Colors of devotion!!

Our trip to Udaipur was made with the sole intent to experience the colors and flavours of the famous Mewar festival of Udaipur. Little did we know how enchanted we would be with the myriad colors and customs of this charming festival.

The festival is all about ushering in the new spring of the year and also co-incides with the Gangaur festival of Rajasthan. Gangaur is traditionally dedicated to Shiv and Parvati where in the women folk pray to the goddess for marital bliss. The women folk deck up in all their finery and carry similarly decked idols of goddess Parvati on their head. The entire street procession is an extremely colorful and gala affair.

With child like enthusiasm, we rushed to the Jagdish temple chowk where a crowd was already gathering to witness the procession which had started from the clock tower. It halted at the foot of the Jagdish temple where street performances were held by  male dancers and young boys alike. Our attention was immediately caught by the dancers, swirling in their colorful tunics and moving to the beats of a dhol.  They carried long wooden poles and were bedecked in flowing robes of a rich orange hue with gold work. We couldnt resist getting ourselves clicked with them.

Young boys were dressed up as gods like Shiva, Vishnu and Brahama and looked so adorable in their costumes.

Another gang of young boys were dressed as monkeys and performed with various props. The entire scene was straight out of a circus.

The crowd was unbelievable – hordes of locals mixed with the foreign tourists and others could be seen jostling for space. The entire procession travelled up and down narrow lanes  to the Gangaur ghat and yet the crowd management was painless. Kudos to the Udaipur administration for all the preparations for the festival.

And what was even more surprising that despite so much crowd, not a single grope or lechy comment anywhere. Infact, people were helping us “squeeze” in from tight gaps to join them on a higher perch without a grumble. The locals were obliging all the shutterbugs by posing freely; most of the young girls were tickled pink by all the attention.

At the ghat, the idols were placed in line on a step near the water line. Then the women queued up and paid obeisance to the idols one by one. The setting sun sprinkled beautiful light over the water of the lake and made for a very pretty picture. There is a boat procession too on the lake which we missed out on seeing.

This gaiety continue for three days and culminates with an impressive display of fireworks over the lake Pichola. We were lucky enough to be dining on a charming roof top restaurant when the fireworks started. The display continued for quite sometime and was very colorful and festive. We tried to capture as many shots as we could of the firebursts.

Death by Chocolate!!!!

When I decided to experiment with a chocolate cake and add some rum and dried fruits to it, little did I realise the sensation it would create. I am being asked for the recipe left, right and centre. And when one of my friends suggested, I blog it – I thought why not!!!?

Alright guys – here it is by popular demand – the recipe for my choco-rum cake.

Choco Rum cake with dried fruits!

Ingredients :

For the Rum Mix:                  

1. Cranberries – ¼ cup
2. Blueberries – ¼ cup
3. Apricots – ¼ cup (shop them into smaller bits)
4. Prunes – ¼ cup (chop them into smaller bits)
5. Raisins – ¼ cup
6. Dark rum – ½ cup
7. Cinnamon sticks- 2 pcs
8. Vanilla pod- 1 bean

Rum Mix:

Soak all the ingredients overnight in a covered container. You can chose to add or delete the dried fruits in any combination you like.  (Optional, you can add a bit of cherry / coffee liquer to this mix as well). I had first made this with only cranberries and apricots – the dried versions you can easily get in the markets like Le Marche, INA, Modern Bazar, Spencer, etc. Next cake I added the blueberries and prunes as well. A word to the wise, just cut the apricots and prunes to smaller pieces as these are quite large and break the cake pcs if put in whole. 

I also added in a coffee liquer in one of the cakes and that tasted quite delicious as well. 

Note: The liquer and dried fruits add onto the sugar content in the cake – cut down on the sugar quantity by a few spoons if you like your cake less sweeter.

Another thing I experimented with was grating a bit of orange zest into the rum mix – it added quite a spicy tang to the cake.

Hey guys do remember to remove the bits of cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean – you dont want people to be biting into that.

For the Cake Mix:

1. Maida / flour – 150 gms / 1 cup
2. Sugar – 150 gms / 1 cup
3. Refined oil – 150 mls
4. Eggs – 4 numbers
5. Baking powder – 1 leveled tsp
6. Cocoa powder – 6 tbspn
7. Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Method:

Add the cocoa powder, baking powder and maida onto a sieve and sift thrice to mix the dry ingredients well ( do not mix with a spoon after sifting). The idea of sifting is to trap air into the mix to make it light and airy – so dont spoil the effect by mushing it with a spoon later.

In a medium size bowl, beat the 4 eggs to a light fluffy mix. Add the sugar (its easier to beat in powdered sugar) and beat till its incorporated fully with the eggs. Next add the oil and beat some more. 

I prefer to add in powdered sugar though granulated is also ok to use – just a mind set I guess.

For the oil, I add it in in three bits – add a little, beat some. Then add some more and beat some more. Add the rest and beat some more – this way it gets mixed in quite well. 

Note:

The mix is quite light when its just eggs and rises up to become fluffy. As you add in the sugar, its gets heavy and with the oil it almost settles down – dont be alarmed by it. This is how its supposed to be.

Add vanilla essence, the rum mix and the sifted ingredients into the liquid mix and fold in gently with a rubber spatula.  (don’t mix with a heavy hand) Use one direction to fold in the mix gently. 

Its important to do this very gently as the air bubbles trapped in make it easier for the cake to rise. 

Pour in a medium sized  pre- greased baking tin or glass bowl and bang the dish gently on the counter to remove any air bubbles.

Microwave setting:

Turn the microwave on and set it at 180 degree  C pre- heat. Once the oven beeps, put in the cake tin and bake at 180 degrees  C for 1 hour.

The smell in the house while it rises in the oven is to die for!!!!!!!!

Check the cake by inserting in a knife; if still not done bake for another 5-10 mts at 180 degrees C. (Dont worry about opening the oven while the cake is being baked)

Let it cool for 15 mts before taking it out and cutting it into pcs.

Normal Oven:

Preheat oven at 200 degrees C for 20 mts. Put the cake tin at 200 degrees C for 10 mts, then turn the heat down to 150 degrees C for 45 mts and then at 100 degrees C for 15 mts.

Check the cake by inserting in a knife before turning down to 100 degrees C – if not done then bake for another 5-10 mts at that temp before going down to 100 degrees C.

Let it cool for 15 mts before taking it out and cutting it into pcs.

Enjoy!!!

Hampi- soul amidst the ruins !! (Day-2)

27th March 2011 - Our Day-2 at Hampi began at about 6 in the morning; we decided to head out to the river to get a glimpse of the sunrise before the boat service can take us across. The sun was rising up and afforded us a opportunity to shoot some pictures.

While waiting for the boatman to start his morning; noticed these white puffs reflected in the water.

These posters were put up everywhere in Hampi by the local police. Infact there were loads of such rules and regulations painted on the reception wall of many resorts out there as a caution for the tourists against bad elements, etc, much to our amusement!!!

Hampi comprises of some zones and clusters of villages. The most popular amongst these are the Sacred Centre (where the religious sites are situated; Royal Centre where the royal and the courtly structures (Queen’s bath, elephant stables, lotus mahal, Hazarrama temple) are placed; Islamic quarters which was the residential area where the Muslim officers of the vijayanagar army lived. Then there are some small villages like Kamalpura, Anegondi, etc. 

We wandered across to the market place and started haggling with the first auto we spotted; he agreed to take us all over for 300/- for 3 hours. We planned on covering as much as possible as this was our final day here in Hampi. And boy were we spoilt for choice – everywhere we looked, every street we went up – we could see monuments, temples, ruins……… We were wishing for 360 degree view for our eyes as we were constantly swinging around our necks to get a maximum dekko of this beautiful heritage site!!

The first spot we came across was the HazarRama Temple : “This is the only temple situated in the core of the royal zone between the ceremonial and the residential enclosures. Dedicated to Vishnu in his aspect as Lord Rama, this 15th century temple, is the finest example of a compact Dravida Vimana type of temple. Its knows for its sculpted friezes depicting the Ramayana, in three tiers, running all around the main shrine, and the narrative sculptures of Lava-Kusha story on the devi shrine.” A beautiful green stretch covered this monument on two sides, bordered with fragrant champa trees. We strolled into the compound which was deserted as it was too early in the morning for the tourists. A peaceful, serene place with some very gorgeous carvings, pillars and architecture.

Next we ventured onto a graceful piece of architecture – The Queen’s Bath.  Though this is called the queen’s bath; in all probability this was an area used by the king and his wives for their pleasures. The gracious architecture of the inside more than make up for the starkness for the exterioe of this building. Gorgeous balconies project out into the pond from all sides with arched windows; the base of these are supported by brackets in the shape of lotus buds. The central pool is open to sky and one can just imagine this being filled with perfumed water and flowers for a royal bath. The verandah encompassing this pool has beautiful domes and arches – all a true example of some enchanting architecture.

     

Tired out, we begged the autowallah to suggest some good eating joint nearby; he came through with flying colors for us. We ended up at a small joint which served some amazing south indian fare of idlis, dosa and filter coffee. Sated, we set off for the main destination of the day – the Vitthala Temple.

The Vitthala temple complex had a surprise for us; there were battery operated carts which ferried tourists from the main entrance to the temple complex for a mere fee of 10/-. It was a delight to see that Indian heritage sites are employing clean, green facilities for the ease of the tourists – applaud the tourism department on this achievement.

The Vithtala temple, represents the highest watermark of the vijayanagar style of art and architecture. Vitthala is the Krishna aspect of Lord Vishnu. It is one of the largest temples of that period, built under the patronage of Devaraya II (1422-46 AD). The hundred pillared mantapa (pavillion) to the southwest of the main temple, and the Eastern and Northern gateways, carved with depictions of Vishnu and his other forms, are attributed to Krishanadevaraya and his queens.

The temple is built on an ornate plinth. The composite pillar of the sabha mantapa (congregation hall) are massive, hewn out of single granite blocks, which are designed as clusters of slender pillars. Some of these when tapped gently, produce musical notes.

But the piece-de-resistance was most undoubtedly the massive stone chariot, placed in the central courtyard. The sheer size of this sculpture takes your breathe away; on top of that the exquisite carving work and the details are simply mind blowing. Its a reproduction of a processional wooden chariot and houses an image of Garuda – the vehicle of Lord Vishnu.

The long path winding from the main entrance to the temple is lined with a pillared complex, in ruins now, and some other structures which are all part of a huge bazar.

We walked out of this complex, awe struck!! I think I for one will definately visit Hampi once again – just for this awesome temple complex.

We gorged on some nariyal pani outside the temple complex and then continued on towards our next destination. Enroute we stopped tp click some pics of a massive  gateway called the Talarighatta gate.

Our next stop was the Zenana Enclosure where we visited the Lotus Mahal or the Chitragani mahal.Since its inside the zenana quarters, its assumed to be a socialising spot for the womenfolk of the royal family. The gorgeous structure is surrounded by a verdant green patch of well-manicured lawns with plenty of huge trees. We all sprawled under the shade of one such tree to admire this beautiful piece of architecture with its ornate arches and windows. The archway and the balcony with the domed construction resemble a half opened lotus bud- hence the name. The decorations and architecture is a curious mix of Hindu and Islamic styles.

Our final destination for the day was the Elephant stables - another beautiful architectural structure with immense grace and style. Its built in the Indo-Islamic style in the 15th century and comprises of a long rectangular structure with eleven large domed chambers - all connected via the huge arched openings. The domes are of various types – circular, octagonal, ribbed, and fluted in design – all laid out symmetrically in a pattern.

Our trip ended with a funny meal at one of the roadside cafe’s in the main market wherein we dug into an assortment of items from pakodas to cheese sandwiches and the worst was the boiled and mashed chana impersonating to be Hummus!!! The best part – we devoured this as well. We took the night bus back to bangalore but in our hearts we knew we have not had our fill of Hampi – one needs to spend at least a week here to savour it in its entirety!!!!

Purple Passions!!

I had been seeing these gorgeous deep pink and purple blooms in JP Nagar on short shrub like trees. The crown of the trees is totally covered with sprays of these blooms. I looked them up to know that these are called Queen’s Crape Myrtle – Pride of India – Queen’s Flower – Banaba for Phillipines – Furush in Bengali or Lagerstroemia speciosa; a species of Lagerstroemia which is native to tropical southern Asia.

The flowers are ornamental racemes pink to purple color with wrinkled petals. Its got an oval shaped fruit too which is split into a star shape and can be seen hanging in bunches from the trees.

This tree has medicinal properties and quite a lot of its parts – leaves, bark, etc are used to extract compounds which help alleviate health problems.

I had noticed 2-3 large trees in Jayanagar in full bloom and marked them out for a shoot. Today morning I finally found some time to head out to capture them on camera and realised that the tree is almost through with flowering. The floral sprays were heaviest on the crown of the trees and posed quite a task to shoot them.

I wandered around JP Nagar and finally hit jackpot in one of the sidelanes where there were some more of these trees with blooms closer down on the trees; making it easy for me to take some shots.

I was gawked at quite a bit by passerbys and house owners alike; guess that early in the morning with a zoom lens – I did make for a sight hitherto unknown to the streets of Bangalore!!

Another great spot where 3-4 of these trees were in massive bloom turned out to be in the Brigade Millenium park where I had to beg the guard to let me enter to shoot them. God bless his kind heart – he consented for 5 minutes; ample time for me to get a shot of a tree almost fully covered in these blooms.

I think these are going to be in blooms for another week or so before they all fall off trees. I am lucky I got to capture them on camera. Wonder which is the next color that is going to sweep Bangalore after this.

Southern Sojourn – Somnathpur Temple

26th January 2011 – Ek raasta… Do rahi… aha aha!! That’s what we ( Sravanti and me) both felt like on the early morning of 26^th jan 2011 when we set out for a road trip to Somanathapur in southern Karnataka.

We hit Kanakpura road by 7.00 a.m. and were delighted by the smooth drive with minimal traffic on that road. After leaving the city behind, we could see some amazing scenes on both sides of the road – wide expanses of water with fields of lilies strewn over the calm surface, hump-backed mountains with puffs of clouds hovering overhead, gorgeous banyans with spaghetti like roots hanging by the dozen……… Every scene made us want to stop the car and click pictures.

We wolfed down our packed sandwiches while driving and stopped at a local bakery enroute to check for directions and pick up some more goodies to eat.

We had to stick to NH209 (Kanakpura road) and had to detour slightly via Malvalli town to get back on track. We were quite delighted with the road quality and made good time to reach Somanathpur by 10.00 a.m. The road signs were few but helpful passerbys more than made up for it.

Somnathpur is a small village on the banks of river Cauvery and said to be founded by a Hoysala  army commander Somnath. The temple compound was beautiful, with a high wall all around and wide open green stretches surrounding the main temple complex. We collected our tickets (5/-) at the ticket counter and walked up a pathway to the temple entrance.  A small porch overhang marks the entrance; it has some very beautifully lathe worked columns in stone.

The main temple itself is on a star shaped base with intricately carved freizes depicting cavalary, elephants, horses, poses of deities, etc. The entire temple has star like folds – all carved with amazing dexterity. The temple itself has three profusely carved pinnacles or shrines and a common Navranga. The three inner sanctum on the West, North and the South used to hold idols of Kesava, Venugopala, and Janardhan. It is an ornately carved temple of magnificent craftsmanship depicting Vishnu, Lakshmi, Ganesha, Saraswati, Rati-manmatha, and Mahishasura. The carvings inside are as intricate as the ones on the outside walls – truly a piece of art!!

There are inscriptions engraved on a slab standing at the entrance, inside the temple, dated from 1269 to 1550 A.D. that detail the construction of the temple and the grants made to it.

We encountered bus loads of foreign and local tourists at the temple, surprising us with the popularity of this temple. What was even more amazing was the German, French speaking Indian guides with these groups who were explaining the entire architecture in detail to the foreigners.

Couple of hours later, we decided to take a break under a large tree and sat down to munch on our goodies. Within minutes we were surrounded by hordes of crows, begging us for some good. The buggers were so bold as to fly in close and peck us to prompt us to throw food at them. One of the temple employees came to our rescue with a broom as he shooed the birds away.

We had seen a board declaring the way towards Talakkad; curious we decided to head onwards to it. The road to Talakkad from Somanathapur was potholed and a total mess. We were disappointed on reaching the temple as it was a modern one and not an ancient one like Somanathapur. Worse, there were hordes of tourists – everywhere we could see huge surges of people. We decided to abandon the temple and stake out a spot by the Cauvery river. We followed some arrows and reached a spot which looked like a carnival was in progress. The shores were jam packed with people; half of whom were jumping in the water. This was so not our scene and we abandoned it to head for a quieter spot, which we found a few kilometers away.

We parked the car and lazed under a huge banyan by the river while a crew worked on emptying a sand barrage. Soon the guy started punting the upturned bowl on the river for his next load. Meanwhile, loads of birds frolicked on the water surface closeby. The quiet of the surroundings, blue of the river, wide shady canopy of the banyan tree and the immense span of the waters was so soothing to the soul; we felt we could while away atleast a couple of hours here.

Atlast, we shook ourselves of our reverie and it was time to head back to Bangalore. With a short stop at the Barista on the Bangalore-Mysore highway, we made good time back home.

Extra Notes:

Route : Kothnur – Somanahalli – Harohalli- Kanakpura – Sathanur – Halaguru – Malavalli – Somanathapur (Distance of about 150 kms from Bangalore)

Temple is open from 8.30-5.30

Entry fee – 5/- Indian nationals and no camera fees

Simply loved the Toilet facility at this monument – neat clean toilets with no bad odour.

Be prepared for loads of restoration works happening here; construction material, etc dumped around

Bangalore Diaries: By the river @Bheemeshwari

14th November 2010 – With boredom nagging at our heels, we decided to head off for a day trip somewhere nearby. I searched on the net, asked friends and also consulted the Outlook traveller guide and finally zeroed in on Bheemeshwari Fishing Camp – a mere 100 kms away from Bangalore.

The JLR website (http://www.junglelodges.com/) listed a day trip at a cost of 1150/- per head which included a jungle trek, coracle ride on the river, lunch and tea. The package duration was 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. There was also a adventure package with rappelling, Burma loops, etc but we were not keen on these activities as our plan was to laze around. The web also informed us that JLR has a monopoly of this area, which made us think that we had to take a package to visit the riverside.

We headed out on Kanakpura road (NH-209) at around 8.00 in the morning and made good time as the road was quite nice to drive on (barring a few areas where construction activity was on). We crossed quite a few water bodies with loads of lotus and lilies in bloom. The day was quite warm with a sunny blue sky and we kept hoping to find some rain ahead.

We crossed quite a few small towns/villages on the route and kept seeing the JLR signages to know we were on the right track. 90 minutes later we realized we had overshot our destination and turned around to find a JLR signage. The small village which is the turnoff for the camp had no signage to indicate so, which is why we overshot it.

The turnoff led us to a narrow village road with loads of buffalo and goat herds on it; it made driving really slow. Soon the road on both sides was busy with tall trees and shrubs, indicating a forested area. We were stopped at a point and made to pay 50/- as some sort of toll – the slip was in Kannada, so we couldn’t make out what it was for – found it very strange.

Soon the banks of the river were in sight and so were picnic revelers. We realized that people had simply parked on the riverside and were enjoying a picnic there. Something we could have done by ourselves too; made us wonder our decision to take a day package with the JLR camp.

Soon we were entering the camp where we walked in the office area and registered our arrival. We were asked to go with a guide into the forest for a trek. After a glass of refreshing lemonade, we headed off with the guide who walked 20 paces ahead of us and spoke not a word to us. We trailed behind him for some 20 minutes or so, before we realized that this was no way to do a trek. We were climbing a steep incline, when we asked him to tell us where he is taking us. He motioned the top of the hill – apparently he didn’t speak hindi/English.

The heat of the day, the silent guide and the steep incline – we decided to forego the trek as we were simply not impressed by it all. I wish the guide had been talkative and informative about the area and where he was taking us. This was the first disappointment of the day.

We headed back to the camp where we were asked to wait around till lunch. It was disappointing to note the lack luster approach of the management to guests. No one was interested in talking to the guests or showing people around the camp area. It would have been better if someone had taken the initiative to introduce the camp and its activities to us. It would be a good marketing exercise too.

We walked around the camp to check it out and were not impressed by the tented accommodation – these looked quite shabby from the outside. There was a station each for Burma loops and bridge walking. In one area we saw people on a zip line. There were some youngsters enjoying a game of volleyball in another corner of the camp. A huge rope net was stretched between some trees for kids to play around in it.

Another corner had rafting equipment stocked up where a group was getting ready to head out on the river.

Tired out, we plonked ourselves in a hammock but the day was such a scorcher that had us wishing for our AC car. I spotted some bee eaters and some other water birds and got busy shooting them. Soon it was time for lunch, we were ferried across a stretch of water in a coracle to another part of the camp where the main dining hall was. We wished that we had known earlier about this; it was a much better area of the camp as it was quite close to the river and the view was awesome.

The lunch was in a dining hall made out of a thatched roof station with netting on the sides to let in air but keep out the monkeys; one managed to sneak in and steal bananas from the food station. The lunch was “horrible” – guess its to do with our north indian palate. We made do with some curd and papad as the rest of the items were either unrecognizable or were insipid; even the likes of sambhar.

After lunch, we snoozed on the hammock for a while and waited for our turn for the coracle ride. The coracle looks like an upturned basket; we got onto one wherein we were made to sit on the bottom while the boatman sat on a small metal stool. We were packed in 4-5 people in each and soon we were a group of 3 coracles heading on the river. This ride was the highlight of the day; the day had turned cloudy and even sprinkled some rain. The river was bulging to the seams and was running quite fast. I wanted to close my eyes and snooze in the gentle rocking motions of the coracle.

The boatman looped a rope around his stool; it made us re-think this adventure. And adventure it was – the coracle was suddenly buffeted from all sides and water started splashing all around us and onto us. We were in the midst of a small rapid; the swells made the coracle rock pretty hard. Needless to say, we looked forward to the next rapid and the next.

After 30 minutes on the river, the ride came to an end. The coracles were docked on the river bank where a tractor trailer was waiting. The coracle, stools, oars and life jackets were all dumped into it; we were all put in a jeep and ferried back to the camp.

The JLR site mentions that the highlight of this camp is the fishing activity – Mahaseer is very widely sought out on this river. We could see lots of pictures of people holding up huge fish; and were looking forward to seeing this part of the camp. But there was no fishing activity in the camp; we asked the manager and were told that since one month , fishing has been banned in this area. Another disappointment; now why could this not be mentioned on the website itself. The manager told us that tourism has dropped to this camp because of it. If we had known, we wouldn’t have come either.

All this made us realize our folly of booking a day trip – it was so lack luster and seemed such a waste of money. If not for the coracle ride, the day would have been a disaster. Next time we plan to stop by before the camp and picnic on our own by the river side. And we suggest the same to anyone else looking to come to this area. The JLR camp is best avoided; I am not sure if the log huts are any better for staying a night here.  But this is simply not a destination where one would like to stay a night and spend that kind of money.

Route: Bangalore – Kanakpura road – Kollegal highway – Halagur – Muttatti – Bheemeshwari

Note: I would advise you to picnic on your own by the river at any spot which seems unoccupied. The JLR fishing camp is a tad bit boring.

Do keep an eye for the turnoff for the camp as one can easily miss it and find oneself heading towards Galibore fishing camp.

Pondy Frames 2011

22nd Feb 2011 – As I stepped off the bus at the bus stand, first thing I noticed was the lovely autorickshaws!! Yeah, you read it right – lovely is the word for the autos out there. First of all, none of the pushy,aggressive hardsell by the autowallas to hire their services; second is the lovely colors – they were all painted in bright color combinations; third is the clean, well-maintained look of the insides and fourth was the upholstery which was not your typical cheap rexene but some good quality one with patterns or color or texture. Nowhere have I seen such clean and nice looking autos in the whole of India. And the horn on these is the traditional old fashioned “bhopu” with the weirdly funny sound!!

I was fascinated  by the powder puff like blooms that I espied on some trees right outside my cousin’s house. The fruit of that tree was another interesting looking thing – almost like a box with a pointed end. The day I set out to click them, I met an old lady who was equally fascinated by them and was waiting for some to fall so that she could take them home. Such was her fascination with them, that she gave me her email id and requested me to mail some of the pics to her. Sadly, these blooms wither in a couple of hours and fall lifeless from the trees.

The streets of Pondicherry (on the French Quarter side atleast) are filled with gorgeous bungalows and mansions in the traditional French architectural style – French windows, bamboo chik curtains, tall columns, wide verandahs and loads of bougainvillea in all possible colors which vie in sharp contrast to the color of the house. All of this makes for such a pretty picture where ever you look. I was simply bowled over by them and couldnt resist clicking them one after the other. While taking this pic, a bike rider zapped me by stopping dead in the middle of the road, so as to not to disturb my shot – and he gave me a wide smile after that too. I could only mumble my thanks since I was in such shock!!

I was lucky enough to stay right next to the Pondicherry beach or the Serenity Beach and could walk across whenever I felt like it. The beach is a pretty narrow strip of sand, bordered by huge black rocks which have been put there to stop the sea from eroding into the city land. The entire beachfront was in the process of getting a facelift; as a result construction activities were on. I caught this ice cream vendor idling away on the beach and thought he made picture perfect sense of what Pondicherry is all about –  a calm and relaxed place. The beachfront gets quite crowded early mornings and in the evenings as its frequented by loads of walkers. Lecafe on the beach affords a beautiful view of the Bay of Bengal and a tall glass of cold coffee as well. One of the waiters there informed me that they are open 24 hours, no matter what. I thought its a great place to catch the sunrise and a good early morning breakfast while the waves crashed on the dusky shores. I have yet to experience it and look forward it on my next trip to Pondy soon.

Thanks to my cousin Abhishek, I got to ride on a Royal enfield while in Pondy; we cruised down many “Rues” to allow me to soak it all in. On one such ride, he pointed out this tree to me – its a Silk Cotton Tree and one of the oldest out there. The roots of this massive tree apparently have travelled upto a few blocks!!! Its a protected tree (INTACH) and the owners on whose property this tree stands cannot cut it down. INTACH has worked out a solution to stop the roots damaging the houses by installing steel plates all around the roots to protect the foundations of the house. It was quite an imposing site to stand under the tree and gaze upwards. I only wish it in season – I would have so liked to see the flowers and then the cotton puffs!

One morning, I went out for a stroll in the Bharthi Park – a popular haunt for morning walkers. Its a very beautiful and a well laid out park with lots of color due to the various flowering species there. In the centre of the park is this beautiful water tank atop four arches, called the Aayi Mandapam. It was built for a courtesan called Aayi who demolished her house to build a water tank for the whole town. The story goes that the ruling king and his aides passed by a house which was lit beautifully; they took it to be a place of worship and bowed their head in observance. But when the passerby expressed horror since it was the abode of a courtesan; the King ordered the house to be demolished immediately and a water tank to be raised in place. At this Aayi begged the king to allow her to do the deed and pay for her sins. The monument lends quite a character to the park with its graceful architecture.

The Sacred Heart Church in Pondicherry is more than a 100 years old. Its located opposite to the Pondicherry railway station and is quite an impressive structure. I was blown away by the beauty and the number of the stained glass panels in this church. There are 14 round stained glass saints display and 14 full sized stained glass saints display inside the church. This church is quite a landmark of Pondicherry and is supposed to be built as a replica of the Monmatre of France.          

The other noted church that I visited in Pondy was the Church of Assunption. This church has some really beautiful French cultural and architectural elements in it; making it a very graceful structure. I loved the yellow and blue hues in this church – the colors have imbibed so much character to this building. Its quite a huge building with an equally big compound, dotted with tall verdant trees with beautiful green canopies. All in all a very picturesque building in a very picturesque setting.

I happened to spot this little guy in the garden in my cousin’s house – quite a shy creature it was. I am not sure it approved of the zoom lens bearing down on his privacy in the garden. I managed to get this shot, before it scurried away to hide from me.

And then no trip to Pondy is complete without a visit to Auroville – the famed colony setup by Mother Mira and Sri Aurobindo. Its a gorgeous settlement, nestling on the outskirts of Pondy; just off the ECR. Riding on a bullet on a narrow road, I could smell citrus in the air. I was told this is from the cashew trees which were growing in abundance on either side of the road and were flowering at the moment. The trees were huge with big canopies and were so laden down with their weight that the branches of most were sweeping the ground. A glimpse of Matrimandir and I was in total awe – it casted a spell on me like no other. I have been wanting to go back to Pondy to go for a meditation session there someday soon. Its a brilliant piece of architecture and inspires total awe!! The peace, cleanliness and the aura of the entire place was refreshing.

The Auroville visitor centre has a small cafe with some refreshing fare; 3-4 boutiques where handicrafts, incense, clothes, etc are sold, an art gallery and the audio-video room where you get to see a small film on the Matrimandir and its conceptualisation. One is issued a viewing pass for the matrimandir; you have to walk about 1 km on a shaded pathway and get to see it from a distance of about 500 mtrs. I loved the organised feel of this settlement; so many volunteers carrying out odd jobs, clean roads, quiet traffic, separate track for walking/cycling, etc. Someday I am going to get back there to spend some time living in the settlement and experience it on a day-to-day basis. The atmosphere of the place is something one needs to gradually soak up.

And ofcourse I shopped in Pondy to my hearts content. I found some real treasures out here besides the usual incense sticks, perfume oils, diffusers, etc. Shops like Kalki, AuroShikha, AuroBoutique and Casablanca were my favourite haunts out there. I picked up some beautiful pottery pieces as well; especially a incense holder which is quite unique. And then there was the marbling unit from where I picked up a gorgeous chiffon saree in marbling effect and some hair scrunchies too. And ofcourse I picked up some leather bags as well – Pondy is quite a place to shop for leather items – my favourite haunt for leather was AuroFurn.

Spare Notes:

I had hopped on an overnight AC sleeper bus from Bangalore to go to Pondicherry; it was a 8-9 hours journey (about 350 kms)  but due to the bad roads for most of the way – the ride became one with the wild wild witch. It wasnt easy on either my sleep or my back. Many private operators run this service between Pondicherry and Bangalore. (Log onto www.redbus.in to book tickets for these buses. Cash on delivery is a handy option here)

KSRTC runs a day AC Volvo bus service between the two cities which was much safer option. I spotted loads of birds enroute. The most scenic spot was the Fort of Gingee – about 60 kms from Pondy. I couldnt make the time to visit it this time. Its supposed to be quite a popular picnic spot from Pondy.

Pondy is quite a neat, clean city with loads of great architecture – all being preserved by INTACH.

Loads of options for rentals for bikes, scooties and mobikes to enable one to get around in the almost nil traffic of Pondy.

Pondy caters to a continental taste peppered with loads of French cuisine. I visited quite a few eating joints here and recommend a few :

* coffee dot com for some really great cold coffee; some net surfing and a cool place to smoke on the outer verandah where you generally tend to make some friends.

* LeClub – loved the ambience of the place. The food and drinks were brilliant too – the service can be served with a smile when asked for

* Some nice breakfast at Hot breads and Daily bread.

Hampi – soul amidst the ruins!!! (Day-1)

26th March 2011 – Ever since I bought the Outlook traveller book – 52 weekends around Bangalore; Hampi has been on top of my list. The writer of that article describes Hampi as a soul amidst the ruins!! I borrowed the line to title my blog as I feel it very aptly captures the entire essence of Hampi.

The history of Hampi begins as the monkey kingdom or Kishkindha from Ramayana where Lord Rama met Hanuman. Infact there is a monkey temple atop a hillock which is fabled to be the spot where Hanuman prayed before leaping over to Lanka. Later this was the Vijayanagara kingdom; noted King was Krishnadeva Raya of the Tuluva dynasty who was a great patron of art and architecture which is evident in the ruins that are Hampi today. Many of the important monuments of Hampi are credited to him. The empire peaked during his rule and was at his affluent best. But then war and mercenaries scavenged off Hampi’s affluence and turned it into the ruin that it is today. The entire site of Hampi is a World Heritage site with monuments strewn at every nook and corner of its 33 odd kms.

I finally got the chance to fulfill the dream last weekend when five of us headed to Hampi. The journey from Bangalore to Hospet lasted exactly 7 hours; we reached the Hospet Bus stand at 6.00 a.m. Then started the haggling with the swarm of auto drivers who descended on us even before we got off from the bus.

The distance from Hospet to Hampi is about 13 kms and the autowallas started the amount at 150/-; we were able to get them to 100/- and then off we went. The idea was to go till the boat point on the river Tungabhadra from where we will go across to Virupapur Gadde to check out the guesthouse on that side. Many guidebooks and travel websites recommended staying across the river as the nicer accommodations are in that part of Hampi – all favoured by foreigners mostly.

While we were waiting for the ferry to start, we spotted some kingfishers zipping around and immediately set to capture them – on camera!!

It was a cloudy morning, on account of it having rained the night before – the weather was cool and breezy but any attempts to get the sunrise were foiled by the cloud cover.

We got across and started the hunt; checked out Mowgli guesthouse first – quite dingy rooms and then checked out Shanti guesthouse right next to it – this one captured our imagination for its setting. The cottages were arrayed right before paddy fields which stretched out on two levels, beyond which we could see rows of coconut palms, and then the boulders and the river. The cottage rooms were with attached baths and a nice swing out on the verandah; which became our adda for the trip.

The entire guesthouse was running full; mostly foreign guests. We ordered a scrumptious breakfast with paranthas and omlettes – all of it quite well made. But the fresh orange juice, cold coffee and hot tea were serious disasters – we stuck to coca cola there after.

Sated, we decided to hang around this side of river and explore it first. We sat on the swing, gazed at the paddy fields and enjoyed the bird chatter; with occasional camera work whenever a bird got close to us. The number of birds amazed us – sunbirds, bee eater, kingfishers, wagtails, shrikes, etc. The whole thing of sitting on a swing, gabbing with friends and shooting the birds, had such a surreal feel to it.

We hired some bikes and headed towards the attractions on this side of the river – the ancient aqueduct, monkey temple, sanapur reservoir, etc. Everywhere we looked we could see boulders perched atop hillocks; most looked ready to fall off with a slight whiff of air.

Bukka’s Aqueduct

We chanced upon a structure which looked like an ancient bridge to us but was in fact the Aqueduct. All that is left of it are some uneven arches and columns in dressed stones; some columns are so crooked by now, that a strong breeze might just knock it all down.

Sanapur Reservoir

We drove through a village road to reach upto the walls of the Sanapur reservoir; its built on the riverTungabhadra, surrounded by the rocky forest on all sides. The reservoir was huge and full of clear water to the brim. We spotted a pair of caravans; belonged to a group of foreigners who appeared to have adopted the place as home. An old man with a coracle offered us a ride on the reservoir, which we gladly agreed to and had the time of our life. The calm and serene atmosphere of the reservoir was bewitching, making us wish we could stay longer there.

We ended the day, with a long and lazy dinner in the sitout area. The glow of the lanterns was bewitching and lent a surreal look to the whole place. The food in this place was incredibly good; we tried the Indian and Chinese dishes mainly and were happy with the lot. The entertainment for the evening was provided by a group of firangs playing with fireballs on strings and rotating them to drum beats. Their dexterity was applaudable, though the guesthouse staff was freaked out over it. The thatched roof was dry and the staff was worried if a stray ember hit it; fire would start instantaneously. I tried photographing their antics and managed a couple of shots.

Spare notes :

Route : Bangalore- tumkur highway NH-4 to chitradurga- NH-13 to Hospet – state road to Hampi (350Kms)

Shanti guesthouse: yes it was a favoured haunt with the firangis but seemed they were satisfied with the low level of cleanliness the place had. Hardly any room or table was dusted/cleaned. The outdoor dining was a low seating area, overlooking the paddy fields and was pictureseque with the lights on at night. There was also dining area with tables and chairs but hardly anyone frequented it. The dining cloth on each table told the story of the meal before. The low seating covers were dirty with dust, food debris and rodent poo. The last row of cottages were the jackpot; others were with dingy toilets with almost no light or even proper fixtures. The shower in our toilet spewed water everywhere except…. This place was set so picturesquely but was dirty and ill-kept. Guess the firang crowds are not too fussy!! The river view room tarriff was 1200/- per night with the river barely visible but I recommend these rooms as the best in the house. Do carry some handwash, soap, shampoo and toilet paper roll as this is a very basic accommodation only.

Ferry timings: 7.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.

Hospet to Hampi is 13kms distance and an auto will charge 150 – 100 for the fare in peak season

Bangalore Diaries: Pink Joy

The city is painted a new hue – Pink!

Gentle pink!

A soft Pink!!

Kinda like the baby pink!!!

That was my first impression when I saw these huge trees, burgeoning with fat bunches of pink blossoms all over the bangalore city. Its like someone sprayed these trees pink and took away most of the leaves; leaving behind a huge pink fountain.

The trees are the Pink Trumpet flower tree or Tabebuia Rosea – national tree of El Salvador. These are also called the Pink Poui trees. These are one of the many exotic flowering trees in Bangalore and seem to do well in the climate of this city.

The sight of its profuse flowering lifts every heart, as can be seen on every nook and corner of bangalore city these days. And thats exactly how I have been feeling like! Every time I chance upon one of these pink beauties; it feels like my heart is going to burst with joy.

These gorgeous trees start blooming in winters (bangalore winters) and seem to shed all their leaves. Infact, they bloom in three different colors – a very deep pink (magenta), bright yellow and the soft pink. The Yellow and pink flowers are in season now, rendering the sidewalks carpeted in pink blossoms.

As one stands under a tree, it seems to shed a few of its blossoms every second or so; these float down gently and cover every thing from parked cars, to nariyal pani stands and vegetable stalls. I loved the sight of these softly falling blossoms; its as if time stands still to allow them to drift down slowly – ever so slowly, down onto the earth.

I woke up early today to photograph some of them in their glory as their life is very short and soon these will be covered with leaves after shedding all the flowers. I missed out on the flowering of the deep pink ones as their season was very short. But these I can share with you all.

I love this facet of bangalore – the different hues of flowering trees which dot the cityscape so beautifully, rendering the city a character unlike any.

Pondy Frames 2011 : Barringtonia Asiatica

Pondicherry -  french spellings on sign boards listing roads; wide and perpendicular boulevards, colonial style mansions and gorgeous hues of bougainvillea bushes.

First day in Pondy and as we were heading out of the house, I glimpsed a tree with these beautiful powder puff like blooms and immediately wanted to photograph them. Since they were right outisde the house, we decided to carry on and shoot later in the day.

Imagine my despair, when I came to shoot in the evening – the flowers had all wilted away. Most were strewn on the road below and were crushed/trampled upon ruthlessly. I picked up two whole blooms and carried them home; only to have my cousin Shekho look at me in horror. He despised the smell emitted by these flowers; while I couldnt smell any fragrance from them. Undeterred, I pulled out old newspapers and burried them under; shekho asked me to kindly remove them from his room!!!! He warned me that my room will smell too if I keep them there – three days now and no bad smell. My bua also told me she hated the smell and I will be sorry for keeping them – still wondering what are they going on about? Infact Bua is very unhappy with these trees since the roots get into the drains and clog her bathroom water outflow. Plus she hates the smell and mess; not to mention the nuisance value as hordes of people try to break these blooms to take home or sell to the foreigners/ tourists.

Next morning, decided to head out early morning to catch these in bloom – I got lucky as they were just springing into action. click click and more clicks later, I noticed an elderly lady sitting on the pavement, staring up at these flowers. On seeing my interest in her, she walked  upto me and told me how much she loves these flowers and is just waiting for one to fall so that she could take it home. Incidentally, she loves the fragrance of these. (Seriously, what are Shekho and Bua talking about?)

The lady (70 yrs old French national) gave me her email id and requested me to mail some of my pics to her as she too was fascinated by the blooms. I asked her if she knew what these were called; but she couldnt recall.

Some 3o shots later, I packed up and headed onwards for some coffee and croissant.

While roaming around, I walked into SABDA - a bookstore where publications are mostly about/by Sri Aurobindo and the mother Mira of Auroville fame. There I saw some book covers and postcards with these blooms on them – immediately turned over and voila got the name – Barringtonia Asiatica White. Infact the mother has named it something else in her words – cannot recall now what it was.

Armed with the pics and name; hunted google and landed at wikipedia to know that every part of this tree is poisonous – ouch!! explains the bad odour Bua and Shekho could smell from it. This tree is also called fish poison tree or sea poison tree or box fruit tree as its fruit it very box like. These are basically mangrove trees; thus explains why the roots spread outwards more than downwards. Poor Bua!

The flowers wilt by mid afternoon as they have a very short life. These trees are native to Phillipines, Malyasia, etc ; mostly on the islands along the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. These have been planted in some sea side town of India as ornamental trees. And ofcourse these are used to make posion for stunning fish!!!!

I plan on clicking some more pics of these before I leave Pondy.