Trekking in the Moon light to kalavaarahalli betta.

A wonderful Moon light trekking experience that is indelible from our hearts. It all started at 4 in the evening on 17th of May. My friends decided to go out for the weekend. Then one of our friends suggested this place kalavaarahalli betta. My friends rang me up and said about this when i was in a party along with my aunty. I got excited when i heard about our trip to kalavaarahalli betta.

Everything was set and my friends had already arranged a vehicle for us to reach there before i reached the room. We planned to start at around 10.30 pm, after our supper as the place was just 70 kilometers away from Bangalore.

All of a sudden it started raining and we thought that it would be dangerous for us to do trekking in the night. It stopped raining after few minutes and we started our journey at 11.00 pm from Hanuman temple in HSR layout praying to the god that it should not rain at the time of trekking and for a safe journey.

Now I would like to introduce all my friends Harish, Suresh, Sharma, Shankar, Swamy, Sudheer, Praveen and myself. The driver was playing some nice Telugu music and we were enjoying it and did not know when we reached Chikballapur. The journey to our destiny was just 15 minutes away as none of us was not aware of the route, we had to take help of local people. And with a couple of right and left turns from Balaji talkies, we reached the Kalavaarahalli village. From here it’s a straight route to the foot of the betta.

We parked our vehicle here and bought the tickets for the entrance. We then hired a local guide to help us to reach the top of the betta. As per discussions with our guide, it would take us 2 to 3 hours to reach the top. Since the full moon day was just a day away there was sufficient light when we started trekking at 1 am.


Initially the route was very smooth as we had to go some way behind the hill to start our trekking. One of my friends was accompanying the guide and we all followed them. We took few snaps at the foot of the hill and moved on. We moved at a faster phase in the initial stage but slowed down as we were climbing to the top. After half an hour of trekking, we all were tired and took a break for a quench of thirst. Though there was cold breeze all around us, we were feeling the heat and sweating as we reached the top.

We took intervals in between and reached the top of the hill at around 3.15 am. At the top there was a small partially demolished Shiva temple. There was a seller at the top who was serving hot omelets and tea for the people. The wind was blowing in such a way that it would carry away us. So we couldn’t stay there for a long time. We came down to some distance and managed to collect some dry grass and small twigs and arranged a campfire and it lasted till 4.30 am. We had nap till 5.30 am, and then we woke up and ran to the top of the hill. We did not want to miss the sunrise which was the central attraction of our journey. When we reached the top there were hundreds of people already waiting for sun to wake up. Every one was ready with there cameras to capture the glimpse of the sun. After waiting for more than half an hour, the sun finally raised like a hot red ball in the blue sky from behind the hills at a long distance. It all finished in a flash before we took some snaps, the sun was now not hiding behind the clouds or hills.


After finishing our photo session, we started our journey way back. The journey down the hill was more difficult, as the mud route was slippery. We tried to get down rapidly, but when couple of my friends slipped and fell down, we slugged down our phase. Finally, after one and half hours journey, we came down and every one of us was exhausted. We got refreshed and started our journey back to home. As every one was tired, we felt asleep as soon as we entered the vehicle.

Height: about 1750m from sea level.
Distance: 80 kms from Bangalore
3 kms from Chikaballapur
Nearest Town/Medical Help: Chikkaballapura
Must carry Water, first aid box, Snacks or light food.

Weekend Trip to Yadagirigutta.

Last weekend it was very pleasant. There were light showers of rain in and around the Hyderabad city. All of a sudden I along with my friends planned to visit yadagirigutta This Place is around 60 kilometers away from the twin cities. This is a very famous place where every one come to worship Lord Narasimha swamy.

We had a memorable ride to this place; I along with my roommates started our drive on bikes at around 10.30 in the morning. Though it was a Sunday the roads were jam-packed at some places with in the city. After crossing the uppal ring road, we took the Warangal National highway no 202 from here the roads were clear and the climate was very breezy as there was no much sunlight it was helpful for us to take ride on bike.

After a drive of 40 kilometers at around 12.30, we reached a place named Bhongir .Here we had our Lunch at restaurant near the bus stop. At this place there is an Old fort, we had a good view of this fort from the restaurant. The fort was built on a single big rock hill; it’s called as Bhongir Fort. This was captured by Nizam’s later and now there is only remaining of those demolished. Finishing of our lunch and we started our journey we reached near the fort and parked our vehicles. Then we started a small race to climb the top of the fort though there were steps carved in the rock itself we wanted to have the joy of rock climbing and started our race. Initially we moved up at a descent pace as we were reaching the top of the hill we faced more trouble. I stopped for a while and removed my shoes and started climbing after few moments. Although I was not the First to reach the top it was really very joyful when I reached there and had panoramic view of the village (Bhongir). After spending considerable time on the top we came down the hill by steps.

Again form here our destination was just 10 to 15 kilometers away. We reached the place at quarter to 4'oclock .We parked our bikes down the hill and took the way to top by foot After 15 minutes walk by steps we reached the top of hill. There was an excellent view of the town and around from top of the hill. There was small lake on the top of hill where we all got refreshed and took our way to the main temple. Because it was a day of holiday there was tremendous rush at the temple all the near by villages people visit this place quite often. It took us around an hour for the darshan of god though we had taken special ticket for darshan. Later I did a bit shopping, we sat there for a while and started our way back to home .On the way about 5 kilometers form yadagirigutta there is a place called Surendhrapuri, Here was a very big statue of Lord Hanuman standing tall with five faces .The amazing part was exactly the back of hanuman statue there was Lord Shiva’s statue. There are more temples inside of Lord Hanuman, Shiva and Sri Venkateshwara.


We again started our journey after having a few snaps there, the climate very chilled then it started raining a bit heavy. It was good that we carried our jackets along with us. Awhile later the rain slowed down and there after stopped, in between we had tea at a dhaba on the Highway. We also had snacks and started our journey when the rain came down. We reached the city in an hour from there and after reaching the room we got refreshed had our supper and everyone went asleep.

So, friends if you’re planning to go out for picnic near by Hyderabad city, Yadagirigutta is a good and must place to visit.

Srisailam - {Mallikarjuna Swamy , Bhramaramba Devi}

Srisailam is a sacred place, situated in thick forests of Nallamala hills of Kurnool district. The shrine of Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy and Bhramaramba Devi is on the right side of the River Krishna. Srisaila Mallikarjuna Swamy is one among the twelve hallowed Jyothirlingas andShri Bhramaramba temple is one of the eighteen Shakti Pithas of India.

The History of Srisailam

Once upon a time, a princess by the name Chandravati decided to do penance and meditation and went to the Jungles. One day, she was a spectator to a miracle.

A cow was standing under a Bilwa tree and milk was flowing from all of its four udders, sinking into the ground. Chandravati was amazed at that but; cow repeated this as a custom errand on a daily basis. Then the anxious princess Chandravati dug up that area to find out what was there and stood speechless at what she saw. There was a self-raising Swyambhu SivaLinga. It was bright and shining like the sun rays, and looked like it was burning, throwing flames in all directions. Chandravati prayed to Siva in this JyotirLinga. She built a huge Shiva Temple there.

Apart from this Swyambhu SivaLinga , there are some lingas installed by Heroic legends from the Mahabharata and Ramayana .Lord Rama himself installed the Sahasralinga, while the Pandavas lodged the Panchapandava lingas in the temple courtyard.

Epics refer to Srisailam as Sri Parvata – (the blessed hill), and is also named as Siridhan, Srigiri, Sirigiri, Sriparvatha and Srinagam. It has been a popular pilgrimage centre for centuries.

Distance: 232 km from the capital of the sate Hyderabad, 190 km from Kurnool.

Near by places to visit:

THE PANCHAMATHAMS, SIKHARAM, HATAKESWARAM,
PHALADHARA –PANCHADHARA, SAKSHI GANAPATHI, KAILASADWARAM,BHEEMUNI KOLANU,THE TEMPLE OF ISTAKAMESWARI,AKKAMAHADEVI CAVES, KADALIVANAM, NAGALOOTY,BHRAMARAMBA CHERUVU, SARVESWARAM, GUPTHA MALLIKARJUNAM

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is the eleventh largest state in India by area (about the size of Greece) and the sixth most populous state.

Tamil Nadu is the homeland of the Tamils and has existed since prehistoric times. The culture and artwork of this region are considered to be some of the oldest in the world. It is home to one of the world's classical languages, Tamil. The language has been documented as being around for at least 5,000 years in written form, but was spoken long before that.

It is one of the foremost states in the country in terms of overall development. One of the most industrialized and urbanized states in India, it is home to many natural resources, rare flora and fauna, cool hill stations, grand Hindu temples of Dravidian architecture, multi-religious pilgrimage sites .

The 31 districts of Tamil Nadu are listed below,

Districts:

Chennai , Coimbatore , Cuddalore, Dharmapuri , Dindigul, Erode, Kanchipuram Kanyakumari, Karur, Krishnagiri, Madurai, Nagapattinam, NamakkalPerambalur, Pudukkottai,Ramanathapuram,Salem,Sivagangai,Thanjavur,Theni,Thoothukudi,

Tiruchirappalli ,Tirunelveli,Tiruvallur ,Tiruvannamalai ,Tiruvarur,Vellore, Viluppuram Virudhunagar, Nilgiris,Ariyalur.

Holy Places:

Madhurai, Mahabalipuram,Rameshwaram,KanyaKumari.

Hill Stations:

Ooty, Kodaikanal,Coonoor, Kotagiri,Vellangiri.

Forts:

Vellore, Aranthangi,Valluvar Kottam,Tirumalai Nayak Mahal.

KERALA

Kerala is a state on the tropical Malabar Coast of southwestern India.. The principal spoken language is Malayalam, but other languages are also spoken. Kerala ranks 21st by area (about the size of the Netherlands) and 12th by population nationwide.

Kerala was influenced by the Mauryan Empire. Later, the Cheran Kingdom and feudal Nair and Namboothiri Brahminical city-states became major powers in the region.Early contact with overseas lands culminated in struggles between colonial and native powers. The States Reorganisation Act of 1st November 1956 elevated Kerala to statehood.

In the prevailing theory, Kerala is an imperfect Malayalam portmanteau that fuses kera ("coconut palm tree") and alam ("land" or "location").Another theory is that the name originated from the phrase chera alam ("Land of the Chera"). International ranked Kerala as the least corrupt state in the country.

Kerala has 14 districts and they are the revenue divisions of the State.

Districts:

Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikkod, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thrissur, Eranakulam, Idukki, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam.

Holy places:

Sabarimala,Guruvayoor, Ettumanoor.

Hill Stations:

Munnar, Coorg,Idukki, Devikulam.

Forts:

Pallippuram, Palakkad, Bakel, St. Angelo’s.

KARNATAKA

Karnataka is the eighth largest Indian state by area, the ninth largest by population.

The generally accepted one is that Karnataka is derived from the Kannada words karu and nādu, meaning elevated land. The British used the word Carnatic (sometimes Karnatak) to describe both sides of peninsular India, south of the Krishna River.

At 300B.C., it had formed the southern tip of Mauryan empire. Its boundaries enlarged or receded swaying to the drum beats of history The origins of Karnataka emerge through the mists of antiquity. Celebrated in lore and legend, an array of dynasties that marched through this land is thrilling. The grandiloquent temples, the sturdy Indo-Arabic edifices, the Gomata colossus stretching itself to the very sky in all its naked glory, transport one into a historic dream sequence.

Karnataka state comprises 29 districts, grouped into four divisions.

Belgaum Division, Gulbarga Division, Bangalore Division, Mysore Division;

Districts :

Bagalkot, Belgaum , Bijapur , Dharwad ,Gadag , Haveri ,Bellary , Bidar,
Gulbarga , Koppal, Raichur , Bangalore , Bangalore Chikballapur , Chitradurga, Davanagere, Kolar,Ramanagara, Shimoga, Tumkur , Chamarajanagar ,Chikmagalur Hassan , Mandya , Mysore District , Dakshina Kannada ,Udupi, Uttara Kannada ,Kodagu.

Holy places:

Darmasthala, Shri Chamundeswari Temple, Shri Gavi Gangadhareshwara,

Shri Mookambika Temple, Shri Omkareshwara Temple.

Hill stations:

Nandi Hills, Madikeri,BR Hills, Kudremukh, KemmanaGundi.

Trekking:

Savandurga, Bheeneshwari,Kalavaarahalli Betta.

Water Falls:

Jog, Abbey, Iruppu,Balamuri, Gokak,Unchalli.

Forts:

Sri Rangapatnam, Bidar, Bijapur, Vijayanagar.

ANDHRA PRADESH

Andhra Pradesh the "Rice Bowl of India” is the 4th largest state in India by area and population. The state is crossed by two major rivers, the Godavari and the Krishna. Historically this land was known as Andhrapatha, Andhra Desa, Andhra-avani, Andhra-mandalamu, Andhra-vishaya, etc.

Andhra region witnessed the rule of Chandragupta Maurya during which it established itself as an independent kingdom.Andhra Pradesh can be divided into Three governance regions, namely Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana.

Andhra Pradesh has 23 districts -Adilabad, Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa, East Godavari, Guntur, Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Krishna, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nellore, Nizamabad, Prakasam, Rangareddy, Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Warangal and West Godavari.

Places to visit:

Holy places: Tirupathi, Srisailam,Vijayawada,Yadagirigutta.

Hill stations: Araku Valley, Horsley hills.

Water Falls: Kailasakona, Kuntala,Pochera.

Forts: Kondareddy, Chandragiri,Warangal.