Sangam, A Sangam of Rivers

Sangam

Sangam is around 100 Km from Bangalore. After reaching Kanakapura on NH209, take a left turn to sangam on SH 92. Sangam is a confluence of Rivers Cauvery and Arkavathi. About 16kms from Kanakapura you will reach a junction, to the right of which is Cauvery fishing camp. The ghat roads at sangam will give you more joy. Sangam is sounded by hills of Deccan Plateau and water at sangam is not so deep. After sangam Cauvery water flows to Hogenakal and to Stanley Reservior.

Mekedatu

A deep gorge at sangam is Mekedatu. The gorge is deep and a maximum 30ft wide at places. Some other sections, the rock almost bridges the river so that a goat can leap across. Hence the name, Meke (Goat) Datu (Leap), one has to cross the Sangam river and travel another 4 kms through the Cauvery Wild Life Sanctuary or along the Cauvery river. Special bus plies between these two places almost every hour.

Chunchi Falls

On the way to sangam, we can see a small water falls called Chunchi Falls. The rock at the fall is very smooth. We can enjoy the falls by drinking coconut water.

A Day Visit in Mysore Road

Manchanabele Reservior
A small reservoir, 40kms from bangalore, this Dam is build for the irrigation purpose, now it also provide water to the Magadi Town, this Dam is build across the river Arkavathi, a tributary of the Cauvery, in Magadi taluk of Ramanagara district, is a popular picnic spot located amidst hills and forest .The land which covered for irrigation under this project is called "Thore saalu" because all the villages comes on the two sides of river arkavathi, in kannada "thore" means river and "saalu" means line. It almost supplies 1 TMC of water to Magadi town per day. This reservoir is established in the bank of Arkavathi River at around 18 kms from Magadi town towards south East direction. This is basically irrigation reservoir receiving 1.0 MLD of water for Magadi town. The Reservior is surrounded by Savandurga Mountains.
The water collected in the catchment area will flow towards east as arkavathi river via Ramanagara, Kanakapura and joins Cauvery river before Sangam.
After reaching Kumbalgodu on Mysore Road (SH 17), take a right turn at Rajarajeshwari Dental College. One the way to Reservior, we can also find ISRO Chandrayaan Facility but we are not allowed inside the facility.

Big Banyan Tree
Big Banyan Tree (Dodda Aladamara)
After 28 Km journey to Ramohalli from Bangalore, we got the real taste of nature after viewing the tree. This banyan tree (Ficus Benghalensis), is a 400 to 450-year-old tree. This is the fourth largest banyan tree in India. As is typical to this species, the main tree has over the years spread out widely with several aerial roots or prop roots.
Other Trees
1. Thimmamma Marimanu near Gooty in Andhra Pradesh (World’s Biggest Banyan Tree)
2. The banyan tree at Botanical Gardens of Kolkata
3. Adyar tree at Chennai
With thousands of such roots spread out, the tree covers an area of 4 to 5 acres. The entire tree is fenced and one can walk alongside the labyrinth of roots, which create a cool, shady environment. It is believed that the tree is symbolic of the trinity with the roots representing Brahma, the stems and the bark representing Vishnu and the branches symbolizing Maheshwara. There is also a Shiva temple in the enclosure.
On the way to tree, we can find villages by name Kethohalli & Ramohalli. Ramohalli village is full of farms & nursery. If you want some good variety of seeds of plants, its one of the best place. There is a Mukthi Naga temple at Ramohalli. It’s Subrahmanya Swamy (Murugan Temple).

Bannerghatta National Park, Joy of Life

Bannerghatta National Park

It’s almost 22 Kms from Bangalore, along the Bannerghatta Road. The road starts from city and joins NH 209 at Kaglipur. The Park is almost 25,000 Acre. It’s almost 1300 meters from Sea Level. Park is closed on Tuesdays.

KSTDC arranged a Safari to visit the entire park. Elephant Joy ride gives much joy. A Zoo inside the park will make us to see all the wild life animals.

Butterfly Park inside the National park is an excellent place to spend time. The Butterfly Park is almost 7 acres in area. All the stages of the butterfly in their life cycle are seen manually & also a complete video on the nature’s finest creature can be viewed.

Mamallapuram, A monolithic mountain with rock cut architecture

We can find more number of books, papers on Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) history. I would like to add my experience to that historical data. Mahabalipuram is area of 8 square kms with population of 12000.

History:

Mahabalipuram also known as Mamallapuram is a town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Mahabalipuram was a 7th century port city of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas. It is believed to have been named after the Pallava king Mamalla. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Places:

Entire visiting place at Mamallapuram is a rock mountain, the mountain was shaped into temples and other rock cut architecture work.

• Thirukadalmallai


• Descent of the Ganges


• Arjuna's Penance


• Varaha Cave Temple


• The Shore Temple


• Pancha Rathas (Five Chariots)

Journey:

Mahabalipuram is about 55 KMS from Chennai, and about an hour journey. We can go by ECR Road / OMR Road

Experience:

We reached there by ECR Road bus, the road is pretty good, to have more fun one should go by a two wheeler or a topless vehicle. The NH5, a costal road, gives you immense pleasure while riding. The beach will be on your left hand side, air moves from east to west, we move to south. It will be an unforgettable journey. Both the sides of the road will be covered by either trees or big buildings, heard that every known person (High Profile) in South India had an acre at least. It’s really worth to invest. VGP Golden Beach, Kovalam Beach can be seen on the way. We spent around 3 hours to cover all the known places. We came by OMR Road Bus. We can see the Chennai IT development in this road. Presence of IT & SSI companies can be noticed on both the sides of the road. OMR Road is a parallel road to ECR Road. We can view some known colleges like Satyabhama University, Jain college Etc.

తిరుమల, A Nice Place

Tirumala Venkateswara Temple (Telugu: తిరుమల వేంకటేశ్వర దేవాలయం), also known as Tirupati Venkateswara Temple is a famous Hindu Temple of Lord Venkateswara located in the hill town [[Tirumala - TirupatiTirumala]], Andhra Pradesh. The temple is located on the Venkatachalam hill that forms part of the seven hills of Tirumala, and hence the temple is also known as the Temple of Seven Hills (Saptagiri in Sanskrit, Edukondalu in Telugu and Ezhumalai in Tamil). The presiding deity of the temple, Lord Venkateswara, is also known by other names - Balaji or Srinivasa or Perumal. The temple is the richest and the most visited place of worship in the world. The temple is visited by about 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims daily, while on special occasions and festivals, like the annual Brahmotsavam, the number of pilgrim’s shoots up to 500,000, making it one of the most visited holy places in the world. According to the legend, the temple has a self-manifested idol murti of Lord Vishnu, with the Lord believed to have resided here for the entire Kali Yuga. In Sri Vaishnava tradition, the temple is considered one of the 108 Divya Desam sites. The Tirumala hills comprising of the seven hills of Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrushabadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri are the abode of the Tirumala Venkateswara temple. The hill town (Tirumala) and the temple (Venkateswara Temple) are located on the Seshadri or Seshachalam hill. The temple complex comprises a smaller traditional temple building along with a number of modern queue and pilgrim lodging sites
Ten avatars: The most famous of the divine incarnations are Rama, whose life is depicted in the Ramayana, and Krishna, whose life is depicted in the Mahābhārata and the Srimad Bhagavatam. The Bhagavad Gita, which contains the spiritual teachings of Krishna, is one of the most widely-read scriptures in Hinduism.
Matsya, the fish, appeared in the Satya Yuga. Represents beginning of life.
Kurma, the tortoise, appeared in the Satya Yuga. Represents a human embryo just growing tiny legs, with a huge belly.
Varaha, the boar, appeared in the Satya Yuga. Represents a human embryo which is almost ready. Its features are visible.
Narasimha, the Man-Lion (Nara = man, simha = lion), appeared in the Satya Yuga. Represents a newborn baby, hairy and cranky, bawling and full of blood.
Vamana, the Dwarf, appeared in the Treta Yuga. Represents a young child.
Parashurama, Rama with the axe, appeared in the Treta Yuga. Represents both an angry young man and a grumpy old man simultaneously.
Rama, Sri Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya, appeared in the Treta Yuga. Represents a married man with children in a very ideological society
Krishna (meaning dark or black; see also other meanings in the article about him.), appeared in the Dwapara Yuga. Represents a person in more practical society, where there is one good or bad. Good or bad depends on society you live in.
Gautama Buddha is considered an avatar that returned pure dharma to the world.
Kalki ("Eternity", or "time", or "The Destroyer of foulness"), who is expected to appear at the end of Kali Yuga, the time period in which we currently exist.
There is also a "hidden avatar" mentioned in 11th canto of the Bhagavata Purana.
Some consider Balarama, brother of Krishna to be the eighth avatar of Vishnu, and delete Buddha. The Buddha avatar, which occurs in different versions in various Puranas, may represent an attempt by orthodox Brahminism to slander the Buddhists by identifying them with the demons.[5] Helmuth von Glasenapp attributed these developments to a Hindu desire to absorb Buddhism in a peaceful manner, both to win Buddhists to Vishnuism and also to account for the fact that such a significant heresy could exist in India.[6]
Saturdays and Sundays
Time
Sevas (Rates)
0300 - 0330 hrs
Suprabhatam (Rs. 120.00 per head)
0330 - 0345 hrs
Suddhi
0345 - 0430 hrs
Tomala Seva (Arjitham - Rs. 220.00 per head)
0430 - 0445 hrs
Koluvu and Panchanga Sravanam
0445 - 0530 hrs
First Archana Sahasranama Archana (Rs. 220.00 per head) and Archanantara Darsanam (AAD) (Rs. 200.00 per head)
(Archana)
0530 - 0630 hrs
(AAD)
0630 - 0700 hrs
First Bell, Bali and Sattumura
0700 - 0730 hrs
Suddhi, Second Archana (Ekantam), Second Bell, etc.
0730 - 1900 hrs
Sarvadarsanam
1200 - 1700 hrs
Kalyanotsavam, Brahmotsavam, Vasanthotsavam, Unjal Seva
1730 - 1830 hrs
Sahasra Deepalankarana Seva
1900 - 2000 hrs
Suddhi, Night Kainkaryams (Ekantam) and Night Bell
2000 - 0100 hrs
Sarvadarsanam
0100 - 0130 hrs
Suddhi and preparations for Ekanta Seva
0130 hrs
Ekanta Seva (Rs. 120.00 per head)
Notes
Sarvadarsanam may continue beyond 0100 hrs subject to demand.
The seva rates may change from time to time.
T.T.D Information Call Center No. 0877-2277777, 2233333
TTD Counter
16th Cross, Vyalikaval
Malleswaram
Bangalore-560003
Landmark: Next to Chowdaiah Memorial Hall
Phone: 080-23445432 / 23315361
Time: 10 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4 PM

Internet.. Life is easy with this

About 2 decades back, its really difficult to get any sort of information from others & from any database. The reason is that data is not concentrated at a single place & tools are not enough to search that available data. In this 21st century,as i heard every day more than 100 sites are developed & released in the market.Few of the websites are really wonderful to get information. some of the useful sites are
Dictionary -- http://www.answers.com/
Maps -- http://maps.google.com
Information --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
Search Engine- http://www.google.com
Best Blog Site -- http://www.blogger.com

A Journey to Nandi Hills

Nandi Hills,60 Kms from Bangalore,A beautiful place to visit in weekend. The road is absolutely good. We need to take a left diversition after devenahalli, in Bellary road, after 35 Kms. After Diversition, a 25 kms drive on single road in between mountains. We can enjoy the drive on the way to hills. Nandi hills is about 1500 Mts above sea level. There are around 40 sharp Curves. we need to be little cautious. There are many eucalyptus trees. Tipu Sultan had a very good taste & can say he is a nature lover. The place is full of greenary, big trees. Its really a good Place to visit..While going in car, dont close your window glasses. We can enjoy fresh air. For 2 wheelers, its compulsary to wear a helmet & No triple riding. Its better to take our own food & water. Try to drink some cocunuts, there are very fresh