Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Hampi - more

Queen's bath : 

Vitthal temple : 
Bazaar ouside the Vitthal temple - supposedly in the empire sandalwood was more precious and gold/diamond used to be sold by cupfuls in these bazaars. There are 3 such bazaars.

Bazaar ouside the Vitthal temple - supposedly in the empire sandalwood was more precious and gold/diamond used to be sold by cupfuls in these bazaars. There are 3 such bazaars.

Vitthal temple entrance

King's balance : 
Earlier here used to hang a balance, where king was weighed with gold/grains which was distributed among the poor.

Mango tree restaurant : 
View of Tungbhadra river from Mango tree restaurent - notice the red color of the water due to the ongoing mining nearby.

View of Tungbhadra river from Mango tree restaurent - notice the red color of the water due to the ongoing mining nearby.


Nrisimha Lakshmi Temple :
Lakshmi is missing - since that part was broken. Even the band connecting the knees was added recently.

Hampi

Numbers of some guides :
S. Chandra : +919449458740 (chandradabbi@yahoo.com)
Nagraj: +919480510871

1. Most of the temples in Hampi, have their main statues stolen/broken from their Garbhgrihas.
It's because locals/foreign attackers knew/believed that below the main statues there is lot
of gold/precious metals. Hence, in most of the temples, puja is no longer performed, since
according to Hindu beliefs, puja is not performed in temples with broken statues.

2. On the walls of the many temples, one can find images from Kamasutra - of different positions.

3. In order to find out which temple belong to which deity(since many of the statues are stolen),
archaeologists looked at the statues of the Dwarpalakas(gatekeepers). Jai-vijay indicated
a temple of Vishnu/Krishna whereas Nandi/Bhringhi indicate a Shiv temple.

4. Major expenses for this one day trip:
(i) Tatkal reservations for two in SL category, to-and-fro from Bangalore-to-Hospet (542*2 = 1084/-)
(ii) Hampi Guide : Rs. 700/-
(iii) Auto for touring Hampi: Rs. 350/-
(iv) Lunch at Mango tree (Mango lassi + Mango tree special thali + Cashew nut currey + 2 extra chapati) = Rs. 275/-
(v) Night meals at Naivedyam, close to the Hospet railway station(Rs. 170/-) (Veg Biryani, 4 Tandoori roti, Kadai Paneer)
(vi) Laxmi Guest House(Behind the tourism office, close to the Virupaksha temple), from 10AM to 6PM : Rs. 200/-


Bade Ganesh Temple : 

View of hillocks from bade ganesh temple

Bade Ganesh statue

View of hillocks from Bade Ganesh temple

Chhote Ganesh Temple : 

Chhote Ganesh Temple - Front

Chhote Ganesh Temple - Back - Parvati hugging Ganesh from behind

Choote Ganesh temple : Bade ganesh ji was a temple for the elite, so it has a Garbhgriha for the deity,
whereas this temple is open for all without any garbhgriha. Built by a trader for commoners.

Sister stones :

Underground temple :


King's palace :
Aqueduct

Secret chamber

Food plate for soldiers - made of stone - notice the 4 holes at the corners for vegetables/chutneys

Stepped stone water tank

Janana enclosure :
Mahauts' residence

Watch tower - eunuchs used to guard the Janana enclosure

Lotus Mahal

Another watch tower at Janana enclosure

Chambers for 11 royal elephants

Chambers for 11 royal elephants.

Badava Linga :
Mastakabhishek used to be performed through the star shaped roof

Badav Linga


Gopura Krishna Temple : 
Entrace of the Gopur Krishna Temple - in the left corner a Kamastura position(lady on the top)


Virupakash temple : 

One of the few temples in Hampi where puja is still performed, also famous for the inverted shadow effect of the main tower.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Munnar Travelogue

Elections are on in Kerala - even Munnar is not spared, flags of Congress and UDF are shown


I had a long weekend, 15 Oct to 17 Oct, which I tried to spend in Munnar, and it
partially worked out. Here is what I had planned originally : 
1. Bangalore to Aluva, by train(start on Thursday 21:40 and reach Aluva on Friday 09:30)
2. Aluva to Munnar, by road (finish the journey in 1 hour according to this website).
3. Spend roughly 2.5 days in Munnar and follow steps 2. and 1. in reverse order.


But as I figured out, source for step 2. was horribly wrong.
Aluva to Munnar is 120 KM, not 18 KM. And so the journey
took more than 3 hours by taxi(a bus would have taken at least
5-6 hours).


So I reached Munnar around 1AM after vomiting twice on the
way, since it was a hilly terrain and the car driver was driving at
a fast enough pace.
Animals grazing - on the way to Top station view point

Anyway, in short, I could spend around roughly 1.5 days
actually touring Munnar.

Here is some useful info :

1. Hotel Misha, (Close to the main market in old Munnar. Opposite Hotel Green Ridge.), 04865-230376/232376/230076 (), [15]. checkout: 12AM. Can be negotiated further down till Rs. 700-800/- in peak season and lower in off season. 1000


2. Rent a bike :
Rs. 350/- per day. Contact Mr. Chandran - Phone : 9447220648/ 04865-231113

Contact D. Ravichandran - Phone : 9446130363/ 04865-2331543. Rent a taxi :





For more details :
Wikitravel Munnar

Beautiful landscape of Munnar
View outside Tata Tea Museum



Echo Point, but the voice didn't echo for me and others :-)
Government has declared it as a weak bridge, but haven't stopped the traffic yet.