the light baggage

In search of Kempegowda’s Koramangala My quest of knowing the history behind the legend of Lakshmamma took me to the small village of Avathi, where Kempegowda's forefathers settled. The area, earlier known as Morasa Nadu, was founded and ruled by Ranabhairegowda in the 14th century. His great grandson Jaya Gowda, who later went on to become Kempegowda-1, was born in Yelahanka and he was the founder of modern Bengluru. He built the Pete and the Bangalore Fort in the 15th century. One of the legends around the Fort is that the southern gate of the fort would collapse immediately after completion and to successfully build it, a human sacrifice was needed. Kempegowda's daughter-in-law Lakshmamma realized this pain and sacrificed her life at the southern gate. It is said that Kempegowda built a memorial for Lakshmamma's sacrifice at Koramangala. As per records, this legend is linked to South Bangalore's Koramangala where Lakshmidevi's memorial has been built ...

This is a guest post from my friend Smita Shanbhag, a traveller who likes exploring new places and go on adventure trips. Overview:   12th August – 20th August 2017 Nestled in the beautiful Himalayas is a beautiful valley called Valley Of Flowers. Once hidden from the outside world, the valley was believed to be a playground of the Gods and fairies. The valley was accidentally discovered by Frank Smith a mountaineer and botanist. He was so mesmerized by the beauty of the valley that he went on to write a book about it! The valley indeed looks beautiful with over 300 different varieties of flowers spread over miles in the valley. I had a pleasure to visit this valley this august. Let me take you on this memorable journey and give you a glimpse of valley through my eyes. We were a group of 16 ladies from different parts of India who met at Dehradun Airport for this trek infact tour package which covered Haridwar, Rudraprayag, Govindghat, Ghangria (our base camp and we go to v...

Overview: Tucked in the eastern end of the Nilgiris is the taluk of Kotagiri. The more popular ones among the tourists are Ooty and Coonoor. We started early morning from Bengaluru, and headed towards Mysore road. Avoiding all the traffic, we reached the TN border at Mudumalai forests at around 8am. We stopped at Pykara lake for a break and for some boating experience at the placid lake. The view was spectacular with the forests surrounding the lake from all sides. The boat ride took around 1 hour and we were back on the road. Crossing the crowded town of Ooty, we reached Vanamala farms at Kotagiri. The farmstay is around 1o kms away from the Kotagiri town, and is completely isolated. One can hear just chirping of birds and feel lost in the midst of nature. The hospitality was not too great, and there was some confusion of our arrival time, but the staff managed to arrange dinner on time for us. Bonfire was also arranged post dinner. Next to the homestay is a small abandoned house ...

Overview: Stepped Wells have been a part of Indian civilizations from the ancient past. Stepped wells were built for multiple purposes, be it for drinking or storage purposes, or as a bath. Several stepped wells with interesting architecture can be seen all over India, from Kashmir to Southernmost parts of India. Stepped Ponds are a smaller version of stepped wells, with mostly square or rectangular dimension. These stepped ponds are seen mainly near temples, and are used mainly for temple usage. Bengaluru also has a few interesting stepped ponds, almost all of them in a state of neglect, and some of them over 1000 years old. Inscriptions on some temples mention about grants offered by the rulers and local chieftains to build these wells. The tanks are referred to as 'Vav' in western part of India and 'Baoli in the regions of Rajasthan and Sindh. But why were the kalyanis built is an important. One of the main purpose of installing a temple pond has been rain water har...