the light baggage

  Overview: I read about a place called Srinivasa Sagara which is a lake near Chikkaballapur and comes lively in monsoon as the water falls from the reservoir when it overflows. I couldn't get much details on this place on the web, so I decided to club it with Chikkajala fort and Akkayyamma hill. 1) Chikkajala Fort: Though nothing is clearly known about this fort, this fort is believed to have been since Hoysalas and then used by Tipu Sultan. But now its in a total mess and nothing much remains out of it. We saw that fort which lies on NH7, then we went inside Chikkajala to the hill of Akkayyamma. It looked beautiful with cloudy weather and was pleasant and there were not many steps leading to the top. We went into the temple, had darshan of the Goddess and rested next to it. There are a lot of pillars on the hill which are believed to be built more than 1000 years ago. Kodigehalli, which is not very far from here, has been a center of exploration by the archaeologists and they

This Post is a part of the Chalukya Trail. Please Click here to read the main post Overview: After visiting Gadag we proceeded towards Lakkundi, around 8kms from Gadag. On reaching Lakkundi, we saw a big Heritage center built inside an old temple. We discovered that there are several temples built by the Chalukyas in ruins inside Lakkundi. We went to Brahma Jinalaya (Basadi), Kashivishvanatha Temple, Nanneshwara Temple and Manikesvara Temple. Beahma Jinalaya was built in 1007 AD by Attiyabbe, wife of Chief Nagadeva. Built in South Indian Dravida architecture, an unusual feature of this temple is the second functional smaller sanctum over the ground floor sanctum. The next was Kashivishwanatha temple where a small surya shrine faces the main shrine on the west. The temple is built in Nagara style of architecture with intricate carvings. Nanneshwara Temple is another example of Chalukya craftsmanship. It is much similar to the Kashivishveshwara temple. Manikeshwara temple is one of

Overview: Yercaud may not be as popular destination as Ooty, but definitely worth a visit for a weekend to cool off. We decided to drive all the way to Yercaud. Considering the distance, we set off early at around 6am from Bangalore. The roads were not crowded and NH7 was in perfect condition. We had breakfast at A2B near Krishnagiri at around 7:30am. Bypassing all villages, we reached Salem at around 9:00am. Driving along the ghats was the first experience for me. Was fun to begin with 20 hair-pin bends. We finally reached Yercaud at around 10:30am. Though it was sunny, cool breeze was blowing which was very pleasant. We checked into our resort and settled decided to relax a bit. We decided to roam around the place after lunch.     We went to the Botanical garden post lunch and had a leisurely stroll through it. Its a welcome break where one gets to hear only nature's sounds away from the noise of city. Close to it was the Lady’s seat which offered a majestic view of t