Trip to Chola Kingdom

It all started on Tuesday, 20th April 2010. At about 10.00 am Jothivel called me and informed that 5 of our friends from Chennai are planning to visit Kodikkarai on 1st and 2nd of May 2010. It immediately brought out my enthusiasm and told Subbu. He was also very much interested and I called Jothivel in the next 10 mins to tell him that my family will be meeting others at Kodikkarai on 1st May 2010.

On 30th April 2010, We planned to start at 5.30 pm; But Subbu got held up in the office due to his sudden meeting schedule and we were able to leave our home at Bangalore only at 9.00 pm. By the time, we reached the outskirts of Bangalore, it was 10.00 pm. It started to rain heavily that we were not able to cross 50kmph speed. My elder son was not interested to join us for the trip and we had to drop him at Salem. When I called my mother at about 11.00 pm, she said that it was raining. But, when we reached Salem at about 12.30 pm, it was raining heavily at Salem. I should thank my mother for a good tea that she prepared in the midnight knowing our need. After a half an hour break, We started at 1.00am. We went via Attur, Vridhachalam, Chidambaram. As per our plan, we were to go via Salem, Trichy, Tanjore, Nagapattinam and Kodikkarai. But, last minute, Jothivel asked us to come via Vridhachalam, Chidambaram. This was a very bad decision and very bad experience for us. The road was very bad that we never travelled in such a road before. It was also raining heavily. There were a lot of potholes filled with rain water and we were not able to judge the road. Some how we managed to reach Vridhachalam at about 4.30 am on Saturday, 1st May 2010. Our plan was to meet our friends from Chennai at 6.00 am in Kodikakarai to see the Sunrise. We are still 200 kms away from it.

At about 5.15, after Vridhachalam, our car went in one of the potholes filled with rain water and we never realized the impact of it till the next day. After returning to Bangalore, the car had been taken to service station for a regular service and we had to spend about Rs.3500/- for the damage that had happened to body of the car.

We reached Tharangambadi at about 7.00 am on saturday and the team from Chennai had already reached there an hour before. We took a short coffee/tea break and still it was raining. We went into the road of the Dutch that leads to the Tharangambadi fort. We felt as if we have entered into an old European Country. All the houses were in their styles and most of them are still maintained well. When we reached the fort, it was a great sight to see the fort in the rain. The disadvantage was that we were not able to take our cameras out! And to our disappointment, it was a Government Holiday as it was MAY 1st. After spending about 15 mins in the rain in the beach besides the fort, we decided to come back on the next day.

We then went to Thirunallar via Karaikal and reached the traveller's Bungalow where the rooms were booked at about 9.00 am. After refreshing ourselves, we started to Kodikkarai - the place mentioned in the tamil epic Ponniyin Selvan. We began to think and talk about Ponniyin Selvan and the characters involved in Kodikkarai (now known as Point Calimere) - Poonguzhali was the first to come into our minds.
On the way, we had our lunch at the outskirts of Nagapattinam. We also stopped near the fishing harbour of Nagapattinam for a photographic session. We forwarded to Kodikkarai and reached by 2.00 pm. We had another photographic session in the beach and the fishermen there said, Srilanka is only 43 kms from there. If both the countries, would have been in good terms, we could have taken a boat to visited Bhootha Theevu & Anuradhapuram.

On the way back, we saw the board of Deer Santuary. When we went into it, we understood that this is the Mangrove forest explained Ponniyin Selvan. Our cars are allowed inside the forest. We were able to spot very few deers and horses. The maintenance and the promotion activity for this Sanctuary is very poor. A gigantic light house built by the British stands amidst the forest. There was a view point at the end of the forest besides the beach.











To our amazement, we found a brick structure and the guide there explained that was the light house used during the Chola period, 1000 years ago and this was damaged partly during the 1967 tsunami when Dhanuskodi was swallowed by water and again a portion of it was damaged in 2004 tsunami. Less than 1/4th of the structure stands still.












We were eager to see the Kuzhagar temple & Kuzhagesar worshipped by Poonguzhali. We reached the temple at about 4.30 pm and the villagers nearby said that the temple will be opened at 5.00 pm. The temple was opened at 5.00 pm and the Poojari came only at 6.00 pm. The state of the temple was very bad and the people doesn't know the value of the sculptures. They have removed the old pillars and have built with the concrete pillars in the name of renovation. The sight made us speechless. You become speechless when you find something that you don't expect! The main deity Kuzhagar is the only one who has been there for years together watching the changes happening around him.

We returned to Thirunallar via Nagappattinam, Nagoor at about 8.30 am. We had the Tanjore famous Parotta - Kurma for Dinner and went to bed as our plan was to see Tharangambadi the next day.

Trip to Chalukya Kingdom

On the day before Good Friday in April 2010, we started from Bangalore to Hampi at about 11.00 pm. We went via Tumkur, Chitradurg. Due to a long weekend, there was a huge traffic and by the time we crossed Tumkur, it was 1.00 pm. We took a short break in the coffee day near Tumkur and proceeded to Chitradurg. After Chitradurg, we took a diversion in the NH 13. The road was in a very bad condition with numerous potholes and back breaking humps. We managed to reach Hampi at about 7.00 am on Friday. We checked in at the KSTDC's Mayura Lodge at Hampi. The place was airy and the rooms were neat and well maintained. My children also did not have anything to complain. We refreshed ourselves and had our breakfast in the restaurant at Mayura. I was astonished to see only foreigners roaming around the lodge and the hotel. There were no Indians found to see this place Hampi which was once a rich heritage town.




There was guide by name Mr. Bhaskar, who was arranged for us by the Mayura employee. Bhaskar was a well experienced person who has a good knowledge of the town. He understood that my husband, Subbu had a passion for photography and said that let us finish the palace area before the crowd reaches these places. By 8.30 am we went to The Queen's Bath. It had a lot of ornamental sculptures. I have posted the photos for your reference. From there, we went to the palace. I was stunned to see the huge buildings which was only half of which it existed earlier. The foundation and half the height was built by stones. The top was constructed with bricks and wooden pillars which has been destroyed by the invaders. The places to see within the complex are The Royal Enclosures, The Stepped Bath. Very close is the Zanana Enclosure which also houses the Lotus Mahal. There is a small museum inside the Zanana Enclosure which houses a lot of sculptures and weapons that have been got from the excavated area. A vendor selling tender coconut, cool drinks and ice cream was a welcome sight and we gorged on:)

The other places to see in Hampi are
Elephant Stables
Achutaraya Temple
Ugra Narasimha
Shivalinga
Matanga Hill
The biggest Ganesha
Virupaksha Temple
Monolith Bull
Lakshmi Narasimha Temple
Hema Kuta Hill temples
Hazara Rama Temple
Ganika Veedhi(Courtesan's street)
Pushkarani(Pond)
Varaha Temple
Kodanda Rama Temple

The guide took us to the Mango tree restaurant in the banks of R. Tungabadra which was a scenic spot. We walked around in the hot sun and visited most of the temples and in a great hunger entered into this restaurant where we had the delicious meals watching the water flowing in Tungabadra.

We completed the tired day of seeing Hampi with a coracle ride in the river with rocky hills on both sides. There was a lot of shivalingas and other carvings on the rocks. We then went to Vittala Temple at about 4.30 after a look at the purandara mandapa. This temple houses the best sculptures of Hampi. The entire premises is paved with stone and houses the famous Stone Chariot. This temple is built by Krishnadevaraya.

We went back to Mayura for a rest for an hour. At around 6.30 pm we went to the Hampi Bazaar near the Vittala Temple. We did some shopping in the bazaar. There was shop which had a lot of bronze sculptures. Out of those, one bullock cart grasped our eyes and at present, it is on the center table in our living room. My son, Visu picked some old coins for his collections.

We came back at about 8.30 pm to the lodge and had a good and peaceful sleep. The next day morning, we finished our breakfast at Mayura and checked out the place at 8.00 am and forwarded in our Palio to Aihole. We went via Hungund and deviated to Bagalkot road. Though this was a little narrower with cultivable land on both sides it was a treat to drive on. There were sign boards to lead us to Aihole which we reached at about 10.30 am.

Aihole, is in the banks of Malprabha river, was the first capital of early chalukyas till it was moved to Badami(Vatapi). The whole landscape of Aihole is full of temples. On the outskirts of Aihole, you can find Huchimalligudi temple. The second spot was Chika gudi. The next one was the Durga fortess temple which is the famous one with curvilinear tower. The corridor has lot of beautiful carvings around the temple. Within the same complex, you can find Suryanarayana Temple, Lad Khan Tmple, Gowda Temple. There is a museum in the same complex which welcomes you with lot of sculptures. But to Subbu's disappointment, he was not allowed to take any photographs of those treasures of sculptures.


Outside the complex, there are a lot more group of temples which is not maintained properly. Most of them have the Archeology Department of India Board with a compound, a gate and a lock. We saw a Ravanaphadi Cave temple. It is said that this was the first experiment of cave temples that was done by the chalukyas before starting the Cave temples at Badami. It had a excellent sculptures. On the way to Badami, we can find Huchappayyagudi Temple, Galaganatha Group of Temples. On the way, we saw a cave temple on the top of a small hill and we thought we will explore it. There is a blank board placed at the foot of the hill with no information on it. We were able to smell only of bats when we entered it. But, it housed a lot of sculptures of Jains and Mahavir. It is completely a Jain Cave Temple. There is a very old Ramalinga temple which is still under use by the villagers and a new road is being laid to that temple.

It was 2.00 pm by now and we didn't feel hungry as we were completely astonished by the sculptures of Aihole. We reached Pattadakal at about 2.45 pm which is 20 kms from Aihole.





The road was narrow but there were no potholes or humps. It was a easy drive with hardly any traffic. After reachind Pattadakal, we had tender coconut outside the temple campus.



Pattadakal was the new capital after Badami was destroyed by Narasimha Pallava I. There are about nine temples in a single complex which is a mixture of South Indian and North Indian styles. The papanatha temple has both the styles in it. There is a Sangameshwara Temple, Kasiviswanatha Temple, Mallikarjuna Temple, Galaganatha Temple, Jambulinga Temple, Kadasiddheshvara Temple, Chandrasekhara Temple and Virupaksha Temple. The Virupaksha temple has been built by the Queen of Vijayadithya II to felicitate him for his victory over Pallavas and capture of Kancheepuram. This temple has been replicated after Kailasanatha Temple at Kancheepuram.

It was already 4.30 pm and we headed to Badami through Hospet crossing the huge Thungabadra Dam and reached at 5.30 pm. We checked out KSTDC's Mayura for stay and the employee there had a heart to say the truth that the Generator was not working and there is a lot of power cuts in Badami every one hour. Therefore, we checked out two more hotels and check into one of them. We refreshed ourselves after another tiring day and then we realized we were hungry and ordered for a heavy dinner at about 6.30 pm for the room service and went off to bed early at about 7.30 pm.

Badami, earlier called as Vatapi, 22kms away from Pattadakal is a picturesque countryside at the mouth of a sandstone ravine. It has legends dating back to the days of Agastya, and the demons Vatapi and Ilwala. This was the capital of the Chalukyas during the reign of Pulikesi and Narasimhavarma Pallava conquered and destroyed Badami after which Chalukyas moved to Pattadakal. This historic event gained the name 'Vatapi Kondan' for Narasimhavarma Pallava II.

As we had to climb the hill, we started at 7.30 am after tea to the famous Badami Caves. There are 4 rock cut cave temples on the sandstone hill of Badami are 4 different levels. The carvings ins the caves were huge, elaborate and impressive. The first cave is dedicated to Lord Shiva and contains a beautiful image of Nataraja with eighteen arms depicting all the mudras of Bharatanatyam. The other notable sculptures are those of Ardhanaareeshwara(half man and half woman) and Harihara (half Shiva and half Vishnu). Each cave can be reached by climbing few steps from the previosu cave. The second and the third caves are dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The second cave has the dasavatara depicted in the carvings in the roof of the cave. The third cave is the largest among all and it is said that the second brother of Pulikesi II, Mangalesha was responsible for carving this particular cave. There is a huge sculpture of Lord Vishnu sitting on a coiled serpent, Adhisesha. The fourth and the last cave is dedicated to Jainism and we can find all the 24 Theerthankaras in this cave. These caves overlook the Agastya lake and another hill which was a fort during the period of Chalukyas. It is a scenic beauty to view from the last cave.

We climbed down at about 9.00 am and had our breakfast at Hotel Badami Court. We then went to the museum at the foot of the fort where again, camera was not allowed. We then climbed the hill to see the Upper Shivalaya, Lower Shivalaya and the fort. There were steps which has been renewed by the archelogical department. On the way, we found a watch tower near the lower Shivalaya. We were able to see only one foreigner and one Indian Youth who were climbing the hill. The structure of the hill was itself a fort and we were in praise of the Pallavas who attacked this fort and captured it. It is not easy to climb the steep hill which has lot of curves as it is easy to attack the climbers from the top.

We reached the Upper Shivalaya and we were able to see a granary which was built during the period of Tippu Sultan. We came down and proceeded to the Bhutanatha temple and Dattatreya temple. At about 12.30 pm on sunday, we checked out of the lodge where we stayed and proceeded to Bangalore as we had to reach Bangalore that night so as to get ready for work, the next day. We took the road to Hubbali which was not so bad. At Hubbali, we stopped for lunch break at about 2.00 pm. After lunch from Hubli, we reached the National Highway NH - 7 and need not say the quality of the Road. We reached Bangalore at about 7.00 pm.

A HECTIC AND A TIRING TRIP BUT WITH SATISFACTION!!!