Kaushik's Blog
PhoBlost i.e., Photo-Blog-Post is a series of posts with pictures, taken by me, pertaining to a topic, place, or event.
Dandeli
Dandeli is green little, rocky town along the banks of the swift Kali river, in northern Karnataka. These pictures were taken by me, during a short visit to Dandeli.
God Bless
Every ‘soul’ that owes its existence on this earth, would yearn to wander i.e, roam around, at times, and soujourn i.e, stay calm, at times. The definition of soul, is at times, beyond what can be comprehended by our mind. One such beautiful soul, is the river Cauvery, also spelled as Kaveri, who has captivated many other souls, by her grace and bounty.
This blog post, is more of a photo blog, travelling along the river Kaveri, from its source at Talakaveri to its ultimate destination, the great Bay of Bengal.
I have had the opportunity to visit many significant spots along the river, and capture some beautiful moments, which I wish to post here!
A previous blogpost, explains much in detail, about Pichavaram – “Travelogue – Pichavaram“
God Bless
Thanjavur
The erstwhile grand capital of the Chola Kingdom, Thanjavur is an important trade and cultural hub of Tamil Nadu. With the river Kaveri flowing through the heart of it, surrounded by lush green paddy fields, doted by many temples, Thanjavur has so much to offer!
The most prominent, iconic identity of Thanjavur is the grand Brihadeeshwara Temple. This temple was constructed by Raja Raja Chola, the most illustrious among the Chola Dynasty. The temple, which is a magnificent and beautiful granite structure, is dedicated to Lord Shiva, as Brihadeeshwarar.
Here I go, with the pictorial description of the temple, the grandness of which, cannot be justified with any mere words!
The grandness of the temple can be realized, only by paying a visit and respect to the vision and labor of the several hands, that made this wonder, stand the test of time, over a millennium, and going strong!
More about Thanjavur, coming up in the following post.
Cheers. God Bless.
In continuation of the previous post about Chidambaram, let’s travel to the Pichavaram mangrove forest!
Pichavaram is small coastal village, situated to the east of Chidambaram. The huge Kollidam river and the Vellar river pour into the Bay of Bengal here, forming two massive estuaries. Several sand bars are formed between these two estuaries, over which the mangrove trees flourish. The mangrove forest here, is the second largest in the world, with the Sundarbans being the largest.
There are many state and private operated boats, steamer and rowable, that take us for a ride through the mangrove forests, over the shallow waters.
The mangrove trees are quite hard and strong, than they appear to be. They support a variety of life forms within them, forming a major eco system of their own, within the marshland. There are also occasional trees of other variety nestled within these mangrove shrubs.
The boat operators are well versed with the routes, and they maneuver the boat smoothly. The water ways are quite shallow a places, with knee deep water, and deep at other places.
Thus said, Pichavaram is a must visit, for any adventure seeking traveler!
Cheers. God Bless.
Chidambaram
Our next destination, in the pilgrimage of Temple Tales would be Chidambaram. Being quite famous, Chidambaram doesn’t need any specific introduction at all!
The Thillai Nataraja Temple situated here, is one of the holiest shrines in Shaivite tradition. The generic term kovil (meaning temple) refers to this temple, in Shaivite tradition. Such is the importance and reverence attributed to this divine destination!
This temple, where Lord Vishnu resides as Govindaraja, is equally celebrated in the Vaishnavite tradition, with this place also referred to as Thiruchitrakoodam.
Chidambaram is an ancient town, situated on the northern bank of the mighty Kollidam river, which is a tributary of the river Kaveri.
This place is said to have been covered with Thillai (a variety of mangrove) trees, from which the name, Thillai Nataraja is derived.
The Thillai Nataraja Temple complex, is one of the largest temple complex in the world! The main shrine is dedicated to Lord Shiva, in his dancing form, Nataraja. Adjacent to this shrine, is that of Lord Vishnu, as Govindaraja. Goddess Parvathi is present here as Shivakamasundari, with a huge dedicated shrine. There are several other shrines within the temple complex for various other deities, and several mandapams (processional halls) where the several rituals are conducted.
Lord Shiva is worshiped here as the Lord of the Nether, among the Panchabootha (Five Elements of Nature – Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Nether) Shiva Temples. Attributing to this reason, there are vast open spaces in the temple complex.
The sanctum shrines of Nataraja and Govindaraja are constructed in the way of a high rise stage. Hence we are blessed with the vision of the Lordships from a distance. This set up is a unique beauty of this temple.
Speaking about the most important feature of this temple, there is an empty space next to Lord Nataraja in His sanctum. This space is referred to as Chidambara Ragasiyam (Secret of Chidambaram) As mentioned earlier, Shiva is worshiped as the Nether Lord in this shrine, and hence he is represented in this nether form.
Is it the Lord, who is present in every form, in our vision and apart? Or is it none, whom we refer to as God, present in the sanctum of the grandest of shrines? What do we see? What do we unsee? Whom do we see or unsee?………
The Chidambara Ragasiyam is quite elusive, which makes us rise more questions, that ultimately lead us to the answers, even for the questions unasked! No wonder, Chidambaram gets its name from the term Chit-Ambalam (Hall of Consciousness)
Resting over the strong stone pillars that support the equally strong columns, and pondering over the thoughts, take us to a trance, that cannot be described by words!
A few kilometers away from Chidambaram, is the mangrove forest of Pichavaram. This is the place, where the mighty Kollidam river pours into the Bay of Bengal. The mouth of the river is interspersed by several sand bars, with a dense mangrove forest, which is one of the largest mangrove sanctuary in the world. The sojourn at Pichavaram to be continued in the next post.
Cheers. God Bless.
Continuing from my previous posts, about the trip to Delhi, I start another series of posts – Temple Tales. Right now, i’m based at Mayiladuthurai, a vibrant town in the heart of Tamil Nadu. Mayiladuthurai is a temple town, with many temples, big and small abounding the neighborhood. It is also the base for visiting the various other popular temples, temple-circuit of Tamil Nadu.
Mayiladuthurai
Mayiladuthurai, which was earlier known as Mayavaram, Mayuram, is a vibrant town, situated on the banks of the river Kaveri. The place derives its name from Mayuranathar Temple, which is the largest of the many temples in Mayavaram.
Mayuranathar Temple is an ancient one, dedicated to Lord Shiva. Legend has it that, Parvathi in the form of a Peahen, worshiped Shiva. Hence, the Lord gets the name Mayura – Nathar (Peafowl – Lord). Historically it also mentioned that Mayavaram was abounded by peafowls.
Historically, the huge temple complex was built, re-built by the Chozha kings. And currently, it is administered by Dharumapura Adheenam, a Saivite monastic institution. The temple is situated about a kilometer to the south of the river Kaveri.
The temple is surrounded by North Madavilagam, South Madavilagam, Mela Veedhi (West Street) and Keela Veedhi (East Street), on the four sides, on each direction, as indicated by the names. The names of the streets, were found quite captivating. Usually temples have mada veedhis around them, as I had known, and these names were new to me!
Mayiladuthurai is also a bustling trade hub. There are several shops selling a variety of products. Owning to the temple circuit, there is huge inflow of pilgrims, and other tourists to this place, throughout the year.
The tales of this beautiful town, is to be continued, in the next post too.
Cheers. God Bless.
In continuation of the previous post Travelogue – Delhi, I carry on herewith with my next post, on the trip to Agra.
It was a misty Sunday morning, that we mobilized, to set out over the widespread Yamuna Expressway, enroute to Agra. The path was lined with occasional fields, some abandoned stations, grazing cattles, random buildings, Dhabas, huge electric transmission towers.. the list of interesting sightings are endless. Though these weren’t anything new to be seen, all of them had an inquisitive quality, which seemed as if they wanted to display to the South Indian visitors!
Too obvious to be said, our visit stop was at the Taj Mahal. The crowd to enter the fortified enclosure of the wonder, was quite huge, given the weekend, with about two hours being spent in the serpentine queue. Honestly speaking, I wasn’t that big a fan of the Taj Mahal, and have even commented on how over rated the building is! Well, the marble wonder, proved me wrong at the first live sight I had. The mausoleum stood calm, bathed in the shining rays of the sun. The monument seemed to grow in size, as we proceeded further towards it!
We got to spend some quality time relishing on the beauty in stone. The interior of the mausoleum housed the tombs (or replica) of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz. The mighty Yamuna was smoothly meandering along.
After spending some quality time with the Taj Mahal, we bid adieu to it, and moved to the Agra Fort. It was this, that came as a surprise. The Agra Fort Complex is one severely underrated destination/monument. Built of red stand stone, with interior chambers built of white marble, and also some splendid inlay works, this is yet another monument, matching (or should I say towering) the magnificence of the adjacent Taj Mahal!
The fort complex, was well designed with demarcated quarters for the royals, soldiers, public meetings, and various other Mughalistic occasions. The Mughals seemed to have a specific love towards setting up artificial water formations, that were designed in a quite interesting manner, be it the formations at the fort, or the fountains at Taj Mahal.
Another interesting feature of the Mughal architecture is the extensive usage of marble inlays, be it a fort, or a mausoleum, or a private chamber, or a public gateway!
Few other clicks of the majestic Agra Fort…
The sole day tour to Agra, was worth every minute spent, though it requires several days to explore through the streets of the old city!
Many more travelogues coming up!
Cheers. God Bless.
In my previous post, I had mentioned that professional commitments had kept me quite busy for the past few months, and travelling had been a part of it. As a part of my work/training, I had to travel long miles, and these travels were quite memorable, professionally and personally!
Travelling wide, makes us realize the never ending width of the infinite horizon, bringing in new experiences and memories, good and at times, sad. Travelling wide, brings in a lot of changes within us. It makes one more adaptable to the environment, people, situations, and our own mind imbalances!
In one such instance, I had to spend a fortnight at Noida, which gave me the opportunity to explore the nearby National Capital and the other splendid town of Agra, on a weekend cramped between two hectic weeks.
It was the first time, that I got to travel towards such higher latitudes, and I was indeed excited over it. The trip started along with 2 other colleagues, and we flew north directly, from Bangalore. The flight had a smooth sailing among the wavy clouds, and we landed to a sunny afternoon at New Delhi. The journey continued towards our actual destination at Noida, directly from there, where we were to spend the forthcoming two weeks of time.
The stay at Noida was quite comfortable, with occasional late night visits to Delhi, on weekdays, and the long organised journey to Agra over the intervening weekend.
One of our stopping was at the iconic Red Fort. The fort, built by the Mughals, seemed more majestic in real, than in pictures. The mild mist surrounding it, created a mystique atmosphere around it.
We got to visit another iconic landmark of Delhi, the tall and majestic India Gate. The majestic structure was illuminated after sunset, giving it a graceful radiance.
We did visit some other places – Lotus Temple, Connaught Place, Sarojini Market, Akshardham Temple. Due to lack of time, we got to spend few minutes at each place, and not gaze at ease.
Though we got to spend few hours, over few days, roaming about Delhi was a good experience. I’m looking forward to, when I could explore Delhi with much time, at comfort!
My next post would be much detailed, about the trip to Agra!
Cheers. God Bless.
I’ve been in and around Tumkur for quite a few months. A place that I’ve heard of, located in maps, heard occasionally, and had never thought would visit, forget ‘live*’ here.
A calm, and vibrant place, when compared to the neighboring Bengaluru, Tumkur (oops it’s Tumakuru now!) is famous for the Siddaganga Mutt and the 109 year old and still rocking Swamiji. He is referred to as Nadedaduva Devaru (Walking God), and no amount of praise can be attributed to the yeoman service that he has done, and is doing for the betterment of the society.
Tumkur is also famous for its numerous colleges, that it is known as the Educational District of Karnataka [FYI, Chennai also has a lot of engineering colleges 😉 Only a Chennaikaaran/kaari can appreciate a subtle joke here!]
Tumkur has got another nickname – Kalpatharu Naadu – A place that gives boons to all! Yeah it has given several boons to me, that I’d treasure for a lifetime and more [Again FYI, Chennai is known as Vandhaarai Vaazha Veikum Chennai – A place that helps a person to thrive, when he comes here, to Chennai]
Tumkur is surrounded by hills, small and large which gives an opportunity for a lot of sceneries and weekend escapes. The Siddaganga Mutt itself is situated at the foothills of a range of hills, with the Siddaganga Temple situated over a small hill. Siddarbetta, Siddagange, Chinnaga Betta are few other popular hills with temples, in this region. Madhugiri (which translates to honey-hill) is another rocky place, bit far from here, which has the second largest monolith of Asia, along with some ancient forts.
Tumkur, already a city with good facilities, is under development to be a smart city, with facilities like full wi-fi connectivity, rapid transportation system, and to name. Tumkur is very well connected to Bangalore, around 75 kms away, with bus and train facilities. Tumkur enjoys the same climate as of Bangalore, with almost same facilities, yet lesser pollution, lesser traffic and cheaper cost of living. No wonder it is already a smart city!
*I didn’t want to use the word stay, for you’d have understood that I haven’t stayed, but lived in Tumkur!
Cheers
God Bless
A post with specially picked photos from my phone, that defined the year 2015 for me
Its twenty days since the beginning of 2016, and a budding procrastinator is here with a recap of 2015!
Cheers_________________________________________
God Bless
It all started with catching up the headlines in newspaper the next day, to live commentary on radio, followed by live telecast with some glitches on national television, and now we are here now, having the live score updates and even the live telecast of our favourite cricket match within our palms!
There are many applications, that bring ‘personalized’ cricket, but none as good, as better, as best as UC Cricket does! UC Cricket from UC Browser brings the best of cricket happenings, from across the world, to our palms.
Imagine the time, when your favourite rival teams are clashing, and you need to be clashing with the assignments at office. The various websites that update the minute-by-minute score and stream the live match are blocked! And there are none, patient enough to update you with latest score, or the last wicket, or the just hit boundary.
Or that Saturday evening IPL match, when the team from your home place and the team from your staying place, clash and then, the biggest dilemma of your life, is not choosing between them, but thinking of how to get the latest score update, while shopping with your fiancee!
Or the final day of the test match, across the hemisphere, heading to a nail biting finish, with no idea of how luck would favour any of the teams. And you are required to travel that very night to attend that very important meeting. Half your friends are unaware of such a match, and the rest have their phones silent, or switched off, or fast asleep!
This is the era of smartphones, which make our lives smart. One of the best features of these smartphones are the various applications which aid in making our lives smarter. There are apps that are mediocre and then there are apps that are super-smart! And one of that league is UC Browser. A browser from where one can Surf it All! Surf it Fast!
UC Cricket is one of the best features that UC Browser can offer. UC Cricket provides live updates, discussions, sharing options, special videos, and lots and lots of other options, to choose from!
With UC Cricket from UC Browser, you enjoy the match in solitude, along with muting that boring review call at midnight, at office!
Or enjoy the Saturday date with your fiancee, and also getting immediate updates about the IPL clash that you were awaiting! A clear win-win.
And what can describe that feel, when the train is running into the darkness of cold night, and you are cosily lying on the berth, with UC Cricket updating your favourite match scores!
Get the UC Browser from here – http://www.ucweb.com/ and get to UC Cricket. Change your phone from smart to smarter! And click on those screenshots of UC Cricket from UC Browser all along, taken from my Lumia phone.
UC Browser – Surf it All! Surf it Fast!
Cheers
God Bless
Melkote
Following the earlier two posts – Vacation Chronicles ~ 1 and Vacation Chronicles ~ 2 – The stones are alive! here goes the third and concluding post on my vacation.
This post is completely dedicated to a beautiful, clean, serene, divine, calm, picturesque, peaceful, little town in Karnataka, named Melkote. It is at a distance of about 50 kms from Mysore and has good, accessible road from there. And still, i’m still out of adjectives to sing the praise of this place!
Melkote, also known as ThiruNarayanaPuram is more of a pilgrimage center, than a tourist spot, and that’s the main reason we were there (remember I had mentioned family vacation/pilgrimage in the earlier post?) The CheluvaNarayana Temple and the YogaNarasimha Swamy Temple atop a small hill are the important temples, apart from a few other ancient, antique temples here.
Melkote is quiet, little town with few ancient temples, many clean and pristine ponds surrounded by lush greenery, simple and traditional homes, clean roads, little shops, a Sanskrit college and academy, scenic vistas, humble and helpful people, which makes a person fall in love with this place again and again!
The YogaNarasimha Swamy temple is situated atop a small hill. Visiting this temple requires a climb of around 200 rock cut steps, which are covered by lush greenery, and occasional stone mantapa. There were many monkeys and goats along this way too, giving us a good company.
And not to forget the yummy Puliogare and Chakare Pongal that we got to taste here. Simply divine! And for the uninitiated, Puliogare and Chakare Pongal are a delicacy present in many South Indian Temples. They are supposed to be second most important aspect of the temple, the first being the Lord 😉
From the various experiences that I had here, the one I loved the most are the divinity and the cleanliness of this place. Divinity is beyond the scope of any explanation and our understanding! So moving on to the cleanliness aspect, the temples, roads, ponds, public washrooms are maintained so well in this little town!
Overall, the pilgrimage to Melkote was nourishing to the soul, pumping up more faith into the mind and lifting up our spirits.
Check out the following links, which provide more information on Melkote. Please do pay a visit to this place and get an experience of a lifetime!
***The pictures included in this post were taken by me***
Cheers
God Bless
The stones are alive!
Continuing from my previous post – Vacation Chronicles ~ 1, here I go with my second post. Without any explanation, by the end of this post, you would know why ‘The stones are alive!’
Standing at the threshold
of the mighty and impressive
Chennakeshava Devasthana*,
I wonder,
Do I bow to the Lord
Or the spirit of the sculptors?
Then, I feel His charm
And I bow to the Lord,
who dwells in and as
the soul of the sculptor,
And of the stone!
The following pictures were taken at the ChennaKeshava Temple complex at Belur, Karnataka. ChennaKeshava expands to ‘Chennagi Iruva Keshava’ which means the Handsome Keshava, in Kannada. His temple is beautiful, but His charm is matchless!
Chronicle to be concluded in next post Vacation Chronicles ~ 3 – Melkote
*Devasthana = Place of God ~ Temple
***The pictures included in this post were taken by me***
Cheers
God Bless
Finally, we got time for our long pending, long family vacation/pilgrimage! And honestly I just cannot write about our week long vacation in a post, or even a series of posts! So I go with a summary of my experiences, thoughts, observations and happenings…
Journey is a destination too…
The journey through the dense forests of Sathyamangalam, along the course of the river Kaveri, next to the impressive Bhavani Sagar Dam, over the twisting roads of Mettupalayam, over the rough terrains of Ooty, kissing the bright Morning Glory creepers from the hilly terrains, over the bridges, through the tunnels, overlooking the tea estates, over the narrow roads adjacent to Pykara Lake, on the steep slopes overlooking the scary Frog Hill View Point, though the evergreen forests of Mudumalai, occasional sightings of a variety of monkeys and buffaloes, a rare sighting of an elephant, through the downsloping roads of Bandipur, through the broad regal roads of Mysore, through the sugarcane fields to Melkote, over the rough roads to Belur, on the dusty roads to Halebidu…oh wait! These are just the bus journey routes. Many times in life we forget that, real happiness is not a destination, but found all around through the journey!
Window to the world…
It is the window which shows us the world, as we sit comfortably in our home, or a cosy bus/train. It is the window which makes one enjoy the sightings, like those which were mentioned above, to admire the beauty of nature and sing the praise of the Lord.
One disturbing thing was that people tend to take (dis)advantage of these beautiful windows and the more beautiful vistas outside. And I honestly wish that every bus/train (with openable windows) have a Pleading/Warning in bold letters which says…“Windows are NOT DUSTBINS!”
Fragrance of a river…
Believe me this river has a fragrance, an emotional connect to everyone related to the place though which it meanders, and is considered holier than the Ganga – the Kaveri. The fragrance, the warmth, the peace, the connect could be felt while cruising along its banks through Sathyamangalam, over the bridges at Mysore, over its canals at Mandya, along its banks at Srirangapatna, over the lush green sugarcane fields, the coconut groves, and my praise and admiration for this river can never stop!
Love affair with a city…
Ask me, ‘which is your favourite place?’ and my instant reply would be Mysore! One of the cleanest, greenest, less-congested, regal cities of India. The palaces, wide and clean roads, almost-nil traffic jams, greenery, crispy and mouthwatering dishes, well connectivity, humble and simple people, non-existent water woes, absence of crimes, cheaper lifestyle, and on and on. The list to fall in love with Mysore can be extended to one’s will!
One just can’t stop me from singing the praises for the places that I visited. Such was the mesmerization, enchantment that were present here. So continuing my chronicle in the next 2 posts too…
1) Vacation Chronicles ~ 2 – The stones are alive!
2) Vacation Chronicles ~ 3 – Melkote
***The pictures included in this post were taken by me***
Cheers
God Bless
This was a post pending for long, and finally I’ve got time to post. An office colleague who is also a good friend got married few days back, at her hometown Kumbakonam. Few guys of us not just attended the wedding, but also had a good time roaming about at Kumbakonam.
A town known for temples and festivals, it also had some of the warmest people i’ve ever met. The town, its streets, temple, people, their hospitality, wedding, food, ponds, fun, etc, etc could be elaborated over a series of lengthy posts! So rich was our experience in a short stay of two days. And here goes my short picture chronicle on our Kumbakonam trip…
As stated earlier, it’d take a series of lengthy posts to talk about the rich and awesome experiences we had at Kumbakonam. And these pictures talk about few of them!
Cheers
God Bless
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