During Dasara, on Saraswati Puja, I worshiped my divine Veena with the roses and Parijata. All reading materials, including books, pens and musical instruments are worshiped this day seeking the Goddess blessings for studies and learning.

Who wouldn't love to sit and relax on the sands of the beach watching the clean waters, after a week long of hectic schedule. A friend came on a vacation to India and made a sudden trip to Gokarna on Coastal Karnataka which is 583 KM from Bangalore and within no time, trio made it. Gokarna is famous for Shiva temple and Gokarna beach (also known as Indian Beach), Main Beach, Kuddle Beach, Om Beach, Half moon Beach and Paradise Beach (also known as Full moon).

We drove on road to Gokarna following the below map. It is 10-11 hours journey from Bangalore. We spoke so much that there was no necessity to tune into a radio or a music player. We chatted so much that the long drive fell short of our conversations.

En route to Gokarna on road

We reached Gokarna around 6 am in the morning and we saw the old homes and the locals commuting in cycles. Tired that we were, we had a power nap at the hotel and then rushed to the beach. There are a handful restaurants along the beach side which took me to surprise, serving English and French breakfast, that too in a remote town. The restaurants also have boarding facilities and are expensive compared to the ones in the city. But it is worth paying and watching the sun kissed beaches as you wake up at the first sight, the sun rise and sun set along with the waves sound.

Streets of Gokarna

An old temple on the way to beach

The Kudle beach is well maintained and each time I tried to float, the waves would push me off on the shore. All I could do is sit and relax admiring the beauty of it and smile. :)

Kudle Beach

The next destination was OM Beach, the shore looks like OM and boating is available here. Unlike Kudle beach, there are many restaurants with boarding here.

Boat rides at OM Beach

We jumped into the sea, splashed waters at each, played in the waters until our eyes started to itch with the salt water.

At the OM Beach

The flee market is seen on a Sunday evening at Kudle beach where many foreigners sell the ornaments and clothes.

Sunday Evening Fleet Market at Kudle Beach

On the way trekking from OM beach to the city

OM Beach

Kudle beach on a Sunday noon

Admiring the beauty of the beach, I felt lethargic to swim, go on boat trip or banana boat. Let me save these for the next beach trip.

This is my best trip as we covered beaches, had a wonderful breakfast, played in the waters to heart, nor a float not a swim, a relaxing trip which brought full of energy.

XOXO ~manasa~

I love monsoon ever since I was a child. I would get drenched in rain and sometimes, we as kids, would jump into the puddle on the streets or even dance in the rain on terrace. Some people go out and explore while cuddle with a pillow at home, sipping the hot tea with shimla chilli bajjis during the evenings.

*All of the images are from google search

 One of my fond memories was a trip to the Jog Falls, created by River Sharavathi, in Karnataka during the peak monsoon season with a friends family. My friends father drove an SUV vehicle starting at midnight from Bangalore and we safely reached the Jog falls next morning. It takes 6-7 hours to reach Jog falls from Bangalore. As her father drove the vehicle, rest of us happily slept while traveling in the Western Ghats.

As I opened my eyes in the morning, I was awe stuck to witness the gigantic "roaring" falls namely: Raja, Roarer, Rocket and Rani. There is a famous Kannada movie song mentioning the name of these falls. There are steps to reach the bottom of the falls but it is considered to be very risky as the stairs are slippery and require a stamina to climb more than 1,000 steps! I once again had a chance to jump into the puddle and hold the rain water in my palms while the water falls roared at its pitch, with no competitors.


As we sat in the car, all ready for the next destination, shivering with cold as were we wet. We dried ourselves in the car and were ready to reach the next stop, Agumbe, which receives the second highest rainfall, surrounded by lush greenery in the Thirthahalli Taluk. I could see green farms on either side of the tar road. The altitude was so high that I touched the clouds for the first time and see only mountains covered by mist. I shouted my name and the mountains echoed and repeated what I said. Unfortunately, I had no camera nor a mobile phone and don't have a single picture of the trip but the memory of the trip is still fresh.

Agumbe

Jog falls

I would revisit the Jog falls with my family members, traveling in a Renault Duster which would make the journey smooth on the curvy roads in the Western Ghats. While we breathe the fresh fragrance from Lavender Ambi Pur Car Air Freshner during the long drive playing antakshari so that the driver doesn't dose off. ;) As we drive along the curvy roads of the mountain to reach the top, which appears like a spring, on the Ghats, people who are not used to travel experience giddiness and sometimes puke out as well. It is essential to carry sickness bags, mineral water, some medicine and glucose as an instant remedy.
I would chose a route covering the below places sown in the map and take a few tea breaks so that I don't fall asleep and boot loaded with the snacks. ;) I would choose to drive during the day so that I can click some photographs of the green farms and the village life, which I missed during the last trip and this was the lesson I definitely learned: Never travel without a camera. We will stop at few places, especially, at the sunset point lookouts.


I am going to jump into the puddle, float paper boats in the puddle. During the night, I would set up a tent, and dance around the camp fire at our own tunes. This will be my ideal trip.

This post is written for Indiblogger's 'The Perfect Road Trip Contest' in association with Ambi Pur India.

I cast my vote today in the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2013. Having seen the plight of the parties over the few years in Karnataka, I was reluctant to vote, but somehow made up my mind finally and took my voters id card which I obtained at the age of 18 along with the voters slip. 

Cast my vote for Karnataka Assembly Elections May 2013

It was a rainy day and P~ was back to from Horanadu that morning, still tired. Horanadu is 100 kms south-west of Chickmagalur district in Karnataka state. The holy place is known for Goddess Annapoorneshwari who is an incarnation of Goddess Parvati. In Kannada language, "Anna" means rice; "poorna" means full. Hence, Annapoorna known to be feeding without one being hungry until your tummy is full. :)

My friend, P~, narrated the hospitality one could receive at the Annapoorna Temple, the way the premises are maintained, lunch and breakfast served with hot steaming coffee, sleeping mats and blankets provided in the night, one would never want to come back. The crystal clear water at the hola (river) where visitors would bathe during the dawn.

The temple is never short of devotees coming from various parts of the state. Some pray with offerings they promised to the goddess when their mannat( or wish) come true.

Unlike, other holy place in the whole of India, "photography is prohibited" here, too. Huge boards in Kannada and English are hung in temple premises reminding - "You are not supposed to click here. Be it with a mobile phone or a soap box camera. You would never know the consequences." P~ narrated one such incidence which stunned me. A well-educated guy just came out of the sanctum, took his mobile phone, zoomed in and click!.
A security personnel, in his mid forties, noticed and came to him, "show me your mobile phone."
Guy: "huh? why?"
Security:"It looks good. I wanna see it once."
**Security sees the photo of the idol.**
"Sir, photography is prohibited here. You look well-educated, can't you read Kannada or English?"
Guy: Looks shocked.
"I was checking some sms on my mobile phone, it was clicked by mistake."
Security: Grabs the mobile phone from him and drops it into the huge HUNDI. ;)

The best offering the goddess would have received. :D

Now, guess who the loyal devotee is! ;)

© Manasa. All rights reserved.

I was on a two day vacation to Udupi, coastal Karnataka, located 60km from Mangalore and 415km from Bangalore.
May 16:
We started our journey along with ten more people at 7:30pm on Friday night via Tumkur, Shimoga to reach Udupi by 5:30am the next day. Though, we prayed we reach Tumkur at the earliest, it took us 2.5 hours due to the heavy traffic vehicles. Others at Tumkur had been eagerly waiting to occupy their seats in the tempo traveller(TT) and we had a mini-dinner during the journey. The TT had a TV and the little devils pestered the driver for a movie which ruined everyone's sleep :( Sometime later, everyone dozed off, except the driver and the TV was still ON.
May 17:
At 3am, the headlights conked off on the highway and made our journey pathetic. The driver could no longer take risk and drive, since Agumbe(Western Ghat section) was too near and too dangerous to drive without headlight. We reached Thirthahalli. The driver waited until the first rays of sun hit the earth and then started. By this time, I had slept off. Suddenly, I felt the chill air blowing my face and I opened my eyes to see what was happening. Oh My!!! Scenic beauty of Agumbe. Why are all beautiful places so dangerous, located so high and one has to take so much risk to relish the joy of a lifetime?? I took out my camera to capture from the window and the driver accelerated. I missed a beautiful shot :( Down the ghats, there were lush green fields, chill air, and I covered myself with a blanket.
At 9am, we reached Udupi, finally. It was a long and tiring journey. My knees and neck were aching as I moved them. As we occupied the rooms, I dropped my luggage thud on the floor and dozed off for a while.
Everyone got ready and reached the Sri Krishna Temple/Mutt. Udupi is famous for Lord Krishna Temple. There is an interesting story behind it: In the earlier days, only the upper caste people were allowed to enter the temple premise. A devotee named Kanakadasa who did not belong to the upper caste was forbidden to enter the temple and see the lord. His both the hands were tied to the pillar and he sings with utmost devotion. The lord, pleased with the devotion, turns the idol such that Kanaka dasa could catch a glimpse of him. Hence, the name Kanakana Kindi is given to the small opening on the wall.
The temple is well maintained. At the garba gudi(garba=main, gudi=temple), the chill air AC blows and I never wanted to leave the place. The idol of the Lord is small and yet attractive! Photography, inside main temple where the idol is, prohibited. I appreciate the devotees, including me, who obediently followed the rule and didn't dare to click :)
Bangalore's weather is so pleasant and chill that I am hardly hungry. While Udupi, on coastal Karnataka, brings sweat in a while.
It was noon time=lunch time. The Krishna Mutt are always on time, be it Pooja or serving lunch. At 12, we occupied ourselves in front of the huge plaintain leaf which are used during festivals or functions. We had chowki oota(Lunch) after thanking god for the food we eat. The food was delicious, yummy.... and I was virtually drooling over it :D I relished the jack fruit payasa for the first time and it was yumm...
Post lunch, we rested for 2 hours and headed to Pajaka, 10km from Udupi. One of the Acharyas-Madhwa acharya, the founder of Dwaita philosophy, was born and brought up at Pajaka. It has a temple and several stories of Acharya are told.
On the way, we visited the Durga Temple on the hill top of Kunjaragiri. The place is a shelter for several monkeys, too. The previous post, Monkey Business, was shot here.
May 18:
I woke up at 5:30am. Though, it was early, I was the last person to wake up and reach the temple. Never mind!
After the darshana(seeing), we visited the temples near by in Car Street. These temples are very old, spacious and well maintained. The area where the Eight Mutts are located is called: Car Street. Since I was very hungry, my mother and I went to a clean and popular restaurant, Mitra Samaj, and had delicious Udupi special sweet dish-Buns. Another famous Udupi dish is Patrode.
Post breakfast, a small nap, refreshed our-selves and back to temple. Again, the lunch was yummy and I was drooling over it. Ate my tummy was happy.....zzzzz. I woke up in the evening and got ready on time for the Brahma Ratostava. Wheew, what an event! Evening Aarti, fireworks, dhols, devotees pulling the huge chariot with their energy and I was clicking them all :D The chariot is pulled such that it crosses all the eight Mutts in a single round in Car Street. Few people believed that I was from some newspaper and asked if it would be published the next day ;-)
I set the camera in continuous mode and kept shooting whatever I could. Man, you don't get to see such events everyday and what for a camera meant? My mother who did not spot me for a long time from the beginning to end of the event got tensed and worried. She thought I might be lost as commonly seen in Hindi movies. All mothers are same. No matter I am a grown up and even if I reach her age, she would still treat me a kid :) Later, when she saw me, she was relieved and adviced me to stay with her.
Now, we packed our bags and took a short route to our destination.
May 19:
Back to concrete jungle.
More pics: here.

29th March:
I was here at Melukote, a month ago. I had heard a lot about Iyengar Puliyogare than the temple at Melkote/Melukote :) Melukote means Fort on the Top; Melu(top) Kote(Fort). Being born in Karnataka, I considered myself unlucky that I haven't visited most of the historic heritages here. Thanks to few of the fellow shutterbugs who planned to visit Melkote on a weekend. This time I went there as a traveller and photographer.
Journey begins: We, a group of 15-18 people, were supposed to meet at 6:00 am in the morning at common place. To be there by 5:30 or 6:00 am, I had to get up at 4:00 am atleast. For over 3-4 days, though I had fever, reached home earlier, prepared coffee and had a small nap. I was relaxed and woke up at 9:45pm for dinner and slept off after an hour. At 2:00am in the morning, I woke up and would stare at the time display of my mobile phone, now and then. I couldn't close my eyes to sleep and got up to check if I had packed the necessary stuffs like water bottle filled, memory card, batterries charged, and most important:wallet with money :)
At 5:40am, one of the shutterbugs picked me up. I'm thankful to him for the lift. We joined others at 5:55am. Few of them had come by car and most of them on their bikes. After saying "hello" and "hi" to a few of them present, we headed towards Mysore Road and then Mandya. Since we had started during early mornings hours, all of us were hungry and few had breakfast at Kamat, Mysore Road and few others at other places. Though Melkote is 150 kms from Bangalore, it tooks us 3 hours to reach the main temple by car. The road to Melkote from Mandya diversion is well-maintained. One could find the fresh greenery and fileds on both sides of the road, dhobis washing clothes, bullock cart... And don't be surprised to see them :)
At 9am, we reached Melkote. The first thing we notice is a Kalyani(Pond) where most people take bath before entering the temple. We entered the pond and captured the Mantap, pillars, the pond etc. Later, along with few others explored the streets and found many old houses. Yes, you may never find such simple spacious houses in this city! I did a lot of street photography and the locals welcomed us.
It was lunch time, we were searching for restaurant. Luckily, we found an Iyengar Chatra who offered us the lunch. We donated a considerable amount to them. Then we headed to Gopalarayas or Rayagopuras- The doorway-four tall pillars and no towers above it, is an incomplete architecture of the Hoysala dynasty. There are twin ponds next to Rayagopuras which are also called as sister ponds or akka-tangi ponds. The place is also famous for Dhanush Koti-Rock is the shape of an arrow. I couldn't visit Dhanush Koti due to time constraint.
Finally, we came back to the main temple. One has to climb around 400-500 stairs made of stone to reach. The main god worshipped is Yoga Narasimha / Chaluvanarayana swamy installed by Acharya Ramanuja. It is said that King Vishnuvardhana of Hoysala dynasty was a follower of Ramanujacharya. I went to the temple at 3pm which was closed and would open only at 5:30pm, I missed Iyengar Puliyogare and seeing the Lord :( Oh, I shouldn't be saying that! I hope I visit this place next time and click better snaps :)
If you are planning to visit Melkote, its worth it!

It had been a long time I had stepped out of the so called "Garden City" which is now over-polluted(may be a wrong vocabulary) . I was jaded due to the same old routine. Few of my friends during 4 years of engineering who were also glum decided to go on a holiday to a hill-station. One of my friend gave us option of three places:

1. Munnar, Waynad
2. Ooty, Kodaikanal
3. Kodagu, Marcera
4. Goa

Most of us preferred to visit Coorg(Kodagu) since the place was in Karnataka and was given first preference :)

We didn't know whom to contact regarding the accommodation and places to visit there. Thankfully, one of my friend's mother's friend arranged for the accommodation, food and vehicle. I could say she was amicable, generous and benevolent.

A trip which we had planned to Waynad and Munnar during our 6th semester of engineering was in vain since most of them denied. Only seven of us could make it.

Journey begins:

We boarded Iravatha(Volvo bus) here at 11:30 pm on Friday, May 4th and reached Kushal Nagar at 4 am. We reached the Hotel and relaxed for sometime. The room had a TV :) We turned it on to listen some music. Three of my friends took the snaps. We chatted for a long time and some conversations were recorded. After that, we had a small nap.

At 9am, had breakfast and left to NisargaDhama. Here, there is entrance ticked(Rs 10) per head, ticket for boating and elephant riding. The entrance welcomed the visitors and we were delighted to cross the bridge. There's a small shop with all sorts of fancy stuffs which amuses the visitors who love arts. The shop has key chains, hats and various other stuffs. Later, we went for boating followed by elephant ride. There's a deer park and a shop which sells cucumbers to be fed to the deers. We climbed the huge ladder to reach a small house( don’t know the exact name) which was resting on the long bamboos on the top, it was fun since we heard a roaring sound and stuck in dilemma to stay there or get down. The whole incident was fun filled :) After that, went to the river. Played in water. No one was willing to come out of it, actually. Aah, yes. If there's a flowing water nearby; who on earth wouldn't like to step in it :) That's the reason why most people visit artificially made water-parks ;-)

After that, went to Dubare Forest Area. Here, we went only for boating and since we had already had Elephant ride at Nisargadhaama.

All of us were hungry roving for a long time. After lunch, had a small nap, dressed up and then left to Buddist temple. This temple is awesome and worth watch. There are quite a many shops which belongs to the Tibetians. I bought a Japanese fan and a cycle made of bamboo; even wanted to buy Thousand Mantra’s: which they hold in hand and turn them.Usually in golden color with a wooden/metal stick for holding. Didn’t buy it due to cost constraint( Rs 450!!! :O )


Later, we went to friend's mom’s friend's place: the generous lady who had done so much for us; for tea and snacks.

Around 7pm, we reached Veera Bhoomi, a resort. Some kannada program went on.

At 8pm, we moved from that place to have dinner outside and reached room at 9:15pm

On May 6th, Sunday morning, checked out the room at 8am with all our baggage to TalaCauvery. Its 80km from Kushal Nagar. BhagaMandala is on the way to Tala Cauvery. Talacauvery and Bhagamandala that lie in the lap of the Brahmagiri Mountain. At BhagaMandala, we saw Shiva Temple and Sangam of 3 rivers: Cauvery, Kannike and Sujyoti meet, earning it the name, Triveni Sangam. There are three temples above the confluence of the rivers dedicated to Subramanya, Vishnu and Bhagamandaleswara, a Shaivite shrine named after Sage Bhagyananda, who installed a linga here. To the north of Bhagamandala, you can trek to Sampaje Valley, which has dense forests, bamboo clumps and steep gorges.

Later we set our Journey to Tala Cauvery(literally, the head of Cauvery), just 7 km away, situated at 1,276m on the slopes of Brahmagiri Hill, which is the birthplace of the sacred river. The road to Tala Cauvery was being tarred we reached Tala Cauvery; major construction is going on there. Saw the place where Cauvery originates but no one was allowed near to it due to the construction. The place is marked by a kundike (pot) and from here the river emerges as a small perennial spring. Legend has it that the Goddess Cauvery makes her appearance in the form of a gushing spring once a year during Tulamasa, when thousands gather to take a sacred dip. On Tula Sankramana (usually falls on October 16 every year), as the sun enters Libra, water gushes out from the kundike at a moment predicted by the priests.


We climbed some 300-400 stone steps and reached the hill top: BRAHMAGIRI peak, where the seven great sages (sapta maharishi) had performed a special yagna. The peak offers excellent views of Kudremukh, Chamundi Hills, Brahmagiri, Wayanad and the misty blue Nilgiris. This place is breath taking and one can never forget such a view of the mountains covered with clouds. Felt I was on top the world. In case if take a step down or slip, no wonder we’ll reach the top forever and never come back :)

As we came down, 2 persons were selling Coorg Honey and Coffee Powder in a mobile van. I bought 1 KG honey for Rs 125 and 0.5 KG Coffee Powder for Rs 70. Worth isn't it?

At 2pm, had lunch at East End Hotel, Marcera. Its embarrassing for a vegetarian who has ordered a vegetarian food and while having the food, you a small piece of "bone" and the waiter argues saying that its not a bone but a veg food which was not cooked well. Duh??? We decided to have only curd rice wherever we travel from now on!

After lunch, we reached Abbi falls at 4:15pm. They don’t allow people to go down the water these days :(

At 6pm, visited Raja seat and then Omkareshwara temple.

On the way, bought some spices: pepper, cardamom etc.

At 7pm, halted at IB(inspection Bunglow i.e. Govt guest house). All of us had a nice time ;-) lasting memories (recorded them). At 9pm had dinner. At 11:30 boarded the Volvo bus and reached here at 4:30am on .

We couldn't visit Harangi Dam as it is closed: water over-flowing due to rains.

I shall be uploading the snaps as soon as I get them :)