My Travelogue - Indian Travel Blogger, Heritage enthusiast & UNESCO hunter!

The whole of Vijayanagara city was built in 1343 to 1565. The architecture was a beautiful mixture of the existing Hindu architecture and the Indo-Islamic architecture brought in by the Bahmani Sultanates who were wiped off by Krishna Deva Raya, the star king of Vijayanagara Empire. As I said in the last post, Orange County Hampi has its own inhouse historian and guides. Our exploration in Hampi began with Mr.Ramesh and we started off with the Islamic area!

The first place we went to was Queen’s Bath. This is a large square pool (ofcourse has no water today)! From the exterior it does look plain but the interiors are beautifully carved. There’s a passage all around the pool and there are some balconies. The ceiling of the passage is filled with ornate plaster work and so are the balconies.

There is a staircase from inside that leads to the terrace that is closed today. The water from the reservoir outside, is brought in using a passage made of granite. Check it out close, that’s a single piece of well-polished granite that’s about 7ft long.

From here we went over to The Zenana Enclosure. The only 2 standing structures of Zenana Enclosure are the watch towers and the Lotus Mahal. The Lotus Mahal is kinda one of the few structures in a very good condition. The base structure does remind me of Belur & Halabidu. The dome however is in a lotus shape which lends it its name! Climbing it (I mean even its platform, let alone the ceiling) is not allowed today! The arches are just perfect in symmetry and alignment! The very Vijayanagara style of Pushpa Podhigai are atop several pillars!

The base is filled with several rows of relief sculptures. Yes, one of the buildings in Orange County has been designed with this as the inspiration! The outer arches alone were surrounded by more relief sculptures and a couple of medallions as well. There were a couple of lions that were attached to corbels! But then, there were just 1 or 2, rest all were gone!!!

This also has a first floor. I was told that the first floor has some unique set up like a fountain that helps to keep the whole chamber cool!!! A few yards away from it, is one of the three standing watchtowers!

From here at a walkable distance is a square. On the 2 sides of it are the Elephant Stable and Soldiers’ Barrack! Elephant Stables is a series of 11 chamber with 3 types of domes atop. Atop the central chamber has a 2 tiered tower atop it! All the entrances are arched doorways and between them is a small arched chamber as well. The walls that separate the chambers also has an arched opening on them!

Beside this is the Soldier’s Barracks. Unlike the Elephant Stables, this is on an elevated platform. It has a corridor and a central courtyard. The central courtyard is open to sky and the corridor has a roof. This is used as a museum today for the sculptures from the temples here (yes, there are 3 on-site museums in Hampi).

A walk from here, takes to the Queen’s Palace, or rather the base of it! There are a few rows of sculptures on it as well! Just beside it is another watchtower! On the way to Hazare Rama Temple, from here, is the Pan Supari Bazaar. About Hazare Rama Temple and more is coming up. Stay tuned!!!

To Get There:

From Bangalore: 343km via NH48 & NH50

From Hyderabad: 373km via NH44

From Goa: 316km via NH67

From Pattadakkal (another UNESCO site): 135km via NH50

From Orange County Resort: 9km
Map of all important sites: hampi.in

These sites are covered in The Raya Trail organized as a guided tour by Orange County Resort.

Each trail costs Rs.1000/- per head as a group.

If you want it exclusive just for you it costs Rs.4000/- for 2 trails (+ Rs.1000/- incl vehicle).

If you want a guide for yourself for the whole day it costs Rs.8000/-

Otherwise, KSTDC certified guides (they carry an ID card mentioning the same) can be hired at the Tourism Office or Ticket Office located in the premises of Virupaksha Temple, Sasivekalu Ganesha and Vittala Temple. The prices are Rs.1200 for 2-3hrs and Rs.1700 for 5-6hrs for upto 3 persons. For a larger group, the price would be higher. Also they are highly adaptable to your requirements / interest area etc and they could also meet you at your hotel and begin from there!
Ph no: of Prakash, one of the certified guides: +91 94820 61626

Dedicated to Venkat

My next stop from Zenana Enclosure, was Hazara Rama Temple and it rendered me speechless the moment I saw it!!! Even before I went in, the sculptural beauty was just mesmerizing!

The entire outer wall is filled with 5 rows of sculptures depicting the various warriors including soldiers on elephants, on horses, soldiers on foot etc as well as dancers, musicians and Krishna Leela etc.

The Sanctum Sanctorum is closed today! I was informed that it has 3 empty slots on a pedestal which should have been Rama, Lakshmana and Sita! Like most of the temples in Hampi, this too was vandalized and sanctum sanctorum defaced in 1565 after Deccan Muslim confederacy. Since the sanctum sanctorum is empty, the temple is not under worship, wearing footwear is allowed in here!

In the Ardha Mandapa, are 4 pillars made of black stone filled with intricate relief sculptures on all sides in 3 levels including Lakshmi Hayagriva, Kalki, Rama Lakshmana Sita, Vinayaka, Hanuman etc. Most of these relief sculptures also have their faces destroyed!

Just outside, on the outer circumambulation passage, on the outer walls of the ardhamandapa, are where the icing on the cake rests – Ramayana panels, tons of them!!!! It begins at Putrakameshi Yaga, Dasaratha giving the holy food to his 3 wives, Ahalya moksha (Agalikai moksham), Rama breaking the bow during swayamvara, the fight between Vaali & Sugreva, Rama’s arrow passing through 7 oak trees to attack Vaali, Maarisan the deer appearing to Sita, the fight between Rama & Maarisa, Hanuman wrapping his tail to form a seat taller than Ravana, Sita in Ashokavana, Hanuman meeting Sita in Ashokavana, and war between Rama and Ravana and many more!

There are 4 panels just dedicated to the Shravan episode, which essentially is the beginning or the root cause for the entire Ramayana to happen! There are also some other reliefs including an infant Krishna, Kaliyamardhan (Kalinga Nardhanam), Nandagopala, Yoga Narasimha, Gajendra Moksham etc.

There are some inscriptions as well. The earliest inscription is a Sanskrit verse that says it was built by Devaraya, but it is not clear which of 2 Devaraya is it, but mostly assumed as Devaraya II who ruled from 1422-46 CE.

There is a separate shrine for the Devi (Amman) and that too has some scenes of Ramayan on its outer wall. The goshtam (smaller shrines on the outer wall) on both are empty. The Kumba Panjaram (vessel shaped divisional pillars on wall) is very ornate and fluted as well! Notice the tiny bootha gana in the tiny space lifting the upper section of the Kumba Panjaram?!!! There is a bottom frieze of miniatures in the Devi Shrine’s outer wall depicting both dancers & Gods!

There is a separate Kalyana Mandapa (which is almost crumbling, but kept intact somehow by ASI) whose inner walls are again filled with the same panels of Ramayana. The Pushpa Podhigai (floral bud shaped detailing on corbels atop pillars) is more intact here than the Ardha Mandapa.

Some special scenes here that was missing there include 3 people carrying Lord Siva’s super heavy bow for Sita’s swayamvara (which Rama eventually breaks into 2 singlehandedly trying the knot it and wins Sita’s hand!), Lakshmana wounded and laying on Rama’s lap in the war (which eventually leads Hanuman to carry the entire Sanjeevani mountain and fly back), Oarsman Guhan riding a boat with Rama, Sita & Lakshmana etc!

To Get There:

Refer earlier post.

Dedicated to Venkat

Incl. Kings Palace, Underground Chamber, Audience Hall, Stepped Tank & Mahanavami Dibba

From Hazara Rama Temple, we walked over to Mahanavami Dibba and on the way, we saw some very ruined structures, whose only bases are all that’s left now!

One of the bases was of the King’s Palace or precisely assumed to be Krishna Deva Raya’s palace. Similar to the Queen’s Palace, here too only the base exists. But better than the Queen’s Palace here are some more of the relief sculptures still exists. There were 3 friezes each of Elephants, soldiers with Horses and Dancers! There were 2 broken monolith standalone elephants on either sides of the steps at the entrance.

There’s also an underground chamber. We did try to venture into it without our torches and the initial few steps in utter darkness was so cool! There’s a central portion of this chamber that was meant for the king to hold his secret meetings. The walls & the pillars here are a mix of black stone and green chlorite! The ceiling of the central room is gone. There were a couple of inscriptions of single words on some pillars!

Beside this was the King’s Audience Hall aka Durbar Hall. This was a 100-pillared structure. Today all that’s there is a platform with 100 slots where the pillars would have stood once in 10 rows and 10 columns which has access with a staircase on east & west! On the southern side is a staircase that should have led to the 1st floor but today only the stair case exists!

The most majestic structure in this area is the Mahanavami Dibba! As the name says, it has all its importance during Navarathri festival and the procession during Dusshera begins from here! The base is of huge 40 sqm area and on the topmost platform existing today it is at 24 sqm. On the west side are staircases that pretty much reminded me of a very Mexican Mayan structure!

On the northern & southern side are a set of staircases, that led to the first platform. The hand rail of these staircases with an elephant & Yaali’s trunk forming the curvature! Here again, on the east side’s edges at north and south are 2 staircases from the inside the platform!

The friezes on its exterior is just too stunning with camels, elephants, horses, swans, soldiers, dancers, hunting scenes etc! I also spotted this interesting sculpture seen mostly in Dravidian architecture – a bull and a horse in the same shape!!! A portion of the upper platform is made of the green chlorite and the sculptures on this are less but very very intricate!!!

The most beautiful structure in this area is the Stepped Tank and it reminded me much of Modhera Sun Temple’s tank! There’s an inlet of water and an elevated water passage! Today even getting on these steps isn’t allowed, let alone nearing the water!

Just getting out of this area are 2 monolith granite doors (1 of which was broken) that look exactly like wooden doors complete with bolts and sockets and knobs etc!!! It may have been a door of the citadel wall, though its original location is unknown!

Btw, even before getting to the Royal Enclosure, just outside it was this trough! It’s a monolith granite trough meant for horses to drink water from! Very close to it is a small water tank as well!

To Get There:

Refer earlier post.

Dedicated to Venkat

#TIGORStyleBack in the heart of New Delhi!

The brand new, upcoming arrival of Tata Motors, after Tata Hexa& Tata Tiago, is the Tata Tigor. To be pronounced Tee-gor, I was one of the lucky few, to get the firsthand experience of the vehicle recently. This is a simple, elegant car meant for the young Indian family, interested in Style along with Comfort, usually as an upgrade from the basic first car! Read on to know more about my experience with new Tata Tigor.

To begin with, this is a Sub 4m Compact Sedan. Going by the looks, the front pretty much looks like a Tiago and the major difference is beyond the B pillar (get it? ‘Style’ ‘Back’?). Third in line following the design philosophy of Tata Hexa and Tata Tiago is Tata Tigor.

More than anything else, the boot is what totally took me aback. In the first look, I did not even get the way it functioned! Actually the hinges are on the side, making the space high and completely utilizable!

There are several little features that makes its looks, great – 2 tone alloy wheel that’s first of its kind in this segment, the Sling Shot line on the sides, the front curvature whose continuation is visible through the head lamps etc. A small space that continues in front of bonnet makes the appearance it very sleek! Chrome detailing (Humanity line) at several places like below the front grill, window rim, above the headlights etc also added to a subtle elegance! The body colored side AC vents could be customized as well!

I took a 104km ride from Andaz Delhi close to Indira Gandhi International Airport to Heritage Transport Museum and back both in Petrol and Diesel variants along with Hemal Shah and Dimpi Sanghvi in my car. Unfortunately, unlike the ride with Hexa where the route included Highway, village roads, dirt tracks and more, this route was almost completely highway, which made, trying it out in assorted terrains impossible! However I managed to put the vehicle in some strain, trying it out on high speed, speed bumps, potholes etc.

Of the 2 variants I drove, the petrol variant definitely scored better than the diesel variant. The petrol version is powered by 1.2L Revotron 3-cylinder Petrol (MPFI) Aluminium Engine which displaces a maximum power & torque of 85ps and 114Nm. The diesel variant is powered by Revotorq 1.05L diesel engine which churns out a power output of 70ps/140Nm. Both come with the Multi-drive options of City and Eco modes. Both the variants, are transmitted through 5-speed MTS. The team at Tata Motors has acknowledged the need for AMT version which will be introduced later depending on market demand.

Coming to my ride experience, we hit the road at 6:30AM on a Saturday morning (obviously to escape Delhi’s painful traffic). I managed to push the vehicle to deliver a 120kmph with the diesel variant and could feel the strain on the engine & the vibration on steering wheel. To test the brakes, while cruising at 100, I hit the break hard and brought down the speed to 80, and it took solid 3 secs! The gear shift is a bit notchy in the diesel version and got stuck more than a couple times during upshift. This issue was absent in petrol version. The petrol version feels more like a driver’s car as you feel more confident when behind the wheels. It feels more responsive, cornering is more precise, and the feedback from engine is great when you put gas on the pedal.

The diesel vehicle, vibrates a lot in high speed and the acceleration lags a bit as well while this is absent in petrol. Both the versions really need some noise cancellation feature – the external noise is very much audible inside!! Staying true to its nature, the Eco mode lags a bit more than City mode while accelerating and I had to rely on shorter gear shifts to extract the maximum juice.

The 170mm ground clearance makes the speedbumps an easier thing to deal with! While sitting in the rear seat, I felt that the suspension is on a softer side in the petrol version while is a wee bit stiffer in diesel. The back seat is more spacious coz of 2 factors – one, the width of the vehicle is more than the Tiago and there is no space between the body and the seat!

The upholstery looks elegant made of fabric with dobby detailing. The AC is so powerful that it kept Delhi’s heat at bay! The back seat has a foldable centre armrest complete with storage slots (cup holders). Talking about the storage slots, this has a whopping 24(!!!!!), including a hook near the co-passenger in front for bags, a clip on the windshield for gate passes, toll gate slips etc!

Similar to this, there are quite a few factors that Tigor lends from Hexa, like illuminated cooled glove compartment, 8 speakers, voice command, split LED tail lamps, hexagonal grill design, touch screen infotainment by ConnectNext of Harman that also includes navigation by Navimaps, rear parking camera etc. ‘Impact Design’ here too!!! Some other factors include fully automatic climate control, full length LED high mounted stop lamp etc. The colors available incl Copper Dazzle, Platinum Silver, Pearlescent White, Espresso Brown, Berry Red.

The top end variants alone have the rear parking camera which is OK, but it’s only these models that have the dual front airbags as well. As I said earlier in the Hexa post, as someone who is alive today coz of airbags, that’s where pinching for me! I feel it’s high time we make airbags mandatory for all manufacturers even for their basic models.

My final take on Tata Tigor is that it is an excellent amalgamation of Style & Comfort! While you get to know the price when it is officially launched, people might purchase it even if it is priced slightly higher if there’s value for money. However, it’s an already flooded segment and given the track record of Tata Cars in non-commercial passenger vehicle (unlike Indica, Indigo) and their service, Tata Motors really has to price it competitively. We have to wait till 29th Mar and find that out!

P.S.1: Though the post says the author is Bhushavali, this test drive was done and the post was written by Venkat!

P.S.2: I was invited by Indiblogger on behalf of Tata Motors to experience Tata Tigor. However the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service. A very big thanks to Indiblogger for this wonderful opportunity.

Just opposite to Virupaksha Temple, a small hike beside the monolith Nandi, takes you to a point from where the top view of Achyuta Raya Temple is visible! Its just spectacular bordered by the hills behind it and the coconut trees around it! As the name denotes, it was built during the reign on Achyuta Raya (1530-42) who was the younger brother and successor of Krishna Deva Raya.

Like all other temples in Hampi, this too is devastated and slippers can be worn within the premises! The deity inside must have been of Thiruvengalanatha according to the inscriptions here and its a north facing sanctum sanctorum.

Unlike the temples of Tamil Nadu, here almost all the temples had their Gopuram built of bricks than granite which must have been easier to destroy.

On either sides, along the walls are 2 roofed corridors! However in several places the roof is gone! The pillars, however, are just impeccable! It did remind me of Kanchi Kailasanatha temple's Simha thoon (lion pillars). Esp the complexity of carving out a section in a pillar that makes 1 pillar look like 2 is just awesome! Yes, each and every pillar is 1 piece of granite from its base to the roof.

The much more complicated Simha Thoon in which the lion was in the size of the pillar itself, in the Maha Mandapa just reminded me too much of the Pallavas! Ofcourse, Kanchipuram also came under the Vijayanagara empire and inspiration could have been taken from here!

In front of it is the Achyuta Raya bazaar which is called today as the Courtesan's Street or Soolai Bazaar! At the end of it, is the Varaha Temple which I didn't get in. Though its called Varaha (a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu) Temple, it was most probably a Siva Temple according to ASI.

At the entrance of Varaha Temple, on the walls of either sides are the Kodippen (the girl holding the creeper plant!). But what caught my attention all the more was the wild boar with the inverted sword on both sides. That's the logo of Vijayanagara empire!!! Remember spotting it at Unamancheri temple?!!!

To Get There:

From Bangalore: 343km via NH48 & NH50

From Hyderabad: 373km via NH44

From Goa: 316km via NH67

From Pattadakkal (another UNESCO site): 135km via NH50

From Orange County Resort: 9km
Map of all important sites: hampi.in

These sites are covered in The Tungabhadra Trek organized as a guided tour by Orange County Resort.

Each trail costs Rs.1000/- per head as a group.

If you want it exclusive just for you it costs Rs.4000/- for 2 trails (+ Rs.1000/- incl vehicle).

Dedicated to Venkat

One of the 2 most important sites in the whole of Hampi is Virupaksha Temple. We entered though the East Gopuram which is the main entrance! Inside, there's a stand for shoes and the ticket counter. Just beneath the Gopuram, unlike the usual flat roof, this one has the Islamic inspiration with pointed arch roof.

As soon as you enter in, on the left is a small 3 headed Nandi. This was the original Nandi and since one of its heads was broken, it was replaced with 3 different Nandi. To the right is the symbol of Vijayanagara Empire (wild boar and inverted sword).

Through the second Gopuram is the actual entry into the temple. There are the Bali Peeta, Deepa Sthamba, Dwaja Sthamba etc behind the Nandi Mandapa. On either sides along the walls are the roofed corridors with Simha Thoon (Lion Pillars) very similar to Achyuta Raya Temple.

The Maha Mandapa of this temple was the very reason this was atop the list of all sites in Hampi. There atop - on the ceiling of Maha Mandapa - is a gorgeous carpet of Murals - all painted in the Vijayanagara Period!!! I was totally spellbound by the beauty of these paintings. My original idea was to just sit and lie down there and just enjoy the beauty, while my guy would check out the rest of the temple but once I was there, I couldn't be alone - thanks to the monkeys there!!! Yes, there are too many. One did jump over my guy's backpack!!!

Over to the ceiling - bang at the centre was the lotus relief as usual and on either sides of it were Manmandha Vijayam and Tripurantaka! Manmadha Vijayam is the scene where Manmadha or Kamdev shoots the arrow of lust onto meditating Shiva. Accompanying him is Rati, his wife. Shiva is shown as a absolute ascetic with matted locks, snakes around him and an anthill built around him.

On the other side is my favourite Tripuranka! This was an absolute stunner. This is the scene where Lord Shiva as Tripurantaka is destroying the 3 citadels (tri-pura) of evil. His bow is the Mount Meru, the bow's string is the snake Vasuki (depicted here with 5 heads), and the arrow is Lord Vishnu (depicted here thrice to form the length of the arrow). His chariots wheels are sun & moon and his charioteer is Brahma (shown with all 4 heads), and has 5 horses pulling it! The fierceness in his face, complete with the mustache is just impeccable!

Above this is the scene of marriage of Shiva and Parvathi. They're accompanied by Brahma, Vishnu, Saraswati, Himavant (Parvathi's father), Tumburu, Naradha, Veerabadhra, Bhringi, Nandhi and Ganesha. Atop this (the farthermost from the Sanctum Sanctorum) is the Trimurthi of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma with their respective wives on their lap flanked by their respective DemiGods incl Tumburu, Naradha, Nandi, Garuda etc.

Just above the central panels is the Ashta Dikbalas and below the central panel is the Dasavathara. If you can really strain your eyes and see, on either sides of the Dasavathara are Rathi and Manmadha mounted on a horse and elephant respectively. The speciality - the horse and elephant are composite images made of multiple women (remember Thirukurungudi?!).
Below the Dasavathara is the panel of Rama and Sita's wedding at the centre. On either sides is the Swayamvara of Rama and Arjuna! Esp the Arjuna one has been depicted so perfectly with his very difficult archery contest of having to accurately shoot the circling fish in the ceiling, while looking at its reflection in bowl of water on the ground!!! Here's the whole ceiling documented in high res by IIACD.

The pillars here are just incredible with full height Simha (lion) with the soldiers sitting on its back! Complete with the pushpa podhigai (floral details on the pillar corbels), pretty much reminding me of Avudaiyar Koil, Tirunelveli! Another feature just Avudaiyar Koil was the Kodungaigal - the tiled terracotta roof simulation!!

After spending too much time here, I was pulled away by my guy and our guide so we can see the rest of the temple as well. After a darshan of the Lord Shiva here as Virupaksha, he headed to the Devi's shrine. The lathe pillars here made of black stone is perfectly Hoysala! The ceiling and the doorjamb are made of wood and are exquisitely ornamental! Close to it, again on the ceiling is a panel of fresco, but this is heavily damaged unlike the Maha Mandapa ceiling!

Further ahead, what I witnessed was just astonishing - A pinhole camera in architecture!!! Through a piece of missing stone on a wall, facing the Gopuram, an inverted image of the Gopuram is formed on the opposite wall inside the building!!! I did try my best to take a photo without shaking too much, but with such the darkness inside, this is all I could do! The inverted image wasn't really in-focus, it was bit blurred by itself!

On the outer wall of the Sanctum Sanctorum were some interesting relief sculptures like Hazara Rama Temple incl Crab worshiping Lord Siva, Elephant & snake worshiping Lord Shiva, Kannappa nayanar etc.

The main Eastern gopuram is 52m tall and has 9 stories. This was probably built in the period of Deva Raya II in 1422-46. The inner gopura & Maha Mandapa was probably built in 1510 by Krishna Deva Raya!

Bang opposite to the Eastern Entrance is the main Hampi Bazaar which extends to about 650m! This is one very wide bazaar where merchant & buyers moved with their horses and elephants at times. Horses were also sold in these bazaars. Some portions were 2 storied where the upper floor was used a storage space!!! It must have been a buzzing commercial street few centuries ago! Today its serves shade and resting place for the tired travelers! We had our lunch here. A portion of this Bazaar serves as a museum and another portion serves as the local police station!!! At the end of the Bazaar is the huge Monolith Nandi, facing Virupaksha!!!

Entry Ticket: Rs.5

Camera: Rs.50

To Get There:

From Bangalore: 343km via NH48 & NH50

From Hyderabad: 373km via NH44

From Goa: 316km via NH67

From Pattadakkal (another UNESCO site): 135km via NH50

From Orange County Resort: 9km
Map of all important sites: hampi.in

These sites are covered in The Virupaksha Trail organized as a guided tour by Orange County Resort.

Each trail costs Rs.1000/- per head as a group.

If you want it exclusive just for you it costs Rs.4000/- for 2 trails (+ Rs.1000/- incl vehicle).

Dedicated to Venkat

As I said that Virupaksha Temple was 1 of the 2 most important sites in Hampi. The 2nd is Vittala Temple. Though its not sure when the temple was built or when it was consecrated or under which king, it was definitely standing during the reign of Devaraya II (1422-46). The temple must have been either during or before his period.

Since the last few decades, reaching this temple, with your own mode of transport has been barred, because the building is that weak!!! Today the parking lot is 1.3km from the main temple, close to the Gejjala Mandapa. A battery operated vehicle goes from here to the main gate for Rs.20 for a 2 way ride. If you're fit and if the sun is merciful, its easily walk-able. A major portion of this 1.3km is the Bazaar.

The present shape of the Gopuram is unforgettable. The central portion has caved in and it looks a bit like bull's horns! Once in, the first thing, bang in front of your eyes, is the one thing that Hampi is known for - the stone chariot! Its an epitome of Vijayanagara Sculpture & Architecture!!! Unlike common assumption, this is NOT a monolith sculpture!

Presently, the chariot has a flat granite roof. It originally had a brick Shikara atop the flat roof which has fallen over time! Otherwise its mostly intact. The wheels were actually movable! However today the ASI, has fixed it to the ground just to protect it from further vandalism (I mean, if it know it can rotate, can you curb your temptation to not try it out?)!!! Originally there were 2 horses in front of it, to show as if they're pulling the chariot, of whose only the hind legs and tail are visible today. They're replaced by two elephants similar to the one standing near Soldiers' Barracks! Inside the chariot is a relief of Garuda (Hawk faced demi-god, who is the Vahana (carrier) of Lord Vishnu). Around the Chariot are multiple pillars, relief sculptures etc very similar to a real wooden chariot (check out the one at Srirangam)!

What totally took me by awe was what was in the hidden spots of the chariot - frescoes!!! Whichever places were not really susceptible to rain and shine, the frescoes still survived to some extent, esp the reds and yellows. Now, can you imagine how this entire chariot covered in multitudes of mineral colors would have looked like??!!!!!

I was too mesmerized, and stood there for so long inspite of the scorching sun and then finally walked over to the Maha Mandapa. The grandiose of the Pushpa Podhigai (floral bud detail on the pillar corbels) here is just mindblowing.

This has another magical thing in it - the musical pillars. Tapping on these pillars produces different musical notes - its all granite but the thickness of the pillars causes the variation in sound. Today climbing atop this Mandapa is not allowed, coz inconsiderate tapping of musical pillars have caused a couple to crumble! This mandapa too has the Kodungai (terracotta roof simulation).

A frieze on the base of the mandapa shows men from foreign countries (figured out by the outfit they're wearing) who visited Vijayanagara for horse trade!!! Similar to Belur & Halabidu, here too, at some places there are loops (formed by snakes!) on the granite roof. The interlooping loops must have given away!!! The centre of this mandapa has a lotus dome and at its centre were those inverted parrots pecking into the pollen, very similar to SriVaikundam, also a Vijayanagara architecture!

The sanctum sanctorum is open and has 2 empty slots like most other temples in Hampi. This too is defunct after the Deccan Muslim Confederacy. So wearing slippers into this temple is allowed as well. There are a couple of mandapas on the side one of which also has one musical pillar.

The Kalyana mandapa is one sculptural marvel. Here too is a pillar with all the 10 reincarnations of Vishnu depicted. The relief sculptures are so many including Ramayana, Krishna Leela etc. The central pillars have full sized Yaali and one of it was is depicted to be ridden by Krishna Deva Raya himself!!!

Behind this is the King's Balance. Traditionally King would donate gold worth his own weight to the temple or for the people. That balance was hung here. Further ahead from here was the Old Bridge of which only the pillars exist today which was once used to cross the River Tungabadhra!

To Get There:

From Bangalore: 343km via NH48 & NH50

From Hyderabad: 373km via NH44

From Goa: 316km via NH67

From Pattadakkal (another UNESCO site): 135km via NH50

From Orange County Resort: 9km
Map of all important sites: hampi.in

These sites are covered in The Vittala Trail organized as a guided tour by Orange County Resort.

Each trail costs Rs.1000/- per head as a group.

If you want it exclusive just for you it costs Rs.4000/- for 2 trails (+ Rs.1000/- incl vehicle).

Dedicated to Venkat

Hampi has some mind blowing-ly large sized monolith sculptures!!! Here are the main ones!

Lakshmi Narasimha (Yoga Narasimha): The most prominent sculpture of Hampi is the huge seated Narasimha in Lakshmi Narasimha Temple. Narasimha is the lion faced incarnation of Lord Vishnu. This is currently a Yoga Narasimha meaning, the Lord has a band called Yoga Pattam between his knees making it a yogic pose! However originally it was a Lakshmi Narasimha meaning, he has his consort Lakshmi seated on His left lap all in a single piece of granite!

Today just one of Her arms is visible, around his waist! After His knees, half of his thighs, forearms and ofcourse, Lakshmi etc were destroyed in the Islamic invasion, it was restored sometime after 1984. Additions were done at its knees to ankles and to support the structure, a wedge was placed below the thighs and the Yoga Pattam was also introduced as a reinforcement! The below image is from the ASI Archive of how it was before restoration!

This is 6.7m tall. The Lakshmi Narasimha has a Makara Thorana (an ornate arch) around, with a seven hooded snake - all carved out of one boulder!!! This was made during the era of Krishna Deva Raya in 1528 by a Brahmana.

Siva Linga: Just beside the Lakshmi Narasimha temple is the Badavalinga Temple. This has an enormous 3m tall Siva Linga whose base is submerged in water. This temple is still in worship. There is a slight superficial carving of the 3 eyes of Lord Shiva.

Sasivekalu Ganesha: About half a km from these 2 places, is Sasivekalu Ganesha, safely sitting in a 16 pillared mandapa, in the slope of Hemakuta Hill! Sasivekalu in Kannada means Mustard Seeds and I dunno why was he names so. May be, ages ago, this was surrounded by mustard plantations?! This is 2.4m tall. Close to this is Kadalekalu Ganesha. Kadalekalu means grams! Similar to the Lakshmi Narasimha, this too was vandalized and its trunk and lower left hand were broken which were later sorted during restoration probably around the same time as Lakshmi Narasimha! Like most common depiction, he's holding one of his broken tusk in his lower right arm (he wrote the Mahabaratha with this!).

Nandi (bull): Bang opposite to the Virupaksha Temple, at the other end of the Hampi Bazaar is the huge Nandi. This has a ceiling supported by a 2 storied pavilion. Just beside this is the hillock, trekking which, leads to the Achyuta Raya Temple.

To Get There:

From Bangalore: 343km via NH48 & NH50

From Hyderabad: 373km via NH44

From Goa: 316km via NH67

From Pattadakkal (another UNESCO site): 135km via NH50

From Orange County Resort: 9km
Map of all important sites: hampi.in

These sites are covered in The Virupaksha Trail & Tungabadhra Trek organized as a guided tour by Orange County Resort.

Each trail costs Rs.1000/- per head as a group.

If you want it exclusive just for you it costs Rs.4000/- for 2 trails (+ Rs.1000/- incl vehicle).

P.C: The black and white photographs of the sculptures before restoration belong to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

Dedicated to Venkat

Ahead from the Varaha Temple, we headed to the Narasimha Temple. This requires a slight trek onto a barren hillock and the first thing you'd spot is the Deepa Sthamba (the pole for lamps) and a two storied mandapa. Beside it, almost submerged into the ground is the Narasimha Temple (this is different from the monolith Narasimha!). As the rest, this too has no idols inside. It was closed but the lathe pillars made of black stone were a visual delight. This has a major Hoysala inspiration here with those perfectly cylindrical pillars!

Next our stop was the Hastagiri Ranganatha Temple. This was just at the base of the barren hill, making the hill, the back wall of the sanctum sanctorum! The Lord inside is a standing Vishnu flanked by Sridevi and Bhoodevi and as usual, defaced! There is a small mandapa in front of it! Just beside is another Rama Temple and this is still in worship!

Further ahead towards the riverside, is the Kodandarama Temple and in front of it is the Coracale Ride! Remember I told you about a coracle in my Talakkad trip? We didn't take the trip on coracle, however if trekking is to be avoided, this coracle trip is the best way to explore the river side ruins!

From the river, the next day we headed to the hills! Behind the Malyavanta Temple, is the gorgeous view of the whole of Hampi!!! Here were also several Siva Lingam and Nandi carved as relief sculptures on the ground and a tiny Siva temple as well.

The Malyavanta Raghunatha temple's sanctum sanctorum has relief sculptures of Rama and Lakshmana sitting and Sita standing and Hanuman kneeling beside them, on a huge boulder. The actual temple was built around the boulder and a small shikara has been built atop the boulder as vimana!!!

Our next stop was close to Lakshmi Narasimha Temple & Badavilinga Temple - the Krishna Temple. This was built in 1513 soon after Krishna Deva Raya won the battle at Orissa. The Bala Krishna in the sanctum sanctorum was brought here from Udayagiri in Orissa, which is not there like all other temples!

The Maha Mandapa pillars are indeed exquisite! Esp one of it has the relief sculpture of all the 10 Dasavathara in it! Bang opposite to it, is the Krishna Bazaar!

Later in the evening, we climbed the Hemakuta Hill to watch the aerial view of Virupaksha Temple and watch the exquisite sunset in this location.

The Hemakuta hill itself has several small temples and shrines in it, most of which I didn't check out. The crowd that assembles here, both locals and foreigners, to watch the sunset is just so much!!! But still, the space is so vast that you won't feel the crowd!!!

To Get There:

From Bangalore: 343km via NH48 & NH50

From Hyderabad: 373km via NH44

From Goa: 316km via NH67

From Pattadakkal (another UNESCO site): 135km via NH50

From Orange County Resort: 9km
Map of all important sites: hampi.in

These sites are covered in The Tungabadhra Trek, Virupaksha Trail & Vittala Trail organized as a guided tour by Orange County Resort.

Each trail costs Rs.1000/- per head as a group.

If you want it exclusive just for you it costs Rs.4000/- for 2 trails (+ Rs.1000/- incl vehicle).

Dedicated to Venkat

Apart from the main UNESCO Sites in Hampi, there was one very important site that I wanted to see – Onake Kindi in Anagundi. Remember my posts on Alampadi, Settavarai and Kilvalai? Remember those stunning pre-historic rock arts? Yup. Onake Kindi is also a pre-historic rock art site. I was very doubtful if my guide Mr.Rajesh would know where this place was and he was very sure that he knew!!!

We set off to Anegundi one fine early morning and our guide parked our vehicle on the road with cultivation happening on either side. Then Ramesh took us through the fields and he started climbing the rocks & boulders beyond it. Yup, that’s pretty much our way to reach the dwelling of the prehistoric man. After climbing the boulders and going across it to reach the other side of it, there was a barren land surrounded on all sides with boulders!!!

Walking a bit on this barren land finally I saw a cave like structure to the right and there it was, in its front, on the face of the rock, was this indent to keep the rain water from falling on it (an indigenous age-old technique which we already saw here and here) and loads of drawings below it! These are estimated to belong to Bronze Age i.e. about 15000 yrs old!

There were several, several bulls, some humans and a few birds depicted in this main section. Atop this main section of bulls on the horizontal pane was this extremely unusual graffiti. It’s a circular design. Inside it is another circle, which is separated into 2 sections and inside one of it, is a human!!! Reminds of anything. Here’s a clue! Check out those Megalithic Burials in Pudukottai. Circularly placed stones, central section divided into 2? Yup, indeed, what’s depicted is a burial and that’s very very unusual when it comes to pre-historic rock art! Just below this main section, when I laid down in the cave, atop me, on the ceiling was this huuuuge cobra (no, not a real one, a rock art it was)!!!!

Mostly it was red and white in some places. Some of the humans were shown inside squares – houses? Some were shown holding shields & knives – warriors?

To the right of this main section is the depiction of community dancing. Behind this was a procession scene with a man atop a bull, followed by more men, followed by more bulls!!!

Opposite to this cave, was another dwelling, another cave. Here were more bulls, more humans on bulls and humans holding bow & arrow!!!

Further ahead of this, was another tiny cave filled with several motifs on the ceiling – some symbolisms, similar symbolisms inside squares, several stick figures of humans etc.

I was more than happy to see this!!!

You may remember that I already declared in this blog, that I love to see megalithic burials and pre-historic sites. It gives me a strange sense of belonging. The truth is, they people who lived here would have been my great great great great grandfathers & grandmothers!!!

To Get There:
On Google Maps: 15.368423, 76.474936

From Bangalore: 370km via NH48 & NH50

From Hyderabad: 344km via NH44

From Goa: 313km via NH67

From Pattadakkal (another UNESCO site): 126km via NH50

From Orange County Resort: 23km

These sites are not covered in the regular guided group tours by Orange County Resort or in the regular packages of KSTDC Certified guides.

However the guides know of this place and can accompany on special request.

Dedicated to Venkat

After checking out the Pre-Historic Rock Art at Anegundi, we headed to Malyavanta Hill and on the way, I spotted something! Do you spot it??? Well, lets go closer...

At a particular spot, to my right, behind a patch of agricultural land on a barren surface of rock, I spotted something! I asked to stop the vehicle and walked to that. And that's what I saw...

A panel of shallow relief sculpture depicting a scene from Ramayana - monkeys lifting stones to build the dam!!! It was out of nowhere and after coming back I tried to figure out what it was and couldn't find any details.

Before setting off to Malyavanta Hill from Anegundi, we headed to Pampa Sarovar, where there is a modern Shiva Temple whose mandapa was built in the Vijaya Nagara period. Just out of the Sanctum Sactorum to the right is a small relief sculpture of a seated Thirthankara.

According to a book of ASI of 1970, there's supposed to be a series of standing Thirthankaras similar to Kazhugumalai in Ajjunahalli. Though I tried to roam about the whole place to figure out where it was, unfortunately I couldn't find. Unfortunately the priest of the temple, lost his temper too when I enquired him about the Jain connection, which he vehemently rejected!!! I couldn't find any Ajjunahalli as well! Probably, the standing Thirthankaras are also somewhere like the Ramayana panel, hidden in full view (do I sound like Robert Langdon?)!!!

My next stop was Malyavanta Hill and Raghunatha Temple. At the entrance of the temple, was this boulder with a small cut that's imperative before beginning an inscription or painting, to avoid rain damage. On looking closely, I did spot a small symbol on the top left corner which I'm pretty sure I saw at the Pre-Historic Rock Site as well. May be they began to do something and then gave it up soon or an extensive work may have been here that got lost in the Vijayanagara period when the Ragunatha temple was built!!! I don't know!!!

I met this lady, close to Pampa Sarovar. These Rabari tribes are all over this locality, seen selling hand embroidered goods. Isn't she just adorable!!!

Btw, as usual my animal luck worked here too and here are those animals & birds I managed to capture on my camera!!! That's a Hoopoe and Little Owl that I spotted at Queen's Bath and the Grey Langur with its baby - again clicked at Pampa Sarovar! This wraps up the Hampi series on my blog. Getting back with another place I ventured to... Don't go away!!!

My complete (all posts of) Hampi Travelogue: Zenana Enclosure, Hazara Rama Temple, Royal Enclosure, Achyuta Raya & Varaha Temples, Virupaksha Temple, Vittala Temple, Monolith Sculptures,Riverside ruins, Malyavanta Hills & other temples, Anegundi Pre-Historic Rock Art, Discoveries & Musings

To Get There:

From Bangalore: 343km via NH48 & NH50

From Hyderabad: 373km via NH44

From Goa: 316km via NH67

From Pattadakkal (another UNESCO site): 135km via NH50

From Orange County Resort: 9km
Map of all important sites: hampi.in

The exact spot of the Ramayana panel: The stretch in 15.362023, 76.499074

These sites are covered in The Vittala Tral organized as a guided tour by Orange County Resort.

Each trail costs Rs.1000/- per head as a group.

If you want it exclusive just for you it costs Rs.4000/- for 2 trails (+ Rs.1000/- incl vehicle).

If you want a guide for yourself for the whole day it costs Rs.8000/-

Dedicated to Venkat

We had a family event to attend at Vizag and since that was a Friday we chose to stay there the weekend and explore Borra Caves and Araku Valley. As I read a lot about how the train journey from Vizag to Araku is a must, I decided to take it and they weren’t wrong!!! I didn’t have a reservation and took an unreserved ticket. Like a typical unreserved compartment, it was brimming with people the moment it entered the station. We too got in and for the first time I discovered a new side of my man – with all fierceness, as if was a regular, he threw the backpack on the seat-top luggage rack and climbed atop it and sat there (don’t freak out, it’s a very common scene in unreserved compartments in Indian Railways)!!!!!

Whatever I read about this route was completely true! It’s a 4 hr ride and after 1 hr, the train stops for about half an hour at Boddavara Station, before taking up the ghat-track! Then it gets slow, I mean, it’s actually mountain railway from this point of time! The route is green, surrounded by deep valleys, rivers, bridges and best of all, so many tunnels!!! It was a blessing in disguise that we got into the unreserved compartment - the ‘life’ in the compartment was so much!!!

It was so lively. I got down and stood at the door, photographing the landscape, tunnels and greenery all around. Some people were already standing at the door, to be precise, a bunch of college boys! Guess what, inspite of being surrounded by them, they absolutely did not misbehave and nobody tried to touch me!!! I’m specifying this here particularly because of the generalizations many assume about various places. Stray unfortunate incidents do happen, but please don’t generalize an entire country!

3 hrs (90km) from Vizag on this train, I reached Borra Guhalu station. A short walk from here took me to the entrance of Borra Caves. Borra Caves is at an altitude of 800-1300m above sea level! It was discovered in 1807 by William King, a British Geologist, when India was a British colony! These caves are believed to have been formed about 150 million years ago. Remember those school day geography lessons that taught about stalactites and stalagmites? This entire caves is filled with those. Today most of these formations are under worship as various Gods & Goddesses according the natural shape that has formed. The walk inside the caves is about 350m.

One, the entire caves is filled with disco lights!!! It’s sad for someone like me who is actually interested in the heritage and natural beauty of the place. But then, that’s just my opinion. But what was totally disheartening was the behavior of the visitors… People were shouting, noisy, once in a while giving a ‘whooo’, using flash photography on the bats hanging from the ceiling etc and it was just painful for people who respect the place!

I really hope APTDC takes efforts to educate tourists at the entrance of the caves and employ a few more staff to regulate the behavior of the unruly tourists!!! I’ve been wanting to see Borra caves since ages as its one of the very few caves in India that has stalactites and stalagmites. Unfortunately my overall experience was just depressing!!!

If you're a non-vegetarian, the bamboo chicken here is a must try. Its available as street food at the entrance of Borra Caves. Its chicken nuggets, sealed in bamboo and roasted! No, I haven't tried it, being a veggie, but heard way too many people swear about it!

From there I took a bus and an hour drive took me to Araku Valley, my next destination. Here comes the disaster. Let me put it in simple words. If someone goes to New York and then wonders why he/she couldn’t see San Fransisco in the trip, how would that sound???!!! Now imagine the same thing in a smaller scale! The area termed as Araku Valley is not even in Araku!!! The Anantagiri Mountain Range (whose valley is Araku), is where nature’s beauty & bounty lies, and that is pretty far is the Araku Town! There is actually nothing at all in Araku Town!!!! Araku Valley Region is pretty large and there are 4 different APTDC operated hotels in this region itself and 2 (Valley Resort & Mayuri) of those are in Araku Town! The rest 2 (Mountain View & Tyda) are on the way from Vizag to Araku Town, infact, even before Borra!!! These 2 are much better as these are within the forest area, surrounded by vegetation.

When I booked I knew I wanted to go to Araku, but I did not know of all this before I ventured. There was a room available at Tyda and when I called them I came to know it’s not in Araku. Since I wanted to go to Araku, I just booked at Valley Resort when I came to know that Tyda is actually 35km from Araku!!! Little did I know Tyda is a beauty by itself whereas there’s absolutely nothing in Araku Town.

Yes, there are a thing or 2 in Araku Town – Coffee Museum & Tribal Museum. I ventured only to Coffee Museum. It’s a tiny private museum and there’s an interactive display inside that talks about the worldwide history of coffee and there’s a shop where organic, authentic coffee was sold. Also there’s a café which sells a wide variety of hot & cold coffee and desserts made of coffee as well!!! It is slightly pricey but the coffee is just divine. The outdoor seating arrangement was really cool and there was also a rodeo simulator and a cricket pitch simulator as well. By evening a nice traditional, tribal dance was performed.

To Get There:

Araku/Borra from Vizag: There is 1 passenger train (58501/2 - Visakhapatnam <-> Kirandul) every morning from Vizag at 7 AM and from Araku/Borra at 4/5 PM. ->

Buses are regularly available on this route for every half hour from about 6 AM to 10 PM.

Vizag to Borra by road – 87km

Vizag to Araku by road – 113km

Borra Guhalu station to Caves – 1km

Entry ticket to Borra Guhalu – Rs.40 (plus camera fee Rs.25)

Entry ticket to Coffee Museum – Rs.20

Dedicated to Venkat. Special thanks to Puneet for practical info on the places.

Cocooned by Nature!

No matter, how many times I visit the Western Ghats, I could go again and again and again. The entire area is so vast and there are so many places in it and I've been there several times and still I'm yet to see Mudumalai, Periyar, Srivilliputhur, Sahyadri and more!!! Kabini is just at the edge of Nagarhole and Bandipur National Parks, which belongs to the Nilgiri Sub Cluster of Western Ghats, UNESCO World Heritage Sites! And at Kabini, at the banks of the Kabini reservoir is the Orange County Resorts!

The whole look & feel of the entire resort is so entangled with the nature & culture around it! The architecture & masonry is almost true to the local village style but with all modern amenities.

The best example I could give is, all the lighting here are hurricane oil lamps & candle lamps, altered to fit electric bulbs inside! No disposable waterbottles or plates are used and the masonry looks more like local huts with wooden structure & thatched roof etc.

Spread in an area covering 18 acres, this just has 37 rooms! 8 are Pool Huts and 29 are Jacuzzi Huts! Unlike its counterpart in Hampi, the entire space is more like a community living than a hotel! It absolutely doesn't have a hotel feel to it and its one of the best hotels I've stayed so far! The huts are spaced away from each other. All the buildings have only the ground floor and no terrace as well.

Even the newspaper socket at the doors of the rooms is a hollow bamboo piece (didn't I say we're cocooned by nature?)! The switches are retro, very similar to its counterpart in Hampi! The doors are made of wood with bamboo/cane reinforcement. All the furniture inside are also made of bamboo & wood. The lampshade are handmade with local material. The blinds are Kora grass mats! Drinking water is via RO tap just like in Hampi.

Sized at 2400 sq.ft, the Pool Huts are the epitome of luxury! As the name says, it has a private swimming pool in it! As soon as you enter, there's a 21sq.m sized swimming pool, complete with 4 lounge chairs (yes, the first pic of the post is also this pool)! Since all buildings have only the ground floor, and since the pool huts have a high compound wall around the open to sky pool, there is complete privacy!!! That's a luxury that I can't have in my own house. The sky lit areas in my own house can be seen from the neighbour's terrace, but not here!!!!!

The interior of the hut has 2 rooms in it - the living room and the bedroom. Both the room have river facing French windows that brings in enough of day light! The bathroom, attached to the bedroom has a bathtub, a shower, 2 sinks and a door that directly leads to swimming pool again!!! The living room has a backdoor as well, complete with a portico with lounge chairs, that has a view of the Kabini River! I spent an entire evening sitting here, watching the river over sunset, and continued much after sunset, in pitch dark atmosphere!

The living room is equipped with a cafe, mini bar, TV, seating arrangements & dining table as well! The bedroom is a huge king sized bed, with an AC, Fan, bedside tablelamp etc. The best part is, you could choose the pillow filling that you want! They give you 4 options!!! That's called literally spoiling the guest!

The Jacuzzi Hut (sized 1200 sq.ft) on the other hand is almost like a typical village home. All the facilities are almost like Pool Hut, but this doesn't have a river view and instead of a huge pool, here's a small open air jacuzzi!

The wall hangings and table decor all over the hotel are also made of wood, jute, seeds etc. As I said when you're in the midst of nature, you're practically renting a space that belongs to wildlife, from the wildlife, for a few days! So, if you leave your room windows open, you might get to some insects & birds are visitors! The restaurant is always filled with sparrows and some even live in the thatched roof over your head!!!

That's going really long. Let me break here and continue the review in the next post!

To get there:

On Google Maps: Orange County Kabini

From Mysuru Jn: 80 km

From Bangalore Airport & City Station: 250 km

Transport is arranged by the resort from nearest airport / railway station on prior request.

Room tariff begins at Rs.33000/-

To Book: Orange County Kabini

Resort Ph no: +91 (0)8228 269 100 – 7

P.S: I was invited by Orange County Resorts, Kabini to stay and experience the hotel for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Cocooned in Nature!

Continuing with the review of Orange County Resorts in Kabini. Yeah, there are 2 restaurants here - the Honey Comb restaurant & Kuruba grill. The Honey Comb restaurant is a buffet restaurant where you can also order something special. Did I mention it was my birthday when I ventured here, so the head chef Ranjith, took me by surprise & sent me a birthday cake to my hut!!!

For breakfast, there's a section for meat eaters, and the rest are mostly veg. There's a good mix of South Indian, North Indian, Continental foods as well as super healthy & special diet foods like dry fruits, nuts, sprouts, cheese, coconut milk, fruit juices etc. Ofcourse being here, Mysore Masala Dosa and Filter Coffee with Jaggery are a must try!

Lunch & Dinner buffet is way too extensive! I didn't bother to see the variety in non-vegetarian food! The veggie side has a range of salads, fresh fruits & vegetables as starters. Then there's a range of gravies incl Dal, Paneer & some subji and a live counter for Indian bread varieties. There's also plain rice and one variety rice plus some more south Indian options incl Sambar, Rasam, Poriyal, Aviyal, Palya etc.

There's also a couple Italian options with Lasagna or Pasta etc. There's also a small section of organic food. The dessert is a large selection of Indian sweets, cakes (incl a couple eggless variants), mousse etc. One fine day I did just gorge it all on lunch (effect of super tasty and super variety of food) and that day, for dinner all I could manage was some yogurt!!!

The Kuruba Grill is more of an open air grill restaurant, but being a veggie, I guess the food here wasn't really of my taste! There's a exquisite Boat Dining experience as well, but sadly the summer had almost dried up the river (more about it Kabini itself coming soon) and the water level was too low for a romantic floating dinner!

Yes, the resort in just on the banks of Kabini river! The view is just exquisite! Esp at sunset I did get a bit crazy with photography! Just doing nothing at all, but just sitting here and watching the cows graze by, the villages walk by, and the oh so many birds chirp away, is the best way to relax...

Just beside the restaurant is the main Infinity pool. Yes, it doesn't look like one right now! But imagine the whole river brimming with water, then the infinity pool would totally make sense! There's another smaller family pool (with a toddler pool as well). Here are also a play area with board games, bicycles and a mini gym!

Apart from these, there's a Spa or rather an Ayurvedic Vaidyasala (about which I'll post later) and a library! The library is located at the western most point of the resort, facing the Kabini river and it also serves coffee, tea, hot chocolate etc.

Sitting here, basking in the setting sun, with its reflection on the river, watching the villagers & people head back home, with a cup of hot chocolate in hand, is just......................

Similar to the RO water & a card to not change sheets, Orange County Kabini is also involved in various other activities to promote responsible tourism. They own windmills at Chitradurga and they also have solar panels the covers the entire roofing of the car park which helps them produce around 500w electricity per day which is one third to one fourth of their consumption!

They also have a sewage treatment plan that manufactures manure which is used in their garden where several vegetable yielding plants are grown. These vegetables are used in the staff kitchen. The Bio Gas Plant helps in generation energy for staff kitchen!

There is a small hut in the resort, which is a replica of the typical Kuruba (the local tribe) hut! Like the in-house historians in Hampi, here are some in-house naturalists who accompany the guests in the all the activities in and around Kabini. More on that coming up soon, stay tuned....

To Get There:
Refer to my earlier post.

P.S: I was invited by Orange County, Kabini to stay and experience the hotel for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Nagarhole Rajiv Gandhi National Park comes under Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and Niligiri Sub Cluster of Western Ghats of India which are protected under UNESCO as Biodiversity Hotspot! Check out the whole map of Western Ghats under UNESCO here. Btw, image heavy post ahead, alert!!!

One of the very primary reason to visit Kabini is to go inside Nagarhole National Park and try our luck in spotting a big cat! According to the present rules and regulations, jeep safari is organized twice a day by the government and I chose to go one in the evening and another 2 days later, in the morning of birthday! Did I spot a big cat? Read on to find out.

The jeeps are loaded at Kabini River Lodges (more about in the Tips section at the end of the post), which is about 2 km from the entrance of the national park. Every jeep has a naturalist in it and my first one was with Mr.Chirag and 2nd with Mr.Sharath, both of Orange County Resorts. The main road that actually goes into the park is SH33 and is used by several vehicles. Off SH33, a road goes into the jungle - a bumpy dirt track.

It has 2 zones, A & B and I managed to take both the routes on my 2 trips. In one of the trips, soon after I started in a tiny water hole, I spotted a Sambar Deer.

Then I spotted several several Spotted Deers and Langurs. Next up we went closer to the backwaters and spotted a herd of elephants along with Spotted Deers (Chintals) and Wild Boars!

Back into the forest we spotted several types birds, mountain squirrels, peacocks etc and as the day wrapped up, almost near the exit again another waterhole with filled with gorgeous Elephants including a mom & calf!!! Though I got to spot a lot, big cat was still elusive!

2 days later, on my Birthday, early morning, we set out again in the early morning safari at 6 AM. Soon after we entered the forest, there, on the road, comfortably seated was the Leopard!!!!! My Birthday, began with seeing a LEOPARD!!!

Soon after we came, the fellow seemed disturbed, and chose to walk away into the forest! Yup, so we got to see its catwalk too!!!

The number of birds I saw was oh so many - Peafowl, White Breasted Kingfisher, Hoopee, Yellow Footed Green Pigeon, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Golden Flameback Woodpecker, Racket Tailed Drongo, Green Bee Eaters and ofcourse Pond Herons, Sparrows, Red Vented & Whiskered Bulbuls, Jungle Babblers, Cowcal, Koel and so many more!

In the main backwaters, I got to spot Cormorants, Darters, Egrets etc. This time one of the Malabar Giant Squirrel also managed to pose for me sitting on a branch right atop our jeep.

Soon after that, our naturalist spotted the footprints of a tiger! We followed it and reached a waterhole where langurs where yelling at the top of their voice - the alarm sound. We waited long at that spot to see if she would come out, but unfortunately that did not happen! At another waterhole we spotted 3 Sambar deers, and a Barking deer!

A Birthday with Leopard, Barking Deer, Sambar deer, Racket Tailed Drongo, Asian Paradise Flycatcher in the wild????? What more could I ask for?!!!!! I could ask for Tigers too! I'm yet to see one in the wild!!!! But for this Birthday, I'm just more than happy!!!!!

Here's a tip:

Till early 2016, taking your own vehicle inside the national park was allowed. However now, with more and more awareness about the conservation and giving more importance to the animals, than the tourists, drive-thru & drop-in safari has now come to an end. As of now, you HAVE to stay in one of the 6 resorts here (Orange County Resorts, Kabini River Lodge of Jungle Lodges, The Bison, Kaav, Serai and Waterwoods) in order to take up the Jeep safari. Also when the river is brimming, there's a boat safari as well about which I can't comment on much, coz I didn't get to do it.

The cheapest accommodation (tented cottage) in Jungle Lodges (the cheapest of the 6 resorts) is Rs.8000 (per person in a twin sharing basis) including Jeep Safari. Yes, the prices are steep, but that's to curb too many tourists. Safari is organized only by Jungle Lodges of Karnataka Government and there are 2 safaris a day with 10 vehicles in the early morning and 11 vehicles in the afternoon which is a couple of 18 seaters, and the rest are 10 seaters. The other 5 resorts have a tie-up with Jungle Lodges to take their guests in. So only about a total of 200 tourists are allowed in everyday. So you have to book early!

Guests at Orange County Resorts, Kabini are given to option to go on the safari as soon as they check in and if interested, a seat is booked for you in the safari of selected date & time. This is at an extra cost of Rs.1720 for Indians and Rs.2720 for Foreign nationals.

Phones are to be put in airplane mode and no food or drinks (except water) is allowed inside the sanctuary. Cameras with more than 300mm zoom lens, need a separate camera ticket as well. Half of the jeeps take zone A and half, zone B. Even those within the same zone do not go in a convoy and take different direction as soon as they enter the forest. The drivers of these jeeps are in contact with each other and as soon as they spot a big cat or elephant they inform others and the rest reach the spot asap.

To get there:

The Safari begins at Kabini River Lodges of Jungle Lodges.

From Orange County Resorts, Kabini: Across the River, taken by boat!

From Mysore: 76km

From Bangalore: 228km via Mysuru

Dedicated to Venkat

Kabini river originates in Wayanad in Kerala and joins the Cauvery River! In 1974, a dam of about 700m height was built across Kabini river almost at the border of both Bandipur & Nagarhole National Park.

As I said already in the Nagahole post, it comes under the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Karapur in Kabini was once a hunting lodge during the times of Mysuru Maharaja rule and under the British. This houses the Viceroy's Banglow & Maharaja's Banglow. By 1982, this came under the Indian Govt and today's it within the Jungle Lodge's Resort

Kabini has a very unique topography! Its a rich with plants and vegetation during the monsoon. Bandipur, Nagarhole and the whole of Western Ghats. But during summer, the river shrinks majorly and several smaller waterbodies all over the western ghats disappear! Then what happens is a mind-blowing annual phenomena! World's largest congregation of Asiatic Elephants - Elephants from all over this area, come here for 2 things - water and grass (since the river has now shrunken, the exposed land is rich with grass)!!! With the huge appetite of elephant, this grass in scorching summer, is such a blessing!!! The numbers sometimes go as high as 2000! This place is called the Elephant Corridor.

From 1799 to 1971, this place was also used to conduct Khedda Operation - the process of hiring Kumki (trained) elephants with mahout to redirect a few herds of elephants into an enclosure to tame them and use them in armies! Let's just say, thank God that this was given up by 1971!

Kabini dam was built in 1974 after taking up about 7 villages and large forest areas in this locality and compensating then with land a little farther away! Today the river, when its bulged, forms a huge waterbody, submerging lands which were once villages (the dead tree I'm standing n front of, get completely submerged and the pole tied atop it, is used as a marking by the oarsmen). Today those people live just at the present river bank!

So a stroll in this area when its dry, reveals what was once a forest & village! This includes the trees that are dead and were chopped off to accommodate the river in its full capacity, the base of a temple (believed to be Chola) that were once in worship by the villagers, a herostone etc!

The major population of this locality belongs to the Kuruba tribal community who are categorized into 3 depending on their skill - Jenu Kuruba (honey gatherers), Betta Kuruba (hill tribes) and Kadu kuruba (forest dwellers). Originally hunter gatherers, these tribes took over agriculture and related skills incl basket weaving etc a few centuries back. Originally they lived inside the forests, and when the forests where declared as reserved zones to protect wildlife, they were relocated along the edges of the forests and were employed in the forest department as forest guards, guides, naturalists etc with some training and orientation!

Today this place is not just a paradise of Elephants, but also tons of birds. A walked on the dried river bed helped me spot Red Naped Ibis, Yellow footed Green Pigeon, Spotted Owlet, Little Ringed Plover (above 4 pics respectively), Magpie Robin, Sunbird, Tailor Bird, Cowcal, Red vented/whiskered Bulbul, Green bee eater, Yellow Wagtail, Scarlet Minivet, and ofcourse Pond Heron, Cattle Egret, Darter (below 3 pics respectively) etc. Walk about till the border of Bandipur Sanctuary or take a jeep - the bird spottings are just too good!!!

An early morning walk along the river would give such amazing sightings of so many birds! Another excellent way to see the waterbirds & even the crocs here would be on a coracle ride!

To Get There:

Can be accessed directly from the backyard of Jungle Lodges, Orange County etc.
On Google Maps: Kabini Reservoir

Orange County Resorts, Kabini organizes several ways in which Kabini river, reservoir & village can be explored incl Coracle ride, Bullock cart ride, Bicycle ride, Nature walk in early mornings, Night walks, Stories of Kabini (a jeep ride) in the dried river bed etc. They also organize a Tribal music & dance performance by the Kuruba community every alternative nights in the resort premises!

I went on a solo backpacking trip to Italy for 3 days which began with Rome and ended with Milan and the first place I visited in Rome was Colosseum.

Colosseum - I had seen it drawings, photos and videos since childhood as I grew up. It was one of the important topics in my uni days in art history. Honestly till 2014, I had absolutely no clue I'd be able to travel to Europe. But then there I was with my Schengen Visa and there I saw one of the Medieval 7 Wonders of the World with my own eyes!!!

I reached Rome through the Ciampano Airport which is located a bit away from the city which caters to the low cost airlines. From there a airport transfer bus left me at Roma Termini which is the main railway station at Rome. I took the 1 day transport pass and my first destination was Colosseum. The Colosseo Metro is bang in front of the monument. It was one humongous structure that filled my eyes as I got out of the station!!! I couldn't have asked for more...

This was built by Vespasian in 72 AD and was inaugurated in 80AD and the cost of construction came from the loots of Jewish war. It was a super structure for the era with a height of 157ft and circumference of 1788ft. Covering an area of 620ft x 513ft, and central arena of 287ft x 180ft, it comfortably fits a football field.

With 4 floors, varying in height from 34ft to 47ft, and each floor having 80 arches, it could hold 50,000 spectators at any given point of time. The first row of seating was at 15ft from the arena floor. It was not just a 4 floored building but also has a under ground floor & tunnels that held prisoners and animals.

This was in active use till 6th C CE after which it went to disuse and got damaged in earthquakes and got quarried for other constructions. However the ruins of its outermost wall can be still seen on the other side of the road!! I chose not to get into the Colosseum to save time to explore other places.

Just a few steps from it was the Arch of Constantine. This was built in 315CE by Constantine I. This was built to commemorate Constantine’s victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Though its big at 21m height & 25m width, its size is eaten up by Colosseum.

There is a huge inscription in the top part of the arch that mentions his victory. There are 10 medallions of which 8 were originally from the Hadrian Monument which belonged to the 1st & 2nd C CE which do not exist today. There are 8 human sculptures on the topmost panel and 6 reliefs as well. Just below the medallion are some friezes. There are also some panels in the walls of the arches.

Though the Arch is open to view any time, free of cost, its not possible to go into the arches or touch them. There's a fencing all around it.
A lot more on the places I saw in Rome and rest of backpacking across Italy coming up. Stay tuned. In the meantime check out these Europe Tour Packages too!

To Get There:

Nearest Metro Station: Colosseo

Entry Ticket to Colosseum (combined with Palantine Hill): €12.00

Free entry during first Sunday of every month.

Here are some tips:

There are way too many sites that sell tickets for entry and I had a tough time to figure out which is real and which is fake, so let me make your life easier - Official Colosseum Tickets by CoopCulture

At any given point of time there can only 3000 people inside the monument so its pretty much impossible to get the ticket there. So pre-book as early as possible.

The best way to explore Rome is by taking the 1 day transport pass. Though Vatican is a separate nation and not a part of Rome, don't worry, for all practical purposes, the Roman Visa and this transport pass is enough to access Vatican.

Water costs soooo much! Half a litre of water costs 2 Euros anywhere here. Wherever you're staying, try to fill up your bottles there before you set your foot out.

From Colosseum & Arch of Constantine, I walked over to Palatine Hill. As I mentioned about this issue in my post on Copenhagen, almost each and every city in every European Nation, went through more than one major fire outbreak.

Rome went through it in 64 CE and that happened here in Domus Aurea and Palatine Hill very close to where Emperor Nero's palace was situated. Originally, till 10 C BCE this place was used as a burial ground and the surrounding places as a residential area with remain of huts, ceramics etc. This is a trapezoidal area and was created as a business & market place.

By 509 BCE, this was a temple of Saturn, Castor & Pollux. By 2nd C CE, 4 basilicas were built here. It was on a portion of this area that the Colosseum was built. Just after that in 135 CE, the Temples for Venus an Rome were built. Much later during the period of Augustus Ceaser, this was expanded vastly with several monuments & marble flooring etc. The last construction that took place here was the columns of Emperor Phocas in 604 CE.

Just like Colosseum, I opted not to go inside this as well. However since this has a low fencing, it was possible to observe a lot from the outside itself!

A walk on the Via Sacra took me to this arch called Titus Arch. This was built by Emperor Domitian in the memory of his brother Titus in 81 CE. Though this too looks similar to Arch of Constantine, this is in a much more in a worse condition. This too has inscription and relief sculptures.

The view from here was spectacular with the Temple of Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, followed by Santi Luca e Martina and then the backview of the Altar of the Fatherland. Further beyond this was the quaint little church called Convento S Bonaventura built in 17th C CE.

Exploring the whole place, I missed quite a lot of places too. I guess just this area needs alteast 3 days to have a superficial look of all the spots. One of the most important places I missed is the Trojan Column, an impeccably sculpted huge pillar, an important topic in art history. I've had a look at the life size replica in V&A Museum in London, though. This is located further ahead of the Altar of the Fatherland.

Other places I missed in this vicinity incl Pantheon, Temple of Ceaser, other side of Domus Aurea, Spanish Steps, Castel Sant'Angelo, Trajan's Market, Palazzo Valentini, Turtle Fountain, Piazza Venezia and the list would just go on & on.

To Get There:

Nearest Metro Station: Colosseo

Entry Ticket to Palatine Hill (combined with Colosseum): €12.00

Free entry during first Sunday of every month.

Here are some tips:

At any given point of time there can only 3000 people inside the monument so its pretty much impossible to get the ticket there. So pre-book as early as possible.
Palatine hill is in ruins and totally uneven flooring. So footwear has to be sturdy enough to take the toll.
Check out more tips on this locality in my earlier post.

In my Uni days, in Art History subject, Renaissance was a major topic and 3 primary names taught were Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael and a masterpiece of Michelangelo was the ceiling of Sistine Chapel. So to visit Sistine Chapel was a dream for me! When I stood in front of the Museum with my backpack, it was a dream come true!!!

I had already booked the ticket for 2 PM and I had my bus at 5.15 PM. After reading a couple of blogs about the practical information there, I was really unsure if I'd be able to make it to the bus on time, so I went there to the entrance by 1 PM and thankfully I was let in. The guards didn't bother much about keeping the exact time and that was a blessing in disguise for me. Read on more about this time issue in the tips section below. There were several very long queues at the entrance, however I was let in as I had a reservation already.

So well, as soon as I entered, very close to the ticket counter (yes, the reservation has to be exchanged for a different ticket here), is one of my favorite Roman sculptures 'Laocoon and his Sons' made between 200 BCE to 70 CE. Just beside it is 'Apollo Belvedere', again a Roman sculpture of 120-140 CE. Beside it is the heavily damaged 'Belvedere Torso' of early 2nd C BCE.

Opposite to this is a passage that leads to where audio guides were distributed and then the long walk began towards Sistine. Soon an open courtyard is there where there's a fountain with some intriguing sculptures can be seen.

Beyond this courtyard, the first Museum I went to was Museo Chiaramonti which is where all the spectacular Classical Roman marble sculptures are in display incl this majestic Emperor Tiberius of 37 CE.

Further ahead was the Museo Pio Clementino where there are more sculptures and there's an open octagonal courtyard as well. This place also houses several sarcophagi.

Beyond this, within the same Museum, is a circular hall will larger than life sized bronze and marble sculptures along the wall incl Statue of Claudius, Galba, Hera Barbeni and more in marble, Hercules of the Theatre of Pompey in bronze and huge mosaic work on the floor.

Further ahead after a couple of turns towards Sistine is Galleria dei Arrazi which is a gallery full of tapestries. Then came this room which was air conditioned called the Galleria delle Carte Geografiche, which is essentially the room of Maps. But almost no one bothered to look at the maps, coz everyone was looking up. The ceiling was just jewel like with every inch filled with paintings and gilded with gold as well. That's the first pic of this post.

Then came Stanze di Raffaello. What would happen if a person who loved chocolate brownie is given Sizzling Chocolate Brownie topped with Chocolate icecream??? The reason I went there was for Angelo's Sistine Chapel and I had forgotten that I'll also get to see Raphael's School of Athens, another painting I totally adore!!! This was a series of 4 rooms all painted on all 4 walls and ceiling by Raphael in 1509-1511. I was just in Cloud 9! I was there in that room for quite some time before moving on.

Soon after that, after a couple more rooms, came my destination - Sistine Chapel. The whole room was filled with people! My claustrophobia did peep its head up but I tried my best to just overcome my fears and enjoy what I came to enjoy. The wall of the room were covered with curtains....... Or where they??? Well, they're painted curtains!!! Above them were a frieze of paintings and then there was the glorious ceiling, all painted by Michelangelo in 1508-1512. To see the lifeless body of Adam and the velocity of God moving while passing on 'life' to Adam, to see it in all its original glory...... that's one feel that I can't explain in words. After being mesmerizing and frozen in its beauty for quite a bit, I looked for the exit.
Well, there are 2 exits at the Sistine Chapel - right and left. The left exit is the actual exit which leads to few more galleries (almost equal to number visited on the way up) and the final Bramante Staircase. Well, there are 2 Bramante Staircases - the original built in 1505 which is not open to public but only to Pope and his Cardinals, the new one built in 1932, a double helix structure which is the final exit from Sistine Chapel.

However while going through several blogs before I actually ventured to Vatican, I came across this one super tip - get out of Sistine through Right exit. That Right exit is only meant for groups but I squeezed myself in and got out through that. That directly leads to the side entrance of St.Peter's Basilica!!!! Read more about this Exit issue in the Tips section below.
I entered the Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel by 1 PM and after somewhat seeing half of the galleries (as I totally missed all the galleries in the return from Sistine to main Exit) and spending some decent amount of time in Raphael Rooms & Sistine Chapel I exited by 4 PM after which I visited the St.Peter's Basilica, it was perfect timing to reach the bus stand. Had I gone by 2 PM... God save me!!!!!!!!!

To Get There:

Nearest Metro Station: Vatican
Nearest Bus stop: San Marco Rettorato

Entry Ticket: €16.00
Plus €4.00 as reservation charges if booked online
Plus €7.00 optional if you require audio guide
Admission is free on last Sunday of every month from 9:00AM to 12:30PM
Closed on all other Sundays.
Timings on Mon-Sat: 9:00AM to 6:00PM (last entry 4:00PM)

Here are some tips:

There are way too many sites that sell tickets for entry and I had a tough time to figure out which is real and which is fake, so let me make your life easier - Official Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel Tickets by Musei Vaticani, the official site.
Photography is not allowed inside Sistine Chapel. Its is however allowed in all other places in Vatican Museum.

Is it possible to get the ticket only for Sistine Chapel and skip Vatican Museum? - NO! For everyone to understand, though its called Museums as plural, the layout is something like a single museum with several galleries and the end of which is Sistine Chapel. So the entrance has to be through the common Museum Entrance. And then to reach the other end where the Sistine Chapel is, you have to pass through the whole Museum (or rather all Museums in their terminology)! Even if you rush through the whole thing without seeing anything at all, it takes 2 hrs to reach Sistine! Yes, its that big and with the perpetual crowd, it isn't possible to run to Sistine. There's a moderate speed in which the crowd moves, and you have no choice than to move with it. In simple terms, if you have a bus/train to catch in 2 hrs, forget getting inside Vatican Museums, unless you plan to miss your bus/train. If you pause at some places and see the Museums & Sistine somewhat it takes 3 hrs... If you're planning your itinerary in Rome & Vatican, just set aside 3 hrs for this place 'minimum'!

If you're pressed for time, get out of Sistine Chapel through Right Exit which leads directly to the side entrance of St.Peter's Basilica. However this exit is only meant for groups with guides. Random checks are done time to time by the guards to check the guides and count the people that guide brought in. Try to blend in with a group. But there's every chance that a guard might get a doubt and might stop you and send you to Left Exit!!! Luck, plays a role there!!!!!

Getting out of Sistine Chapel & Vatican Museums through a shortcut, I went into St.Peter's Basilica. As you enter there are 3 doors - a queue to climb the dome. Quite amusingly the queue to get tickets to go to the dome hardly had about 10 people!!! Beside this was the door to go to the Vatican Grottoes which has free entry about which I'll talk about later. The other door was ofcourse the entry into St.Peter's Basilica!!! The original St.Peter's Basilica was built by Emperor Constantine in 318-322 CE. Later in 1506-1626, the present structure was constructed.

This is where the tombs of the popes are located for general public to see! Apart from various tombs, some other interesting things I saw here were the column basement of the 4th C CE's Constantinian Basilica, also there was the remnants of the original dividing wall built under Pope Paul III.

Today this place is the most important place in the world for Catholics and this is where the Pope lives! There's a lot of information about St.Peter's Basilica and Square. So here are just some pictures!!!

To Get There:

Nearest Metro Station: Vatican

Entry to Basilica and Grottoes: Free
Ticket to climb dome: €6:00 by stairs; €8.00 by elevator

Timings:
Basilica: 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM (7:00PM in summers)
Cupola (Dome): 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (6:00PM in summers)
Grottoes: 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM (6:00PM in summers)

Here are some tips:

It is not possible to book the Cupola ticket online.
Dress appropriately - no sleeveless and covered till below knee. If not, the security sends you to get a cover-up. Disposable cover-ups are available all over the city (which just looks like disposable surgical gowns made of non-wovens and they just look disgusting!).

Water costs soooo much! Half a litre of water costs 2 Euros anywhere here. Wherever you're staying, try to fill up your bottles there before you set your foot out.

Hampi - Queen’s Bath & Zenana Enclosure (Ballari - Karnataka)

Hampi - Hazara Rama Temple (Ballari - Karnataka)

Hampi - Royal Enclosure (Ballari - Karnataka)

Tata Tigor - Test Drive & Review

Hampi - Achyuta Raya & Varaha Temple (Ballari - Karntaka)

Hampi - Virupaksha Temple (Ballari - Karnataka)

Hampi - Vittala Temple (Ballari - Karnataka)

Hampi - Monolith sculptures! (Ballari - Karnataka)

Hampi - Riverside Ruins & Other Temples (Ballari - Karnaraka)

Anegundi Pre-Historic Rock Art (Ballari - Karnataka)

Hampi - Surprises, Discoveries & Musings!!!

Araku Valley - Borra Caves (Vizag - Andhra Pradesh)

Orange County Resorts Kabini - A Review - Part I (Mysuru - Karnataka)

Orange County Resorts Kabini - A Review - Part II (Mysuru - Karnataka)

Nagarhole Rajiv Gandhi National Park (Mysuru - Karnataka)

Kabini Reservoir & Village (Mysuru - Karnataka)

Colosseum & Arch of Constantine (Rome - Italy)

Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Domus Aurea & Convento Bonaventura (Rome - Italy)

Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel

St.Peter's Basilica (Vatican)