शिरसी और सहस्रालिंग :- शिवशक्ति का निवास

सुबह ६.३० बजे के करीब गोकर्ण,बायीं बाजू में हमारी सावित्री होटल और सामने देखिये मंदिर है.

हम शाम को कुछ 5 बजे मुरुडेश्वर स्टेशन पहुँचे और वहाँ से हमारी ट्रेन 5:40 मिनिट पर गोकर्ण जाने के लिए थी। हमने मत्स्यगंधा एक्सप्रेस पकड़ी जो मंगलौर से मुंबई की ओर जाती है। हमें उस ट्रेन ने गोकर्ण रोड 6:30 शाम को पहुँचा दिया (60 किमी) गोकर्ण रोड रेलवे स्टेशन से गोकर्ण शहर कुछ 13 किमी के अंदर है। वहाँ से हमें शेयरिंग आधार में वाहन मिलते है लेकिन क्योंकि हमें होटल भी गोकर्ण जा कर बुक करना था इसलिए हमने एक प्राइवेट टेक्सी कर ली थी। उस टेक्सी ने हमें करीब आधे घंटे में गोकर्ण शहर पहुँचाया दिया था। फिर हम होटल ढूँढने लगे, वैसे गोकर्ण में बहुत सारे होटल है लेकिन मुझे तो हर बार की तरह मंदिर के सामने वाले होटल ही ज्यादा पसंद आते है। हमने तीन चार होटल देखने के बाद होटल सावित्री मिल गया, जो कि मस्त बड़े बड़े कमरों वाला, काफी साफ़ सुथरा था, और मंदिर से केवल 3 मिनिट की दूरी पर था। जब चाहो भोलेनाथ के दर्शन करो, गरम पानी की सुविधा थी लेकिन हमारे कमरों में टीवी नहीं था, टीवी वाले रूम सब फूल थे, मैंने उस होटल के मालिक से बात करके रू 400 में कमरा का भाड़ा तय करके 2 कमरे बुक कर लिए। और गजब देखो, यह होटल गोकर्ण महाबलेश्वर मंदिर के मुख्य पंडित जी की थी। होटल के मालिक यानी पंडितजी मंदिर में गोकर्ण महाबलेश्वर आत्मलिंग की रोज सुबह सुबह पूजा करते है और आरती भी। और बाकि काफी बड़ी-बड़ी पूजा भी जैसे की पिंड दान, महारुद्राभिषेक, होमान्तक यज्ञ इत्यादि। तो जिस व्यक्ति को गोकर्ण महाबलेश्वर आत्मलिंग की पूजा, अभिषेख और यज्ञ कराने है तो कृपया होटल सावित्री में ही ठहरना चाहिए ताकि आपके सारे काम एक साथ आसानी से संपन्न हो जायेंगे।

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January 15, 2012

After our exertions at Mullayanagari Peak, we returned back to Chikmagalur town by mid-day, had our lunch and reached our hotel. I had hoped to catch some of the action from the Perth Test(hoping to watch Sachin’s 100th hundred live), but the Indian team dashed any such hopes by losing the Test in two and a half days. Disappointed by the result, I took the opportunity to slip into a much needed nap.

Our next destination was Belur temple, 25 kms from Chikmagalur. Belur is a small town located on the banks of Yagachi River in Hassan district. The main attraction of the town is the Chennakesava (literally translates to Handsome Vishnu) temple. It was built by King Vishnuvardana of Hoysala dynasty. The temple is one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture alongside Halebeedu and Somnathpura. Coupled with Halebeedu, this is one of the major tourist destinations of Karnataka.

The main entrance to the temple complex is through a Rayagopura. It was constructed in Dravidian style as a later day addition to the temple complex by the Vijayanagara kings.

The main entrance through the Rajagopura

Its been 6 months since we moved to Bangalore. Visits from in-laws and parents resulted in a lot of sight-seeing in and around Bangalore. It is impossible to cover all the places in one day in Bangalore due to traffic and distance. This post is about all the places we have visited in Bangalore and an attempt to act as a sight-seeing/ tourism guide for any visitor. There are still lot of places yet to be seen. :)

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Hello People,

This is Naman, back again & this time I’ll take you on a journey to Mysore. I along with my family toured Mysore in January’11. I had heard a lot about the city & was really excited to be discovered the charm of this city. Mysore is the second largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division and lies about 146 km (91 mi) southwest of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha. Mahisha stands for Mahishasura, a demon from Hindu mythology. The city is spread across an area of 128.42 km² (50 sq mi) and is situated at the base of the Chamundi Hills. Mysore is famous for the festivities that take place during the Dasara festival when the city receives a large number of tourists. Everyone must have seen the visuals of the beautifully decorated Mysore Palace during Dasara/Dussehra.

Dusshera’s not far away & so I decided to write a travelogue on this particular city. So, to begin with, I reached Mysore on 6th Jan’11,though we stayed in Bangalore (I’ll be covering Bengaluru in my coming stories). We took a Karnataka Tourism’s Bus & set off,the reason we chose bus over a taxi was because of the very knowledgeable Guides, which these tour operators provide.

Our first halt was at Mysore Palace.

The very Beautiful,Mysore Palace

India never ceases to amaze me or Surprise me. This country has fascinated me from the first day I travelled in a truck while moving from a small town to Delhi when I was 3 till right now whenever I get into a train and see obscure villages and towns go by.

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With a multitude of relatives in Bangalore, I have been there many times over the years, but with so many families to visit, I had never really taken in the sights so to speak. In the past couple of years, business trips to Bangalore were always combined with short holidays in Mysore and Coorg.

On this trip with plenty of time to spare, I decided that I must now “see” Bangalore. Naturally that meant a leisurely morning walk in the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens where I was thrilled to see the very rare Jade Vine [Strongylodon macrobotrys]. I had first seen it almost thirty years ago as a watercolour in my plant book and never imagined I would ever see it for real. Here they are, green-blue clusters of flowers in all their glory.

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Next morning we woke up really early and started for Palolem beach in Goa. The Goa border is some 20 km from Karwar and Palolem is a famous beach of South Goa. Till now, I haven’t been to Goa and not even researched about it because it is so very well known and appeals more to people looking for party and clubbing experience and I had kept it for some other time. Probably it had rained last night in the region because of which the terrain was all wet and sky cloudy. The greenery in form of trees, seasonal plants/shrubs and even moss/algae was everywhere. House walls, bridge railings, rock faces and just about anything which has potential was draped with moss. After driving for an hour or so around 7:00 AM we hit the beach. The beach was almost deserted except lot of fishermen activity towards north of the beach and few locals angling in choppy sea.

Palolem beach with fisherman activity in North

Fisherwomen pondering over fresh catch

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Now we headed to Udupi via Balehonnur, Sringeri and Agumbe. The lush-green views refused to subside and we were continuously treated with great views of fields and foliage. If coffee was intoxicating, now we were treated with tea plantations. The mild climate of this region is probably suitable for any concoction!

Tea Plantation enroute Sringeri from Chikmaglur

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