Weekend-Hyderabad

Visakhapatnam Trip – Part 1

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After enjoying the setting sun and jhaal muri on beach, we went to Kalimatha Temple which was decorated for Kali Puja on 28th i.e. Diwali for non-Bengalis. Then we went to the famous CMR shopping mall as my parents have never been to a shopping mall before. But it was a disappointment compared to the real shopping malls like those in Pune.

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Nostalgic Chronicle of Tirumala-Tirupati (Lord Balaji Darshan)

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It is maintained as one of the safest and tidiest Hindu temples in the world. Tirumala is under control of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam i.e. TTD trust formed by AP government.
Many devotees go to Tirumala from Tirupati by Footpath way through steps.
We reached Tirumala and as we were feeling hungry we spotted the counter where free Upma prasad was given to devotees. We relished the hot Upma and felt satiated.

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The Gol Gumbaz

A Deccan Odyssey

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On the final day we visited the Tunga Bhadra dam in Hospet which is a multi-purpose dam for irrigation and electricity generation. The dam which was completed in 1953 is a source of prosperity for farmers in Koppal and Raichur Districts.

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Beauty of the caves of AJANTA

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The train was on time and I reached Aurangabad around 10 am. I took breakfast near bus stand and then caught a straight bus to Ajanta. Ajanta is around 90 kms from Aurangabad and situated en-route Aurangabad-Jalgaon. Bus services are very frequent on this route.

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Exploring AP – Nagarjun – Suryalanka – Vijaywada

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My favorite, never take the route back which you take to reach a destination, thus maximizing the opportunity to explore and know more. There are so many places in AP to Visit, so it was a week long plan to make a trip. I had 3 days in spare and almost 700-800km or budget based on my car’s milage. We were longing for Suryalanka beach from long, its the nearest beach from Hyderabad, not much advised in summer but still a beach is my attraction. We listed down, bora caves, bellum caves, warrangal, vijaywada, srisailam, nagarjun sagar, suryalanka, vishakhapatnam and many more. Finally, friday afternoon I decided for Srisailam, a piligrimage with just 200 odd km away from my home in Hyderabad. So, I texted my wife and my brother in law (he was on a short visit to our place) that pack your bags we are going to “Suryalanka”… that was an inadvertent mistake. Which I did not realize until I reached home from office. I was surprised to know that my family was apparently happy to know that we are going ot Suryalanka. I spoiled their excitement admitting the mistake.

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Go Goa Gone !

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Places to eat:
Viva Panjim: The best Goan food ever. Period
Brittos: Amazing desserts.
Nick’s Place: Baga
Curlies: Anjuna: Sea food wood fired pizza, Hookah’s and Grilled Fish.
Suaza Loboz: Calangute: Good sea and Goan food.
Infantaria: Baga: For breakfast. Sandwitches and Pan cakes are worth the money spent.
A small desi joint just before Baga beach: For breakfast of stuffed paratha’s, masala omellete and tea/coffee.
Food court near calangute: For 24*7 Multicuisine food. Not bad, not good.

Places to Visit/Things to do:
Beaches:
Baga for a touristy feel, and watersports. Watersports are quite affordable here, and you can get a package deal of Parasailing, Jet ski, bumper, banana rides for rougly Rs 12-1500 per person.
Mandrem: For calm, quite and relaxation.
Curlies: Tip, go post lunch as by evening theres a lot of rush which everyone might not like.
Arambol/Ashwem: For a firang goan feel.

Places:
Old Goa: Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old portuguese colonies.
Chapora/Dil Chahta hai Fort.
Any of the casinos in Panjim.
LPK @Candolim or Club Cubana @Arpora for discs.
Manchester United Cafe @Baga if you are into sports and follow the team.

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Sankaram and Kotturu

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Andhra was a bastion of Buddhism for at least a thousand years. It was a centre of learning and Buddhism spread out to Sri Lanka and South East Asia through its ports. The stupas and monasteries provided the architectural models for the more famous Buddhist shrines in the rest of the world like the famous Borobodur in Indonesia. The Buddhist phase lasted for nearly a thousand years till the rise of Shaivism in the 7th century CE obliterated Buddhism from this region. It is sad that while these places attract visitors from all over the Buddhist world, Indians are not aware of the existence of these places.In this series, I am retracing the footsteps of those distant ancestors of mine.

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Hilltop monasteries on the seaside

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What Jawaharlal Nehru had said about India is equally applicable to my hometown, Visakhapatnam, better known as Vizag. It is a young city with a history that goes back to the prehistoric period. In this series, I shall revisit the footprints left on the sands of time in and around Vizag by the early Buddhists.

I shall start at Thotlakonda, a 130 metre high hillock overlooking the famed beaches of Vizag. The Buddhist settlement was accidentally discovered in 1988 by Naval personnel were carrying out an aerial survey for setting up some facility.

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Chennai – Tirumala Tour

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When I first went to Tirupati from Bangalore, we went directly without any darshan booking. I was informed by many that it might take your even 2 days to get a darshan. One of my colleagues has suggested me to go to Vijaya Bank at Tirumala and you can buy a seva ticket. This seva ticket is good if you are too many in numbers. First time we had purchased Sahastra Deepalankarana Seva and it cost us Rs 2000/-. But we were 6 persons therefore somewhere around approx. 300/- per person (in a way quite reasonable) .

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Qutub Shahi Tombs-An Empire Rests Here

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The Qutub Shahi tombs have a unique place in the history of Deccan and India as buried here are the rulers of Deccan from 1518, till Aurangzeb captured the Golconda fort by deceit and took the last emperor prisoner and shifted him to Daulatabad. So except for the seventh king Tana Shah (Abdul Hasan Qutub Shah), the previous 6 rulers and other members of the royal family are resting here. F

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