi”, praying for world peace.

It was a nice solo ride; Total distance covered  628 Kilometres

Bangalore – Jammalamadugu            308 Km (overnight)

Jammalamadugu to Puttaparthi          130 Km  (overnight)

Puttaparthi to Bangalore                    157 Km

Travel Gandikota and back twice       33 Kms

No problems with the bike

Prithvi

(Brief read, more at Wiki)

Gandikota Kings Gandikota is a small village on the right bank of the river Pennar, 15 km from Jammalamadugu in Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh.
Gandikota was founded in 1123 by Kapa Raja of nearby Bommanapalle village and a subordinate of Ahavamalla Someswara I, the Western Chalukyan king of Kalyana.^[1] The town played a significant role during the Kakatiya, Vijayanagara and Qutub Shahi periods. The fort was made more impregnable by Pemmasani Thimma Nayudu. The fort was under the control of Pemmasani Nayaks for over 300 years.
The fort of Gandikota acquired its name due to the 'gorge' (in Telugu it is called 'gandi'), formed between the Erramala range of hills, also known as Gandikota hills and the river Pennar that flows at its foot, reducing its width to a mere 300 ft (see the river image below). Situated amidst beautiful landscape and wild forests, it is endowed with vast natural resources.

Arsha Vidya Gurukulam

It was a different ride this time !

Located on the 100 acres of land on the Western Ghats, at the junction of ‘Anaikatti’, 30 Kms from Coimbatore and Palaghat is Arsha Vidya Gurukulam.  Founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswathi, ‘Arsha Vidya’, the teachings transmitted by the ‘Rishis’ is the main essence here.   I attended the last 5 concluding sessions on Vedanta for a graduate class of 35 students who spent 3 plus years there. All of them were gradates and beyond from the regular courses.  The classes were very stimulating. The place is quite and just birds all over.

My 2 days stay was delightful with the classes and seminars.  The trust also runs a hospital and tribal school for the children.

13 October was Ayuda Pooja and was done at the Ashram

Few pictures are at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drprithviraval/sets/72157636579088423/

The Ride:

I left on Saturday 05^th Oct by 6 Pm and was in the ashram by 2.30  pm. About 395 Kms each way and was back Monday evening.

Route: Bangalore > Salem > Bhavani > Avinashi > Coimbatore > Anaikatti.

Bangalore Salem = 200 Kms non-stop, about 3 hours 20 minutes.  Salem to Anaikatti, stopped to get directions at Coimbatore and one breakfast stop for 40 minutes.

Partly cloudy / Sunny weather, was nice.

44 Km per litre. Odo 803 Km

The Coffee Luxuriance !

Some pictures at:    

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drprithviraval/sets/72157638501527114/

A weekend trip with friends to the Balur Estate, about 25 Kms from Mudigere on the Kalasa road took us to the Coffee Luxuriance around Western Ghats of Karnataka.  Surrounded by quiet picturesque wooded trees and the silhouettes of mountain tops to the western sun, a little windy road takes you up on the Ghat section.  The silence is further enhanced as except BSNL telephone, nothing works!  No TV, but served with excellent food from time to time and unlimited coffee!

The staffs were kind and helpful.  The lady cook was too good. In the evening we had a Bon fire light and sometime went star gazing.  

Balur Estate Link: http://linger-at-balur.in/

Had a quick tour of the Coffee estate and some 400 acres are maintained well.  One could see how the coffee taken from the plants were brought the dried beans stage ready for the auction.   

Returned on Sunday evening, back to the hustle bustle of the city !

Bangalore – Hassan – Belur – Mudigere – Pattaduru – Balur = 290 Kms

Left:  Saturday,   6.00 AM Shoppers Stop Bannerghatta Road

Arrived:  12 noon with one stop

My Avenger 40 Kms / litre

Getting There:

Nelamangala > Hassan > Belur

At Belur, turn left towards the Belur Temple/Mudigere towards Mudigere Handpost

(2 kms)

At the Handpost, at the circle, you need to take a left towards Kottegehara. ( 9 Kms)

*Make a call to Balur Estate

At Kottegehara take the road going towards Kalasa,

At Balur Village, take the left "U" hairpin - still towards Kalasa/Kudremukh about 2 Kms

There's a small fork going left towards a gate and a bungalow (behind trees) - this is Balur Estate.

Madurai - Kanayakuari

Happy Diwali to all.  We had a lovely trip to Kanyakumari and back; Zarryl Lobo and myself.  As per my calculation, we did 1429 Kms on my odometer and I got 44 Km /litre for mileage.  

Some Pics are at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drprithviraval/sets/72157632006999260/show/

 On 10 November 2012, we left around 5.30 AM and were in Madurai by 1 PM.  Spent the evening walking around and visited the famous Madurai Meenakshi Temple.  It was absolutely fantastic.  Some history below if you need. Then next day we proceeded to Kanya Kumari, at the Southern tip of India.    We stayed at the Tamilnadu Guest house and visited the Vivekananda rock, the Kanyakumari temple. Ah, we missed the sunrise and the sunset, cloudy weather. 

 Next we went to see an old classmate from the dental school, at Kulasegaram.  It was pleasant and caught up on old memories with him. Returned via Madurai on Tuesday 13 Nov. by 4 pm.

      It was a nice trip and NH highway route 7 is good. But, real boring to hit a straight patch for some 25 hours + !

Some History:

 

     Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple or Meenakshi Amman Temple a historic Hindu temple located in the southern banks of river Vaigai in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to Parvati who is known as Meenakshi and her consort, Shiva, named here as Sundareswarar. The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2500 year old city of Madurai. The complex houses 14 gateway towers called gopurams, ranging from 45-50m in height, the tallest being the southern tower, 51.9 metres (170 ft) high, and two golden sculptured vimana, the shrine over sanctum of the main deities. The temple is a significant symbol for the Tamil people, and has been mentioned since antiquity in Tamil literature, though the present structure is built during 1623 to 1655 CE. The temple attracts 15,000 visitors a day, around 25,000 during Fridays and gets annual revenue of sixty million. There is an estimated 33,000 sculptures in the temple and it was in the list of top 30 nominees of the "New Seven Wonders of the World". The annual 10 day Meenakshi Tirukalyanam festival celebrated during April–May attracts 1 million visitors.

Meenakshi is an avatar of the Hindu goddess Parvati - the consort of Shiva. She is also one of the few Hindu female deities to have a major temple devoted to her.

Thirugnanasambandar, the famous Hindu saint of Saiva philosophy, mentioned this temple as early as the 7th century, and described the deity as Aalavai Iraivan. The temple was believed to be sacked by the infamous Muslim invader Malik Kafur in 1310 and all the ancient elements were destroyed.  The initiative to rebuild the structure was taken by first Nayak king of Madurai, Viswanatha Nayak (1559–1600) under the supervision of Ariyanatha Mudaliar.

At Kanyakumari:

The Kanya is still waiting for Shiva to come and marry her, just close by at Suchendram.  A clever mishap conducted by Narada Muni so that the virgin Kanya could kill Banasura the Demon. She is still awaits Lord Shiva.

The small ride to the Vivekananda rock was serene, quite and calm.  The adjacent rock had the statue of Thiruvalluvar, the famous Tamil poet.    

At the Vivekananda rock, I liked the expression on ‘AUM’!

     AUM - Symbol of Absolute;  The essence of the Vedas, described by the Upanishads as the total human and divine consciousness; Recommended  by Swami Vivekananda as the great unifier of all Indian people; Praised by Sri Ramakrishna as a bridge between God with form and God without form.