After relaxing at the tea point overlooking the Tungabhadra river, we proceeded to the most famous monument, the Vitthala temple.

The Vitthala temple is a dedication to Lord Vishnu and the stone chariot here is immensely popular. The inner courtyard is chiseled with friezes of the swan, the horse and the warrior. We first saw the musical pillars at the bhajan mandapa. Kalidas showed us how different sounds came from different pillars. It is forbidden to enter the main mandapa where the musical pillars are. But to our good luck, there was a VIP visiting at the same time and the caretaker was showing him around. We rushed to the place and heard the “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha….”notes from the pillars. It was truly awe inspiring.

We then checked out some of the brilliant carvings on the walls. The video has some bits. We were all very tired and were relaxing at a mandapa when we saw Lauri from Paris (she was laid-off from her job and was travelling) taking pictures with some locals. She came around and we chatted for some time.

After some pictures and a look at the Stone Chariot, we left the temple.

After visiting the Virupaksha temple, we grabbed our bikes and went on a ride through the Bazaar. We parked and found an exhibition of photographs there. The comparison was between the photographs of Alexander Greenlaw in 1853 and John Gollings in 1983 have been made. Hampi looked different in 1853 and a lot of structures had fallen down by the 19th century. The fact that Hampi was in a remote location and the ruins found pretty recently added to the damage of many structures. Even today, excavations are on in many Bazaar areas. We then saw the Nandi bull and walked towards the Mathanga hill. Mathanga hill is a great place to see the sunrise and some of us decided to go there next morning. We also caught a view of some of the boulders that faintly resembled different shapes like the one that looked like a face. The hilltop is also a great place to view the Achyutaraya temple.

We also saw a local family on a picnic outing having lunch. They have been coming here for the past 15 years, 3 times a year to offer puja at the temple. After seeing some of the recently excavated temples like the one dedicated to the snake gods, we moved on to the Achyutaraya temple. The temple was constructed by Achyutaraya, successor of Krishnadevaraya and destroyed by the muslims in the 16th century. The temple is dedicated to Lord Tiruvengalanatha, a form of Vishnu and the temple complex and the ruined market street in front of it sit in a semi secluded valley created by two hills - the Gandhamadana & Matanga hills.

We then walked along the Sule Bazaar, once the famous courtesan street. There is also a beautiful water tank which was used by the courtesans. Also worthy of mention that this street along with the tank looks panoramic from the top of the hill. We walked down to a small shop selling tea, coconut water, some biscuits and snacks. This is where we caught our first view of the Tungabhadra. We were too tired to move on and took some rest at the tea shop. We also got to see the weighing scale that was used by the kings to extend offerings to the Gods. In the past, gold and other precious stones were weighed in scale to the weight of the king and offered.

We headed down towards the Virupaksha temple from Hemakuta. The Virupaksha temple is one of the oldest functioning temples in India and it is believed to have been functioning uninterrupted since the 7th century. After we got into the temple, we paid a small fee of Rs 2 to enter and Rs 50 for cameras.

We were welcomed by the 22 year old elephant, Lakshmi. The elephant blesses you and also poses for photographs! We heard the ringing of the bells and saw a puja in progress at the temple. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva as the consort of the local goddess Pampa. The temple started functioning as a small shrine and additions were made by the Chalukyas, Hoyasalas and also the Vijayanagara kings.Krishnadevaraya, the most famous of the Vijayanagara kings built the Ranga Mandapa, the central pillared hall in 1510 AD. You can also find the ceiling painted in natural colours.

Not only did we admire the beauty of the work, but also did some puja. There is one particular area where you can see the inverted shadow image of the gopura and this increases and reduces in size as we move our hand. We have learnt that in physics. We also have a shrine dedicated to Vidyaranya, the sage.

I would like to mention that Kali Das, our guide, runs the Hampi Children’s Trust and you can find the details here. He can also be found of Facebook.

If you are in Bangalore, the best way to reach Hampi is by train. The Hampi express leaves Bangalore City station at 10:45 PM and reaches Hospet at around 7:30 AM in the morning. I took the Hampi Express while the rest of the group I was travelling with went by bus. Roads are pretty bad after Chitradurga and the train journey is always better. The bus reached early and I decided to meet the group at Hampi. Mobile connectivity in Hampi is limited to the BSNL network and I found that I could not make calls or receive them. I tried calling Supriya from a coin booth with no luck. Even her mobile said “Not Reachable”

I started walking towards the main bazaar area in search of the others and thankfully Boris spotted me. I met Boris and Thomas a week back and the rest of them for the first time on that day. After exchanging greetings and introductions, we sat to eat. Hampi has some awesome food, thanks to restaurants catering to Westerners. Cuisine is generally a fusion between the West and the East. Rajeev, Boris and Chandran went to find a place for the night and did find a great place. Lakshmi Heritage was a relatively new tourist home and we got it at a decent rate. After quick showers, it was time to move on.

We hired bicycles from the main Bazaar street (Rs 40 per day) and set off to Hemakuta hill. Rajeev was our guide till we spotted Kali Das. Kali Das spoke exceptional English and was in the business for over 12 years. He also spent 3 years in Pondicherry learning French. Another quick note here is the number of French tourists at Hampi. Every second person is French and no wonder Kali Das does good business. He makes Rs 2000 a day guiding French tourists.

Hemakuta hill is a nice place to start. We first went to the Kadalikalu Ganesha statue. A giant statue of Ganesha carved out of a single piece of stone. We also saw the Vishnupada shrine and then walked towards Virupaksha temple.

Kali Das told us that the last time the Virupaksha temple got a coat of paint was in 1998. Although Hampi is protected by UNESCO and also the Governments, nobody really takes good care of the place. The incessant battle for power to manage the place between the State and the Central Governments is actually doing a lot of harm.

This is just the start. A lot more places to visit and many more stories. All coming up in the next few blog entries.

Diwali, the Festival of Lights is celebrated with much fervor and enthusiasm throughout India. My group of friends from college also make it a point to meet every year on this auspicious day and 2009 was no different.

In Hinduism, across many parts of India, Diwali is the homecoming of Rama after a 14-year exile in the forest and his victory over Ravana.In the legend, the people of Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) welcomed Rama by lighting rows of lamps. In South India, it marks the victory of Krishna over Narakasura.

The party of 2009 was hosted by Anil & Neha and around 15 people turned up at their home. Everyone was armed with a box of sweets as sweet box exchange is a tradition that is followed. By 7 30 PM, we were all there and was welcomed with some starters including Jal Jeera to drink, Paneer and also Dhokla. The food tasted awesome and everything was over in no time.

It was time for fun. We burst some fireworks including rockets and others. As we decided to go green this time around, we didn’t buy too many crackers and we just bought enough to show justice to the tradition. I know that we could have even done without this, but this is something we have been doing from childhood and it’s difficult to get rid of these habits. After this, it was time for dinner. Neha & Anil cooked some great food including Paneer Pasanda, Dum Aloo, Rumali Rotis, Rice, Dal, Raita and a lot more.

After the sumptuous meal, we all sat down to do what we love best about Diwali, “Cards”. On this particular day, gambling is virtuously legal and the business communities in India consider it auspicious to play cards. After quite a few rounds, some losses and gains, it was time to bring a smile back to some sorry faces. And there is no better medicine than Gulab Jamuns. Some of our friends left at around 2 PM and the others sat down to talk about college life and how fun it used to be. Some of the funny anecdotes were repeatedly narrated and everyone had a good laugh.

A big Thank You to Anil & Neha for putting in all the efforts to make the party memorable. They worked without much sleep for 2 days so that we could do this party.

Some of us are getting married (not me) this year and Diwali promises to be bigger and better next year. Will need a new couple to take responsibility for next year. Who is volunteering?

After a Saturday night party of much revelry, four of us – Abhishek, Sid, Manmohan and Manu decided to drive down to Shivanasamduram in the wee hours of Sunday morning at 5am. We took the Kanakpura Road. The drive is very scenic strewn with Nature’s beauty on both sides of the road. We took enough delight in the beauty surrounding us by making stopovers either to savor the serenity of a huge lake or admire the resilience of the rocky mountains. Kanakapura Road has less traffic compared to Mysore road but the road isn’t that smooth always. If you have a lot of time at hand, then Kanakapura road is a better option.

Shivanasamudram is close to 100 km from Bangalore on Kanakapura Road. We considered ourselves lucky to have started early and reached there by 9:30 in the morning. Early morning was relatively calm with a few tourists around. However, it is depressing as well as disgusting to note that places of such scenic beauty are not maintained well. Garbage is littered everywhere. After a distant survey and some quick snaps of the mighty falls, it was time to head towards the rapids. The banks for bathing are located at Barachukki which is about 6 km away.

After reaching Barachukki, we proceeded down the precariously laid rocky stairs and reached the banks. The view was breathtaking! We saw coracles lined up to take people close to the falls. Only 2 persons are allowed per coracle at a reasonable price of Rs 100 per ride. We went close to the falls, thoroughly enjoying the wavy ride, the coracle pirouetting in the currents and sprays of water from the falls. We could not stop admiring the dexterity of these boatmen who help the tourists enjoy the delight of the place without compromising on safety. While retreating from the cascades, Manmohan asked the boatman if we could take bath under the natural showers. The boatman, were initially unwilling but later relented after we negotiated an extra charge of 50 bucks per coracle. They took a detour and brought us to a place where we could experience the natural fountain cordoned by a rainbow. We felt ecstatic! We felt like pioneers in this endeavor as we later found that a lot of people following our footsteps.

Now, it was time to relax in more temperate waters. There were areas near the banks where we were cradled by the strong currents with boulders providing the anchorage. Half-heartedly we left the heaven on earth after a few hours. On our way back to the top we treated ourselves to refreshing coconut water. On changing to dry clothes, we headed back to Bangalore.

If you take the Kanakapura Road, all the tourist locations are well-marked by the Karnataka Tourism Department with signboards saving you the trouble of stopping and enquiring with the locals for directions. You can also reach Shivanasamudram via Mysore Road by taking a detour at Maddur. Monsoon is the best time to visit this place when the falls are blessed by abundant waters of the river Cauvery. You cannot miss this place if you live in Bangalore. The video should lure you enough!

I had been to the Madrid @twestival last year which was a very low key affair. I definitely had great hopes from the one at Bangalore this year and true to the word, the Bangalore @twestival rocked.

Performances by @nakulshenoy, @swarathma and standup comedy by Aron Kedar and Papa CJ and the venue being one of the best places in Bangalore, @KyraBLR.

The cause was @DreamADreamInd and around 140 tweeple turned up. Though I don’t really know the Banagalore Twitterati too much, @fagunB a.k.a Fagun Bhaiyya for many of us was around.

Overall, some great music, drinks and good people. I ended up buying the @Swarathma CD too.

Check out my video. I have also marked some of the twitter handles in the video. I am Sorry if you are missing as I did not do much shooting.

Atta Chamayam or Attakhosham is celebrated in the Tripunithura town of Ernakulam. It is a cultural procession held on the Atham day of Chingam, which also marks the beginning of Onam celebrations.

Onam is the State Festival of Kerala. It is celebrated in honour of Mahabali , the mythical Asura king of ancient Kerala. According to legend, Mahabali returns to visit his (former) subjects on the day of Onam. Also a harvest festival, it falls in August/September. It was officially declared State Festival in 1961. Onam is now celebrated by everyone in the region irrespective of caste or religion.

The procession starts by around 10 AM and starts from the Boys High School ground near the Tripunithura bus stand. Locals and both tourist throng the streets to view the procession and the procession moves along a circular route through the Statue Junction and then moves in a circular directions towards the Poornathrayeesha temple and returns. (It passes just in front of my house, its an ideal place to see the procession)

Art forms from Kerala and various other tableaus with social messages are also on display. Prizes are also awarded to the best teams and judges are on the lookout at many places. Emphasis is laid on creativity and maintaining the pose throughout the event.

Though not comparable to such processions held worldwide; for Tripunithura locals, this is surely one of the biggest celebrations.

I have tried to capture some bits from the procession.

Food streets are there in every city and Bangalore has one too. Though this place is not too popular with non natives of Bangalore, VV Puram is a great place to be if you want something different. And particularly if you are a foodie and want a taste of different dishes in the place, go to VV Puram.

VV Puram is very close to the South End Circle at Jayanagar and anyone will guide you to the place from there. You have to take the road that goes to Basavangudi from South End Circle and take a few right turns before you reach VV Puram.

VV Puram has lost its charm these days as push cart vendors are not allowed on the street and only people who have shops are allowed to sell. However, there are enough shops for you to choose from. Most of the dishes are made in front of your eyes and served hot.

We started with a hot jalebi and it just melted in our mouth. From then on, it was a sumptuous ride with a mix of north indian, south indian and chinese dishes.

We feasted on chat items, ghee dosas, sweets and more. We also spotted a rich Gujarati family feasting on street food and this reminded me of my Surat days.

My quest for temples brought me to the small village of Lepakshi, which is an ultimate delight to the eyes of any art-critic.

Located 120kms north of Bangalore and 15kms east of Hindupur, in the district of Anantapur-Andhra Pradesh, Lepakshi is easily accessible by bus from Bangalore. It is ideally about 3.5 hours of journey by any KSRTC or APSRTC bus, which are available from Majestic bus station every couple of minutes and drops at Hindupur.From Hindupur,it is another 30minutes bus journey into the Holy steps of Veerabhadra temple, dedicated to Veerabhadra.

Well known for its Architectural Style and sculptures, the temples are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Virabhadra and were sculpted by Vishwakarma Brahmins under the able planning and guidance of Vishwakarma Amarashilpi Jakkanachari .

The huge Nandi bull made out of a single granite stone is one of the attractions in Lepakshi and also the biggest Nandi sculpture, the second biggest being at the Brihadishwara temple in Thanjavur.

One more famous spot in this temple is “Eyes of Viroopaakshanna”, with its history dating back to the Vijayanagar Kings.

On the walls of the temple, several stories like Mahabharata, Ramayana etc are sculpted. Also on the roof there are countless beautiful paintings done by natural colour mixtures. The gallery of creepers is also inspirational to today’s Lepakshi saree designs, thus unifying the glorious past into the present.

Though another historical journey comes an end, but I can still feel myself amidst the artisans of Vijayanagara Empire, carving another history in the walls of the temples of Lepakshi.