Chitradurga: More to know,more to explore!!

A view within the fort
Stambha
One of the 20 watch centers
One of the 7 concentric fortification
Dam Details
View point constructed near the dam
View of Maari kanive
The Dam itself

Wind mills spread all over in the district
3 musketers:Dinesh,Balaji and Murali :)
Happy team showing Ovbavvana Kindi after reaching the place in the rain!
Play time near the river

History is fascinating when you are able to relate to it.And so was it for me when I entered the fort of Chitradurga.
I had been to this wonderful place during my school days, dragged by our teachers to hurry up so that we dont miss other places....and couldnt collect much info.
Attending marriages out of Bangalore is fun, cos it gives me a chance to see a whole new world out there and to explore the nearby places.And which is why I geared up all my enthusiasm to attend my colleague's marriage in Davanagere.There was a bunch of my colleagues who were not so familiar with any of places in Karnataka and I had a promise to myself that I make them have a worthy time out....
Thanks to Google for its right in time help everytime.....

We started our journey on Saturday morning as the reception was in the evening same day followed by wedding on sunday. So we had just a day to visit place of our choice.
This was the route plan:
Bangalore > Tumkur > Hiriyur >Chitradurga >Davanagere

I had heard of plate idlis being famous in Kyathasandra and hence we headed to a hotel there to have the idlis there which were so yummy.Do not miss them as you need not deviate at all to savour them.
We headed towards Hiriyur to take a deviation to dam which was our first destination. Maarikanive or Vanivilasa sagar dam is 13 kms interior to the highway and you can enjoy the picturesque scene on either side of the road as you head towards the dam.The dam was built by the Mysore Maharajas pre-independence across the river Vedavathi. This dam is the source of domestic water for Hiriyur and Chitradurga.At the foot of the dam is a temple built for Goddess Maari who gaurds the place and as you walk up the stairs you get to see a whole different world.
The greenary on the other side of the dam and the water all over the stretch makes it look like a group of small islands all scattered.I had heard from the localites there that if you see the dam in a particular angle, it looks somewhat like our Indiia map and tats the beauty of the place.
Its not only the greenary and the water which draws the attention but the synchronisation of the wind mills as the wind blows too.

It was an order from our bride too tat I show my team the historic fort and so we had to head towards Chitradurga to get the glimpse of the place else which our trip wouldnt be complete.

By the time we were done with our lunch it was four in the evening and we had very less time to see the fort.We took our tickets to enter the old city and I had just started explaining about the fort and we had to halt near one of the 18 temples inside the fort.Well yes, there are 18 old temples inside the fort and Hidimbeshwara temple is the oldest temple among them.Since the rain didnt seem to stop, few of us who wanted to see atleast the obavvana kindi marched in the rain itself.I felt that the fort looked very beautiful in he rain as it washed away the dust and helped the rocks shine and highlighted the grass and whatever green was inside the fort.One could easily find many small ponds,pools,watch centers which were built through out the fort. It is known as the "stone fortress" (Kallina Kote) as it is completely built with huge stones and is known to be one of the strongest fort with 7 concentric fortifications.
My blog spot would not be enough to mention about this place as it speaks volumes about the place and once should visit this place to admire and appreciate the architecture once used to protect the land.
Since we were short of time and rain didnt show any mercy on us , we just had to return with a satisfaction of seeing only obavvana kindi promising to be back to see the rest of the fort again.....

The rest of our evening and sunday was spent for the marriage and enjoyed the butter dosa in davanagere and shopping in Channabasappa silks which is one of the oldest textiles showroom.
The back home journey was no less fun with a ride on top of the vehicle and a snack in Kamath Upachar.
Thanks to all the people who took great photographs which helped me upload them here...
Especially the one which was clicked in the rain, near obavvana kindi... Deepti Kudos to u!!!

So when is that you plan to take yourself closer to history and away from the city??

Team members:Aneesh,Dinesh,Edwin,Deepti,Balaji,Ramya,Akshata,Murali,Satheesh and Me!!
Trip Plans:
Maari Kanive/Vani Vilasa sagar dam:
Location: Near hiriyur
Bangalore to Hiriyur - 160 km (Before Hiriyur, take a left where you find an arch.You ll have to go in service lane to reach this place localites are of help!)

Chitradurga Fort:
Bangalore to Chitradurga - 200 km

Bangalore > Tumkur > Sira > Hiriyur > Chitradurga
Route:Via NH4

Have a Saying.....: Tanneerbhavi - a place worth a visit

Have a Saying.....: Tanneerbhavi - a place worth a visit

Tanneerbhavi - a place worth a visit

I guess the recession was hit on our trips too ... cos no planning was made; none of my friends spammed my mails with any topic with a trip plan.....
But it is for sure a peek time for all the people to get married for which my house is flooded with wedding invites....
One such was my friend Rushell's marriage which was to be held in Mangalore and the reception at Mysore.
Although the plan was to attend reception, Deepa my friend brought in a sudden change in plan by convincing everyone to head toward Mangalore which s very familiar to many of us in the group.
As per the plan we attended marriage on Sunday and had a gala time with all the friends....
Kudos to Deepa for her yapping all the while :)
Yet we had a Sunday to pass by and thought of going to panambur beach which was the known one to all of us and was the closest.
Deepa again insisted on going to another beach somewhere called Tanneerbhavi.


Tannerbhavi which in Kannada means a pond/well with cold water.... I was so very tired with the humidity in Mangalore that I accepted this plan immediately thinking tat, I would find a place where it would be cool....
Although, it was not a cool place it didn’t disappoint me much.
We went in a bus to Sultan bathery and saw no beach there and asked her where s the beach.
We had to cross the back waters to go to the other side which was nothing but the Tannerbhavi beach.
The view of sultan battery was no less and stood in competition with the beach.

We boarded a boat and crossed sultan battery and walked a distance to find a lengthy stretch of trees which adorned the beach.
The cool breeze made me relax and enjoy the serenity. Yes I say serenity cos there was not a crowd unlike in many other beaches.
We opened our play cards and sat under the trees and played a round of UNO and then everyone was hungry.

We looked on either side to find if there were any dhabas/hotels...
There were few localites who had converted a part of their house as hotel and were serving home made dishes/fishes.
We quenched our hunger and then went back to the beach and played till we got tired
You can stroll on the clean sand there and try building castles and also give sand bath to any of your friends just the way we did to our cool dude Charan...
Take a walk, play along or just bask in the sun or let yourself to be thrown to beach by the waves.....
But do take care not to get carried away by the roaring tides....


This trip not only gave a break from the routine but gave us friends to spend some time together after a long time and to re cherish the gone old good days and re discover each other.....
All the photos were shot by Sandy, who sat on the beach instead of getting into water (I wonder how people can resist playing in water!!!)
One last statement which Deeps kept forcing us to say through out the trip.... This is for you Deeps... "East or West... Deepa is the Best" for such a wonderful trip!!!


Place: Tanneerbhavi beach
District: Mangalore
Road route: You can board a bus directly to Tanneerbhavi (route no 1). Else you can opt to go to Sultan Bathery (route 16) and board a boat (I prefer this!)