Murugan Temple, Vijinapura

Not many would have known this, but this little area by name Vijinapura, near K.R.Puram Railway station is rich in various temples. The area has Ganesh temple, Anjaneya Temple, Shani Bhagwan temple, Ayyappan Temple, Yellamma (Amman) temple and Murugan Temple to name a few.

Location of the Temple
The Muragan temple is a bit hard to locate, Google maps did not have the location at first, Now I've added it.

View Larger Map

Temple at Night


Temple at Day




About the temple
The temple has idols of Lord Ganesha in the left, Subramanya or Murugan in the middle and Siva Lingam in the right. The temple also has a navagraha to the right of the entrance. The temple is pretty small, but must visit as this is only Murugan temple on Old Madras Road. The Gurukkul is very friendly too. Abishekams are performed in the morning around 6:00 AM.

Abhishekams can be performed for Vinayaga, Muruga & Sivan & Navagrahas at a cost of Rs. 150 each or Rs. 501 for all.

Other helpful Tips
The approach roads are pretty small, so please travel in your two wheeler.

Bangalore to Shravanabelagola

Long drives has always been my passion, and for sometime we have been planning to visit Shravanabelagola. Unlike my earlier trip to Mysore, I did not plan much for the trip. I just had a casual look at the route map to Shravanabelagola, and it looked like this -


View Larger Map

We started off around 7:30 from home, had breakfast at our Krishna Paradise in Pai Layout. Then filled fuel at Shell, and started from there by about 8:00 AM.

The route map goes like this Old Madras Road -> Ulsoor Lake -> St. John's Church Road -> Nandi Durga Road -> Jayamahal Road -> Mekhri Circle -> C.V.Raman Road -> Yeshvantapur -> Neelamangala -> Mangalore Road -> Kunigal -> Yadiyur -> Hirisave -> Shravanabelagola. At the time I went, the Neelamangala toll gate was under trial, so toll was not collected at that time. Once the Yeshwantapur - Neelamangala Flyover is inaugurated, I am sure you need to pay a decent price for a swift fly :-)



There roads are in the process of being converted from 2 lane to 4 lane, and hence you may have to take quite many diversions, many without even a warning sign.



After dreading the potholes and take diversions, reached Hirisave at around 11:00 AM. I took a left turn at Hirisavu to Shravanabelagola (about 18 kms).



This road would be very quiet and very enjoyable to drive, with lots of turns and scenaries around. Reached Shravanabelagola by 11:30 AM. You can easily locate the hills from anywhere near Shravanabelagola.

There is ample parking space around the temple, parking fee is Rs.20.


Just within Vindhyagiri, you could find a paid toilet and chappal stand. YOu can also find lot of tender coconut shops, and believe me you will enjoy the taste of the tender coconut.

Shravanabelagola - esplanation of Chandragiri & Vindhyagiri

After refreshing ourselves, we began the Climb. Its about 650 steps, and would take around 30 - 40 mins to reach the top. On the way up, you can find breathtaking views of the chandragiri temple & the lake between.



Never miss a moment, keep clicking...

On reaching the top you can find the idol, and never stop admiring at the marvel.


You could offer Abhishekam at the foot of the statue for a prescribed fee.


There are other small Jain idols at the top. The view from the top again is amazing, so worth spending some moments there.


The Downhill was more enjoyable, as you had to court gravity and slope. Took about 30 mins to reach the base of Vindhyagiri.

There are quite some shops at the bottom of Vindhyagiri. I got a bokoma for Rs. 20 and few massage items.

I took a moment to visit the entrance of Chandragiri, and click a snap.


There was one "Hotel Raghu", but we did not take a chance, we had few snacks from a bakery and started back around 2:00 PM. I took another route from Shravanabelagola to Join Hassan - Bangalore road, and my boy this road was just the sanctuary my i10 was yearning for... It was an amazing 15 mins drive through scenic spots and villages...


Reached Neelamangala around 4:15 and from there on it was a clutch and break affair, and reached home around 7:00 PM after having dinner at A2B Indira Nagar.

Overall it was a refreshing drive ~ 310 kms !!!

An Evening drive down ECR, Chennai

On 10-Sep-2010, while we were in Chennai, we decided to go for a evening drive to ECR. From East Tambaram, we took the medavakkam to sholinganallur road, then took ECR.

There are a couple of toll gates that would cost you Rs. 20 & Rs. 45 respectively. We went to Muthukkadu first, and enjoyed the boating.


Speed boats are also available, check out this snap -


Then drove to Kovalam, and spend few moments at the shore -


Then, we visited Prathyangara Devi Temple at Sholinganallur. More info about the temple, can be found from -
http://sholinganallur.blogspot.com/2007/12/s-ri-maha-prathyangira-devi-is-goddess.html
http://sarathanugrah.blogspot.com/2006/06/maa-pratyangira-devi.html

Then drove quickly to console my waiting Sister at Vasanta Bhavan, Chromepet. Had dinner there and then drove back home. It was a refreshing experience for us !!!

Bangalore to Mysore

We had long thought about a trip to Mysore, myself being in Bangalore for more than 6 years !!! At last we decided to go for a 2 day trip with a night stay at Mysore, so that we could cover more places.

Preparations
We had to book a hotel, and at last zeroed in on Hotel Roopa. We were able to book online. Later we found out that http://www.travelguru.com/ offered about 10% discount, so if any one gonna book hotels, may be TravelGuru is a wise choice.

We decided to cover Srirangapatna first and then to Mysore. So, our route map looked like this -

View Larger Map


The start
We started from Bangalore around 6:30 AM on Saturday. Took the route to City Market and via the flyover connected to Mysore Road. Raja Rajeshwari Nagar has developed beyond recognition, with Gopalan Mall at the entrance, beside the arch. The road from Bangalore University is pretty decent toll-free road, with 4 lane. We stopped at Hotel Airavatha, (just after RV College of Engineering) for breakfast. Started from there around 8:00 AM.


The Journey
On the way, we saw the Kengeri Satelite city, Eagleton Golf resorts, NICE Road intersection, Wonderla entrance and Innovative Film City entrance. Then came Bidadi, yes we stopped to take this snap :-)

On the way you pass through Ramanagaram, Channapatna, Maddur and then Mandya. Reached Srirangapatna around 10:00 AM. (110 kms in about 2 hours)



Srirangapatna
YOu need to take a right after crossing the cauvery bridge, and pass through Tipu's Fort (narrow passway, but cars can pass through). Some of the places, we saw here are:
Tipu's Death Place



Srirangapatna Temple



Near to Srirangapatna Temple, you can find many shops selling wooden paintings. I got Ganesha and Radhakrishna paintings for about Rs. 500, needless to say you need to bargain.


Then came Tipu Sultan's palace, all in ruins -


We could have gone on to the other side to see Daria Daulat Mahal, the other Palace and Sangam (there are many sangams, but this is not the one near Mekadatu). We decided to skip that and proceeded to Mysore, with maps on, on our mobile. Reached Mysore around 12:00 PM.


Mysore Palace
All roads in Mysore lead to Mysore Palace, you can never miss the palace. But, you could miss the car-parking area :-) The parking area though is quite spacious and you can comfortably park your car for a fee of Rs. 20.

The palace from outside offered this spectacular view -


There is a small entrance fee of Rs. 20 for Indian Nationals and Rs. 200 for Foreigners. The palace interiors are marvellous (if not breath-taking), and is quite well maintained by the Palace Board. You will find a Cauvery Emporium shop within the palace, but all items are quite costly. There are many shops adjoining the car-parking area, where you can get good bargain !!!

We came out of the palace, pretty tired (though it was not so hot), and then proceeded to check-in to our hotel.

Hotel Roopa
We checked in at around 1:30 PM, and had lunch at the restaurant in the basement. Food was not worthy mentioning about. The hotel offers a good sight-seeing package covering these places. We decided not to use that, as I wanted to drive and explore. We took some rest and decided to proceed to KRS by around 3:00 PM.

KRS Dam
With google maps around, you never miss a spot. We had spotted the Mysore Clock tower, and I didn't miss it !

We went via Hunsur Road, BEML and then via KRS Town reached the spectacular dam. The parking area can accomodate about 1000 cars, and is very well maintained.


There is a boating facility just beside the dam, and you get to see the dam from pretty close spot.


One thing you will rue, is that no body is allowed to get on top of the dam, which I am sure would have offered a spectacular sight.
Then the walk down Brindavan Gardens was pretty relaxing with the saaral and the cool breeze.


We decided not to wait till the lighting, as we wanted to get a glimpse of the palace at Night. Reached hotel around 6:00 PM.


Palace@Night & Horse ride
Around 7:00 PM we had a casual walk from our hotel to the palace. Full lighting was not on, but even that was spectacular.


We took a horse ride to go around the palace, and it was very entertaining. The small took us explained the various places around and the history that he knows. His name was Sachin and we wished him all the best. Then we went around the KR Circle, KSIC shop and some other shops. Had dinner at "Forgot TBD", and had a nice rest at night.


Chamundi Hills
Next morning around 8:00 AM, we started to Chamundi Hills.


The road was very good, and you will love to drive in this mini ghat section.

YOu will be greeted by the statue of Mahishasura at the entrance to the temple -


Carparking was bit of a problem, but we managed a space for our i10. The temple is very neatly maintained. There are free entrance, Rs. 20 and Rs. 1oo tickets. On Sunday, there was heavy rush, so we took the Rs. 100 ticket.



On the return, we saw some nice views of Mysore city, and took the route to see the Nandi Temple (at the base of the hill).

You can also find a cave temple of Lord Shiva at the Nandi Temple.

Then we got some silk mark shirts for me at KSIC. Then checked out of the hotel at aournd 2:00, and started on our way back. We also saw the Philomena's church on our way back -


We saw a number of restaurants on the highway, when going to Mysore so thought that we could have lunch at Adigas (just after Maddur). I must say, that the facilies (car parking, seating) and food was just excellent.


We also saw the famous Kengal Anjaneyaswamy temple, and took a glimpse from outside -


Just near Kengeri, we observed one Golden Panchamugha Vinayar temple, and the idol, just caught my eye -


After wading through heavy traffic before City Market Flyover, reached home at 6:00 PM.

Reflecting on the memories of Mysore, it was a calm city, with a lot of circles (rountanas) all over. The people of Mysore are very friendly, be the waiters at the restaurants, the shopkeepers or even the traffic police for that matter. I loved the indications everywhere, you would never get lost even if you try hard to. As I had said earlier, all roads led me to the Mysore Palace (at the heart of the city). Indeed visiting Mysore would be a refreshing choice for a weekend out of Bangalore.

Chikka Tirupati Temple

Chikka Tirupati is located in Malur taluk of Kolar district. The main attraction of Chikka Tirupati is Sri Prasanna Venkateshwara temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The lord is standing with his consort Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi. The right hand is in Varada hasta (the boon granting hand). Chikka Tirupati is visited by many pilgrims during the month of Shravana (July - August).

History of Chikka Tirupati
Agni’, the fire god, during the incineration (dahana) of the forest of herbs (khandava vana), causes burn injuries to the serpent god Takshaka. Takshaka bestows Agni with a curse that he lose his power’. A perturbed Agni went to Lord Krishna, who suggested that the way out for him is to please Lord Vishnu, who can restore his power. So Agni gets the ’shaapa-vimochana’ by performing a penance and pleasing Vishnu. With great joy, Agni built a temple for Lord Venkateswara at Chikka Tirupathi. The lord here is aptly named as ‘Prasanna Venkateshwara’. All the festivals that are held at Tirupathi are also held here.

Route
There are three options to go to Chikka tirupati depending on exits from Bangalore :

1. KR Puram – Hoskote – NH 4 – 1km – right turn towards Malur – 24 km – pass through malur town – railway bridge – right turn – Chikka tirupati is 20 km from there. total distance from Hoskote – 45 km – good roads except vicinity of Malur town.
2. Whitefield road – ITPL – Hope farm circle – straight – 40 km – good / village roads / occasional pot holes
3. St John’s Hospital – Sarjapur road -30 km – pass through sarjapur town ( market / bus stand ) – left turn – 13 km to Chikka tirupati. average roads – 50 / 60 km/hr.
Shortest route to Chikka Tirupathi is via Whitefield – ITPL route and road seems to be quite decent now.
I travelled via Whitefield - Channasandra - Kalkunte Agrahara - Chikka Tirupathi. Return via Sarjapura - Dommsandra - Karmelarama - Iblur - Bellandur Gate - outer Ring Road. Alternatively, you can also take the right durn from Dommasandra to proceed to Marathahalli via Hegondanalhalli - Gunjut - Varthur Lake - Varthur.

Location / Route-map

View Larger Map

Watch-out for
Nice 2 hour break from the city
Lush green fields along the countryside
Fresh Vegetable vendors on the roadside
High rise flats @ Sarjapur
On the way back, you can also visit the Kalkunte Ranganathaswamy temple (I actually missed them) -
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalkunte
* http://rameshjs.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/kalkunte-agrahara-sri-ranganatha-perumal-temple/


Pics
Though there are lots of Photos of Chikka Tirupathi on the web, I am posting few of them, that I took.

Kovilammalpuram

Just to post an update, I have started a separate blog cum micro-site on Kovilammalpuram, and have moved the photos and slideshows from here to that site. Please visit - http://kovilammalpuram.blogspot.com/.

Amma's Birthday

Yesterday was our Amma's birthday. To my pleasant surprise, my wife wanted to buy and cut a cake. Though my bus was late because of the rain in Bangalore, we managed to get a cake from a nearby bakery, with the words "Happy Birthday Amma".

We cut the cake and took video of the same and it was all fun. We wanted to visit the temple, but could not do so because of the rain. All that mattered for us was the hug from our mother and we enjoyed it.