The Travel Connection

Blast from past! What a road trip!! No, I am not saying this out of excitement but out of frustration. Unfortunately Karnataka has the worst possible roads. The drive rattles and tattles you out of your bones. You will need a holiday to recover from a holiday! This trip was supposed to be for a social event outside Bangalore. I was a little hesitant about making this trip till my family threw in the bait of visiting this place as a part of this trip. The place that I got tempted with is Halebid and Belur. For the uninitiated, Halebid and Belur is home to finest architectural examples from the Hoysala period. The temples will turn 900 years old in another 11 years!! Can you imagine that! Google gives all the information about this place but a fact that I was new to is that Hoysalas were Jains before Ramanuja converted them into Srivaishanavism. There is a Jain temple of 23rd Thirthankara Parshwanath Swami in Halebid. One can see the basic form of Hoysala architect

Blast from past! After a delayed start from Horanadu due to reasons beyond our control, we stopped over at Kaleshewara (Shiva) temple at Kalasa We had plans to stop at some place on road for breakfast but that was a bad decision. I would totally advise against doing that as we had to survive on banana chips and other snacks for breakfast. BTW, we were on the way to Sringeri by the Tunga Bhadra river                                                           Temple complex at Kalasa Once again the most scenic routes but the worst of roads! But due to good weather we made good ground in short time! Sringeri is home to the Matha (monastery) founded by Adi Shankaracharya. There are two prominent temples in and around the Matha complex. One is the relatively new Sharadam temple, dedicated to the Goddess of learning and wisdom built after the original wood structured temple was destroyed in fire during the early 20th century. The oth

Blast from past! How can a trip with family not include visit to temple. So after Belur and Halebid, we embarked on the great rumbling and tumbling road trip across the western ghat. If it wasn't for the wonderful scenery , I would not recommend the journey to anyone. The torrential rains along with the pathetic roads took us to Horanadu in chikmagalur district. Interestingly I always thought coffee plantations covered majority of chikmagalur. But we came across some stretches of tea plantations. We also came across many school kids happily  walking back home, sometimes two-three of them sharing one umbrella without raincoats, least bothered about the cats and dogs showering on them. We under the cozy protection of the car had mixed feeling seeing the kids this way. Hats or should I say umbrella off to them!!! For some reason most Hindu temples are located in the most scenic locations high up on mountains and hills. Horanadu is no different. We checked into Durg

Blast from past! Belur is 16 kms away from Halebid. As you approach the location, you can see an entrance gopuram painted yellow standing tall. This tower is relatively new and was built by the Vijaynagar kings and is in Dravidian style. The tower is like an anticlimax for what is awaiting you inside.  Here is an interesting fact I learnt on this trip. If the Dhwaja stambha (flag post) is not in front of heritage temple , it is considered a monument. Otherwise it is an operational temple. Practically the stambha was used to hoist flags. Spiritually it is supposed to be the connector between God and humans. Scientifically rationalized, Stambha generally being the highest point inside the temple complex and made of metal or stone covered with metal,  acted as lighting arrestor and hence connected the energy of heaven with earth. If only we could rationalize all our Hindu customs and rituals this way, many more would embrace it. Let me know if you are aware of any such rati