Karnataka

The Trail


When I went off to Malnad last time, all by myself, in November 2007, my family was very apprehensive. It was not without reason. Because, I was adamant that I will not take any gadgets with me, especially my mobile phone, leave aside the camera part. It took a lot of convincing, that I would call everyday twice from a landline, and that I would carry my full 'jaataka' in my shirt pocket all the time! Later I really felt the greatest need for my camera, because there was so much to capture all along the way. Added to that, after reading my post, 
http://rc1947.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/11/diary-of-a-tramp.htm
my family members felt cheated that I had all the fun, without sharing those lovely experiences with them.

So, this time around, I decided to make amends for that lapse. My first sister and mother joined us from Chennai. My last sister, her hubby, and my brother had to pull out at the last hour, due to some exigencies. So, just the four of us - My 83 year old mother, my sister, my wife and myself, set out on our Malnad expedition, on Monday the 14th morning. 

We took the peripheral Ring Road from Kanakpura road junction, and reached Nelamangala in one hour and 20 minutes! Normally it would have taken us nothing short of two and a half hours, on a weekday like this. We took the Mangalore highway. Just before reaching Hassan, we stopped by, and opened our lunch box  under the shade of a huge raintree. Dosas (with 'molagapodi' soaked well at home!), puliyodharai (wow, the longer it ages, better the taste) and thayir saadham (typical Tambram special!), went down smoothly, without a 'parukkai' for the roving monkeys on the tree.

We crossed Hassan (195 km) a little before 2 PM, and reached Belur (about 35 km from Hassan) at 2:30 PM. We stepped out from the cool insides of our car on to a furnace. It was blazing hot outside! But once we were inside the Chennakesava Temple premises, we forgot the heat totally. The marvels on stone were simply breathtaking. Here are samples from the 12th century temple architecture of the Hoysala period.


All along the temple's base structure, you can see finely sculpted figures of dancing damsels, every ornament on them very intricately carved.


The figure of Maha Vishnu. See the artistic designs of the tower above the idol, and the two little figures at the feet.


This is a pillar inside the temple. I dont know how many days the sculptor would have spent to create this masterpiece!

By the time we left Belur, it was close to 4 PM. An hour's time is not sufficient for Belur. We decided to come some other time again and spend at least four days going through each and every sculpture there. A few kms from Belur, the real Malnad unveils itself, with winding roads going up and the green growth getting denser and denser. 


We reached Mudigere at 5 PM, the place I made my first stop last time to have a cuppa. This time also we stopped for the same purpose. The row of tea-stalls make a fascinating sight. Looks like  everybody stops there for tea!

From here on it was a long stretch of winding road on a hilly terrain. The setting sun presented so much to capture on my magic box. Here is just one sample of the road to Horanadu.


We reached Horanadu (390 km from Bangalore) by 6:30 PM. This is where Goddess Annapoorneswari has chosen her abode, a valley surrounded by the steeply rising hills and dense forests. We could get accommodation at the temple guest house itself, not being much crowded on this day.

Now, I am not a temple goer at all. I have passed that stage of idol worship and praying to grant some wish, long long ago. But, this time, it was the specific request of my ageing mother, who wanted to have darshan of this Lady. And, I was duty bound. But the sight of the idol can melt even the worst atheist. The beauty of the lady - Mother Annapoorna - is something beyond words - I sat there in front of her, my eyes glued to the magnetic charm of the Divine countenance - clad in shining gold.

Another beauty of these Malnad temples (for that matter, most temples in Karnataka), is that every visitor is fed sumptuously at the temples' dining halls, free of cost. So, at Horanadu, we had our dinner at the temple premises - very wholesome, simple rice-based food. I felt that I had eaten too much that night. But I was feeling hungry early morning, next day!


Horanadu temple entrance at early morning sunrise.

Tuesday the 15th. We had planned a lot for this day. We had an early morning Darshan, had our breakfast (a pudding made of beaten rise, cocoanut, green chillies and salt) at the temple, and left Horanadu by 9 AM. We touched KaLasa in twenty minutes, took the right turn to be on our way to Kudremukh. The following pictures will talk much better.

The Badra river at KaLasa, the spot where I had a wash last time!


A tea garden on the way to Kudremukh.


First glimpse of the Kudremukh range.


Kudremukh Peak from Hanuman Gundi.


Kudremukh forest down Hanuman Gundi


Soothenabbe Falls, at the base of Hanuman Gundi - droplets shimmering in the noon sunlight.

We had a whale of a time at Kudremukh - hardly anybody around. We left Kudremukh by half past noon, and were on our way to Sringeri (another lifelong wish of my mother). The ghat section was full of acute curves, but presenting beautiful view of the western ghats. Here are two pics, from a whole lot that I took.




As we approached Sringeri, the Tunga river (the twin of Badra) came into view. 




We reached Sringeri (100 km from Horanadu) around 2 PM, just in time for the temple lunch! Sringeri Shankar Math have built a number of guest houses, and we could get two rooms for us. After a bit of rest, and darshan of the Shankaracharya, we left for Agumbe, looking forward to the famous sunset scene from the top of the hills. Just then, a heavy downpour started, sinking our hearts. But then, it lasted just over ten minutes, to our great relief.

The sunset scene was a bit of a hazy affair. We couldn't see the chiaroscuro of the Arabian sea. I had seen it long back. But, this time it was a little disappointing to my people. All the same, a sunset is a sunset. Just beautiful.


We came back to Sringeri by 7, had darshan of Sharadamba. We were offered tiffin at the temple for dinner. By now, we were dead beat with tiredness, and slept like logs that night.

The Vidyashankar temple on the banks of Tunga at Sringeri - another monument of Hoysala art.

Wednesday the 16th we left very early on our return journey to Bangalore. We took the route  touching Jayapura, Baalehonnur and Chikmagalur, to reach Belur. At Belur we took a diversion to Halebeedu, another famous site of Hoysala Architecture. This was more captivating than Belur, dating back to 12th century again.


1'x2' statue of a dancer on top of a pillar inside the temple.


Intricate carvings on the roof.


They seem to have had Lathe machines in those days. Look at the perfect cylindrical groovings!


The first Hoysala king driving away a lion.


Dwarabalaki - the gate keeper lady - Fine details in her adornments


The base of the temple depicts the battle elements beautifully, starting from row of elephants at the bottom, then lions, horses and the infantry. Every soldier's sword and other implements very finely depicted.


Series of deities from the Hindu pantheon, beautifully sculpted.

That's all folks. We came back without a single mishap, except for a single puncture before  Horanadu, covering totally 884 kms by car. Surprisingly, while I thought it was going to be a great strain on her, it was my mother who enjoyed it the best!