KODAGU TRIP
My parents, my wife, uncle, aunt and I visited Madikeri from 8-Nov-07 to 10-Nov-07. What follows are impressions from the trip.
To begin with, 8-Nov-07 was Deepawali, but it was difficult to recognize that. When we got up at 5:30 a.m., the early morning was rather surprisingly silent. For a Deepawali morning, that was unusual : I expected young children to begin bursting crackers at the earliest possible time ! The price of crackers must have made the city more quieter than usual this time around. The Toyota Qualis came at 6:30 as promised. Even at 6:50 when we left, the morning was a cool and silent morning, just like other mornings.
We (my parents, uncle, wife and I) sped towards Mysore, zipping on the state highway 17. The traffic was minimal - or so we thought until we reached Kamat Lokaruchi for breakfast !! The rush there was unbelievable : it seemed like that all the missing traffic was at Lokaruchi :-)) We waited for 10 minutes to get a table and then another 10 minutes for breakfast to be served. As usual for the hotel, the food was tasty.
Our next stop was Mysore, to pick up my maternal aunt. She was ready and awaiting us. Since there is a hotel literally a couple of minutes away from her home, we stopped there for a second round of breakfast, knowing that lunch would be delayed.
The seven of us spent time in the taxi catching up with news about each other and remembering past memories. In 2000, we had visited Kerala in a longer trip, in a similar Qualis ! Those memories naturally came back now. The ring road outside Mysore is being made up and its condition near Mysore is considerably worse compared to the Bangalore-Mysore highway. It improved as we moved along. This is the route to Mangalore also, from Mysore.
It is curious how small towns and villages become important and significant during a long drive ! The towns of Periyapatna and Hunsur became "highlights" for us. There was a weekly fair in these towns and we saw vegetables, fruits and even brooms being sold ! In fact, my wife and aunt wanted us to stop and pick up the brooms, but since we wanted to check in as soon as possible, we just drove on !
Soon, we approached Bylekuppe. The road here is in a bad state : one side is being made up and the remaining side has dusty potholes that reduced visibility and made us all pull up our windows. My wife and I sat in the last row of the car and we didn't have any windows to roll up, luckily. The ride was unsettling, reminding me of a camel ride rather than a car ride ! The road continued to be bad until we passed Kushalnagar. From here, at least the potholes and dust reduced.
By 2 p.m. we reached Crystal Court, Madikeri (see http://www.hilldaleresorts.com/), just outside the city limits. This hotel has the reception as a ground floor and extends downwards rather than upwards ! There are stairs that lead down to a restaurant where breakfast is served. Below that, on another level is a porch. The rooms are rather clean and the servers were polite and helpful.
We ordered lunch at the vegetarian restaurant on the ground floor. The dal was good and we were sated after the meal. We decided to stretch and relax before we started visiting around the city.
We visited Abbe falls first. Abbe falls is located in a private estate. One has to get down a flight of steps before one reaches the falls. When we had been there last time, my wife and I had crossed the hanging bridge to reach the foot of the falls. This time, the bridge was locked. The falls look spectacular and we heard the roar of the falls before we reached it.
Next, we went to Omkareshwara Temple. The legend here is that King Lingaraja 2 built the temple as a repentance for a sin he had committed. The temple is clean and is less than 200 years old. My wife pointed out that the architecture of the temple also contains Muslim influences. There are minarets just like those we find in masjids. Also, unlike other south Indian temples, the roofs are sloping, just like the temples in Kerala. There is a tank ("kalyani") in front of the main door. We spotted a few fish and all of us recalled the fish in Sringeri !
That evening, at dusk, we reached Raja's Seat in Madikeri. It is said that the king would sit there and enjoy the view of the valley from there. This evening, due to the poor visibility, we did not see the valley. However, we did get to watch the musical fountains set first to "dance" to Kannada songs and then also to the latest Hindi blockbusters. It was a good attraction, particularly for children. There is also a toy train called the "Babasaheb Express".
On the evening of 9-Nov-07, my wife and aunt went on a ride in the train while the rest of us watched the view from Raja's seat. I was alone on a bench and watched the clouds as the sun set. It is curious how clouds take shape according to one's thoughts ! I could clearly see the profile of a man in the clouds ! Later, this changed to another man who had opened his jaws ! Photos are available at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/tags/rajasseat/
On 8-Nov-07, we came back to our rooms, watched TV and slept soon. The next morning, my wife and I went for a walk in the morning. This is a usual practice for us when we are on vacation. The air in the hill station, the early morning freshness and the views at the crack of dawn make for a memorable experience. This morning we found a narrow road flanked by greenery on both sides.
On 10th also, we went on the same route and found a couple of houses just away from this road : what a life it must be for the people there ! We saw a water in a catchment area between check dams. I wonder if they even realize the quality of life they have !! On the other hand, they may be looking forward to a life in the city. As the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side. My wife quotes the Kannada equivalent "Doorada betta nunnage" (Translation : The hill further away looks plain. I suppose when one approaches the hill, it looks similar to all other hills !)
Returning to what we did on 9th, we ate buffet breakfast in the first level below the ground floor. We went to Baghmandala, where there is a confluence ("sangama") of two rivers : Kaaveri and another one. Baghmandala has a temple of Bhagandeshwara, a Shiva temple. This temple is also rather old and is getting renovated.
We saw brilliant red-coloured poinsettias on the way to Baghmandala. It seems that all hill stations have this quality of enriching the colours of flowers. There were yellow and lavender flowers all along the route. To me, the colour of the poinsettias was the most remarkable one. My aunt took a sapling on the way back from Talakaaveri.
Talakaaveri is the birth place of the Kaaveri river, about 8 km from Baghmandala. One can actually see the first small stream of water in a quadrangle. This place is also clean. One could see that the people of Kodagu have a special attachment to the Kaaveri river. There were a lot of shops named after Kaaveri and we learnt that at least one lady in the family is named after the river. I suppose it is easy to worship a living entity like a river or a tree. We found both at Talakaaveri. Apart from the Kaaveri river, there is also the "ashwathhaa" tree. It did not look particularly healthy, but as a symbol it still useful, in my view. Personally, I paid my obeisance to the water and the tree just as I do to other idols in the temples. Faith is a curious thing !
Brahmagiri is a small hillock just atop Talakaaveri. The legend here is that the sage Agastya meditated there. Agastya had married Kaaveri under her condition that he would never separate from her. However, when he went to mediate and worship, Kaaveri flowed away as a river from his "kamandala".
Brahmagiri has 450 steps. My uncle, aunt, wife and I climbed it, though my wife didn't feel well initially in the first few minutes of the climb. The view on top of the hillock is marvellous. There are hills all around ! We had walked barefoot, but the splendid view recharged us immediately. Photos are available at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/tags/brahmagiri/.
After lunch and a brief rest, we went to the Madikeri fort. This fort is almost in ruins and certainly can be improved. There is a history associated with the fort and it should be restored and given its rightful importance. Currently, the history of the place is not highlighted. The church there is now converted into a museum while the main building in the fort contains offices.
We bought coffee powder in the evening in Madikeri. The main circle is full of ups and downs and the streets are narrow. Since it was Lakshmi pooja, we saw jewellers' stores being decorated with flowers and "diyas". It looked nice to see.
The next morning, we checked out and went first to Nisargadhama. This is an island formed by the Kaaveri river. One has to cross a hanging bridge to reach it. The island is full of trees and a few of these trees also have their names mentioned. There are also many bamboo plants growing in profusion. The highlight of the island, though, is the Kaaveri river itself. One can see the river in all its glory, cascading over rocks and boulders. We stepped down the five steps to reach the water and enjoyed the feel of the cool water. There were other people walking in the river also. There is a deer park in Nisargadhama as well.
Our last stop was the Tibetan settlement in Bylekuppe. My wife and I had visited this temple earlier also. There is a golden temple and there are 10,000 Tibetan settlers here. The temple has a 60 feet statue of Buddha. There are also other prayer halls and the walls of the temples are full of coloured paintings depicting Buddhist stories and philosophy.
We dropped my aunt at Mysore, ate lunch at the same hotel near her house and reached Bangalore in the evening. That ended a different Deepawali for us !
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
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*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
===== COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS =====
++++++ BEGINS ++++++
When I created my first blog, I thought I was
being clever by being "anonymous" and let my
opinions speak for themselves (see the archive !)
Imagine my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still retain the blog
name as "Anonymous Expressions", I will only
request you to ignore my name and concentrate on
my opinions instead !
ALL COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR OWNERS.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs are my
personal opinions. Please tell me if you spot any
factual mistakes or don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your point, I will
correct the mistake. You can email me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
++++++ ENDS ++++++
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
My parents, my wife, uncle, aunt and I visited Madikeri from 8-Nov-07 to 10-Nov-07. What follows are impressions from the trip.
To begin with, 8-Nov-07 was Deepawali, but it was difficult to recognize that. When we got up at 5:30 a.m., the early morning was rather surprisingly silent. For a Deepawali morning, that was unusual : I expected young children to begin bursting crackers at the earliest possible time ! The price of crackers must have made the city more quieter than usual this time around. The Toyota Qualis came at 6:30 as promised. Even at 6:50 when we left, the morning was a cool and silent morning, just like other mornings.
We (my parents, uncle, wife and I) sped towards Mysore, zipping on the state highway 17. The traffic was minimal - or so we thought until we reached Kamat Lokaruchi for breakfast !! The rush there was unbelievable : it seemed like that all the missing traffic was at Lokaruchi :-)) We waited for 10 minutes to get a table and then another 10 minutes for breakfast to be served. As usual for the hotel, the food was tasty.
Our next stop was Mysore, to pick up my maternal aunt. She was ready and awaiting us. Since there is a hotel literally a couple of minutes away from her home, we stopped there for a second round of breakfast, knowing that lunch would be delayed.
The seven of us spent time in the taxi catching up with news about each other and remembering past memories. In 2000, we had visited Kerala in a longer trip, in a similar Qualis ! Those memories naturally came back now. The ring road outside Mysore is being made up and its condition near Mysore is considerably worse compared to the Bangalore-Mysore highway. It improved as we moved along. This is the route to Mangalore also, from Mysore.
It is curious how small towns and villages become important and significant during a long drive ! The towns of Periyapatna and Hunsur became "highlights" for us. There was a weekly fair in these towns and we saw vegetables, fruits and even brooms being sold ! In fact, my wife and aunt wanted us to stop and pick up the brooms, but since we wanted to check in as soon as possible, we just drove on !
Soon, we approached Bylekuppe. The road here is in a bad state : one side is being made up and the remaining side has dusty potholes that reduced visibility and made us all pull up our windows. My wife and I sat in the last row of the car and we didn't have any windows to roll up, luckily. The ride was unsettling, reminding me of a camel ride rather than a car ride ! The road continued to be bad until we passed Kushalnagar. From here, at least the potholes and dust reduced.
By 2 p.m. we reached Crystal Court, Madikeri (see http://www.hilldaleresorts.com/), just outside the city limits. This hotel has the reception as a ground floor and extends downwards rather than upwards ! There are stairs that lead down to a restaurant where breakfast is served. Below that, on another level is a porch. The rooms are rather clean and the servers were polite and helpful.
We ordered lunch at the vegetarian restaurant on the ground floor. The dal was good and we were sated after the meal. We decided to stretch and relax before we started visiting around the city.
We visited Abbe falls first. Abbe falls is located in a private estate. One has to get down a flight of steps before one reaches the falls. When we had been there last time, my wife and I had crossed the hanging bridge to reach the foot of the falls. This time, the bridge was locked. The falls look spectacular and we heard the roar of the falls before we reached it.
Next, we went to Omkareshwara Temple. The legend here is that King Lingaraja 2 built the temple as a repentance for a sin he had committed. The temple is clean and is less than 200 years old. My wife pointed out that the architecture of the temple also contains Muslim influences. There are minarets just like those we find in masjids. Also, unlike other south Indian temples, the roofs are sloping, just like the temples in Kerala. There is a tank ("kalyani") in front of the main door. We spotted a few fish and all of us recalled the fish in Sringeri !
That evening, at dusk, we reached Raja's Seat in Madikeri. It is said that the king would sit there and enjoy the view of the valley from there. This evening, due to the poor visibility, we did not see the valley. However, we did get to watch the musical fountains set first to "dance" to Kannada songs and then also to the latest Hindi blockbusters. It was a good attraction, particularly for children. There is also a toy train called the "Babasaheb Express".
On the evening of 9-Nov-07, my wife and aunt went on a ride in the train while the rest of us watched the view from Raja's seat. I was alone on a bench and watched the clouds as the sun set. It is curious how clouds take shape according to one's thoughts ! I could clearly see the profile of a man in the clouds ! Later, this changed to another man who had opened his jaws ! Photos are available at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/tags/rajasseat/
On 8-Nov-07, we came back to our rooms, watched TV and slept soon. The next morning, my wife and I went for a walk in the morning. This is a usual practice for us when we are on vacation. The air in the hill station, the early morning freshness and the views at the crack of dawn make for a memorable experience. This morning we found a narrow road flanked by greenery on both sides.
On 10th also, we went on the same route and found a couple of houses just away from this road : what a life it must be for the people there ! We saw a water in a catchment area between check dams. I wonder if they even realize the quality of life they have !! On the other hand, they may be looking forward to a life in the city. As the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side. My wife quotes the Kannada equivalent "Doorada betta nunnage" (Translation : The hill further away looks plain. I suppose when one approaches the hill, it looks similar to all other hills !)
Returning to what we did on 9th, we ate buffet breakfast in the first level below the ground floor. We went to Baghmandala, where there is a confluence ("sangama") of two rivers : Kaaveri and another one. Baghmandala has a temple of Bhagandeshwara, a Shiva temple. This temple is also rather old and is getting renovated.
We saw brilliant red-coloured poinsettias on the way to Baghmandala. It seems that all hill stations have this quality of enriching the colours of flowers. There were yellow and lavender flowers all along the route. To me, the colour of the poinsettias was the most remarkable one. My aunt took a sapling on the way back from Talakaaveri.
Talakaaveri is the birth place of the Kaaveri river, about 8 km from Baghmandala. One can actually see the first small stream of water in a quadrangle. This place is also clean. One could see that the people of Kodagu have a special attachment to the Kaaveri river. There were a lot of shops named after Kaaveri and we learnt that at least one lady in the family is named after the river. I suppose it is easy to worship a living entity like a river or a tree. We found both at Talakaaveri. Apart from the Kaaveri river, there is also the "ashwathhaa" tree. It did not look particularly healthy, but as a symbol it still useful, in my view. Personally, I paid my obeisance to the water and the tree just as I do to other idols in the temples. Faith is a curious thing !
Brahmagiri is a small hillock just atop Talakaaveri. The legend here is that the sage Agastya meditated there. Agastya had married Kaaveri under her condition that he would never separate from her. However, when he went to mediate and worship, Kaaveri flowed away as a river from his "kamandala".
Brahmagiri has 450 steps. My uncle, aunt, wife and I climbed it, though my wife didn't feel well initially in the first few minutes of the climb. The view on top of the hillock is marvellous. There are hills all around ! We had walked barefoot, but the splendid view recharged us immediately. Photos are available at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/tags/brahmagiri/.
After lunch and a brief rest, we went to the Madikeri fort. This fort is almost in ruins and certainly can be improved. There is a history associated with the fort and it should be restored and given its rightful importance. Currently, the history of the place is not highlighted. The church there is now converted into a museum while the main building in the fort contains offices.
We bought coffee powder in the evening in Madikeri. The main circle is full of ups and downs and the streets are narrow. Since it was Lakshmi pooja, we saw jewellers' stores being decorated with flowers and "diyas". It looked nice to see.
The next morning, we checked out and went first to Nisargadhama. This is an island formed by the Kaaveri river. One has to cross a hanging bridge to reach it. The island is full of trees and a few of these trees also have their names mentioned. There are also many bamboo plants growing in profusion. The highlight of the island, though, is the Kaaveri river itself. One can see the river in all its glory, cascading over rocks and boulders. We stepped down the five steps to reach the water and enjoyed the feel of the cool water. There were other people walking in the river also. There is a deer park in Nisargadhama as well.
Our last stop was the Tibetan settlement in Bylekuppe. My wife and I had visited this temple earlier also. There is a golden temple and there are 10,000 Tibetan settlers here. The temple has a 60 feet statue of Buddha. There are also other prayer halls and the walls of the temples are full of coloured paintings depicting Buddhist stories and philosophy.
We dropped my aunt at Mysore, ate lunch at the same hotel near her house and reached Bangalore in the evening. That ended a different Deepawali for us !
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
===== COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS =====
++++++ BEGINS ++++++
When I created my first blog, I thought I was
being clever by being "anonymous" and let my
opinions speak for themselves (see the archive !)
Imagine my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still retain the blog
name as "Anonymous Expressions", I will only
request you to ignore my name and concentrate on
my opinions instead !
ALL COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR OWNERS.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs are my
personal opinions. Please tell me if you spot any
factual mistakes or don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your point, I will
correct the mistake. You can email me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
++++++ ENDS ++++++
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
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