the light baggage

Overview: New Zealand has always been a dream destination for me, and I got a chance to visit the country for the first time on work. As this was my first visit to any country in the southern hemisphere, I wanted to make the most of it. Our first weekend was in Auckland, and I tried to search through all the interesting places around the city, then we narrowed down on Coromandel Peninsula and Auckland city. There is an interesting connection between India and Coromandel. According to Wikipedia- The Coromandel Peninsula was named for HMS Coromandel (originally named HMS Malabar), a ship of the British Royal Navy, which stopped at Coromandel Harbour in 1820 to purchase kauri spars and was itself named for India's Coromandel Coast, which itself is named the Cholamandalam in Tamil after the Chola dynasty, literally translated as The realm of the Cholas from which the Portuguese derived the name Coromandel. We started from Auckland at 9am, and reached Coromandel region by 11:30am. T...

Overview: Vidarbha region, located in the cotton belt of Maharashtra, is home to a number of ancient temples. We had a chance to visit this magnificent Markand Deo temple near Chamorshi. Located on the banks of Wainganga river, this place is one of the 8th century marvels built by the Rashtrakutas. We were at the temple very early in the morning to avoid the crowds, and were fortunate to find just ourselves inside the premises. The temple looks like it has been assembled, though remains of several other temples could be seen inside the temple area. One thing which stands out in this temple is the wall carvings of different dieties, dancers and also some images of some visitors from places outside the region. A few images had Egyptian like features (long ears, square beard..). Markand Deo Temple Markand Deo Temple Markand Deo Temple Markand Deo Temple From Chamorshi, we came to Chandrapur and took a train to head northwards towards Nagpur. Nagpur has a lot to...

Overview: We had this plan of visiting the Shakuntala railway, India's only rail route operated by a private company on narrow guage. As I couldn't get leaves, we decided to make a very quick weekend visit to Yavatmal (originating station of Shakuntala Rail) and nearby places. We took an evening flight from Bangalore to Hyderabad and then overnight bus to reach Yavatmal on Saturday morning. Without wasting much time we reached Yavatmal railway station. Much to our disappointment, the rail service had been suspended since July 2017, also there was no information on this anywhere on the web. Yavatmal Railway Station Yavatmal Railway Station Narrow Gauge near Yavatmal We somehow had to be satisfied with the photos of the railway station and then headed towards the ancient Hemadpanthi Mahadev temple just outside the town. There is another ancient Kedareshwar temple in the center of the town. Hemadpanthi Mahadev temple, Yavatmal After spending a few hours in thi...

Overview:  I have been to Mysore several times, but it was mostly for family functions or as a transit point to other destinations. This time I decided to spend some time in Mysore city and soak into the rich culture. We started off from Bangalore very early morning and headed towards Gommatagiri Kshetra, near Ilvala, and around 10kms from Mysore city. The 20 feet statue of Bahubali, known as Gommateshwara, is the main attraction here. The statue can be approached by climbing a series of 50 steps. The statue is attributed to the Vijayanagara period dating back to the 15th century. This is one of the 6 Gommateshwara statues in Karnataka. Others being in Shravanabelagola, Venur, Karkala, Aretippur and Dharmasthala. Gommatagiri From Gommatagiri, we visited the Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion, which is a heritage building and a museum. The building is named after Jayalakshmi Ammani, the first princess of the Mysore Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar. The mansion has over a 100 rooms, with exq...

Overview: I had heard a lot about the pre-historic site of Arabikothanur near Bangalore. The site is a bit difficult to find as the roads are very narrow and there are no proper signboards. We reached Kendatti-Garudapalya road at first and were amazed to see Menhirs of different shapes pretty close to one another. These Menhirs which we spotted were anywhere between 6 feet to 12 feet in height. These are mostly megalithic structures, roughly dating back to 1000 BC, which are found in many parts of India, as well as other countries. For more details on Menhirs, please refer to the wiki page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menhir There were also some rocks arranged in a a circular shape, and also a few Dolmens. We then proceeded towards Arabikothanur, around 5kms from Garudapalya. I saw one big Dolmen there, popularly known as Pandavara Gudi. This dolmen can be seen right in the middle of the village, totally ignored and not protected. Menhir near Kendatti Menhir near Kendat...

Overview: Hidden between the hustle and bustle of the Bangalore Pete is the Manchi Someshwara temple, built in the 19th century, by the then Diwan of Kodagu, Manjayya. Manjayya was the Dewan under the king ChikkaVeera Rajendra, who ruled Coorg in the early 19th century. The Raja was exiled by the British in 1834 and he took refuge in the Nalknad Palace in Kodagu. The Manchi Someshwara temple is a simple structure, with a 12 feet long Dhwajastambha opposite to it. The inner mantapa has Vijayanagara like carvings, now painted in silver. The main diety has a small Shivalinga, with Nandi bull facing it. The idols of Ganapathi is also seen next to it and an idol of Devi on the right side. The Kannada inscriptions mentioning the Kodagu Dewan's description of ChikkaVeera Rajendra is seen inside the temple. Manchi Someshwara temple Manchi Someshwara temple Manchi Someshwara temple Manchi Someshwara temple Manchi Someshwara temple Manchi Someshwa...