The Travel Connection

The feel of an early morning  is unbeatable. Its now a ritual to head out at dawn on a holiday and take in nature and its resident birds. Thoreau has quoted " an early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day". But like any other rat in the city race, I am blessed only on holidays and not every day. This holiday was also blessed by Devi Yellamma or Renuka Devi. Before getting high on bliss, we had to take a short drive towards Saundatti in Belgaum district. The roads are lined with endless sunflower fields. The color of sunshine, the warmness of day, the cheerfulness of being on a holiday just made the day more enjoyable. One of the things that I like about traveling is that I get to feel the various types of landscape. Did you know the different types are desert, plain,Taiga,Tundra,wetland, Mountain, Mountain range, cliff,coast, Littoral zone, glacier, polar regions of earth, shrub land, forest, rainforest, woodland and jungle. North Karnataka falls u...

Badami Or Vatapi is in the rugged region of North Karnataka. The red sandstone outcrop greets you the minute you drive out of the train station. You feel you have transported yourself to wild west and any minute a gun wielding  outlaw or a cowboy could greet you. Our conquest of Badami began with a bumpy ride in the local stage couch or the Indian Auto rickshaw. Our stay in the Dry and Arid North Karnataka was made better by the wonderful hospitality of Krishna Heritage and its green surrounding of fields. The location was a gold mine. Gold mine for Bee eaters, Coucals, Silver bill,Brahmini Starlings, Indian rollers, Kingfishers, wagtails, sparrow larks, Munias, Bulbuls, Babblers, parakeets and many more residents and migrant visitors.  Ashy Crowned Sparrow Lark Large Grey Babbler We started the exploration of Badami with a visit to Banashankari Amma temple. An incarnation of Goddess Parvathi,kuldevi of chalukyas  resides in the refurbished t...

The cradle of Hindu temple architecture, Aihole or Aryapura was the destination to learn and experiment on the temple architecture. Under the patronage of early Chalukyan kings, the Chalukyan style of temple architecture was refined here between  the 5th and 8th century.  The preview of Aihole given to us by the guide at Pattadakal was enough to excite me about visiting the ancient school of architecture, You wonder if you have arrived at Aihole as the narrow lanes leads you into the chaos of a village life but the complex of ancient structures in various states of disintegration  make you think you have time traveled. The proximity of the timeworn stone monuments and the present day village dwellings raised a lot of questions. The encroachment of these temples was even more intriguing. Be it the cattle housed in these structures, smoke bellowing out or the colorful clothes drying on a line between intricate carved column, all of it just amazed me. When we arrived a...

Jambulinga temple , 7th century, Rekhanagar prasada style (North Indian) Horse shoe projection on the curvilinear gopuram! Pattadakal, a world heritage site is not prominent on a traveler's radar as it is comparatively far flung.This place had eluded me for  a very long time. We finally got a chance to visit the 8th century center of art and architecture as an offshoot of trip due to social reasons.  Pattadakal comprises of a group of monuments surrounded by well manicured lawns and  uttarabhimukhi ( flows from south to north) river  Malaprabha. The spic and span surroundings with all the hawkers and stalls at a distance transports you into the past without a second's delay. Wish all historical sites in India are maintained like Pattadakal.  Kada Siddeshwar Temple, 7th century ,Rekhanagara prasada style (North Indian) The severed sculptures on the front facade-A reminder of Muslim austerities The initial attempt in monument construct...