South Karnataka tour

Dear Usha,

It is really wonderful and remarkable to read about your visit to the Udipi temple and the Gita Mandir.

Is it the famous Udipi Krishna temple? Interesting to read about the legend that nothing gets stolen here !! :)

The pictures of the Bekal fort, the beaches, the temples are all excellent !

The way you've described, felt that me too had tea with you near the plantation ! Must have been an unique experience !

So, is Udipi temple in the border of karnataka and kerala?

Please continue your narration...

Cheers
Krithika

Horanadu is about 2 hours away from Sringeri and is an extremely beautiful temple. The idol of Annapoorneshwari is life size, covered with gold from head to toe. The deity in this temple is said to have been installed by sage agasthya. The Devi stands on a peeta with devi Gayatri, Sri Chakra,Shanku and Chakra in her four hands.
Visitors are provided with three meals with dessert.
It is said that a devotee who visits here will never have any scarcity for food. A liitle rice is to be offered to the devi. The priest gives a little back and that rice when mixed with the rice at our home, is said to ward off any scarcity for food.

After a lovely darshan in the morning, we left for Sringeri. Enroute the driver stopped at Kateel Durga Parameshwari temple. It is situated in the middle of a river.

We reached Sringeri around 11 AM .It is a very beautiful temple of Sarada devi sitting with the veena in her hand.
The legend has it that when Adi Shankara was walking by the tunga river, he saw a cobra giving shelter to a pregnant frog. Impressed by the holiness of the place,where even the natural enemy turned to protect, he decided to found his first math there itself.
We visited the Vidyaranyar temple. Here the 12 pillars symbolize the 12 signs of the zodiac. The pillars are arranged such that the sun's rays fall on the pillar corresponding to the particular month.

The annadanam hall was very large with several batches being served at the same time.

From here we proceeded to Kollur to visit the Mookambika temple.
By then it had started raining, and when we reached Kollur, it was pouring heavily. We checked into Beena hotel which was comfortable. Amma wanted to have a darshan in the evening. We braved the rains and entered the temple.
The temple is in the lush tropical forests and on the banks of the river souparnika. The devi is seen as a young girl sitting in a padmasana pose. It is believed that Shankaracharya himself installed it.
Kollur is considered as one of the seven muktistalas and Mookambika is regarded as a manifestaion of Shakti, Saraswati and Mahalakshmi.

In the late evening, there was a procession in the temple with all the musical instruments. After that, there was going to be the distribution of Kashayam,. Since it was pouring heavily, we could not wait for the kashayam. Amma was a little disappointed.
When we returned to the room, there was a lady there who had collected the kashaya prasadam and offered it to us to our great joy!

Photos
1.Horanad Annapoorneshwari
2.Dining hall at Sringeri
3.Vidyaranyar temple at Sringeri
4.Procession at Mookambika temple, Kollur

All of the places that we visited so far are called Malnad.
They are blessed with lush vegetation of coffee, cashews, pepper, jackfruit and it is just green everywhere!

Here are photos of a cashew tree, and cashew fruit.

Originally Posted by Jithiks

Dear Usha,

It is really wonderful and remarkable to read about your visit to the Udipi temple and the Gita Mandir.

Is it the famous Udipi Krishna temple? Interesting to read about the legend that nothing gets stolen here !! :)

The pictures of the Bekal fort, the beaches, the temples are all excellent !

The way you've described, felt that me too had tea with you near the plantation ! Must have been an unique experience !

So, is Udipi temple in the border of karnataka and kerala?

Please continue your narration...

Cheers
Krithika

Hi Krithika

Yes, it is the famous Udupi Krishna temple. Udupi is in the state of Karnataka.

Actually, it is in Dharmasthala that nothing gets stolen.

That is the beach I had mentioned in the Best Beaches thread.

Really, the surroundings were mesmerizing!

Originally Posted by sundarusha

Our visit to the holy places started with the trip to Batu caves, Kuala Lumpur. After reading about the Batu caves in a magazine, I wanted to visit the Murugan temple there for sometime. As we had never taken that route to go to India, and also since our teenager and me were traveling alone, my DH was a little concerned. I was more worried about information on the monkeys and bat droppings making the floor of the caves slippery that I had read on internet.

But since there was a gap of 8 hours at Kuala Lumpur, I was determined to do the trip. The hotel that we were assigned, arranged for a taxi to take us to Batu caves and show us around Kuala Lumpur. After clearing the formalities at the airport, we boarded the taxi. After climbing the steep steps, to my relief, I found no slippery floors. There were monkeys though, and we needed to be careful with the camera and handbag etc. The Murugan statue is about 500 ft. tall and is very majestic.There are a total of 272 steps and it takes about 30-45 minutes to climb them .There is a huge opening on top of the cave. In our enthusiasm, we probably spent a little bit more time than what the driver had allowed us.

Next stop was KL tower and then Petronas towers. We went up the KL tower and my teenanger, having taken a few semesters of photography at school was not going to come away quickly without taking a lot of views from atop KL tower.

The total time we were allowed was only 3 1/2 hours, but we might have taken a little longer. So we barely had enough time to catch our flight to Bangalore. In the panic to get to the airport on time and the jetlag, my son forgot to collect his wallet as it went throught the checking belt!

I was just hoping and praying that the rest of the trip goes well!

Photo 1 is Batu caves behind the Murugan statue
Phot0 2 View from KL tower
Photo 3 Petronas towers (currently the tallest in the world )

Dear Usha Mam,

That was a nice write up... My eyes get astonished whenever I see the World's tallest Statue of Lord Murugan with Divine eyes and Royal Appearance in Battu caves, Each time I go I feel the same....Like seeing it for the first time.... I thank Muruga for giving me this oppurtunity to hold his divine feet .....

You have penned your elated expereinces in the caves.... Happy to see that you had a great time there !!
Some more information about the statue for our friends ..Just wanna share through your thread !!

• Height: 42.7 metres.
• Location: Sri Subramaniar Temple at the foot of Batu Caves, Malaysia.
• Cost: 2.5 million Malaysian Ringgit (approximately 670,000
• U.S. Dollars).
• Construction:1,550 cubic metres of concrete, 250 tonnes of steel bars, and
• 300 litres of paint brought in from neighbouring Thailand.
• Duration/Manpower: Fifteen Indian sculptors worked on the project for three years.

It is currently being submitted to the Guinness Book of World as the tallest Lord Murugan statue in the world.

Thanx Usha Mam for this beautiful Post !!

Dear Brindha,

Thank you so much for the information about the Murugan statue in Batu caves.
Glad to see that it has been recommended to the Guiness Book of world records as the tallest Murugan statue in the world.

Dear Usha
Its been a pleasure to read your travelogue here.. very wonderfully documented! Way to go my friend.. You are so talented to write so well.. and journal as well.
I dont know if you have created a scrapbook already but I always create one as we can refresh memories looking back!

Dear Chitra

thank you for your lovely FB. I have my scrapbooks done for all but the last 3 or more years.

Indeed, it is a pleasure to go through the albums on a rainy day and recollect all the memories. Hoping to catch up on one of the hobbies that I love.

Please visit again, as I am going to take you to Mrudeshwar, Jog falls and Shimoga animal reserve.

After an early morning darshan of Mookambika at Kollur, we proceeded towards Mrudeshwar.

Mrudeswar lies in between the picturesque western ghats and the Arabian sea. Its main attractions are the beach, an awesome Shiva statue and the Shiva temple. The temple is lcated on a hillock which allows a magnificent view of the sea.
Mrudeshwaa is another name for Lord Shiva.

From Mrudeshwar, the next stop was Jog falls. Jog falls, located in Shimoga, is the highest plunge waterfall in India and the 7th deepest in the world. When we were there, instead of the falls, there was only a little trickle of water. The commercial photographer was continuosly nagging us to have a photo taken. We gave in, and he took his camera into a tiny room where he was supposed to process the film. We were in a hurry to leave in order to reach Bangalore before it late in the night . This guy, who was gone for a long time, came and handed us the computer simulated photo with the backdrop of the roaring Jog Falls!

The driver was very eager for us to see the Thayarekoppa animal reserve at Shimoga enroute to Bangalore.

When we reached Bangalore, it was past midnight. Our minds were
full with the scenes from the trip.

Photos
1.Mrudeshear temple
2.Mrudeshwar beach
3.Giant Shiva statue

Here are some photos of the Jog Falls and the Shimoga animal reserve.