Kerala: Muthanga

Lovely Muthanga

Author: Aarabhi 

Photographer: Vasistha

“Kee… kee... kee...!”

The shrill shriek of a night bird jolted me awake from a restless snooze. Disoriented, I blearily forced my peepers open only to see nothing but darkness. Unable to decide whether my eyes were open or still closed, I fumbled for my cell phone and squinted at the time. It was 4.30 am and the bloody bus I was aboard was standing still. Annoyed, I poked my dad in the neighboring lumpy torture contraption mistakenly called a seat and asked him what was up. He replied: “It’s night time for the critters, dear. We aren’t allowed to enter the forest from 2.30 to 6 am. We’ll be stuck here at Gundlupet, the edge of Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary till then.”

Disgruntled, I drifted back asleep and woke up some time later to the bumpy ride of the bus and the  sight of my husband Vasistha fumbling with the dials and knobs of his favorite toy- his Nikon P500 camera. Disappointingly, he couldn’t sight any wild animal in the jungle beside our road. No wonder the awful racket all the traffic on this road were scaring them all off. Not a very auspicious beginning to the trip our family was embarking on for the next 11 days. My husband, in-laws, parents, sister-in-law, her family and I were on a road trip, crisscrossing across 8 districts of Kerala and Rameswaram, Kanyakumari and Madurai in TN.

This trip was planned by Vasistha’s acquaintance Mr. Anil Raj of Cochin. Minutely extremely well planned & covering plenty of places he had allocated us a very good Tempo Traveller & an equally good driver, Sajan.

After a quick bath and coffee at Sulthan Bathery we entered the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary for our one hour wild safari. Our tribal guide Suresh dressed in a camouflage green Pro-Wilderness uniform met us at the jeep and off we went merrily into the woods that were as Wordsworth said “lovely, dark and deep”.

Herds of spotted deer in frequent intervals peppered sightings of Sambar deer, wild boars, Gaurs (Indian Bison), and a variety of birds. 

Spotting a group of peahens we all started exclaiming loudly. Shushing us, Suresh explained that two of these birds were in fact male. Our misunderstanding about their sex was, due to the fact that these guys had shed their tail feathers for the rainy season and thus, were indistinguishable from their female counterparts.

Bemoaning the fact that we hadn’t spotted any tigers or such rare animals we had just about given up hope when Vashu called out: “STOP!” 

We screeched to a halt on the muddy road and backed up the jeep. A lone elephant was munching leaves. Overcome with excitement, Vashu reached for the door handle, only to be chastised by Suresh: “It’s a trouble maker Sir! He’ll chase us if you get down. His minimum running speed is 40 kmph; so don’t take any chances.”

We had to be satisfied with a distant look at the majestic animal. This was truly an enriching experience……

Yashwant Deshpande's Drama - "All the Best"

ಲೇಖಕರು:   ರಜನಿ

ಬರಹಕ್ಕೆ:    ಜಗನ್ನಾಥ

ಅಂದು ಒಂದ್ಸಂಜೆ ನನ್ನ ಮಗ ಆಫೀಸ್ನಿಂದ ಬಂದಾಗ ಬಹಳ ಉತ್ಸಾಹದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಂತೆ ಕಂಡ. ಏನೋ! ಈವತ್ತು ಇಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಖುಷಿ ಕಾಣಿಸ್ತಿದೆ, ನಿನ್ನ ಮುಖದಲ್ಲೀಂದೆ. ಅವನ ಮುಖ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ಬೆಳಗ್ತು.

ಅಮ್ಮಾ, ನಾಳೆಯಿಂದ ನಾಲ್ಕು ದಿನ ರಜಾ ಮಜಾಂದ. ಓಹೋ! ಇದಾ ನಿನ್ನ ಉತ್ಸಾಹಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾರ್ಣ ಎಂದೆ. ಅದಕ್ಕವನು ನಿನಗೆ ಅಲ್ ದಿ ಬೆಸ್ಟ್ ಅಂದಾಗ ನನಗೆ ಅಚ್ಚರಿ - ನಾನೇನು ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆಗೆ ಹೋಗ್ತಿದ್ದೀನಾ ಎಂದೆ ಅರ್ಥವಾಗದೆ.

ಅಯ್ಯೋ ಅಮ್ಮಾ ಆಲ್ ದಿ ಬೆಸ್ಟ್ ನಾಟಕದ ಪ್ರದರ್ಶನ ನಡೀತಾ ಇದೆ ರವೀಂದ್ರ ಕಲಾಕ್ಷೆತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ, ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ನಿನ್ನನ್ನ ಕರ್ಕಂಡುಹೋಗ್ತೀನಿ ಅಂದಾಗ ನಿಜವಾಗ್ಲೂ ಸಂತೋಷ ಆಯ್ತು. ನಾಟ್ಕ ನೋಡಿ ಬಹಳ ದಿವ್ಸ ಆಗಿದೆ, ನಡೀ ಈವತ್ತೇ ಸಂಜೆ ಹೋಗೋಣಾಂದೆ. ನನಗೆ ರವೀಂದ್ರ ಕಲಾಕ್ಷೇತ್ರವನ್ನೂ ನೋಡೋ ಹಂಬ್ಲನೂ ಇತ್ತಲ್ವೆ?

ನಾನು, ಮಗ, ಮಗಳು, ಮೊಮ್ಮಗಳು ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಸಂಜೆ ರ. ಕಲಾಮಂದ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಜೆ ೬=೦೦ ಘಂಟೆ ಷೋಗೆ ಹೋದ್ವು.ಉಚಿತ ಪ್ರವೇಶ ಅಲ್ವೆ. ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೇಯಿಂದ ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಬರೋಕೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಮಾತ್ರ ಖರ್ಚು ಅಲ್ವೇ.

ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಅಕಾಡಮಿ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯವರು ಉಚಿತ ನಾಟಕ ಪ್ರದರ್ಶನ ಆಯೋಜಿಸಿದ್ರು. ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಧಾರವಾಹಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಟಿಸುವ ಬಿ.ವಿ.ರಾಜಾರಾಂ ನಾಟಕದ ರೂವಾರಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದು ಎಲ್ವೂ ಅಚ್ಕಟ್ಟಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಮೂಲ ಮರಾಠೀ ನಾಟಕಾನ ಕನ್ನಡಿಕರಿಸಿ ನಿರ್ದೇಶನ ಮಾಡ್ದ್ದವ್ರು ಯಶವಂತ ದೇಶಪಾಂಡೆ. ಅವರ ನಿರ್ದೇಶನದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಟ್ಕ ೬೦೦ ಕ್ಕೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಪ್ರದರ್ಶನ ಕಂಡಿದೆ ಅಂದ್ರೆ ನಿಜಕ್ಕೂ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆ ವಿಚಾರ ಅಲ್ವೆ.

ಒಬ್ಬ ಕಿವ್ಡ, ಒಬ್ಬ ಮೂಗ, ಒಬ್ಬ ಕುರ್ಡ ಒಂದೇ ಸೂರಿನಡೀಲಿ ವಾಸಿಸ್ತಾ ಇರ್ತಾರೆ. ಮೂರೂ ಜನ ಬಹಳ ಬುದ್ಧಿವಂತ್ರು, ಪ್ರತಿಭಾವಂತ್ರು. ಆದರೆ ಅವ್ರೆಲ್ಲಾ ತಮ್ಮ ತಮ್ಮ ಅಂಗವಿಕಲತೆಯನ್ನೇ ನೆನೀತಾ ಮಾನಸಿಕವಾಗಿ ದುರ್ಬಲರಾಗ್ತಾರೆ. ಅಕಸ್ಮಾತ್ತಾಗಿ ಕುರುಡನಿಗೆ ಒಬ್ಳು ಆದರ್ಶ ಹುಡ್ಗಿಯ ಭೇಟಿ ಆಗ್ತದೆ. ಮನೆಗೆ ಬಂದು ಮೂವರನ್ನೂ ಭೇಟಿ ಆಗ್ತಾಳೆ. ಅವರ ಪ್ರತಿಭೆ ಗುರ್ತ್ಸಿ ಅವರ ಕೀಳರಿಮೆ ತೆಗೆದು ಜೀವನ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಂದೆ ಬರ್ಲು ಪ್ರೋತ್ಸಾಹಿಸ್ತಾಳೆ. ಅವರೋ ತಮ್ತಮ್ಮ ಮನಸ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಅವ್ಳು ತನ್ನನ್ನೇ ಪ್ರೀತಿಸ್ತಿದ್ದಾಳೆ ಅಂಥ ಭಾವಿಸ್ತಾ ಅವಳು ಬಂದಾಗ್ಲೆಲ್ಲಾ ವಿಪರೀತ ಸಂಭ್ರಮ ತೋರಿಸ್ತಾ ತಮ್ಮ ಅಂಗದೋಷ ಮರಿಸ್ತಾ ಅವಳ ಒಲುವನ್ನ ಗಳಿಸೋ ತರಾತುರೀಲಿ ಅವರು ಮಾಡೋ ಅಂಗಚೇಷ್ಟೆ, ನಡೆ, ನುಡಿಗಳು ಅದೆಷ್ಟು ಹಾಸ್ಯಮಯವಾಗಿತ್ತೂಂದ್ರೆ ನಮಗೆ ನಕ್ಕೂ ನಕ್ಕೂ ಹೊಟ್ಟೆ ಹಿಡ್ಕೋಂಡ್ಬಿಡ್ತು. ಇಡೀ ರಂಗಮಂದ್ರ ನಗೆಗಡ್ಲಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಳುಗಿತ್ತು. ಉತ್ತರ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆ ವೈಖರಿಯೇ ಆ ನಾಟ್ಕದ ಜೀವಾಳ. ಅವರಾಡೋ ಭಾಷೆ ಸೊಗಡು ಅವರು ಮಾಡ್ತಿದ್ದ ಅಂಗಚೇಷ್ಟೆಗೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಹೊಂದುತ್ತಿತ್ತಾದ್ರಿಂದ  ನಾಟ್ಕ ವಿಜೃಂಭಿಸಲು ಸಹಾಯಕವಾಗ್ತಿದೆ ಅನ್ನಿಸ್ತು.

ಅಂತ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಆ ಮೂವರೂ ನಾಯ್ಕಿಯ ಬಳೀಲಿ ತಮ್ಮ ಒಲುವನ್ನ ಹೇಳ್ಕೊಲ್ತಾರೆ. ಆಗ ಆ ನಾಯ್ಕಿ ಅವರ್ನ ನಿರಾಶೆಗೊಳಿಸೋದಕ್ಕೆ  ಕ್ಷಮೆ ಕೇಳ್ತಾ ತಾನು ಎರಡೂ ಕಾಲ್ಗಳಿಲ್ಲದ ಒಬ್ಬನನ್ನ ಮದುವೆ ಆಗ್ತಿರೋದಾಗಿ ತಿಳಿಸ್ತಾಳೆ. ಅವರನ್ನ ಸ್ನೇಹಿತರಾಗಿ ಭಾವಿಸಿ ಅವರ ಪ್ರತಿಭೆ ಗುರ್ತ್ಸಿ ಸಮಾಜ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಂದೆ ಬರೋಕೆ ಪ್ರೋತ್ಸ್ಶಿಸೋದೇ ತನ್ನ ಉದ್ದೇಶ ಆಗಿತ್ತು ಅಂಥ ತಿಳಿಸ್ತಾಳೆ. ಅಂಗ ದೋಷ ಏನೇ ಇದ್ರೂ ಅದನ್ನೇ ದೊಡ್ದು ಮಾಡ್ಕೊಂಡು ಕೀಳರಿಮೆಯಿಂದ ಬಳಲೋದು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಇರೋ ಪ್ರತಿಭೆ ಗುರಿತಿಸ್ಕೊಂಡು ಸಾಧನೆ ಹಾದೀಲಿ ಸಾಗಬೇಕು ಅನ್ನೋದನ್ನ ನಮ್ಗೂ (ಸಮಾಜಕ್ಕೂ) ಸಾರ್ತಾಳೆ. ಒಂದು ಸುಂದರ ಸಂದೇಶನ ಹಾಸ್ಯದ ಔತಣದಲ್ಲೇ ಉಣಬಡಿಸಿದೋರು ಯಶವಂತ ದೇಶಪಾಂಡೆ. ಕುರುಡನ ಪಾತ್ರಧಾರಿ, ಕಿವುಡನ ಪಾತ್ರಧಾರಿ (ಸ್ವತಃ ಯಶವಂತ ದೇಶಪಾಂಡೆ) ಹಾಗೂ ಮೂಕನ ಪಾತ್ರಧಾರಿಗಳು ನಾಟ್ಕಕ್ಕೆ ಜೀವ ತುಂಬಿದ್ರು.

ನಾಯಕಿಯ ಪಾತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿನಿಮಾಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಟಿಸೋ ಕಲಾವಿದೆ ಮಾಲತಿ ದೇಶಪಾಂಡೆ ಸೊಗಸಾಗಿ ನಿರಾಯಾಸವಾಗಿ ನಟಿಸಿದ್ರು. ನಾಟ್ಕ ನೋಡಿ ನಿಜ ಅರ್ಥದಲ್ಲಿ ಆನಂದಿಸಿ ಮನೆ ಕಡೆ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆ ಹಾಕ್ದಾಗ ಮನಸ್ಸು ಹೂನಂತೆ ಅರಳಿತ್ತು.

Photo courtesy : http://naatakapaataka.wordpress.com/

First Birthday After Marriage !!!

Author: Aarabhi

Photography: Vasistha

“Knock, Knock!”

I was surprised to find Sindhu, my sister-in-law, her husband Srikanth and my 5 year old niece, Sameeksha at the doorstep. I smelt a rat as it was 9.30pm and we weren’t expecting anybody at this late hour.

My mother-in-law and we all were just sitting down for a cup of coffee when there was another knock at the door. I walked to it with a goofy expression expecting Vashu to be on the other side. It was my birthday and I was glad he’d been able to get home at least now instead of the 10.30 I was expecting.

On opening the door my excitement dimmed a little seeing him standing there with the lines of tiredness clear on his face. “Could you get me a glass of water?” he asked.

I hurried into the kitchen and turned around to find him sporting an ear-to-ear grin and holding a large cake in his hands!

Samee was running circles around everybody singing the Happy Birthday song. Gloriously surprised and pleased he’d spared time and effort to get the cake; I mirrored his expression as I fetched the knife. No sooner did Samee see the knife, she grabbed it from my hands and sprang forward all a flutter to cut the cake herself.

Noticing there weren’t any candles on the cake; Samee exclaimed “How old are you Mami? 4 or 5?”

All us adults stared at each other’s faces and burst out laughing. Amidst the peals of laughter I replied “No dear! I ‘m not 4, I’m 24.”

“Two-four twenty four?” she asked. 

On receiving a positive reply from me she started clapping and counting- one, two, three…. And so on till twenty four.

Enjoying Samee’s antics and the delicious cake the time passed quickly and soon it was time for her to leave.

Putting on her shoes she hit me with her best punch line to-date “Where’s my gift Mami?”

I stared at her flabbergasted, unsure what she meant by that. It took us all a minute to realize that she meant the return gifts she’d come to expect at the birthday parties she’d previously attended!

All in all, this made up wonderful memories for a rainy day.   

LEPAKSHI - A Beautiful House of GOD

Author: Aarabhi
Pics: Vasistha

 “5 am on a Sunday morning? You’ve go to be kidding me!” I said.

“Yup. Sleep tight. It’s already 11.30 pm and you’ve to be bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow!” replied Vasistha.

I huffed and puffed and rolled over hoping I fell asleep soon or I would be all droopy on our trip to the ancient temple at Lepakshi in AP, 125km from Bangalore.

Expecting a steaming sun and a mild morning, Vashu and I set off on our bike in only our T-shirts and jeans and a backpack with plenty of water.

Crossing the signal at Jakkur on the airport road, we could not see even two feet ahead of us. The mist was so dense! Figuring it would all clear in a few minutes as the sun came up, we didn’t think of pulling on any kind of protection.

An hour later, we were paying dearly for our mistake. Vashu’s helmet and his T-shirt were soaking wet. Both of our extremities were numb and Vashu’s hands were frozen stiff to the bike’s handlebars. All my makeup was running down my face and onto Vashu’s pristine white T-shirt.

Don’t get me wrong! It wasn’t raining! All this was due to the mist liquefying on all our belongings and on our bodies.

 

We were forced to stop at a roadside petty shop for some desperately needed warmth from some hot tea and spicy botis.

Braving the elements, we soldiered on till we neared Thirnahalli where within minutes the mists cleared and we were treated to an amazing vista of a long road stretching ahead like the coils of a snake ahead of us.

We stopped at Chikkaballapur for breakfast and drove on the wonderfully smooth NH7 till Bagepalli. Turning left at the check post at Bagepalli we drove for 16km and came upon an awe inspiring Monolithic Nandi.

This Nandi is more than twice a man’s height and is said to be the second largest monolithic Nandi in India. The grounds around the Nandi are well maintained and clean. A small pond with gorgeous pink lilies is a welcome sight among the lawns.

A little further into the village we found the Lepakshi temple built on a rise.

Legend has it that Rama, during the course of his search for his consort Sita, found the dying eagle Jatayu at this place. Jatayu who had sustained injuries in his confrontation with Ravana was breathing his last. Rama asked Jatayu to rise (Le-pakshi) so that he could free his soul. The first word addressed to the bird in Telugu is what the place is known by- ‘Lepakshi’{book ref : Temples of South India by Sunil Vaidyanathan}.

There are three levels of the temple. The main entrance leads to a large outer yard with enclosing walls like a fortress. The next level is a pillared hall and then comes the inner hall which has the garbhagriha with a statue of Veerabhadraswamy. 

One of the strange things about this temple is that the pillars of the outer hall have a queer shape. Roughly triangular, these pillars have a curved concave base. The carvings on each face of the pillar continue around the edges to the next face. These statues are larger than life and seem almost alive.

I was so engrossed in the walls that I had forgotten the roof! Vasistha pointed out the 500 year old frescoes on the ceiling. It is said that the patterns and designs in the carvings and frescoes inspire the famous Lepakshi borders of silk sarees. Made from natural colors, the paintings are vivid and fantastic.

The main deity of this temple, Veerabhadraswamy was called upon to kill King Daksha, the father of Goddess Dakshayini and thus his moorthy is very ugra (angry). The main entrance of the temple is set a little to the left of the garbhagriha. Also, the wall opposite the garbhagriha is very high. All this has been designed to protect the village from the angry gaze of the deity.

The main hall which houses Veerabhadraswamy is again very unusual. The statue of Goddess Dakshayini is carved onto a slanting rock face at an odd angle to the rough hewn granite walls of the inner hall. We can clearly see her only as a reflection in the mirror hung on the wall. She also does not have a separate garbhagriha. There are numerous small garbhagrihas around the main deity. They house many shivalingas and many incarnations of the holy mother.

The largest of these garbhagrihas is strangely unsymmetrical with no deity or even a ledge in it. Another weird feature is a magnificent Ganapathy carved into a rock which is at an angle of around 40° with the wall. So, you have to turn into a corner to see the Ganesha!

Stepping out into the outer courtyard we could see a huge linga carved out of a single granite boulder resting on a beautifully detailed seven headed serpent.

One more special feature here is a giant footmark sunk in stone whose big toe is always full of water. It is said to be Lord Rama’s. Wondering about the physique of the owner of this large footprint, we wandered around to the front hoping to catch a few more shots on our cam. Snapping away on our camera, we did not realize we were running low on our battery and it soon died on us. Thankfully we had covered most of the temple by then.

Disappointed that we couldn’t stay longer, we trudged back home with fond memories and vowed to come again better prepared.

Jumbo Love

Our next stop was Pinnawela. The elephant orphanage here is one of its kind in the world.

Among the Giants

Minefield victim

The inhabitants are the sick, orphaned, wounded and maimed. Take the three legged jumbo, for example. He lost his leg in a mine field blast a few years ago. Unable to survive in the wild, he was brought here to be nursed back to health. He even had a prosthesis fixed up using the funds donated by a wealthy European. Unfortunately, the leg didn’t stay put. Now, he manages with a limp.

Fun and frolic in the river

There are 70 odd elephants in the orphanage.The funds for the food, hygiene, and health requirements are generated from the entrance fees of the place and from the sale of exquisite craft products such as paper, coasters, elephant figurines etc. made from, hold your breath, elephant dung!

For more Pics visit : ElephantOrphanage and ElephantDungShop

                                                                                                                  To Be Contd...

A Break in the Clouds!

August 26, 2010

We left Camelot early on Thursday morning with a packed breakfast of fruit and bread (Unfortunately, that’s the only option at all the hotels in Lanka for us veggies except for the places like Kandy and Nuwera Eliya which have good tamilian restaurants).

By this time Henry had discovered the fact that we were honeymooning and had made the effort to book a really good room and to alert the staff at the Sigiriya hotel. This really made Sigiriya the highlight of our trip.

Beautifully made-up bed @ Sigiriya

Simha Giri (Sigiriya)

My first sighting of the 500ft high monolith- Sigiriya (Simha Giri or Lion Rock) was a beautiful lake filled with lily blooms and the great rock rising like a sun in the background; it was awe inspiring.

Sigiriya was a fortress of the exiled king Kashyap in the 5^th century B.C. He had committed patricide for the throne and was in ill favor with his people and the Buddhist religious leaders. He required many safeguards against his numerous enemies, so he built his palace on top of this rock and further protected it by building walls around it. The outer wall is 16ft high with a crocodile filled moat in the middle and an equally high inner wall. Only the foundations of these can be seen today.

Outer wall, moat, Inner wall.

There are intricate and extensive pleasure gardens with water fountains and swimming pools on either side of the main pathway leading to the steps up the monolith.

The unique feature of this place was the hydraulic pressure system which was used for the fountains and also to pump water 500ft high to the king’s palace. An engineering marvel, the working and design of the pressure stations remain a mystery to the best minds in UNESCO even today.

Drip Ledges

As we were trying to digest this fact, we came across another interesting feature. A niche meant for a statue of the Buddha in the rock face at the foothill. This niche has two successive drip ledges which are nothing but abrupt breaks in the rock’s slope.; the function of which is to protect the statue by preventing rain water from dripping into the area below the overhang and marring the beautiful frescoes on the walls behind the statue

Babylonian concubines of King Kashyap

We began the backbreaking climb and were totally out of breath halfway up the extremely steep steps, where a wall full of amazingly lifelike life size paintings of Kashyap’s many concubines was a welcome break. Distinctive features of face like the eyes and the color show that they were of many different races- Sri Lankan, Mongolian, Babylonian, African etc.

Lion's Paw Staircase

Further up, there is a Lion’s paw shaped entryway. The face of the lion too was carved into the rock but it is not easily visible due to erosion over the centuries.

The palace on the top used to be an impregnable wonder. The king did not carve any steps up to it; instead, he used to order his underlings to pull him up by ropes; which was one of the many defensive techniques employed for his safety. BUT, we are no kings, so no underlings to pull us up. We still went up. Wonder how? No big mystery here- we just used the modern steel staircase courtesy the Sri Lankan Archeological Department.
The two notable features of the palace are: a beautifully carved stone throne and a natural swimming pool for the King. 

The view from the top!

The amazing sea of green 360° around the rock made the punishing climb worth our while. The breathtaking view from the top is the best thing about Sigiriya.

Feeling completely wiped out, we relaxed a little by spending some time splashing about in the king’s pool.

On our way down, we came across the king’s audience hall. A huge rock was cut in half and laid down so that the flat edge forms the upper platform for the king and his ministers. Those who sought an audience with the kind could approach from the lower level. As we were checking out this neat little piece of work, out of the blue a hawker approached us; holding a jewelry box and proposing a deal- if we could figure out how to open the box we could have it for free. Very much interested, but short on cash since we weren’t planning on doing any shopping that day, we agreed to give it a try.

On pushing, prodding and prying the box umpteen times in n different directions, we gave up. The guy then demonstrated the trick, showing us the cleverly hidden groove that unlocks the box’s mechanism and quoted SLR 4000 as the price. Vashu haggled the price down to 2500, expecting him to refuse. Wonder of wonders- he snapped it up! We thus became the proud owners of a wooden elephant who had a secret chamber in his belly.


For more pics visit : Srilanka Sigiriya
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Sri Lanka - First Day, First Show

“Anywhere but there!” exclaimed my dad when Vashu and I told him about our painstakingly researched Sri Lankan honeymoon itinerary. No sooner did we convince both sets of parents that we weren’t suicidal to think of honeymooning in a war-torn country, we started getting disdainful reactions from everyone who heard of our choice of place. 

          “Sri Lanka mein kya hai?” asked Varsha. Rekha tried putting it a bit more delicately- “Did you take enough time to decide on a good place or not? Don’t be in a hurry; it’s after all a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

Both Vashu and I badly wanted to prove all the naysayers wrong. But I only hoped our "Great Expectations” didn’t turn out to be as drab as a Dickensian one.

Sri Lanka was completely a trip of firsts for both Vashu and I. Our first time on board a flight, first time abroad and not to forget our first few memorable days purely in each others arms.

Landing at the Bangaranayake International Airport at Katunayake, Sri Lanka, the first thing that struck us was the cleanliness. I’d never seen such a clean and well maintained public space in all my time in India. So used to large crowds everywhere, the airport seemed surprisingly less crowded.

Henry with his Pride & Joy

We met Henry, our great guide cum chauffer at the exit and promptly fell in love with his supremely comfy Toyota Corolla with its equally great number plate (WP JS 7878).

August 25, 2010

The first stop was Negombo, a city on the west coast, slightly north of Colombo.

We checked into the Camelot beach hotel and were led into a room that was, to put it kindly, uninspired. Burnt sienna and cobalt blue combination is really not my thing! 

Going down to the hotel restaurant, Vashu nearly had a fit seeing the buffet price tag- a whopping SLR 1300 per head! “Par kya kare? Bhook bhi to koi chees hoti hai!” 

Moral of the story- Look for food/ internet/ and anything else you require outside the hotel if you don’t need burnt pockets.

Bridge on River Maadhu

Fishing Boats, Negombo

Touring Negombo city was off-putting. Nothing much to see or do here. I could see our Great Expectations crumbling and could almost hear my friends loud “I told you so!”

Then came the silver lining to our dark clouds- Sigiriya, a world heritage site.

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Written By: Aarabhi

Photography By: Vasistha

Bhoga Nandeshwara - A weekend trip near Bangalore

Author: AARABHI
Photography: VASISTHA

"Shall we go out this Sunday?" my fiancée asked me. I said yes (who wouldn't?).

We decided to surf the net for a suitable spot and he sent me a link of a blog on Bhoganandeeshwara temple. The moment I laid my eyes on the temple photo, I was sold!

So, the destination decided, we left Hebbal around 8 am on a breezy April day and wound our way along the airport highway on our bike. A wide wide road uncluttered by Bangalore traffic led us to the Airport turn-off on the left. A little past this and past the enchanting but unfinished Jain temple which is hard to miss we reached a left turn leading towards Nandi hills.

Traveling along this road, we passed charming villages and grape orchards with the farmers selling the grapes by the roadside. Both the seedless black grapes and the green ones (with the seeds) are available in mouth-watering colors and quantities. You just might need to bargain for the best price and buy it on your way back home as it'll be tiring to lug it along on the outing.

This road leads to a T junction where we took a right towards the temple following a helpful signboard of The Archeological Survey of India. 

The temple itself dates back to the Chola period with its age approximating to 1300 years. 

A fort-like outer wall encloses a huge courtyard with a driveway leading straight to an arch of beautiful stonework. 

What catches the eye is, a couple of rows of stone chariot wheels arranged as if awaiting a chariot to alight on them any minute!

A "Mahanavami Dibba", in ruins, but being restored, lies next to these wheels. It was used for utsavas and such gatherings in the golden days.

We espied a small kalyani with steep steps next to the dibba and eagerly headed towards it only to find green sludgy bog at the bottom of the structure. 

The other side of the driveway holds a kutty “Darbar hall”. Still being restored, it is not a pretty sight, but particular features catch the eye such as the popular motif of the Cholas, sculpture of “The Lion”.

Entering the arch, we came to an inner courtyard. The one commendable thing is that the whole temple complex is remarkably clean. No garbage or unsightly graffiti in sight. This came as a pleasant surprise to us. The main temple at the centre holds stunning masonry. The pillars in front of the sanctum-sanctorum are especially beautiful. A narrow passage for “Pradakshina” around the sannidhi has wall carvings from Shaivite mythology.

 

We got busy clicking our way through these beauties and proceeded to photograph the temple “Gopuram”. 

A “Kamateshwara Temple” beside a quaint old well held a small but amazingly life-like Nandhi”.

The “Apita Kuchamba Temple” dedicated to the heavenly consort of Lord Shiva, goddess Durga, is also in the vicinity.

Other structures in the courtyard include the “Tulabhara Mantapa” and the “Vasantha Mantapa”. 

The best feature of this temple is the “Shringi Thirtha”. It is a big kalyani with steep cut steps. It is said that the Dakshina-Pinakini (South Pennar River) flows from this pond. It is a masterful engineering work. The geometry and exact proportions of the square pool make the modern architectural techniques seem like mere child’s play.

After breaking our fast beside the unfortunately dry Shringi Thirtha, we headed back out of the temple only to catch sight of these amazing birds in the outer compound!

The Hoopoe on the tree led me on a merry chase across the courtyard, abandoning my fiancée to his own devices. I would stop to focus and it would fly off to a different tree the next minute!

The White-cheeked Barbets had a neat little cavity nest in an almond tree. It looked like the busy couple was feeding a flock of little ones as they flitted in and out of the nest rapidly allowing me only a few misplaced shots of them.

A pair of sparrows, a really rare sight in Bangalore was also a treat for my camera.

Muddenhalli- the birthplace of Bharatratna Sir M Visveswariah, is just a couple of kilometers from the temple.

This village has the old hose of Sir M V which has been converted into a small museum.

We enquired our way to the building only to find the board “State Bank of Mysore”!

On entering we realized that the branch entrance is through the front hall of the house with the indoor steps leading to the first floor.

This anomaly didn’t make much sense until we realized that Sir M V was this bank’s founding father!

His century old passbook of SBM is framed and proudly displayed in the museum.

Numerous felicitations and gifts received by Sir M V, including the much acclaimed Bharat

Ratna are also displayed.

Other things to be seen are his book collection, lots of articles published about him in newspapers, and other small but fascinating details about his life and activities.

His samadhi is next door to the museum and is a very peaceful place with a neat little park around it.

All in all, it was an informative visit. A must see for those wishing to know more about the great visionary.

Directions:

• We started at 8am from Hebbal and drove a non-stop motorcycle marathon along the highway.
• We took a left turn from the main road about 12kms past the “Airport turn-off”. A direction board saying “Nandi Hills” is the landmark for the turning.
• This road leads to a T-junction and a board directed us to the right towards B temple. The temple is about 15km from the Chikkaballapur main road.

We reached the temple around 9 or 9.30am, so it is an hour and half’s drive from Hebbal.

What?

An ancient temple (Bhoganandeeshwara temple), a museum ( House of Sir M Visveswariah converted now into a Museum in his memory).

Where?

About 50km from Bangalore. At the foothills of Nandi Hills.

Who?

Suitable for the solitary traveler seeking solitude to a large family or friends group, including couples.

When?

Best time of the year- Sept/Oct when the rainfall would have ensured a full Kalyani.

Otherwise, anytime is fine.

To Do:

Admire fantastic sculpture and understand a great man whose thinking was far ahead of his time.

Not to Do:

Sully the painstakingly carved sculptures and defile the sacred surrounds.

Check out http://picasaweb.google.com/vasistatravel/BhogaNandeshwara for more pics on BhogaNandeshwara