Wayanad Chronicles - Day 1- Himavad Gopalswamy Betta, Bandipur and Sulthan Bathery

Mysore - Himavad Gopalswamy Betta - Bandipur - Sulthan Bathery-Venniyode

We had been planing a visit to Wayanad for few years now. Hubby's aunt stays in Wayanad and it used to be his regular summer vacation trip during childhood, and he always shared wonderful memories of Wayanad with me. So during the Diwali long weekend this year we planned our visit to Wayanad. It definitely was to be a leisure trip no much of running around. So we started off from Bangalore by 6 in the evening, halted at Mysore, and started in the morning for Wayanad. We were on Mysore Ooty round by 9 AM, our plan for day 1 was to cover Himavad Gopalswamy betta and Sultan Bathery. We took pit stops on the way to enjoy the paddy fields of Najangudu and reached Himavad Gopalswamy Betta by 11AM. The forest authorities have become strict nowadays and they have stopped allowing private vehicles to the hill. There are KSTRC buses playing from the foot hills to the temple. Himavad Gopalaswamy betta is the highest peak of Bandipur Tiger Reverse and you get the beautiful view of the forest. Dedicated to Gopala, Lord Krishna the temple is well known for being chilled throughout the year, even at the highest temperatures down hill. Its just not the inside of the temple but also the entire plateau with the cool breeze. If you are lucky enough you spot wild life, we were told its common to encounter with elephant herds en-route to the hill or near the temple. Its the smell of the temple prasada(offerings to devotees), which attract these elephants, our bus driver said. By the time we were back at the foot hills it was already 1:30, looking out for decent food joints, we drove back to Gundlupete. Himavad Gopalaswamy bette is on Ooty road, you need to drive back to Gundlupete and take the other deviated rout to Sulthan Bathery. With quick lunch at Gundlupet we started off to Sultan Bathery. One of our reason's to avoid night travel and take the day trip was to enjoy the drive through Bandipur Tiger Reserve. With every rare calls and around the water bodies we looked for the sighting of tiger or elephants, the only animals we could spot were lots on monkeys, deer herds, peacocks and many birds. This rout through Bandipur is closed from 8PM to 6AM, one of the few national parks which closes late, while most of the other parks close by 6 in the evening. We reached Sulthan Bathery by 4PM and drove to Ancient Jain temple. Built in 13th century, the Jain temple served as a place of worship and a ammunition store during the rule of Tippu Sultan, hence the city gets its name Sultan Bathery(Tippu Sultan Battery). From Sultan Bathery we drove to Kainatty Ananthanatha Swamy Jain Temple to join cousins for Mahaveer Swamy Mokshakalyana Mahotsava, a celebration as part of Diwali. We called for the day at cousin's place in Venniyode, which is around 13km from Kainatty.

Paddy Fields of Nanjangudu

Paddy Fields of Nanjangudu

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta

Bandipur Tiger Reserve

Bandipur Tiger Reserve

Bandipur Tiger Reserve

Pic Courtesy http://wayanadtourism.org/explores/jain-temple,-sulthan-bathery

Wayanad Chronicles - Day 2 next on the series

Catching up with the winged beauties at Bhigwan..

Though we had visited Sewri in Mumbai for Flamingo watch, we missed the visit to Bhandup pumping station, where agencies offer boat ride through the lakes to get the better view of winged beauties. I had come across many of my friend's photographs which had been clicked on boat ride, and they couldn't be missed. Bhigwan in Pune Sholapur border also attracts Flamingos and immigrant birds from Dec to almost May. So when we planned our visit to Padharpur in Feb, we thought of connecting Bhigwan Bird Sanctuary. Its an hours drive from Dahigaon to reach Pune-Sholapur Highway and another 25km till you reach Kumbhargaon Flamingo Point. There are many agencies in Kumbhargaon who offer the bird watch service, we had booked with Agneepankh Flamingo Point. We had been coordinating with Mr. Sandeep Nagare, the owner of Agneepankh for the visit. But the phone network was really bad towards the end, however the localites easily guide you. Mr. Sandeep Nagare, owns a house there and offers home-stay option. There is enough parking near his house, and a member of Agneepankh took us to the lake. The boat ride is around 20 mins(to reach the bird), they take you to the deeper waters with motor boats and then row as you near the birds. The number of birds when we visited was really low, when compared to those we had seen in Sewri, and didn't spot a single Flamingo. Even the mangroves of Kalwa and Bhandup in Mumbai offer you with Flamingos during the season. We were really disappointed, but the only good thing was we were able to view them from near. 

Herons

Seagulls

Storks and Gulls

Herons and a stork

A stork in flight

Just go with least expectation and you will be happy to find even few. Happy Birdwatching... 

Bhigwan is 115km from Pune on Pune -Sholapur road. The drive from Bhigwan village to Kumbhargaon is another 15km. 

Snack Jars and Breakfast Parfaits from Season's best Fruits!!!

I hardly post any recipe posts on my blog, but this I couldn't resist. Being moved to Bangalore in March, I have been lucky to have my terrace kitchen garden and a neighbour who grows almost every fruit, veggies, spices, herbs. I will definitely take a tour of her and my gardens in one of my posts, but this post is for breakfast jars. She gave me few avocados, passion fruits and pomegranate, me been obsessed with parfaits off late, tried few of the recipes with them. So here are the parfaits I tried over the month for my daughter's snack tiffin,

Avocado Oreo Parfait

It was my first try with avocados and tried initially having with sugar, but non of us at home liked it. So thought of making avocado cream, which just turned to be superb. And that got added to my parfait list.

Avocado cream: 

Ingredient: Avocado, Vanilla ice cream, honey, milk

Method: Blend all the ingredients together, if you opt for a Smoothie use more milk, else just a little milk to blend all the ingredients and your avocado cream is ready.

Dry fruit Crunches:

Ingredient: Dry fruit, jaggery

Method: Melt jaggery in a non stick pan, add a spoon of water, to avoid jaggery from burning. Add chopped dry fruits. Roast for 2-3mins, take out on a plate immediately and let cool, I leave it overnight to get the better crunchiness.

Parfait Method:

Layer the jar with avocado cream, crushed oreo biscuits and top it with dry fruit crunches and you are done.

Falooda

Ingredients: Vermicelli, sugar, strawberry syrup, basil seeds, fresh fruit and dry fruit of your choice, custard, milk, sprinkles.

Method: 

Prepare Vermicelli by cooking it in milk and sugar and keep aside.

Soak basil seeds for 15mins

Prepare custard milk with milk and sugar(as instructed on the pack)

Line your jar with strawberry syrup, layer it with vermicelli, basil seeds, fresh fruits, dry fruits, custard milk and top it with sprinkles.

Mango Passion Fruit Parfait

Its still the season of king of fruits, mango and the passion fruits are growing in glory, so here it is Mango Passion Fruit Parfait.

Ingredients: Passion Fruit, Mango Puree, Mango cubes, Hung curd(you can use Greek Yogurt as well, but I chose to keep it home made without preservatives), honey, granola, choco-chips and apricots. 

Method:

Mix hung curd, passion fruit and honey as per your taste. 

Layer the jar with curd mixture, mango cubes, mango puree, granola and top it with choco chips and apricots, and you are done.

Banana Choco Peanut Butter Parfait

Ingredients: Banana, Plain Greek Yogurt, Coco Powder, Peanut Butter, honey, granola, roasted peanut and choco chips

Method:

Mix Greek Yogurt, coco powder(you can have enough coco powder to make it dark, mine turned out to be little), peanut butter and honey.

Layer your jar with Yogurt mixture, chopped banana, granola and top it with roasted peanuts and choco chips.

Peanut Butter recipe: Dry roast peanut, allow it to cool for 5mins and blend it, blend till it turns buttery. It doesn't need any extra oil, peanut has enough oil content. And your home made peanut butter is done.

Sprout Salad Jar

Ingredients: Sprouted green gram, grated carrots, chopped cucumber, pomegranate, salt, lemon, pepper powder

Mix sprout and the veggies, dress it with salt, pepper powder and lemon. 

Shri 1008 Mahavir Swami Digambar Jain Temple, Dahigaon!!!

On our way back from Pandharpur, we had planned our visit to Dahigaon and booked our Flamingo watch at Bhigwan. Dahigaon is a very small village in Solapur district, which is known for 200 year old Shri 1008 Mahavir Swami Digambar Jain Temple. Been one of the oldest Jain temples in this area, the temple has 5.5ft high idol of Bhagwan Mahaveer, and 18ft high idol of Bhagwan Bahubali. Best thing about this temple is the basement, with stone cave like structure which appears to be of ages. We have always heard about the threat Jain community and the temples have been facing, and might be it was one of those reasons for idols to be placed at the basement to avoid the destruction. You can't even guess there is a basement in the temple until you are told. The basement has idols of 20 thirthankaras of Videha Kshetra which are 4.4ft high, 9ft Adhinath Bhagwan and many small idols, which count upto 50 numbers.

The temple is really auspicious and idols are so different from the regular jain idols. You can feel the calmness and serenity when you are inside the temple premises. There is Jain Dharamshala and Bhojanshala near the temple. But you need to intimate prior at the Bhojanshala to have food.

Dahigaon is around 150km from Pune and Sholapur. Its 35km from Baramati and Phaltan, there are many jain families in Baramati and Phaltan and also temples. Every year many jain muni maharaj ji visit and stay during chathurmas at Baramati, Phaltan and Dahigaon. 

Mauli - Pandharpur Yatra Day 2

Day 2 of our trip was planned for the Shree Sant Gajanan Maharaj temple, Mahadhvar ghat, Pundalik temple and Vishnupad temple. We started our day 2 with Shree Sant Gajanan Maharaj Temple. Unlike the very old Vitthala temple, this temple is quote new and is built of white marble. The main temple has shrines of Sant Gajanan Maharaj and Vitthala Rukumai. The temple complex also has accommodation facility, which are quite well maintained. 

We visited the Vitthala Rukumai temple again to get a glimpse of the temple in day light and walked down to the Mahadhvar ghat, which also has the Pundalik temple, Pundalik who got lord Vitthala to Pundharpur. Settled on the banks of River Bhima, the town has many ghat with many shrines to visit.  The best way to view a ghat is from the river, so we took a boat ride at the Bhima river, to enjoy the ghat view from the river. The river is shallow and devotees easily cross the river by foot. The ghat was full of devotees, taking dip in the holy waters. 

These is displays of Vitthala Rukumai to get photographs clicked with

We hired a rickshaw to drive to Vishnupad temple which is 4km from Vitthala Rukumai temple, if you take road or you can as well take boat ride from Mahadhvar ghat. The temple houses the padhuka(foot print) of Lord Vishnu along with carvings on the pillars depicting Vishnu avathar. The temple is submerged in water when the river is full. The annual festival here is in the month of Margashirsha, the ninth month in Hindu calendar, when there is a chariot process of  Lord Vitthala, the incarnation of Vishnu. Being a sangam of Chandrabhaga and Pushpavati(Yamuna), mostly you can see is pilgrims performing funeral rituals of their relatives. 

 

Vishnud was our last place in Pandharpur and we drove to Dahigaon after lunch at Durvankar, which I will narrate in my next post. To read more about Pandharpur, please visit the complete posts here.

Mauli - Pandharpur Yatra Day 1

After hearing from the Gyaneshwar Maharaj Wari group at our housing society about Pandharpur and the celebration, we planned our trip to Pandharpur on one of a long week ends in Feb. Pandharpur is around 220km from Pune and 360km from Mumbai. We started Friday morning, took the Pune-Sholapur Highway, the 4 lane road is too good and till around an hour before Pandharpur. You take a deviation from the highway to drive an hour more to reach Pandharpur, this road too is maintained very well. 

A Wari on the way to Pandharpur

Paduka(foot print) of the saint

Statue of Lord Vittal at Tukarambaba Ashram

As we neared Pandharpur, we were blessed with may waris on the way, and we were happy to have planned our trip the day before Ekadashi. Just few minutes before Pandharpur town is Saint Tukarambaba Ashram, a huge status of Lord Vittal catches your eye, showing its all about Mauli, the mother, the caring mother, Vithoba, Lord Vitthala for the next 2 days of your trip. We reached our hotel, freshened up and left for the visit to Vitthala Rukamai Temple. The temple town is full of devotees, especially if you plan near Ekadashi. The road to the temple has shops selling, idols of Vittal Rukmai, Haldi Kumkum, Brass and copperwears, they really make great souvenirs. We didn't have prior booking for temple darshan, so all we could go for was the Mukh Darshan, were you get the glimpse of the Lord from a distance, charan sparsh darshan takes you to the foot of the idol, were you can touch the idol, but the queue for the charan sparsh darshan takes more than 6 to 7 hours, so we had to settle with Mukh Darshan, which took us half an hour. We were told at the temple information centre there is prior online booking for darshan, which offers you with VIP entry directly. Like in any other temples were Vitthala(Lord Krishna) and Rukumani idols stand next to each other, here there are two separate shrines in the temple complex with the idols of Vitthala and Rukumai

The rare entrance of the temple with the view of shikara of Rukumai temple at left and Vitthala temple in the right

Shops selling idols of Vitthala Rukumai

After the visit to the temple, we had our dinner at Durvankar Dining Hall and called for the day. Durvankar is opposite to MTDC near Pandharpur railway station, ambience is no fancy, but they serve very tasty authentic Maharashtrian Thali.

About Pandharpur: Pandharpur is a pilgrime place in Maharashtra. About the place, tales goes back to the loyal son Pundalik, who after realising his mistake of ill treating his parents, serves his parents with great devotion that lord Vitthala come to earth and knocks his doors to give him darshan. Pundalik who was serving his parents throws a stone at the door asking the lord to stand on the brick to avoid the wet muddy rainy floor. He visit the lord after serving his parents, begs for pardon for making him wait and requests him to stay back on earth to bless his devotees. The lord stays back and a temple was built at the place, so is the lord depicted standing on a brick. A temple for Rukumai, Lord Vishu's wife in this incarnation as Krishna was also built next to Vitthala temple.

To read more about Pandharpur, please visit the complete posts here

All About Pandharpur Wari...

When we moved to Pune last year, little did we know about the Pandharpur Wari. My daughter's school reopen got postponed due to Palki and we were told there would be severe traffic congestion in Pune due to the Palki's who on their way to Pandharpur would cross Pune on that day. I came across may heritage groups organising photo walks as well to click the celebration. Well known by Mauli song from Marathi movie Lai Bhaari, all that we knew was, an annual celebration takes place in Pandharpur every year, where millions of devotee walk in for the celebration. Being a Puneri majority society, our housing society hosted a Wari of Gyaneshwar Maharaj, making arrangements for their accommodation and food. And so did we visit them, to know more about the Wari and the significance. A group of around 50 people of all ages, were resting in our society clubhouse and there was a group which was singing bhajan and at a corner was the brindavan/tulsi plant in a metal pot.  The group had scheduled to take the next 200km in 20 days to reach Padharpur for Ashadi Ekadashi celebration.

Wari is the procession were in devotees walk bare foot from their homes to Pandharpur carrying the paduka(foot prints) of holy saints Gyaneshwar Maharaj and Tukaram Maharaj for the annual celebration. While devotees gather in Pandharpur every Ekadashi, 11th day of Hindu calender, the grand annual celebration takes place on Ashadi Ekadashi, the 11th day of 4th month of Hindu calendar. The devotees start their trip accordingly, around 21 days prior to reach Pandharpur on the day before Ekadashi. Many small groups of disciples of Gyaneshwar Maharaj and Tukaram Maharaj, join together on their journey to finally end up together at Pandharpur. The temple town is filled with devotees, visiting temples, taking holy dip at the Chandrabhaga river/Bhima river, singing bhajans. The celebration is best showcased in the Lay Bhari movie linked below, do watch it.

Ashadi Ekadashi this is year is celebrated on 23rd July 2018

To read more about Pandharpur, please visit the complete posts here

Shaniwar Wada and the Saga of Bajirao Mastani to Narayanrao's Death

Every time I passed the fort during my visit to Tulsibagh market, I imaged a magnificent Palace inside the wall with  beautiful rich carving and many art-crafts for display, like in any other palace. But what showed me in there was a big surprise, all it had was just the stone foundation of a historical structure, which was once a biggest mansion of Pune city. So I wanted to know the history before I could get to know about the place, and the best thing I could do was watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani. I watched the movie and visited the palace again on a heritage walk as part of Pune Heritage Festival. This time I could feel all the characters and structure of the movie come live,  Mastani Mahal, Aarse Mahal, Ganesh Mahal and more.

Peshwe Ganesh Temple

History of Peshwas - From Bajiarao 1 to Narayanrao

The history dates back to 18th century during the time of Bajirao I. Peshwas were the Prime Minister in the kingdom of Chatrapati Maharaj, the ruler who sat at Satara, then the capital of Maratha Kingdom. Bajirao 1 or Bajirao Ballal was the Peshwa during the period 1720 to 1740, and said to have not lost a single war during his regime. After the death of Bajirao, his eldest son Nansaheb became the Peshwa succeeded by his son Narayanrao. Its said, Narayanrao's uncle and Nanasaheb's brother Raghunathrao, killed Narayanrao to possess the kingdom. Raghunathrao sent letter to his guards to captivate Narayanrao, Raghunath's wife Anandibai cunningly changed the letter, commanding to kill Narayanrao. Narayanrao's body was chopped into pieces and taken out of the palace through the back entrance and cremated at the near by river banks. The palace is said to be haunted by Narayanrao's souls with Narayanrao's last words begging his uncle for help been heard at night even today, "Kaka Mala Vachwa"(Uncle save me).

The Palace Architecture and its demise 

Shaniwar Wada was one of the magnificent and stately mansion built ever in Pune. One of the buildings in Shaniwar wada was seven storied, with other important buildings Thoriya Rayacha Diwankhana(The Court Hall of Bajirao-1), Nachacha Diwankhana(Dancing Hall), Ganesh Mahal and Juna Aarse Mahal(Old Mirror Hall). The walls, arches and ceilings were said to be covered with intricate carvings, walls painted with stories of Ramayana and Mahabharta. The Palace is said to have got its name for all the important events of the building, laying the first stone to the opening ceremony took place on Saturdays. In 1818, Peshwas handed over the throne to British Government and moved to prison in Nagpur. Ten years later in 1820, whole palace was completely burnt down by a great fire which lasted for seven days and left only the heavy ramparts, strong gateways and buried foundations. 

All that's seen today

The present main entrance of the palace is Delhi Darwaza(facing today's Delhi), facing North. Adjoining to Delhi Darwaza is Mastani or Alibahadur Darwaza, which then led to Mastani Mahal, built for Mastani. Facing East are khidki Darwaza and Ganesh Darwaza. Even though Delhi Darwaza was big in construction, the main entrance was Ganesh Darwaza in use, with Peshwe Ganesh Temple at the entrance gate. Towards South is Narayan Darwaza, the door which was used to take the dead body of Narayan Rao out. The Delhi Darwaza, is a combination of Hindu and Islamic style with a cypress tree marking the addition of Christianity. The Nagarkhana on the top of Delhi Gate which once sang loudly glories of the great Peshwas survives even today and is a popular symbol of Pune city. The structure is under Archaeological Survey of India and the history and glory of the palace can be better experienced by the light and sound show conducted by the Archaeological department.

Delhi Darwaza with Cypress Tree in the front

As seen from Delhi Darwaza

 

So when you are in Pune's signature structure Shaniwar wada, just don't watch the ruined platforms but get deep into it and listen to the story every stone has to narrate, and don't forget to watch Bajirao Mastani movie before visiting this place.

Travel Tips:

Shaniwar Wada is in Shaniwar Peth in Pune city. Its around 3km from Swargate bus stand and Pune railway station and 11km from Lohgaon airport.
Timings: 9AM to 5:30PM
Entry Fee:
Indian Citizens - Rs. 15/-
Foreign Citizens - Rs. 200/-
Children below 15 years - Entry Free
Videography for personal use Rs. 25/-

Bahubali Mahamastakabhisheka 2018 Celebration!!!

So the once in 12 years grand occasion of Mahamastakabhisheka was started. The occasion was inaugurated by honourable President of India Ram Nath Kovind on 7th Feb and attended by many dignitaries including Prime Miniter Narendra Modi over the days of celebration. 

We were part of the celebration with invite from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to cover the occasion. While hubby had moved to Bangalore in January, I managed to fly to Bangalore for a weekend from Pune to attend the celebration. We drove to Hassan the previous day to collect our passes, stayed there for a night and drove to Shravanbelagola the next morning. Being the initial 10 days of celebration, the entry was strictly for media and pass holders who had bought the Jalabhisheka and Panchamrutha Abhisheka in auction. Even with the hot and humid weather, people gathered in thousands to attend the celebration. The celebration started with jalabhisheka(water) followed by Panchamrutha Abhisheka with milk, sugarcane juice, rice atta, tender coconut water, sandalwood paste, saffron paste ending with flowers, garland and aarti. 

The 10 days celebration had religious and cultural celebration at many stages set up in and around Shravanbelagola city. Food and accommodation arrangements were equally well managed by the Shravanbelagola Jain matt, jain communities from different cities, with the help of many volunteers.  

Chamundaraya Mantap - a stage set for the religious celebration

Night view of Vindhyagiri Hill in light

The Mahamasthakabhisheka celebration will be till August, however the other religious celebrations and arrangements were till Feb end only. You can plan a visit soon. There is lot more to just the Mahamasthakabhisheka celebration and Vindhyagiri Hill, explore the temple town along with Chandragiri hill and the other temples to be mesmerised by the history and heritage it offers.

Travel Tips:

1. Footwear not allowed up the hill, carry socks if you want to avoid the burning hot stone steps while climbing up. There are stalls selling socks as well if you miss carrying.

2. Carry caps, umbrellas to avoid the heat while watching the celebration, as there is no shade except near the foot of the idol, which is mostly crowded.

3. There is drinking water available, but food not available, people manage to carrying, but should be avoided.

4. Try to climb the hill early morning to avoid the heat.

5. No good accommodation or food is available other than the first 10 days celebration. For accommodation and food you can opt for Hassan city which is 50km from Shravanbelagola city.