Mysore, all lit up for Dussehra

It was either the last day of somewhere near the last day when we landed in Mysore from Coorg. The entire city was abuzz with activities- there were people thronging street corners, vendors with stalls on every footpath and traffic that was moving, rather inching at snail's pace. We had driven down from Coorg, and were going to spend a night in Mysore before heading back to Bangalore and then to Chennai. 

One of my friends mentioned that the Palace looks gorgeous in the evening, all lit up and majestic. Towards 7pm, we drove out to meet a friend & her daughter, and then dragged them along to go see the Palace in all its glory. There was so much traffic, all we managed was a few minutes from the car. Friend who was driving asked if we would like to head up the Chamundi Hills and maybe spend some time up there getting a glimpse of the city below. 

 

 The city resembled the skies on a night when it was filled with stars. It was lit up, and there were lights everywhere. The view point was near empty, and so we had peace and quiet as we stood there gazing at the city below.. Far away from all the noise and crowd, we were lost in our own worlds. Today, as i remember that day nearly 4yrs ago, the memories come flooding.... The fun we had, the friend i made and the city that i had not visited in a few decades welcoming me with open arms... 

I hope to be in Mysore atleast once to witness the entire Dussehra celebrations!! 

 

Talacauvery, where Cauvery is born

The journey to Coorg was very special, it was happening after years of dreaming and a few cancelled plans as well. We were 3 friends, one from Bangalore and us from Chennai, driving down to Coorg from Mysore. We had booked ourselves for 3 nights at a homestay- CoorgHallimane, in Kushal nagar. As we reached, we discovered the place was quaint, quiet and perfect. They have about 8 rooms in the main building and a few cottages scattered around, and we got to stay in one of those. On opening the window all we saw were mountains on one side and green fields on the other. There was also a swimming pool in the homestay with a small mushroom style fountain in the center. What fun we had playing around in it unwinding after the long drive to Coorg. 

We dint have any set agenda, but knew there were a few places we would visit for sure. Talacauvery was one of them. It is a good 4500 ft above sea level, and this the where the River Cauvery is born. It is said that the river disappears underground before surfacing again at Naga theertha near Bhagamandala.  Infact, Bhagamandala, about 8kms ahead of Talacauvery is where one witnesses the confluence of three rivers, Cauvery, Sujyothi and Kanike.  

During the drive from Madikeri, cloudy skies and mist was all we saw outside. There was the occasional light drizzle sneaking in through the window.  Drizzle turned to rains and it kept up with us through the journey. We had reached Talacauvery as rains lashed away. We braved the rain and walked on, freezing and soaked to the bone, looking for hot tea or any sign of shelter. The only thing we had were the akki rotis and chutney that the staff had insisted we carry along when we left the homestay. What a godsend it was, especially since we had been on the road long and not had a bite since morning.   

We were so glad to have chosen a Homestay in Coorg instead of a resort, as this experience was so much more homely and comfortable...   And like many destinations there are many Coorg Homestays that one is spoilt for choice..!!

 Rain did subside as we walked towards the shrine and the big tank near the Gundike, where I noticed many visitors taking a quick dip. From there, it was up another set of stairs to visit the temple of Lord Agasthyeshwara [Lord Shiva] and Lord Ganesha.

Taking shelter from the rain, we walked along the mandap surrounding the temple, when towards the end I thought I saw a flight of stairs leading to heaven. Well, that’s what I thought till my friend brought me to down to reality. Those steps were to go up Brahmagiri Hill, from where one got a panoramic view of Talacauvery and the city beyond. A lady passing by told us the story of how a special yagna was performed by the Saptha Maharishis up in the hills. Had it not been for the rain, we would have made our way up there.  What an experience this had been. On the drive back to Kushal nagar to the homestay, there was silence in the car, with all of us still lost in the beauty of Talacauvery.

Project 365 Day 7 - Bird brain

We walked along the path towards Namdroling Monastery in Bylakuppe when we saw these strange birds pecking on footwear... Wonder what they were, thought maybe Turkey, but a passerby mentioned a name in Kannada and walked away... Dint catch the words, just some random gibberish floating in the air... 


Wonder why these birds were focussed on the footwear they had.. Did they think it was food? or where they fighting to kill it?? [assuming it was a large sized hard worm?] :D 

Mysore to Chennai.. Coorg Part 4 Finale!!

Read about how it all started and the journey till now ....

• Cauvery on the go.. Coorg Part 3
• Tibet comes to town..Coorg Part 2
• Kodava land, here we come- Coorg Part 1

After that all fun, driving around, visit to talacauvery, we chilled the  last day at Coorg Hallimane... Woke up, lazed about, discovered the place had rabbits, A jr had a ball feeding them grass, and we freaked out taking pictures of the bunnies... That day, since the place was full, we had buffet style breakfast at the main building.... After stuffing ourselves, and some photo shoots... hehe... we settled the dues, packed our bags and bid adieu... but that was not the end..

 

Got a call from Hallimane saying we'd once again forgotten our umbrella.. so another here we go round the Kushal nagar roads, we found one of the guys holding the umbrella waiting for us near the tree that was the landmark !! ;)

This time, the road took us back to Mysore... and to the jam packed Hotel Siddhartha, but not before a mini stop at Ginger to see if they had a room [ just maybe...:)].. Just couldnt find parking at Siddhartha, apparently its a favourite spot for travellers/tourists for lunch/eats.. Parked the car across the road and went in to check on the rooms we had blocked!!! Surveyed the room offered[ nice big spacious room, with a sofa, huge bathroom and all at a very decent fare, it is much cheaper than Ginger], decided it was good and

waited for our bags to land before ordering room service lunch...

A jr wasnt feeling too well, so we let him rest up.. Towards evening, connected with another Blog friend- Imp's mom[she was also the guide for cake, which was yummilicous] in Mysore, and realised we better check out the zoo, for there was no time the next day.. What should have taken 5mins, took over 15mkins[was what i deduced going by all the turns we took] cos of all the diversions on the road ... Got tickets and off we went into the zoo to be greeted by the adorable tall Giraffes..

The walk around the zoo is about 2kms,but there are electric tram kinda vehicles as well that ply frequently... We took our time, taking pictures, admiring some of the animals/birds, feeling sorry for some of the others [ actually most of them were in bad shape.. looke like they hadnt eaten in days and their cages hadnt been cleaned in forever].. The bear, hyene, elephants, vulture all looked like they were dead n gone... saw a white tiger lounging on a rock, was it doped, i wondered.. Towards the end of the walk, we reached the reptile cages, and i must say the snakes i think are DEAD indeed... they were just lying there on top of a branch like someone had dropped a rag cloth... Sad indeed.... :(

Here's a slideshow of the zoo and the Palace~!!

Imp's mom called and invited us over to a hotel for some tiffin and hot coffee. That was the 1st time i was meeting her and her adorable daughter, we hit it off instantly... Bonded over dosa n coffee and decided to go check out the Mysore Palace which was lit for an hour or so in the evenings..

Thanks to the crazy traffic, we caught glimpses of the palace while on the move, untill the plan of driving up Chamundi Hills happened... Drove to a view point, and armed with cameras we clicked away to glory!!!  Good fun!!! That was how the day ended.... :)

4th Nov dawned too soon, it was the day we had to get back to Blore and then to Chennai...It was fun till the minute we hopped on the train..no doubts of that!! . Time sure flies when you are having fun!!  and this is one trip i know i shall never forget... vivid as if it happened yesterday!!! :) Thanks guys for an awesome trip....

Adios.. Until we meet again...

Cauvery on the go.. Coorg Part 3

Since we dint have any fixed agenda and were taking each day as it came, today was the day to head to Talacauvery in the Brahmagiri hills and it was decided we werent gonna do anything else, since that trip was bound to take almost all day...

 

When i mentioned Coorg at home, gramma and mom pounced on me - "You have to go Talacauvery, must make a trip... say you will " :).. All i told them was "I shall see"...:)

After having breakfast, and clicking a few pictures of the mushroom waterfall and other sights around the homestay, we piled into the car and began the journey... It was about 80kms or more and so we knew we had a long drive ahead... Thanks to Apar's itouch and our incessant yakking, time flew.. There were the occasional bouts of silence, when A jr would try to get us to behave..hehe.. and then those moments when we saw something interesting, stopped the car to take pictures or just savor the scenery... Filled gas enroute, bought some water and biscuits and off we went...

The air outside was chill, it was drizzling quite heavily and we could see mist taking over the skies, slowly covering the streets as well.. After a point, we could barely see the road... it was a winding path and i guess since Kr had been there before, he knew where he was headed... The scenes that accompanied us during the drive was beautiful.. words fail to do justice... 

After a while, Bhagamandala [it is where the 3 rivers merge-Cauvery with Kanike and Sujoythi ] came in view, but we rode on, deciding to visit Talacauvery 1st..Another 8-9kms took us to Talacauvery [predominantly Ghat roads] ... Heavy drizzle, chill in the air and mist was all that greeted us.. A few kilometers after leaving Hallimane we realised we'd left the big umbrella back in the room.. Luckily Kr had a smaller one in the car. Apar n A jr had raincoats [smart people na!!], Kr bot a plastic cap, and we both managed to share the umbrella, not that it made much of a diff.. we were soaked and freezing... :) But it was good fun!! 

Reached the entrance, took off our shoes, left them safely tucked away under a bench and made our up the steps leading to the tank from where Cauvery is said to rise... There is a bigger tank in front of the shrine, where we saw some visitors taking a quick dip... They then joined the queue in visiting the main shrine... 

A few steps above are the temples for Lord Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu and Ganesha, made a quick visit to all of them before taking a look at the steep steps that led to Brahmagiri hills before making the descent back to the car.  Had it not rained, we would have made the 

climb up the hills.. maybe next time!! 

When we reached Bhagamandala, it was about 1, and the temple was shut.. sat in the car, took in the view, clicked a few pictures and got going to Madikeri for lunch...

but not before stoppping at a small store on the side of the road to buy some Coffee[amazing coffee, shall buy more next time around], and spices.. 

Lunch was at this restaurant, bang opp the Madikeri Fort... [ i have this habit, i see a place and then i get back home/room and try reading about it... to see what all it has, history etc..., this is when i discovered that the Madikeri fort houses a temple, chapel, prison and a small museum] ..

As we were sitting for Lunch, Kr called me and took me to the rear window at the place... What i saw had me stumped...The Omkareshwara temple, in all its glory... What a sight i must say!! That was another place we wanted to visit but was closed ...Built by Lingarajendra in 1820, the temple has both Islamic and Gothic style of architecture. The bars of the windows here are made of Panchaloha and an alphabet lim has been placed in between the bars.. There is also a small temple tank in the premise.. ..

Day was wearing on, and after a bit of driving around Madikeri [ true reason being the search for an ATM] :-)

Nisargadhama, a forest resort by the Cauvery river [about 28kms from Madikeri] comes enroute to Kushal nagar ...  We also saw a board to a spa nearby.infact we'd been seeing quite a few Spa ads along the way.... Apar n i were getting tempted and curious. ;o) ..

As we drove on, we were greeted by 2 giants sauntering on the road, guess they were headed back to their adobe- Dubare... 

Grooving to random music, chit chatting absolute nonsense, we were in high spirits as we reached Hallimane... There was one more day, but we just wanted to laze and soak in the lovely weather and relaxed atmosphere...

 the one on right was our cottage..

 Ok.. shall finish in next post.. its getting too long!! :)

Tibet comes to town..Coorg Part 2

After a bit of rest, we were raring to go.. Wanted to make the most of our time in Coorg.. Up and off we went.. hit the road that led to  the Namdroling Tibetan Monastery,  popularly known as the Golden Temple in Bylakuppe.  It is  very well maintained and one feels at peace with this world.  It is a very big monastry, with very well laid out buildings  and fully landscaped. After parking the car, we walked towards the Monastery..

As you enter, there are these huge apartment complexes, which are the monk's home.. Past that is the entry into the overwhelming monastery.. The vibrant colours, large towering structures and beautiful surroundings had us mesmerised... We saw a couple of funny looking birds pecking at a pair of slippers, swans running away and a duck or two straying in the grass.. 

 In front of these statues sat multiple rows of Monks chanting, the words we could not make out but the rhythm resonates in my ears even now..  

The walls were adorned with colorful murals, each depicting different eras and some were about how good reigns over evil... Its a photographer's delight to feast on each of these art works.. 

one of the paintings on the walls 

The pillars loom large, almost reaching to the skies, there were some decorated wtih what looked like huge ties, absolutely breath taking... There were dragons, devil, angels, monks, and so much more filling every inch of space here...  :)

Door handle... beautiful and huge

The Ngagyur Nyingma University is the name of the building... Inside are more majestic statues that are towering high... There were 2 other buildings near it... One had a whole collection of mini Buddha's in it, all placed inside a glass case... 

The other one is a few steps away, with a huge bell right in the middle.. we wanted to ring it, but dint want to be the only odd ones doing it... :) 

The bell

The main building- Zangdok Palri Temple, houses 3 huge statues, all made with intricate gold cladding- Buddha in the center, Guru Rinpoche on his left and Buddha Amitayus on his right.  It just blows you away as you step in through the beaded curtains... Again here too we saw Monks sitting and praying, huge gongs hanging everywhere, walls adorned with paintings and art work... There was also a box with what looked like a giant horn, but we dint know what it exactly was... 

Along the way we kept seeing monks and everytime we saw one i had a quirky phrase --
Monk on a bike
Monk wearing sneakers
Monk outside the theater
Monk riding a bike with keys hanging from his back pocket
Monk at a restaurant
Monk wearing a watch

Monks heading out of the temple

This was driving my friends up the wall, but there was little they could do, finally they too joined in and started reciting more phrases as and when we spotted Monks around Coorg....  :-) 



After spending few more mins walking around the monestary campus, we headed out to the shopping arcade just down the road. Rows of shops selling tibetian ware- pretty mugs, hand fans, toys, stoles and outfits in true cantonese style, and various other knick knacks... It was then time to bid adieu to the place and make our way back to the homestay... however, we did stop enroute at Hotel Kannika International for a cuppa coffee and some light eats.. An incident i cant forget is that we ordered Chai, and ended up pushing it away cos it tasted of curry leaves... But the baby corn manchurian and french fries[atleast the 1st plate] was good... Settled for coffee, enjoyed the cosy warmth inside the hotel till it was time to hit the road... 


What i realised while at the monestary was - the place seemed so pure and it was almost like we were ruining its purity by walking and taking pictures... Infact Apar said the exact same thing... Its truly a magical place.. one must visit... Am glad we chose to stay at Kushal Nagar, its def closer to all these hot spots... Otherwise Kr would have gotten tired just getting from one point to the other... :)


Phew, we were tired by the time we reached Hallimane... Walked to our cottage, and crashed for a bit before thinking about dinner... We did manage to get the guys there  to bring us the Carrom board they had and played quite a few games.. which A jr also played, and some games he played quite well... :) 


Yawn... see ya tomorrow... !!! :)

Kodava land, here we come- Coorg Part 1

Where: Coorg


When: 30th Sep to 4th Oct


Who: 3 absolutely wacko souls and one 4yr old~!!

Coorg [or Kodagu] a destination that had been on my “To visit” list was finally going to happen. After wee bit of planning, the journey began on 30th Sep night for us all – 3 1/2souls looking forward to a fun filled weekend.. The plan was Apar, A Jr and I shall head to Mysore from Chennai, Kr will join us there and we head towards Coorg. Kr was the only one who’d traveled to Coorg earlier, so he was our guide as well.  Reached Mysore on 1st Oct around 7.30am, headed to Dasaprakash for a hot cup of coffee and breakfast before heading to Hotel Ginger to freshen up.



Digression alert - Hotel Ginger is a lovely hotel, very chic and modern. The lobby house a Café Coffee Day and an Offbeat store [where you can pick up quirky T shirts]. There are trolleys to move your baggage around, good fun~!! Anyways, we spent a few hours here, lazing about and surprising Apar with her B’day cake.

As we hit the road towards Coorg, the sights that greeted us enroute were breathtaking… Dark clouds, green fields, bright colored homes. List is endless!! Took us over 2hrs, and finally we found the homestay we were booked into– Coorg Hallimane.. It is right next to Veerabhoomi Resorts, a tourist village in Kushal Nagar.

Okay, back to our journey. We reached around 2ish, requested the kitchen to bring us some basic meal - daal, rice, roti. Food was served piping hot, and was quite HOT as well [read - mouth burning, sweat dripping spicy, so we pleaded with them to tone down the spice quotient, which they very sweetly did] :)

The place is serene, hidden amidst hills, with nothing around.. open space like never before that welcomed us with cool breeze and gentle drizzle. The cottage was roomy, spacious and had all that we could hope for. The entire place was done up quite well - rustic wooden theme that started with the door and went on till the window panes, TV table and flooring.. The rooms in the main building each had a individual theme- absolutely beautiful..

There were also some ducks, hen, chicken scampering about.. Not to forget a cage of beautiful colorful birds.. A Jr and infact all of us had fun going Ooh aah at all of them, and clicking pics left right and center!! :D

That noon, we pretty much just lazed about and settled in..Walked around, exploring the area, and since we were the only guests then it was good fun having all that space just to ourselves...

....What else did we do? well, wait for that.... :)