re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

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re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

Great starter!
Now, bring on the full course.

re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

"Why you ended the first post with that picture of an elephant?"

"I watched Baahubali - The conclusion, recently and this statue of elephant reminded me of that scenes where elephants kneel down as mark of respect. Probably SS Rajamouli got inspired by these statues"

Our man was in a trance as he was transported to an era of glory. Marvelous carvings.

"How on earth, in that age and time, did they carve the ceilings so brilliantly and such perfection!"

He just stood there gaping at the architectural wonder and time just flew by. But he could not get enough of it.

"Please give thirty rupees", asked the man who was turning and focusing the light to show the carvings on ceiling. Though it was too much, our man thought, but well worth it, he consoled himself.

He desperately sought blessings of chief deities "Lord Chennakeshava" and "Goddess Sri Mahalakshmi".

He simply could not get enough of this beauty. Every monument with thousands of carvings which were so perfect and above all have withstood the test of time and weather.

Some idiot,s though it was very clearly mentioned to not to touch these carvings as they have become fragile, kept breaking that rule. Our rider's blood boiled looking at the disregard for our treasures by our own people. But security staff were doing a good job by immediately running to those morons and telling them sternly to not to touch the walls or pillars, especially the ones outside.

Though it was very hot outside, once you get inside the temple complex, it was very cool and soothing. And, best part is, it was natural. No AC. No fan.

He spent good amount of time flipping between past and present, thinking about how those people lived and what passion and taste they had to create something spectacular like this. His broken mobile phone's camera can never do justice to this place and what he witnessed.

You better travel around 220 Km from Bangalore to this place of grandeur of gone by era, called BELUR, and see for yourself and immerse in the sea of architectural beauty.

Now just to compel you to go to this place, here he presents few samples.














The above statue is about the Legend of Hoysala Click on the link to read about this in Wikipedia.

































Pictures in black and white as our man was transported back in time. Whenever he returned to present, pictures would be in color

Our rider hopped on his beast and rode further. But images of carvings rolled on in his mind. What was shown above is not even a percent of what one could see at Belur.

Re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

"It is not very far. Just 15 kilometers. But first four kilometers are not great as repair work is on"

"Phew! New Metzelers are being tested. Good. Thanks that I was warned about condition of the road"

"Wow! Now it is so different. Butter smooth and it's always nice to ride around the country side. Weather also becomes cooler. Nice Nice "



"Now, why did you stop here!"

"Not so far away, I see a beautiful village and like typical metro folks, I ma getting this thought - this is the place to stay. One day I will settle here. Trust me! If we had to stay in a village and go through hardships like a farmer does, we would not stick around for not more than tow days. Come on, we are after all so used to all these gizmos and luxuries!"

"Whatever! A nice place. Can you see those small lovely huts surrounded by fields"



"Okay, where have we reached, my Tornado"



"I should visit all the places of Hoysala architecture. I had visited one such place, Somnathpur. These places are like time machines. They do take you back to those glorious times"

"What a beautiful temple of Lord Shiva! Temples of Hoysaleshwara and Kedareshwara. Om Namah Shivaya. So peaceful and calm!"

"Okay folks. Now few teasers for you to enjoy. To see full picture, please visit Halebidu. This was the capital of Hoysala empire"





















"Man, Do you see the kind of precision and perfection of the necklace carving on the Nandi statues. Just amazing. Amazing, awesome, superb, all these adjectives are understatement"

Though our rider traveled back home, his mind was still wandering in the era gone by.

Re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

Great pictures and lovely narration!

Re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

Thanks Krishna

Thanks Doga Saheb

Re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

Thumbs up!

Re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

"What a brilliant book!" Our rider who is also fond of reading thought about famous book "DURGASTAMANA" by Ta.Ra.Su.

"Especially the conversations between Chieftain Madakari Nayaka and Hyder Ali, is so well elevated and kept me hooked!"

"After reading that book my perspective and view point of my hometown and the famous fort changed completely"

"During my childhood days, going to fort was fun. Then just like people living in Agra do not care much about Taj Mahal, we took our famous fort and history attached to it for granted"

"But this book changed my standpoint towards the history of the fort completely. A big thanks to my mom for introducing these marvelous series of books on Paleygars or chieftains of Chitradurga "

"Though I am living in Bangalore and keep visiting my hometown, I wanted to ride to this famous fort of Chitradurga, and have a re-look at it after reading the description of each and every place within the fort."

It was sweltering hot but could not stop our rider from going to the fort. Chitradurga is surrounded by hillocks made of huge rocks which result in hot and humid temperature of Chitradurga.

"Good to see that government putting some efforts to maintain the fort. But unless people co-operate, there is no hope" Thought our rider. Suddenly he became serious and pensive.

As he walked into the fort and passed through each important spot, story of Durgastamana unfolded, as if it were happening right in front of his eyes.

As per legend and the book, it took Hyder Ali, who had easily conquered most of the forts in the province of Mysore, close to a year to capture this fort and that too it did not happen because of his might or intelligence but due to cunningness which is well described.

When you look at the ramparts of the fort you can imagine how difficult it was for any enemy to attack and win over the Chieftains. Hence it was called as Kallina Kote (Fort made of rocks)/ Ukkina Kote (Iron fort)/ Elu Suttina Kote (Seven coil fort).

Also, Chitradurga has always been an extremely hot region. Despite that the fort never suffered from scarce of water. Thanks to implementation of rain water harvesting. When Hyder Ali decided to attack the fort, first thing he inquired was about water supply to the fort. That's when he learnt that fort had such good water harvesting practices and plan, that despite no rain, stored water could last for 12 years.

"I can go on and on and on mates. But, I have become too lazy now a days to put down everything. I am still trying my best"















"Can you spot people at the top of the hill. The tank which you see next to them is called Tuppada Kola (Ghee tank). The climb is very steep and treacherous. No steps, mind you. Many people have lost lives while climbing up and down. You can see a bloke climbing up the steep"





"Famous Hidimbeshwara Temple"









"The above picture is of famous Chelu Gudda (Scorpion hill). That's a huge rocky hillock and is well at least two to three kilometers far from the fort. You can imagine how big it could be"





"Some interesting passages within the fort"











"The pond in the above picture is famous Gopal swamy honda which is at the foot of the hill where Lord Gopal Swamy temple is located. In the past, many people especially pehelwans (wrestlers) would come here for a swim after the work out. Dangerous pond where many lives have been lost"








"Can you spot people in the above picture. They are climbing down the hillock!"





"Sorry folks! My phone's battery charge got exhausted. I could not get pictures of famous Akka-Tangi honda (Elder-younger sisters pond- a pond named after two wives of Madakari Nayaka, who jumped into the pond upon learning Hyder Ali's win); Onake Obavvana kindi ( A breach in the fort which was leaked to Hyder Ali and when his men were sneaking in, a guard's wife called Obavva, spotted them and not only alerted the army but also killed many enemy soldiers. The breach was named after her ), Grinding stones to prepare powders; and many other spots"

"What a bunch of idiots. How could they spoil such a serene place" murmured our rider when he saw a set of well grown donkeys were sitting having their legs dipped in a famous pond called Tanneer Doni (Which means cold water boat), which is a small pond and one gets cold water, as if it's taken out of a fridge, through out the year regardless of weather, and many use this for drinking and these donkeys were sitting with their legs dipped in that.

He stood there and gave them a furious look and they slowly vacated the place. However, our rider was little scared inside thinking what if it led to a scene in case they retaliated. Anyways, good that nothing like that happened.

Finally, after taking blessings of chief deities of the fort, Goddess Ekanatheshwari, Lord Ganapati and Goddess Banashankari, our rider started his return journey.

"What a beast. Well done my boy!" Exclaimed our rider when his Tornado withstood heavy gust and rain and kept moving in a regal manner without budging or shaking, just like chieftains of Chitradurga.

Re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

Thanks Krishna

Re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

"Still so many places to see and explore during weekends", our rider thought as he was sitting lazily on the couch.

Time to have a re-look at places he has ridden to so far around Bangalore (Click on the links to know more about them)


1. RANGANATHITTU

2. NANDI HILLS

3. MUTHATHI & GAGANA CHUKKI (SHIVANASAMUDRAM)

4. MANCHANABELE & MARKONAHALLI RESERVOIRS (AWESOME SUNSET VIEW)

5. KOKKARE BELLUR

6. SHRAVANABELAGOLA

7. SOMANATHPUR

8. KANVA RESERVOIR

9. BIG BANYAN TREE/ DODDA AALADA MARA

10. MAIDENAHALLI, JAYAMANGALI BLACKBUCK RESERVE

11. CHAMUNDI HILLS, MYSORE

12. DEVARAYANADURGA - GORAVANAHALLI - THEETHA DAM

13. YELAGIRI

14. VANI VILAS SAGAR (MARI KANIVE)

15. SUVARNAVATHI RESERVOIR

16. MELUKOTE

17. LEPAKSHI

18. SHETTIHALLI CHURCH

19. HOGENAKKAL FALLS

20. HORSLEY HILLS

21. AVALABETTA

22. THATTEKERE LAKE

23. MANDHARAGIRI

24. ANTARAGANGE

25. KRP DAM

26. TALAKAD

27. GANDIKOTA - DAY 1

28. GANDIKOTA - DAY 2 & BELUM CAVES

29. DEVARABETTA

30. PANCHAPALLI DAM

31. BELUR

32. HALEBIDU

33. CHITRADURGA FORT

Re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

Awesome..
Looks like the places weren't crowded much which is good for any traveller.

Re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

Thanks SK.
Yeah, not much crowd. Thanks to sweltering hot conditions.

Re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

[MENTION=49942]experimentalhead[/MENTION] Liked the way you have narrated your journey.
Thanks for sharing the history and photographs of the era gone by.

Though I stayed in Bangalore for 5 years, never got the opportunity to visit much places.
Nonetheless, I'm bookmarking your travelogue. Will come handy sometime in future.

Re: Joy of Motorcycling: Blabbering by a motorcycle traveler

Thanks for your kind words [MENTION=90447]luckyashraj[/MENTION]
Pleasure is all mine