the light baggage

  Overview: Killing time for 4 days on a long weekend was definitely not going well with me. So suddenly decided to make some quick travel plans. Being brought up in Chandigarh for over 20 years, I wanted to refresh my childhood memories with my wife and moreover she had not been to North India. With all resorts booked around Bangalore and no bus reservations available, we decided to take a plunge on the long distance route. My wife, being a tatkal reservation expert :), booked tickets from Bangalore to Delhi for 25th Dec, and the return trip by flight from Delhi to Bangalore for 4th Jan. My job was to fill the itinerary between these days. I wanted to cover as many places as possible, chalked out a plan for that. Below are the details of the trip: Day 0-2: We had to catch the 12649 Sampark Kranti express from Yesvantpur at 22:10 hrs on 25th Dec. Luckily we got the tatkal reservation done, thanks to my wife for that. The train took around 36 hours to reach H.Nizamuddin station pass

  Overview: We happened to visit Hassan once for a family function and having heard of the Rosary Church in Shettihalli a lot, decided to make a quick dash to it. Not too far from Hassan, we set off on Hassan-Arakalgud road and had to take a deviation before Gorur. We took the right turn and the road suddenly started to make way for potholes and non-tarred roads. We were brave enough to proceed facing all odds as it was only around 5 kms from there. As we kept on moving, we saw a glimpse of the Hemavati river and the next moment the Church appeared in front of it almost 90% submerged in water. We wanted to get as close to it as possible. The road was non-existent but still we drove our Ford Ikon just next to the Church. The view was amazing and the Church was looking like a city submerged in water. During summer the water recedes and one can go further inside the ruins. The Church is believed to have been built by the French missionaries in the early 18th Century. I would definitely

This Post is a part of the Chalukya Trail. Please Click here to read the main post Overview: From Tilavalli, our next place of interest was the Tarakeshwara temple in Hangal. Hangal was the second capital during the Kadamba dynasty and gained more importance during the Western Chalukya era. Though Hangal boasts of several temples built by the Chalukyas and Kadambas, this was the main temple so we decided to explore only Tarakeshwara temple as we were short of time. The Tarakeshwara temple, built in the 12th century, is a perfect example of Western Chalukya art. The mantaps and the walls are minutely carved. The main highlight of this temple is the large Domical ceiling which is a huge gathering hall with 8 pillars in an octagonal shape having carvings of various Gods. The walls are carved depicting scenes from the Ramayana. The only disappointment was the temple was closed and the priest was nowhere in sight. At Hangal, we had local North Karnataka lunch.      How to reach:   Bus:

Overview: I had done this as two separate trips but both the places are interconnected and can be done by trekking between the places. Lying just on the outskirts of Bangalore is Suvarnamukhi next to Bannerghatta National Park. While travelling towards Bannerghatta, there is a curve which leads to Bannerghatta National Park and there is a straight road just next to it which takes us to the Champakadhama temple. The temple is at the foothills and the complex is nice with a huge gopuram resembling temples of Tamil Nadu and once having darshan of the Lord, we can proceed towards Laxminarasimhaswamy temple for which we have to climb a rocky boulder with steps carved on it. The climb itself is not very taxing and can be easily done by people of all ages. the route takes us to a small temple enroute and then will lead us into the jungles of Bannerghatta. Its a nice walk with pilgrims walking alongside so there is not a sense of loneliness on the way. It is believed that this is home to a