Tirupati trip

Yet another pilgrimage to the heaven on earth Tirumala for the darshan of Lord Venkateswara, the Lord of Seven Hills. I frequently visit this temple but this time I have planned to reach Tirumala by walk, as is done by many pilgrims every day. The walk through the 7 hills covers a distance of about 14-16kms starting from Alipiri, Tirupati.

4 of us booked our darshan tickets and took the tokens (Rs 50 per head) in advance from the TTD office near Sadashivanagar, Bangalore. This is the best way to avoid delay in getting darshan in view of heavy rush at the temple. We reached Tirupati at 4am and put all our luggage in our friend's house. For others, there is a facility of free transport of luggage to Tirumala from Alipiri. Note that they accept only locked baggages. We started our walk from Alipiri at about 6am. It is a must that we walk barefoot all the journey as all the 7 hills are sacred. At the foot of the hills, there is small temple where the feet of Lord are present. This is the starting point for the walk.

It was bit difficult, not expected though, boarding the hills on the steep steps. There are plenty of refreshing stalls throughout the journey where one can get coffee, tea, snacks etc., That day was too cold and foggy. It was even raining. In the midway there comes a deer park. We feeded them with fruits that are sold out side on the pavement. Finally we reached Tirumala at 10am, a total of 4hr walk across the hills.

Got a room in Sri Hathiramji mutt that was very close to the temple. Our darshan time was given at 4pm so we started at 3pm and visited Sri Varaahaswamy temple near Srivari Pushkarini. It is customary to visit this temple prior to the main temple. Then we entered the darshan queue. The token system is modernized that no breach can occur. We were chanting " Govinda, Govindaa" along with fellow pilgrims. After 2hrs in the queue, we finally entered the temple. It being Thursday, the deity was in minimal alankaara (called Nijaroopa darshanam).
Then we had chakrapongali prasadam and got 2 laddoos from counter outside the temple. Stayed there for the day.

Next day we started our journey down the hill to Tirupati and this time we took a bus. Then we proceeded to Sri Kalahasti, the famous Lord Shiva temple, located on the banks of river Swarnamukhi. It was long back that I visited this temple. It was about an hour journey from Tirupati. We had very good darshan of Sri Kalahasteeswara and Gnaana Prasoona Ammavaru.
For people with problems in their horoscope (called Kalasarpa dosham) related to Rahu & Kethu, special poojas are performed in this temple. This adds to the uniqueness to this temple.


While on return journey to Tirupati, we visited Sri Padmavati Ammavaru temple at Tiruchanuru. Brahmotsavams were going on then. We were lucky to visit the temple during that festival. The temple was surprisingly so less crowded that we had the darshan in just few minutes.

In the evening, we started our journey to Hyderabad.

Tips to travelers:

• Book your darshan and seva tickets well in advance either online or by visiting TTD office nearby.
• Book for accommodation as early as possible.
• If you are planning to walk to Tirumala, start either early in the morning or in the evening. It is advised to walk in groups.
• Plan to visit Tiruchanur, Sri Govindarajaswamy temple, Sri Kalahasti, Kanipakam that are nearby Tirupati.
  

Thiruvannamalai trip

I was awaiting a chance to visit the world famous Arunachaleswarar temple in Thiruvannamalai, TamilNadu which is about 200kms from Bangalore. Coincidentally even my friends were planning for a short one day pilgrimage. So we all started to this place on auspicious day of last monday of Kaarthika month.

6 of us started at 4.30am and caught a direct bus to Thiruvannamalai. There are plenty of buses from Bangalore with a frequency of about 15-20min. We reached the place at 9am. The first sight about the temple was amazing. It was a huge temple with very tall Gopurams one on each direction. There are many Praakaarams (walls) surrounding the temple.




This temple is 2nd largest in India sprawling about 25 acres. It is situated at the foot of a hill called "Arunaachalam" that means Aruna (fire) + achalam (hill). Also called as "Annaamalai" , it is believed that many sages perform penance in the forest on this hill even today. On every full moon day, pilgrims perform Giri Pradakshina i.e holy walk around the hill, measuring 14km stretch.

The deity of Lord Shiva called Arunachaleswarar signifies Fire, which is one of the five elements of life. Those five elements and corresponding Shiva temples are :

1. Fire - Thiruvannamalai
   
2. Sky - Chidambaram
   
3. Air - Sri Kalahasti
4. Water - Thiruvanaikoil
   
5. Earth - Kanchipuram
   

Many pilgrims were present because of the auspicious day. Luckily by the time we entered the sanctum sanctorium , milk abhishekam was being performed to the Lord. It was a moment of delight. We were allowed to view the lingam for hardly 2mins. Later we went to Unnamulaiyaal
(Lordess Parvati) temple adjacent to the main temple.


Both these are very old temples with great sculpture work. Having planned for a second darshan, we managed to get into special darshan queue and we were allowed to sit just before the sanctum sanctorium. The Shiva lingam was then beautifully decorated. Later, we all lit ghee lamps near the dhwajasthamba. It is considered very good to lite ghee lamps in the month of Kaarthika to Lord Shiva.

Then we proceeded to the famous Sri Ramana Maharshi Ashram, located about 2kms from the temple. The place was so serene, a perfect place for meditation. There were plenty of peacocks moving freelyin the ashram. This ashram is visited by many foreigners apart from Indians.

Finally we started our return journey at 2pm and were back in Bangalore at 6.30pm.

Tips for travelers:

• The temple is closed from around 1-4pm. So be there on time.
• Visit the Ramana maharshi ashram without fail.
• If you happen to visit the temple on a full moon day, try to do Giri pradakshinam.
  

Placement Mela...

Mela depicts a typical Indian market place where lots of goods are displayed and people buy stuff after a big bargain. Fun and enjoyment are integral to any mela. Huge mass of people seem to be striking feature.

In current IT trend, there was a similar mela in my college too, this time its of companies that came to recruit students for internships. The strange correlation between the placement process and that of a mela was coined aptly by my Prof. Rao. The mela was scheduled for 4 days where almost my entire batch got intern offers in start ups and branded companies. Few friends have been part of the placement committee and saw through that the process went smoothly. Three cheers to them.

The atmosphere was of mixed reactions, few screaming happily as they got selected and few sobbing as they couldn't make into that company who where surrounded by bunch of friends giving them moral support and encouragement to do better in the interviews.

Finally, it was near 100% placement that we had. Everyone is happy that every other person is through. We all are being reminded that
"We reached the end of most happy days of life and the beginning of the most purposeful ".

Short n Sweet trip - Part 2- SRINGERI & HORANADU

Started from Udupi at 10am for Sringeri. I have heard a lot of the route, it being adventurous. Only mini-buses and cars would go in that way. The entire journey was amidst dense forests covering some wildlife sanctuary. After 2 hours of journey, I found that our bus was exactly below a huge hill and we were ascending it. Hell lot of hair pin bends and narrow roads made that journey really terrifying and thrilling. Next destination was Agumbe, a small village that receives 2nd heaviest rainfall in India after Cherrapunji. It also boasts of being home to largest number of King Cobras in the world. But I couldn't find any hehe... In this village, the famous 'Malgudi days' serial was shot. There is also a sunset point from where one can see the sunset, the sun dipping into the Arabian sea. Proceeded to Sringeri. Reached the place by 12.30pm.

Sringeri is one of the four holy places in India where Sri AdiShankaraacharya establised four mathas (other 3 being Puri, Dwarka, Badrinath) around 1200 years ago. Had great darshanam of Goddess Saaradamba, and Lord Vidyashankara. The deities were gracefully decorated. The temple architecture is similar to that of traditional Andhrite style. The temple is on the banks of river Tunga. There was also a meditation hall on the opposite bank of the river.




Sri Vidyashankara temple, Sringeri --->





Had my lunch there in the temple. A modern, large dining hall was constructed for Annadaanam to the devotees. What made me amazing is that the temple was so clean unlike remaining temples elsewhere. Since I learnt that the temple would be closed from 2-5pm, I started to my next destination, Horanadu.

This journey was also so thrilling. The 3 hrs journey was breath-taking. Our bus passed through hills of western ghats covered with bamboo trees and coffee plantations. Tata coffee and Cafe coffee day had some contractors there for supply of coffee seeds and their name boards were present everywhere there. Also called as the Silent valley, Horanadu is a small village where temple of Goddess Annapurneshwari is well known. Had a nice darshan of the deity. The main attraction was that the temple is located in serene place with hills surrounded and clouds passing through them.







Picturesque location in Horanadu -->







Finally, got a bus from Horanadu to Bangalore at 9pm and thanks to less traffic on the ghat section, I reached Blore by 5am.

Really, this was one of the exciting journeys I ever had. I would recommend people to plan for these places on some weekends where they want to escape from this concrete jungle.


Tips for travelers:

• Plan to spend a whole day either in Sringeri or Horanadu as both are excellent places.
• From Horanadu, last bus to Sringeri is at 6pm and after that only 3 buses leave to Bangalore at around 9pm. So hardly you find any public transport after evening. So plan carefully.
• Kudremukh, a famous hill station is about 30kms from Horanadu. So your trip could include that too.

For more pictures visit www.picasaweb.google.com/murali132
I'll be uploading pics soon there.

Short n Sweet trip - Part 1 - UDUPI & KOLLUR

After a long period of 2 months of work in my college, I was planning to go out on a trip for a break. I was longing to go on pilgrimage. I planned accordingly as:
Bangalore - Udupi - Kollur- Agumbe- Sringeri - Horanadu- Bangalore.

So packed my baggage and started to Udupi, abode of Lord Krishna, all alone on saturday nite (29 Sept'07).

Luckily managed to get a last seat in Rajahamsa service to Kundapur that takes me to Udupi and it started at 9pm. The bus has to pass through the horrifying Shiradi ghats where the road was badly damaged and there was a traffic jam in the ghat section for about 2 hours. Finally reached Udupi at 9.30am.





<--- Main entrance of Sri Krishna Mutt, Udupi

Immediatley went to the world famous Sri Krishna Mutt, the temple after refreshing in a hotel room very closeby to the mutt. All gents are supposed to enter the sanctum-sanctorium bare chested. It was the time when they were performing the Maha Mangala pooja to the lord that I had His darshan. We have to see the deity through a small in window having 9 slots, called the 'navagraha kidiki'. The deity, Lord Krishna was just great with his divine presence there. The idol was black, small and was adored with lots of jewelery. I was so lucky that there was no rush in the temple even though it was sunday.

Lord Krishna deity at Udupi --->






This temple has keralite architecture that resembles the one in Guruvayur. I then had my lunch in the temple itself where they feed thousands of devotees daily at no cost. The traditional Udupi cuisine is world famous and the taste was awesome. Nothing to compare it with. We were provided Swamy's prasadam, plain rice with rasam, sambar, buttermilk all in a clean plaintain leaf. After long time, I had completely satisfying meal.

Next program was to go to Kollur, which is famous for Sri Mookambika ammal temple, about 80kms from Udupi.






<--- Kollur Mookambika temple




I started at 2pm from Udupi and reached there at 5pm or so. The road was horrible inspite of being a national highway. The location of the temple was great with mountains surrounded everywhere. Had a very nice darshan of the Goddess. This temple is visited by large number of Keralites apart from Kannadigas. I was told that the deity was installed by Sri Adishankaraacharya. Started return journey and reached Udupi by 8pm. Having read in many blogs about the famous Diana restaurant in Udupi, I had Puri-kurma there which was amazing. Great taste.Now proceeded to the mutt at 9pm. This time the temple had hardly any people, guess about 10-15. Mutt's head priest came and performed some pooja there. Finally I again had a chance to have my dinner in the mutt itself and then came back to room and slept happily. Next day I went to the Mutt at 7am when some pooja was being performed to the Moola Virat (idol without any alankaaram). I was lucky to have His Nijaroopa darshanam too. Haarati was being given there. I sat there in the temple premises before the Lord for half an hour. Don't remember how many times I stood in the queue and had His darshanam. It was raining heavily then. I managed to visit another mutt nearby and then proceeded to 'Mitra Samaj', the birth place of world famous Masala dosa, located in the temple premises. I had one and it was delicious. I packed my baggage and started to Sringeri.

Tips for travelers:

• Plan your program well in advance and start from Bangalore to Udupi in late evening so that you reach early there. There are plenty of buses (directly to Kundapur or Mangalore from where Udupi is about 50kms).
• Do carry umbrella as it rains frequently there.
• Have your meals in Swamy's Mutt. It shall be opportunity for a life time.
• Dont forget to have some snacks in Diana restaurant and Masala dosa in Mitra samaj

Busy, yusB

Yes, this is our status these days in gtalk, the life of iiitb. No time to sit and chat with dosts happily. Everyone is stuck up with his work. Ayyoooo, Pareto optimality principle here too(work vs enjoyment).

Haha but even then we surely play pranks on others and have fun.
Every now and then ma undergrad frnds ping me in gtalk. I really miss them and all the fun.

Oops back to BUSY status now. Mast Maja Maadi

Trip to Hogenakkal water falls

We got a notice on Satday that there would be no class next day when we usually have some extra classes. Hurray So what next?? My gang then decided that nite to go for a trip to Hogenakkal water falls in Tamilnadu.

This place is abt 150km frm Bangalore. We started at 7.30am from electronics city and took a bus to Dharmapuri. That took us abt 3 hrs. Nxt destination was to Hogenakkal, 1hr frm there. The first sight of the river Kaveri, in its full flow due to the rains was awesome n bit terrifying too. Few interesting things that are specific to this place are fried fishes(as a whole) and oil massaging. First we had to cross a way abt 1/2km to get first view of a waterfall (there are plenty of them each one in its own beauty). It was a concrete passage but river flowing across it. The water was really chill.



Here we were approached by local boatmen for a ride in the river. We bargained a lottt and finally booked 2 boats each costing Rs 450. Total of 9 members got into these 2 boats. Boarded the boat where the river was in smooth pace. Then crossed the river to get to the opp side. We had to trek a small mountain to reach the nxt point. Now comes the most adventurous part. The main falls was at the center of the river. The boat could go only to certain distance into the river. From there, we had to reach the place by jumping across few rocks. Few of ppl fell over them n got bruised. Finally v managed to reach the most awaited spot of all. It was a gigantic waterfall making huge noise. V reached a place that was THE deadend there. One more step and v plunge into it



Then after returning to the bank, v all bathed for abt 1/2 an hour and moved back. Next dest was crossing a hanging bridge wer v cud see many of the falls. Splendid vieww. not to be missed at all. Later went to cine falls by crossing a narrow passage across the river.



After njoying the place till 6pm, v startd bck and reached Blore by 12 nite.

Sun Tech Days '07

I've been recently to Sun Tech Days @ Hyderabad, a 3 day workshop on SUN's technologies (now many being open-sourced) and their applications and advancements. It was a pretty gud session. The main focus was on 3 streams -

1) JavaME - my favourite tech stuff. Most interesting stuff was that there wer a couple of demos that were done from the scratch and those applications were ported on the mobile devices and whoooop they were perfectly done and yup there z great applause from the audience.
2) NetBeans - hmmm it was great to see this IDE do many of d tasks so simple especially the visual designer. I suggest to have a look at this too.
3) OpenSolaris - Think now Solaris Vs Linux seems to be a favorite topic amongst the "OPEN" developers.


Adrenalin due to technology - most important event was that there were 2 teams of 3 professionals each. Every one had 5 min to demo a unusual project for which they worked. We audience had a great rush of adrenalin as what that application would do after those nail-biting 5 min. It was perfect and these demos are mind-blowing. eg., One person demoed an appln using Image processing, AJAX where visual objects were manipulated, made to dance etc using voice commands. Perfect one to have seen there live.

Other highlights included giving away ipods, cool shirts n caps to people selected from a lucky draw. Phew I couldnt get any :(

But I got some pretty stuffs viz., bag, Java cup, key chain etc.,,

The enthusiasm with which people, from acads & industry, moved there was amazing. Surely I can say this is one of the best conferences I've ever attended.

Overall, Enlightened by Sun Tech Days.....