TK falls for a Joy ride

TK falls for a Joy ride

A joy ride on Kanakapura road (NH209), made us to go Thottikallu falls (TK Falls),

Journey:

It’s around 10 Kms from Banashankari, after reaching Kaggalipura take a left, from there 1.5 kms on village road to falls

Trip:

Entrance of the falls has Muneeshwara Swamy shrine, after blessings from god, we can walk to the falls. Just side to the temple, water flows can be seen. Falls is really good to see, need little cautious while climbing, even swimming can be done. It’s a picnic spot, a place to refresh from busy schedules

LalBagh - A Great Botanical Garden

Lal Bagh is Botanical Garden, in Bangalore, even though it is commissioned by the ruler of Mysore, Hyder Ali, it is completed by his son Tipu Sultan. A 240 acre garden has more than 1000 species of flowers, it has a famous glass house which hosts yearly flower show on republic day& Independence Day. Aquarium and a lake will attract you a lot. 100 years old trees welcomes you to the garden

A Trip to South TamilNadu

Day1:
My friend’s engagement in Chennai made us to plan for Tamil Nadu trip. We started to Chennai by afternoon and reached there by evening for engagement. We stayed in the same hotel and started our journey in morning. Chennai is around 350 Kms from Bangalore, Via Hosur, and Krishna Giri on NH7 and than to NH 46 via Vellore, and than to NH4 via Sriperumbudur.

Day 2:
Our journey started with Kanchipuram, it’s around 71 Kms from Chennai on NH 4, just 20 kms before take a left to SH 113 to Kanchipuram.

Kanchipuram, also know as Kanchi, is a temples city. The city is at the banks of Palar River. It’s more famous for Silk Sarees. Kanchi is famous both Vishnu & Shiva. Temples like Ekambareswarar Temple, Kamakshi Amman temple, Varadaraja Temple, Kumara Kottam.

From Kanchipuram we went to Thanjavur, Its 300 Kms from Kanchipuram, from Kanchi on SH 58, Chengalpattu to NH 45 via Tindivanam, take a left to NH 45 C at Vikravandi via Panruti, Kumbakonam to Thanjavur. W e can see Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited, Mini Ratna – A GOI Enterprise after Panruti. We started to Madurai on NH 226 via Pudukkottai. We stayed at a hotel in the high way.

Cholas best work at Thanjavur, Brihadeeswara Temple, A UNESCO Heritage site is wonderful.

Day 3:
Reached Madurai by morning and than started to Rameshwaram on NH 49, it’s around 168 Kms. After that our journey started to Kanyakumari, it’s about 324 kms via Thoothukudi, Tiruchchendur on SH 176. We again reached Madurai for a night stay on NH 7 via Tirunelveli, its about 240 kms

Meenakshi Amman temple at Madurai is very nice, Madurai is at the banks of Vaigai River.
Rameshwaram located at Pamban Island, Gulf of Mannar, the journey towards island is awesome, both the sides oceans, coconut trees in the island, boats at the beaches, Pamban Bridge on left.

Ramanathaswamy Temple & Ramarpadm are the temples to visit. Holy place where Rama & Sita Prayed Lord Siva

Kanyakumari, Cape Comorin, is a place where the oceans (Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean) Sangam here. Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Thiruvalluvar Statue, Gandhi Mandapam, Kanyakumari (Parvati Devi) Temple

Day4:
After a relaxed stay at Madurai, we headed to Bangalore on NH7; it’s about 460 kms, via Dindigul, Karur, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, and Hosur.

Pusphagiri, A Rare temple of Siva & Vishnu

My friend’s brother kid birth occasion, made us to visit a place called Pushpagiri, a holy place in Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh. Pushpagiri is located at the banks of Pena River.

History:
Pushpagiri is also called South Kasi. It’s a 13th Century temple. A rare temple which has Lord Vishnu & Lord Siva together in the temple premises, the temple is called as Chennakesava Swamy Temple.

Directions:
Kadapa is about 289 Kilometers from Bangalore. On NH4 via Hoskote, Kolar, Mulbagal, after some 10 Kms take a left to NH219 to Madanapalle, than onto NH205 to Angallu, take a right to Rayachoti towards NH18, on the same highway we can reach Kadapa. Pushpagiri is about 16 kms from Kadapa.

Experience:
Day1: we reached at night 7 PM, after a long journey. Fresh running water made us to take bath in the river, and home made dinner made us to take a sleep at the banks of River. It was awesome, that was the first for me to sleep near/ banks of the river. Fresh Air made us to forget ourselves.

Day2: We went to darshan in the morning by 6.30 AM, it was very nice and divine place. The temple itself is at the top of the hill. From Hill we can see people crossing the river. Some one is distributing Prasadham, we were happy to be there. We had started in afternoon and reached at 9 PM.

Pondy, A French Idly

My friend’s marriage made us to plan to visit the nearest Union territory “Puducherry” near to Tamil Nadu. Pondy is about 330 kms from Bangalore.

Directions:
We need to get on NH7 via Hosur to Krishnagiri. Take a left to NH 66 to Pondy via Thirvannamalai, Tindivanam. NH 66 is a single road.

Experience:

Pondy is like a traditional Indian food served with love in French style. All the places are influenced by French culture, the buildings, and the food, even we get some rare French liquor brands. It’s a place for fun. We have a nice leisure time over there. I can say after retirement it’s advised to stay in calm & peace place like pondy. We have booked tickets on KSRTC.

Day1:-

Our trip started from Panchavati Panchamukha Anjaneyar Temple, which is some 15 Kms from Pondy on NH 66, a rock from Rameshwaram, TN is brought and kept in the temple premises. Amazingly it’s floating on water. The Anjaneya is a monolithically granite stone with 40 feet.

Auroville is a place for peace, it’s a place of no differences between people. Designed township for a healthy world

Pondy Beach is changed a lot. Rocks are filled along the coast to protect from unexpected high waves. Statue of Gandhi is a land mark on the road. French building on the beach road will surprise you a lot. Light House area is very nice place for eat out. Aayi Mandapam in Bharthi Park, near to beach, is a state symbol

Day2:-

We went to Virabhadra Temple at Kalapet on ECR Road which is 12 kms from pondy. A pyramid temple at the same place attracted us a lot. It’s a Nataraja Temple. The temple was completed destroyed in the last tsunami, than it’s a renovated in recent time. The Ashok Beach Resort gave us some shelter and food in that hot sunny day, off course they charged us.


Hey forgot to say, we also attended our friend’s Marriage 

Dharmasthala, A Holy Place

Long weekend made us to plan for a holy place from Bangalore. We got a nice idea to visit Dharmasthala.

Dharmasthala: Shiva temple on the banks of Netravatihi River. Around ten thousand pilgrims will visit this holy place per day. It’s an old temple with history of 800+ years

Belur: Belur in Hassan district attracts for its Chennakesava temple complex (Lord Vishnu Temple). Finest Hoysala architecture temple. A UNESCO world heritage

Halebedi: Another artistic work from Hoyasal Empire. Hoysaleshawara and Kedareshwara temples are main attraction. Two nandi statues will welcome you to the temple.

Our Experience:

We traveled by car. We started at 5.00 Pm from Bangalore, we reached Dharmasthala in the early morning at 3.30 Am. We had taken bath in Nethravathi River, and went for dharshan of Lord Shiva in the morning. A pleasant place to wish

Dharmasthala is around 300 Kms fron Bangalore. Need to go to Nelamanagla on NH4 and than take left to NH 48. On the way, we can see places like Kunigal, Hassan, Sakleshpur. Before Nelyady, take a right to Dharmasthala for SH 37.Presence of Netravatihi River gives fresh air.

One the way, we went to Belur & Halebedi. Belur is 112 Kms from Dharmasthala. Need to travel for an hour adjacent to Netravatihi River to reach SH 64 and to Kottigehara, After Mudigere cross, we need to take a right to SH58 to Belur. Presence of 2000 square kilometer wildlife sanctuary called Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary along the SH 64 & SH 58 will give you fresh & enjoyable drive. Halebedi is 16 Kms from Belur on SH 58.
From Halebedi on SH 21 we reached to Hassan and than to left to NH 48 to Bangalore

A Day At Mysore

Mysore Trip

For a weekend trip, we went to Mysore. Mysore is around 160 Kms from Bangalore. On SH 17, 3 hour’s journey to Mysore, we can see Places like Ramanagara, Channapatna, and Mandya.

Srirangapattana:
A famous Ranganathaswamy temple is located at Srirangapattana. Ranganathaswamy temple is built by Ganga Dynasty in 9th Century. The entire town is enclosed by the river Kaveri to form an island. Kaveri Water from KS Reservoir flows from the city and joins at Sangam. It is believed that this place had a good name while Tipu Sultan & Hyder Ali was ruling.

Balmuri Falls: Balmuri falls is on the way to KS Reservoir. Its Really nice & worth watching .A 200 meters walk on the water is real nice & we feel so happy while walking.
Mysore Palace:

It is suited at the center of the Mysore city. It’s a residence place for royal family of Mysore, Wodeyar's .Dasara is celebrated very well in the palace. Museums, temples, Halls etc will make feel the royal life.