MY trip to western Karnataka
It was the summer
of 2006 we got the opportunity to visit my sister in Chennai for one of our
family functions. Brought up in North since childhood (due to the postings of
our father who served Air Force), we always looked forward to our trip to South
India and loved to accompany parents to visit our cousins down South. Now
having married and settled in Delhi for the last thirty years, whenever I get
chance to visit any place in South I make it a point to visit the nearby famous
temples.
I along with my
children got our tickets for GT Express for the 5th of May,
’06. We got the company of my father and
brother’s family who joined us from Chandigarh.
All the Children had good time and we all enjoyed our journey. Reached
Chennai, attended the function on 7th and 8th at my
sister’s place. 9th we went
for shopping and on 10th we visited the famous shore temples of
Mahabalipurm. Once flourished under the Pallava rulers, only two temples are
left out of the seven. Enroute visited the crocodile park and pakshi teertham
(translation is bird’s pilgrimage). A
temple atop a hill used to be visited by two birds daily afternoon to have the
Prasad of the Lord. More than the deity the birds attracted large crowds to the
temple between 12 and 1 noon. For the last many years the birds are not seen.
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| The famous Chariot temples |
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| Temples at Mahabalipuram |
On 10th as planned earlier we left for Bangalore, from there to go to Kudremukh with another sister who stays there. At Bangalore station we were received by my brother-in-law and his wife who brought us delicious neatly packed home cooked food. With a promise to stay in their house on our return journey we headed to take the bus to Kudremukh. They waited till we boarded the bus as there was some confusion.
Here is the interesting part of our journey. I had some good experience with KSRTC while travelling from Bangalore to Kudremukh. Myself and my sister were travelling with our Kids. We booked 6 tickets from Bangalore to Kudremukh and we were supposed to reach Bangalore from Chennai well in advance to catch the bus. Somehow our train got delayed at Chennai and by the time we reached the bus left Bangalore. We were very much worried as we had small children with us. We learnt that it was the last bus and there was no bus to Kudremukh till next morning. But there was one that was going up to Muddigare and we were told we can hire a cab from there. Not wasting our time we got in that bus and told our plight to the conductor and driver. They listened very patiently and accommodated all the six of us in the bus. Myself and my sister were contemplating of our journey ahead. Some co passengers gave some weird suggestions like taking up News paper vans that leave at 4 in the morning from Maddigare. Meanwhile as we reached Chikmangalur, the next stop from Bangalore, one conductor came to our bus asking for 6 passengers to Kudremukh. It was due to the efforts of our bus conductor and other staff who contacted Chickmangulur bus depot and made the bus wait for us. We could easily reach our destination by morning without any trouble. Throughout our journey the staff of the bus were talking in Kannada about us only, like we were coming from Delhi, stopped at Bangalore, the train got delayed, two ladies travelling with children etc. etc. I always remember this journey of mine & bless the staff that was on duty that night.
We reached
Kudremukh on 12th morning. It
is situated in the Western Ghats with dense forests, ever flowing rivers like Bhadra,
lush green pastures, waterfalls, clean roads, pollution free atmosphere and the
pleasant weather gives us the feeling of being in Switzerland. My sister’s
house is on the higher surface of the area. It reminds me of the houses in
Himachal Pradesh. Most of the houses are
single storied and a few are double storied. From all sides of the house you
can have nice view of the greenery outside. The houses were well ventilated and
airy. Cool breeze, hot coffee given by my sister gave us much needed relief.
After finishing our bath each one just dozed off. It was because the previous day was hectic
and the night was dramatic. We all got
up for lunch and chalked out our programme for the next two days.
In the evening we went around the town buying
few things and visiting a temple. The town mostly is inhabited by the people of
Kudremukh Iron Ore Company and is well maintained by them. They have developed parks, hospital, School
(there is one Kendriya vidyalay) and a club. I especially liked a park with the
face of horse grown on coloured grass.
The face of horse is the literal meaning of Kudremukh in Kannada. Kudre
means Horse and Mukh means face.
The Lakya dam (built
by the Iron Ore Company to dispose off
the waste from the Mines) at the backdrop of hills is a beautiful sight
and was shot for movies like Hero (starring Jackie Shroff and Meenakshi Seshadri). The company is closed now due to the
protests by the environmentalists that the flora and fauna is adversely
affected by the mining. Kudremukh has been declared as Bhagawati National
Forest.
SRINGERI
On 13th
by 9am we all set out to go to Sringeri (Sarada Peetham) and Udupi.
Sringeri is one
hour drive from Kudremukh. It is in the midst of Western Ghats, by the side of Bhadra river. We passed through many betel nut, betel leaf,pepper and
coffee plantations. Sringeri was one of the first and foremost Peethams
established by Jagatguru Adi Shankaracharya installing Goddess Sharada as the
presiding deity. We had the darshan and
blessings of Shankara Acharya Bharathi Tirtha of Sharada Peeham. I got the opportunity to speak to him and
seek his blessings. He was present in
the temple when bhog (naivedyam) was given to the Divine Mother. Vidyashankar
temple here is an architectural marvel with twelve zodiac pillars. The pillars are so arranged that the rays of
the Sun falls on respective Zodaic pillar every month and reaches the god. The
growling lions here have iron balls which can be moved inside their mouths. A
delicious lunch is provided by the authorities to all the devotees. I felt so
overwhelmed to be there, a place where Adi Shankaracharya spent twelve years of
his very short life. We all went to the Bhadra river which flows by the side of the temple. There were big fish in the river. My elder son tried to get a closure glimpse and slipped. I hurriedly tried to catch hold of his hand and I too slipped. He somehow managed to balance himself, caught my hand and we came out of the water. None of us were injured but every body started laughing saying that fish might have got hurt. Such moments are to be cherished. All of us contented
of having good darshan of the deity, we proceeded to Udipi from there.
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| Bridge over Bhadra river |
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| Bhadra river near Kudremukh |
UDIPI
Udipi is famous for its Krishna temple and popular all over the world for its cuisine. Lord Krishna was installed in this temple by Madhwacharya. This is probably the only temple in India, where we have darshan of the lord from a window. It is believed that an ardent devotee of the lord, Kanakadasa was not allowed inside the temple by the priests as he was from a lower caste. In those days only Brahmins were allowed to offer pooja inside the temple. Unable to see the god from the front side, Kanakadasa went to the back of the temple and peeped inside. He could only see the backside of the deity. Then suddenly Lord Krishna turned his face towards the window and gave darshan to Kanakadasa. Since then devotees can see the lord only from the window. We had good darshan of the Lord as there were not many people at that time.
Udipi is famous for its Krishna temple and popular all over the world for its cuisine. Lord Krishna was installed in this temple by Madhwacharya. This is probably the only temple in India, where we have darshan of the lord from a window. It is believed that an ardent devotee of the lord, Kanakadasa was not allowed inside the temple by the priests as he was from a lower caste. In those days only Brahmins were allowed to offer pooja inside the temple. Unable to see the god from the front side, Kanakadasa went to the back of the temple and peeped inside. He could only see the backside of the deity. Then suddenly Lord Krishna turned his face towards the window and gave darshan to Kanakadasa. Since then devotees can see the lord only from the window. We had good darshan of the Lord as there were not many people at that time.
Lord Krishna was offered different varieties of vegetarian food by Madhwa
Brahmins which was very delicious and later on became popular as Udupi cuisine.
Food is provided to all the devotees by the Krishna Math. As we already had
lunch at Sringeri we could not taste the food there. Recently I asked a young
man what is Udupi famous for? I expected
the answer to be for its famous
Krishna Temple. I was little taken aback
when he said for its Hotels and food.
HORNADU-ANNAPURNA TEMPLE
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| Hornadu temple |
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| Land scape near Kudremuch (Pepper plantations) |
HORNADU-ANNAPURNA TEMPLE
14th
morning we set out to visit Annapurneshwari and Shiva temples
at Hornadu. Temple of goddess Annapurna
is also located in the thick forests of the Western Ghats of Karnataka. It is
said that the deity here was installed by the sage Agasthya. Annapurna means giving food to all. The atmosphere
there was so serene and peaceful that I wanted to spend little more time
there. But due to time crunch we took
the blessings of the goddess Annapurna and before having our food there we (I
and my sister) recited the Annapurna ashtakam of Adi Shankaracharya. He chanted this strotra one day when he was
unable to get food along with his disciples. In his last verse he says’
Bandhava Shiva Bhaktascha Swadesho Bhuwana Triyam’ give food to all those living in the three worlds (Manushya Lok, Deva
Lok and Patal Lok) He did not ask for only four of them. For those who visit
this temple breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea, coffee and even a place to sleep is
provided. Capturing the beauty of the mother in our hearts and the beauty of
the place in our camera we proceded to Kalasheshwara the divine consort of the
Devi Annapurna.
KALASHESHWARA-AN
ABODE OF SHIVA
This temple is also
established by sage Agastya on the banks of river Bhadra. As the story goes he was asked to go to the
South of the Vindhyas to stop the growth of the Vindhya Mountain which was
obstructing the movement of the Sun by lord Shiva. As he approached the Vindhyas the mountain
bent in respect of the sage and he asked Vindhyas to stay like that till he
comes back. The sage gets little disappointed while crossing Vindhyas that he will never be able to visit Kasi
(Benaras) again. Then Lord Shiva gives
him a boon that whenever he thinks of the lord he would appear. It is at this place Agastya thought of him and
a Shivling appears from his Kamandal. He
installs it at this place and since then it is known as Kalasheshwara and is
also known as Dakshina Kasi.
MURUDESHWARA
On 15th
we planned to go to Murudeshwara, a temple built on the shores of Arabian Sea
and from there to Mookambika temple. A trip to Murudeshwara in Karnataka,
Rejuvenates one’s soul and mind. It is
blend of scenic as well as spiritual beauty.
The drive from Mangalore along the coast line was very pleasant and
enjoyable. And you cannot take your eyes
off the vast ocean on the left and white sand beach that will have a magical
effect on any one. You pass by small villages and often road side eating joints
where you can have a cup of coffee or pure co-co-nut water or a plate of
steaming idlis. As we were nearing the
Place a huge medieval marvel a temple and huge statue of Shiva sitting on a
rock top facing us and behind him is the vast ocean. A breath-taking view. As we went near we could get the full view of
the temple. There we could see Ravana giving the Shivling to Ganesh who was in the disguise of a shepherd and many
other statues depicting different pouranic stories. By the side is a huge gopuram,
a restaurant on the shore with water below is a beautiful sight.
As the legend goes Ravana after a harsh penance gets the atma lingam from Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesh in the disguise of shepherd foils his plan to take it to Lanka. Ravana being a staunch devotee was looking for some one to hold the lingam so that he can finish his evening ritual. He saw Lord Ganesh who was in disguise and asked him to hold it and he would come back soon. As Ravana approached the river, Ganesha keeps the atma lingam on ground on the pretext that it is heavy to hold for him and it gets fixed on the ground. Ravana becomes furious and tries his best to lift it from the ground. In the process of lifting it from ground breaks the rudraksh mala which fall off at this place called Murudeshwara.
As we were very
short of time and wanted to go to Mookambika on the same day. After seeing the
long queue in the temple we decided skip
Abhishekam to the Lord and to have only Darshan of Lord Shiva. But we came to know that there is another facility of
Panchamruta Abhishekam for which there was no queue and we would be allowed to
go up to the threshold of the lord to have clear view of god. Also the archaka
said he would show us the Rudrakshas with the help of lamp that were in water
two feet below the ground.
Very happily I paid
the stipulated amount for abhishekam. The priest performed the panchamruta
abhishekam with our gotra Nama and showed us Rudrakshas which were supposed to
be spread over the place in the water near the main deity. They got embedded in the ground. The Priest
sensing us to be outsiders was kind enough to show each one of us giving enough
time to have darshan of the holy Rudrakshas holding the lamp again and again. Another attraction of this place is the 24 storied gopuram;
there is lift facility to go to the top floor and have the view of huge Shiva
Statue and the vast sea beyond. Satisfied of having good
darshan we left for Mookambika. Though children
wanted to have food in the restaurant over the sea enjoying the sea view, we
had to forego it and move on as we had to reach Mookambika another famous
temple of Southern India.
MOOKAMBIKA
By the time we
reached the temple it was around 12.30 in the afternoon and I was disappointed
to see the long serpentine queues for darshan of the deity. I thought we would be able to reach upto the
goddess only after lunch. We won’t be able to reach Kudremukh before it gets
dark and the route is lonely and frightening in the night. I asked the children to stand aside and went
to a priest who was passing by and asked him if there is any possibility of
having an early darshan, as we are coming from Delhi and has to reach Kudremukh
by evening. He asked me as to how many are there. I showed him the children. He asked us to
accompany him and took us by the side of the long queue up to the deity. I could not take my eyes away from the divine
mother Saraswati. I thanked her in my heart of
hearts for making my visit a fruitful one.
A very powerful deity Mookambika too is installed by Adi Shankarachrya.
According to the
legend once while Shankaracharya was passing through this place he saw Kola Maharshi
worshiping a Shiv lingam at this place. He paused to see the ShivLing and he
saw the shadow of divine mother in the middle of it. He sat there and meditated
upon the goddess and Mookambika who got merged in the Shiv Ling after killing a demon called Mookasur appeared. He then installed the goddess as she appeared to him. Sri Chakram is
also installed by him. Adi
Shankaracharya sang many songs in praise of the divine Mother at this
place. Soundarya Lahari is one of them
(one of the verses No. 98, he praises Mookambika). The name Kolluru came to be
known because of Kola Maharshi and the goddess is known as Kolluru Mookambika.
After seeking the blessings of the goddess we had ample time to go around the
temple had lunch there and left for Kudremukh.
While going to all these places we used cross
Karkala a place where a huge Bahubali (Gomateshwara statue) was installed. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there and were
very grateful to my sister who arranged our trips to all these places.
The next day we left for Bangalore thoroughly enjoyed
our stay at our relatives place, went to Nandi temple and other places. I had
the opportunity to seek the blessings of Satya Sai Baba in Whitefield. Visiting
Baba was a surprise for me as I never expected it. all the credit goes to my co -sister- in- law
who took all the trouble of waking me up early in the morning and help me get
seat in the front row. I thank both husband and wife to make our stay a
memorable one.
From Bangalore we boarded Karnataka Express back to
Delhi.
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