Rewind 2019

I have been a bit lazy in publishing posts this year, however, has been a very busy year when it came to travel and exploring. Following are the highlights of 2019:

Jan: Visited a few Hoysala temples in Tumkur district in the villages of Nittur, Settikere, Tumkur Town, Pankajanahalli and Belagur.
Also in Jan we visited the northern Karnataka district of Yadgir, and explored a bird sanctuary, prehistoric sites and ancient temples.
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Feb: No travel
Mar: With 3 trips in March, started off with a quick trip to Banavasi, where we explored the ancient capital of the Kadambas, and also witnessed the local craftsmen in the village, while experiencing the great hospitality by Kiran from Outdoorworld.
The following week we went to Hyderabad for a friend's wedding. Managing time, we visited the Kakatiya capital of Warangal and a few heritage sites in Hyderabad and around like Keesaragutta.
The 2nd half of March took us to the North-Eastern part of India, where we visited Manipur and Tripura. Both the states, though not far from each other, but unique and different in own ways. We visited places around Imphal, Moreh(and further down to Tamu in Myanmar), Loktak lake and a few other beautiful places. In Tripura, we visited Unakoti, Agartala, Chabimura and other interesting places, also witnessing the daily ceremony at the Indo-Bangladesh border.
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April: We visited the much awaited Koppal district in North Karnataka in the summer month of April, managing a hill climb to Anjanadri betta, the birthplace of Hanuman. We also visited the Kinnal crafts village and the Ashokan edicts near Koppal.
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May: Another busy month with the visit to Mandya Distict and exploring some ancient temples and also visiting the Tomb of Hiriya Kempegowda, the founder of modern Bangalore near Magadi
The end of May took us to Mysore for a cousin's wedding, and we explored interesting places like Kabini and Hunsur before we went to our native place Rudrapatna for a day.
The last week in May was an interesting trip done to Sriharikota where we visited the Satish Dhawan Space Centre and witnessed the launch of PSLV C-46, which was an incredible experience. We visited Pulikat Lake and Kanchipuram on our way back.
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June: Did a quick trip to Gouribidanur to visit the ancient Chennakeshava temple for a day.The 2nd weekend we went to Dakshina Kannada district and visited Shishila, Southadaka, Karinja, Mangalore, Venur and Surathkal. We also went to the Baraya Palace, which lies amidst jungles near Aladangady.
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July: To assist my sister-in-law in shifting, we visited Mumbai in early July, and explored the caves of the city and many heritage sites hidden in the hustle bustle of the city
We visited Shravanabelagola in this relatively free month, visitng the Chandragiri and Vindhyagiri hills.
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August: We visited some of the majestic temples of Tamil Nadu in Tanjore and Srirangam. Also visited the Chettinadu area and their unique architecture. We then ventured down south towards Kutrallam and Shengottai towards the end of the Western Ghats.
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September: We visited Shimoga District towards the end of the monsoons, with occasional rains still persisting in the Malnad region. We visited Jog Falls, Bheemeshwara, Sigandur, Kundadri and Kavaledurga Fort.
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October: Another busy month, with the first weekend in Vijayawada for a friend's wedding. We took a bus from Bangalore to Vijayawada, then took a rental car for visiting the places nearby and also to visit my friend's wedding at Amalapuram. We visited a few Buddhist sites and also bought the local crafts village of Kondapalli, known for its toys.
The 3rd weekend of Oct was a trip to Kodagu district, where we explored North Kodagu from Somwarpet, and then proceeded towards Virajpet visitng Nalknad Palace before winding up at the Taj Madikeri where we celebrated our wedding anniversary.
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Nov: A pretty relaxed month, trying to complete a few year end activities at work. The only trip this month was to Horsley Hills, around 160kms from Bangalore. Also locally called as poor man's Ooty, this place is similar to Nandi Hills minus the crowd. Along with a few cottages and view points, the hill has a century old tree which is an attraction here.
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Dec: Winding up for the year was the 10 day trip to Kerala, exploring almost all districts except Kasargod and Idukki. We visited many ancient temples with murals, caves, palaces, forts, beaches and the massive Jatayu statue. Another highlight of the trip was the visit to Vikram Sarabhai Space centre at Thumba, which was the first space centre to be set up in India.
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