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!)

ಜೊತೆ ಜೊತೆಯಲಿ.....

ಮಳೆ ಎಂದರೆ ಅದೇನೋ ನನ್ನೊಳಗಿನ ಕವಿಗೆ ಬಹಳ ಇಷ್ಟ ಅಂತ ಅನಿಸುತ್ತೆ....
ಬೇಸಿಗೆಯ ಮಳೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಾ ಕಂಡ ಒಂದು ಸಿಹಿ ಅನುಭವವನ್ನು ಮರೆಯಲಾರದೇ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಛಾಪಿಸಿದ್ದೀನಿ ಬೇಸಿಗೆಯ ಬೇಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ, ರಸ್ತೆಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾಗ ಆಕಸ್ಮಿಕವಾಗಿ ಬಿದ್ದ ಮಳೆಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾದು ಹೋದ ಒಂದು ಜೋಡಿ ಹಕ್ಕಿಗಳ ಕಂಡು ನನಗೆ ನಾನೇ ಕಲ್ಪನಾ ಲೋಕದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಹರಿಸಿ, ನನ್ನ ಭಾವಕ್ಕೆ ಅಳವಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಾಗ ಮೂಡಿದ್ದೇ ಜೊತೆ ಜೊತೆಯಲಿ....
ನಿಮಗಿದು ತಂಪೆನಿಸಿದರೆ, ಅಥವಾ ಜಡಿ ಮಳೆ ಎನಿಸಿದರೂ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಅನಿಸಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ನನಗೆ ದಯವಿಟ್ಟು ತಲುಪಿಸಿ :)




ಹೆಜ್ಜೆಯೊಂದಿಡಲು ನೀ ಗೆಳೆಯ
ಜೊತೆ ಮಾಡುವೆ ನಾ ಗೆಜ್ಜೆ ದನಿಯ....

ನಿನ್ನ ಪೆದ್ದು ಮುದ್ದು ಹುಡುಗಿ
ನಾ ಮೆಚ್ಚಿ ಬಂದೆ ನಿನ್ನ ಹುಡುಕಿ
ದಾರಿ ಸವೆಯುವುದು ನೀ ಮೌನ ಮುರಿದರೆ
ಹೆಕ್ಕಿ ಪೋಣಿಸುವೆ ಮುತ್ತುಗಳು ಸುರಿದರೆ...

ಸೋಕಿದ್ದು ನಾನಲ್ಲ,ದೂಡಿದ್ದು ಸಿಹಿ ಗಾಳಿ
ಹರಸೀತು ಬಾನಾಗ,"ನೂರ್ಕಾಲ ಜೊತೆ ಬಾಳಿ"
ಪಿಸುಗುಡಲು ನಿನ್ನ ಉಸಿರೇ,
ಮನ ಉಲಿಯಿತು ನಿನ್ನ ಹೆಸರೇ

ಮುಂಗುರುಳ ಕಾರ್ಮೋಡ ನೀ ತೀಡಲು
ಹೂಮಳೆಯ ಸುರಿಸಿತು ಕಣ್ ಕಡಲು
ಗುಡುಗಾಗ ಬೇಡ ಈ ಮನಕೆ
ಬೆಚ್ಚಗೆ ನೀಡೊಂಡಪ್ಪುಗೆ

ಹೆಜ್ಜೆಯೊಂದಿಟ್ಟು ನೋಡು ಜೊತೆಯಲಿ
ಚಾದರವ ಹೊದಿಸುವೆ ಬಿಸಿಲ್ ಮಳೆಯಲಿ

ಸೋನೆ ಮಳೆ ಇದು ಸೋನೆ ಮಳೆ.....

ಸೋನೆ ಮಳೆ ಇದು ಸೋನೆ ಮಳೆ.....
ದೋಣಿಯಾಯಿತು ಮನದ ಹಾಳೆ.....

ಬರವಿಲ್ಲ ಬಿಡುವಿಲ್ಲ
ಹರಿಸುತ್ತಾ ಹೊರಟಿತು ಪ್ರೀತಿಯಾ ಹೊಳೆ....

ನವಿಲೊಂದು ಕುಣಿದಾಡಿ ಕಾನನದಿ,
ಹಗುರಾಯ್ತು ಮನವಿಂದು ಗರಿಗೆದರಿ....
ಕೂ... ಎಂದ ಕೋಗಿಲೆಯ ತಾನನದಿ
ಸಿಹಿಯಾಯ್ತು ದನಿ ಇಂದು ಜೇನ್ ಸವೆಸಿ.....

ಆಡೆಯಿಲ್ಲ, ತಡೆಯಿಲ್ಲ
ತೊಯ್ದ ಮನಕೆ ಬಂತು ಜೀವ ಕಳೆ....

||ಸೋನೆ ಮಳೆ ಇದು ಸೋನೆ ಮಳೆ.....||
ಹನಿಯೊಂದು ಚಿಪ್ಪಾಗಿ,ನಾನಿಂದು ಕೆಂಪಾಗಿ,
ಚಿಪ್ಪೊಂದು ಮುದ್ದಾದ ಮುತ್ತಾಯ್ತು,
ಮುತ್ತುಗಳ ಸಾಲಾಗಿ,ಈ ಕೊರಳ ಸರವಾಗಿ
ಕಣ್ತೆರೆದೂ ನಿನದೆ ಜಪವಾಯ್ತು .....

ಸೋನೆ ಮಳೆಯಿದು ನಿಲ್ಲೊಲ್ಲ,
ನೀ ಬಂದಾರೆ ನಿನ್ನ ಅಪ್ಪುವುದೆನ್ನ ಕೈಬಳೆ

||ಸೋನೆ ಮಳೆ ಇದು ಸೋನೆ ಮಳೆ.....||

इतनी लंबी कभी नही थी

इतनी लंबी कभी नही थी.....
इतनी लंबी कभी नही थी ,अपनी ये जुदाई.....

बेचैनी तडपाए मुजे
बेचैनी तडपाए मुजे, काटें ये तनहाई....

उस पल जब तुजे दिल दिया....
उस पल जब तुजे दिल दिया, धेर बड़ा मैने था किया....
शायद नाथा पहले जुड़े,
तेरे संग बीते और कुछ दिन, और प्यार बड़ा तो दिया....

याद हैं वो हर लम्हा मुजे
याद हैं वो हर लम्हा मुजे,जो तूने ये एहसास दिया...
इश्क़ तेरे संग हैं मीटा,
वम की ज़हर, अब देके सज़ा, आँखें क्यूँ तू बंद किया???

कदम अकेले ना चले थे.....
कदम अकेले ना चले थे.....कैसे सफ़र ये चले मेरा....??
टूट पड़ी हूँ में तो आज,तेरे संग जिया हैं मेरा चला....

इतनी लंबी कभी नही थी.....
इतनी लंबी कभी नही थी अपनी ये जुदाई.....

बेचैनी तडपाए मूज़े
बेचैनी तडपाए मूज़े, कांटें ये तनहाई....

हिस्सा प्यार का....

Hi Frenz....
again am with one more pice of my poetry ....
which again has pain in it....
now dont havev questions as to why i am all in such a patho mood....
well, my poems dont go along just with my emotions or feelings :D



हर गली, हर राह में बातें तेरे मेरे हैं ,
पलकों के पनघट पे यादें सुनहरे हैं !
अब तक आँखों में झलका था प्यार ...
बिन बताये बह गया आँखों के पार !

कल, आज कल.......

I dont think any explaination is needed for this... the words says it all.....



कल तलक़ आँखों में था प्यार हरा
आज कल आँसू हैं प्यालों में भरा

आपके होन्ट थे चूमे जिसको,
आज हैं आँसू चूमे इन गालों को

लेके जिस प्यार को, जगाया था रातों को
दिल जले हम हैं चले डूंड उन वादों को

एक कदम चल ना सके थे हम सूनी राहों में
आज उसीको पार चले खोए अपने सवालों में

प्यार से ज़्यादा क्या था मंज़िल कोई,
जिसके लिए दे कर गये यूँ तन्हाई....

wanna fly the kite...

This article was written on a winter morning and hence refernce to teh blore winter :) Just in case u feel, that am crazy to imagine Blore being cool in this summer ;)
Here we go....

The day was as perfect as always… Morning in Bangalore s too gud in winter… with the mist covered everywhere….
As usual my dream starts when I am sitting alone in the office cab, next to the window….
I wonder how my imaginations and thoughts moved towards a flying kite.
I could imagine the kites in different colors and shapes…( I think this was the effect of seeing a clip about kite festival in Mangalore)
The very thought of flying a kite made me feel light, as if I was flying high….
It brought in the memories of my childhood, when we used to wait for the exams to get over.
Once the exams finish, the last day would be as if we completed some Ashwamedha.
We would collect all our class notebooks and run to the terrace.
The first book to be torn was always Math, not because it was tough, but mostly because of my brother’s math teacher whom he hated the most in the school.
We would have the wicked smile as we tore each leaf of the notebook and made a paper rocket out of it and flew it….
I think we were good engineers in childhood than are we now, with little or no bugs in our engineering (of rockets, book binding techniques and many such things).
And the neighbors were with all curses for us for bombarding their terraces with papers.” Why do these monsters get holidays?” was the usual words we used to get which hardly mattered for us.
Kite flying would be after launching the rockets, when all the papers of the notebooks would be exhausted and the newspapers are adorned in our hands.
Running around in the street with newspaper, sticks , thread and gum to make a very good kite. And usually there existed a good competition between us to attach the longest tail to our kite.
Once the kites were ready we again would run to the terrace to fly it high…
Each one wanted his/hers to be the highest to fly and be proud of their kite….
It was such a fun to be together and spend our time in the creative and fun filled work.
As soon as I got this thought, I shot a mail to all my old frenz to gather again and fly the kite…
Those who were in town and who were not busy joined me and tried to fly the kite…
I must say that I had almost forgotten the art of flying it and every time was holding the kite in hand and running around the terrace to make it fly a little so that then I could get hold of the art.
But the wind was also playing hard game with us..
Then came our hero Charan and thought us the knack of how to make it fly vertically high, to manage it when the wind blows with force…
We enjoyed like the kids for the whole evening and what if we can’t go to our childhood, we have the same friends still around us who can recreate the same happiness again for us…
Isn’t it???
And yes I must say, this time I had to struggle a lot to find a kite in the shops….
Each one threw a weird look when asked for it…. As if I asked for some narcotics….
Well if happiness is what I am addicted to and sounds crazy, I shall be that…. 
What say?

wanna fly the kite...

Visit to Himavad Gopalaswamy betta….. Treasure hidden….!!

After a long discussion over which places to be visited we stuck to Coorg and Himavad gopalaswamy betta (hills) as our destination point for a two day trip. Waiting eagerly for the Friday to strike 4 PM every one of us sat in front of the comp faking busy at work. Knowing that the Manager was in meeting, we decided to come out of our cubicle by 4.15 pm, and sent a message to him saying that we intended to inform him but he was in meeting. As planned, we stayed back in Nanjanagudu in a lodge that night, very tired and weary… yes just after the first 6 hrs.Since all the rest were from other states or knew less about places of Karnataka, I played the role of guide and ordered everyone to be ready before 4.30 in the morning to leave to gopalaswamy hills otherwise which, we would miss the beauty of the place. We spoke a lil on the way to hill, as many were drowsy and still in sleepy mood. When the tempo traveler started ascending up the hill we moved towards the window to see the scenery. I got a little scared for suggesting this place as one of the beautiful place as I saw nothing very great except for ups and downs of the hills, which you can find in every other place. We reached the hill top and everyone became silent seeing that it looked nothing great All the eyes turned towards me as if asking me “Is this all?” Since it was my first visit too I felt very sad that the view looked nothing great. I ran towards the temple to see if anything s there…. To the left of the temple was a hidden treasure of beauty which thrilled the eyes and filled heart with ecstasy. I came running to the rest to stop them from clicking the boring photos of the other side of the hill and cried out to them to see on across the temple. We climbed up the hill and went toward the hills as temple was still closed. I have seen many mountain ranges, but this one stood different in the way it looked. Not too steep or not too low, a range of hills one after the other which invited to climb up each of it. As we stood their awestruck, we saw the mist just raising from the hills and moving towards the temple and covering it. The lush green grass covered hills invited us to sit, roll, dance and sleep on it. The silence which made us listen the chimes of wind, the fresh smell, the distant view of two deer playing and the temple standing alone there, as if guarding the pristine beauty all made me and of course everyone feel we were somewhere next to heaven. We had lots of photos session and the view was a feast for the eyes. Never miss a chance to sit behind the small rocks there and to speak to your inner” self” whom you can hardly do in your busy routine life. Checkout the video to gift Ur eyes a beauty worth watching Location: In Chamarajnagar district, Gundlupet taluk. 10 kms before Bandipur Time from Bangalore: 3 hrs to Mysore >max of 1 hr towards Nanjanagudu > max of 1 hr towards the betta. Please make sure that you don’t carry any eatables/packed food/drinks and dirty the place cos I would like to see it the same way the next time I take someone else there or suggest the place to any  Cheers, Soumya