Karnataka

Karnataka is a land of ancient temples, wildlife sanctuaries, unexplored forests, awe inspiring waterfalls, beautiful beaches, sprawling coffee plantations and much more. This southern state has a varied geography with and climate. Coastal plains lie on the western side bordering the Arabian Sea sporting a warm and humid climate for most part of the year. Mountains, valleys and farmlands in the interior regions have hot summers and cool winters.
Karnataka’s rich heritage and history are evident in the numerous temples and heritage sites present in the state such as Hoysala temples at Belur, Hampi, Gol Gumbaz at Bijapur, Ibrahim Rauza, cave temples at Badami and the rock-cut temples at Aihole, monolith of Gomateshwara Bahubali at Shravanabelagola and Mysore Place. Karnataka invites beach lovers to Murudeshwara,Gokarna and Karwar and the religious to Udupi Sri Krishna Matha, the Marikamba Temple at Sirsi, the Sri Manjunatha Temple at Dharmasthala, Kukke Subramanya Temple and Sharadamba Temple at Shringeri, Kudalasangama, Basavana Bagewadi, Mudabidri and Karkala.
Karnataka’s natural heritage, the forests and wildlife are fondly cared for in Bandipur National Park, Bannerghatta National Park, Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary, Dubare – Elephant Camp and Kudremukh National Park to name only a few. Natural wonders abound in the state in the form of Jog Falls (India’s tallest single-tiered waterfall), Gokak Falls, Unchalli Falls, Magod Falls, Abbey Falls and Shivanasamudra Falls among many.
Karnataka has a good network of railways, national and state highways and has international airports at Bengaluru and Mangalore.

Kemmangundi – A misty experience

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Z-point is about 8 kms from the guest house. You can take your vehicle upto Shanti Falls, which is 2 odd kms from the guest house. The rest of the journey to the Z-point has to be covered by foot. Make sure you have good shoes (Chappals are a strict no-no) as the path gets tougher and trickier as u ascend. Its also a good idea to do this trek early in the day when there is lot of light and remember, it gets dark in the hills sooner.:-)

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Kayoed in Kabini

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When my pal told me about these series of wildlife sanctuaries in Karnataka, I was slightly sceptical of the feasibility of going to them…

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On Cloud Nine Atop the Blue Mountains

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A car took us to Coonoor, it is situated in the outskirts of Ooty. It is a picturesque hill station and is covered with tea plantations everywhere. As our car drove up the winding road we were rewarded by a wonderful vista of rolling hills under a deep blue sky.

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Things to do around Bangalore

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Vacations are important but trips with your family are even more special and important. Family trips let you bond and enjoy each other’s company without other responsibilities of school and office looming over you.

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Splendid winter rendezvous in Ooty

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Coonoor with its world famous tea has endless charm. Our driver was waiting for us at Coonoor railway station. We took our breakfast from a roadside eatery and headed towards Sim’s park. It is a botanical garden with over 85 varieties of roses and fragrant flowers.

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Skydiving Experience

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I opted for the tandem jump. On the assigned day, I reached Mysore airport. Staff from Kakini enterprises, organizers of the skydiving arrived later. There were about a dozen participants that day and my turn was at the end. That day’s group had some air force personnel and some adventure seekers like me.

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Bidar – Of Hasan Gangu, Mahmud Gawan and Barid Shahis

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The Madrasa is the best known example of Bahmani (Persian) Architecture and is one of its kinds in India. The building functioned like a residential University. It is a rectangular three storey structure that consisted of a mosque, lecture halls, professor quarters and student cubicles. The walls were covered with blue, green, golden and white glazed Persian tiles. In its heydays, the madrasa would have looked pretty spectacular with the sun glinting off the majolica work; the minars soaring into the sky reflecting the aspiration of the founder and the students. The architecture provided the perfect setting for intellectual brainstorming and discussions. The scene of harried professors and students scurrying between classes would be similar to being played out at Feroz Shah Tughlaq’s madrasa at Hauz Khas Village in Delhi – unless all inmates fled during Taimur’s plunder of Delhi.

Today, the madrasa is much in ruins. In 1656 Aurangzeb occupied the building (Bidar Sultanate was gone by 1619) and turned it into an army barrack. Aurangzeb believed in occupation and razing rather than building. Rooms in the south-east were used to store gun powder. Since Aurangzeb was not fond of smokers, somebody hid in the corner stealing a few puffs, when reportedly an explosion blew up along with the unwitting arsonist, portions of the south and east walls with the eastern entrance gate. Out of the supposedly two minars, only one 100 feet tall minar on the north east corner survives. The biggest surprise is that the two balconies of the minar project from the structure rather than being supported by brackets. The minar has vibrant colourful patchwork of zigzag motifs. Facing the central courtyard are the reading halls with open arched doorways rising to three storeys creating huge iwans, which in turn are surmounted with domes. The minar, iwans, domes and glazed tiles complete the Persian Architecture.

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