HAMPI: where every stone has a Story.

Staying in Bangalore for all these years, I always wanted to visit the Hampi , the former capital of Vijaynagara Empire. After postponing the trip for N number of times as none of my friends were interested in my History inspired rendezvous, I finally decided to do what I always wanted to do-Travel solo to Hampi.

I booked my KSRTC sleeper coach ticket and was good to go. As I opened my eyes in the morning, I was surrounded by mystic beauty of the historic 14^th century Vijaynagara empire and its ancient ruins. The township was far from the madding city crowd, chaos, frustrating work hours and was a breath of fresh air in my otherwise monotonous life.

It was my first nirvana trip and I had purposely not booked any accommodation as I wanted to explore what  Hampi has to offer.The township didn’t disappointment me as I settle myself in Sunny Guest house run by an elderly woman and her son. After freshening up and having my breakfast of hot dosas, I started my exploration of the UNESCO world heritage site.

 Hampi is a small village near the town Hospet, where all the monuments, temples and heritage sites can be covered by bikes or bicycles which are readily available on rent. If you are still not confident about your road sense, hire a guide; every auto driver in Hampi is a part time guide are quite knowledgeable about the places of historical importance.

1.      My tryst with history came when I visited “Vithala Temple”, is one of  Hampi's main attractions. Vithala is a form of lord Vishnu, after whom the temple is being named. The stone chariot inside the temple will remind you of your history books; the temple also houses the famous musical pillars known to produce the musical tone like vibe.

Stone Chariot at Vithala temple.

2.      Dated to 15^th century, this monolithic sculpture is known as “Kadlekalu Ganesha” because of its appearance of Lord Ganesha. The belly of ganesha is little bit damaged, may be to hide ornaments in the ancient times (as my guide tells me). The pillars of the temples have beautiful engravings of various god and goddesses.

Kadlekalu Ganesha

3.      Krishna temple is another temple of historical importance. The temple was built in 1513 AD. By krishnadevaraya. It is built in Panchayatana style and is a classic example of fine Vijaynagara architecture.

                                                              Krishna Temple.

4.      Royal Enclosure occupying an area of 59,000 SQ.M is by far the largest extant enclosures in the ancient vijaynagara empire.

5.      It is extremely disheartening to see people proclaiming their love by scribbling on these walls and permanently damaging these precious monuments.

6.      The beautiful roof top architecture at the royal bath.

7.      Kids linned up for their dose of medival history.

8.      The beautiful township of Hampi

The township is small and vibrant and have lots to offer to someone craving a little break from life. You can go for hiking amongst the rocks and boulders, boatride on the river Tungabhadra or just laze around doing nothing.

There are few restaurants worth mentioning as they serve yummy food and surpringly many cuisines one can think of(Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Continental, Israeli and lot more).

Its is also advisable to keep your folks informed about your whereabouts as the mobile network in Hampi is very docile and acts like a cranky girlfriend.

Do keep cash handy as the township doesn't have any ATM, the nearest one being 4 km away.

Getting to Hampi:

 Hampi is easily accessible from Bangalore by KSRTC buses, the nearest railway station is Hospet  (12 km), one can hire auto riskshaws to reach  Hampi from Hospet.

Bon apetite(Bengaluru): Burger Mania in Monkey Bar.

It was the time of the year for four of my friends to come down to Bangalore, and the place decided to meet up was Monkey Bar, Bangalore. Though I never visited this restaurant, the reviews from fellow colleagues and friends had all been very good.

MonkeyBar is India's first gastropub specializing in serving yummy burgers and its surely a meat eaters paradise. The ambiance is buzzy with those brick walls and the inhouse music forces you to sing your heart out! We visited the restaurant last Saturday, at the time of their famous Burger festival wherein eight delicious burgers were up for grabs.

I, being the Chickenterian, settled for the mega sized Grilled Chicken "BANH HI" Burger-Vietnamese styled marinated and grilled chicken inside those fresh buns. The dressing of pickled salad, bean sprouts, mayo and nam prik helped in giving the juicy texture of the burger, served with french fries, picked carrots and onions it was more of heart filling than stomach.

The drink of the day was twisted lemonade and manga, looks better than the taste!

Butterfly chicken "Gangnam Style"was one dish, we don't know how many plates we ordered of. The shredded chicken along with lime, chilli, blackbeans, spring onions were delicately stuffed inside the crispy butterfly shells, perfect for a rainy and wintery Bangalore!

The other dishes on the table were Cajun styled chicken liver and Pan carmalised Barbique ribs, though I didn't taste it, the review from friends were just "superb".

                                                               Pan carmalised Barbique ribs.

                                                         Cajun styled chicken liver.

The staff were courteous, enthusiastic, witty and at your service all the time.

Overall review: 

Ambiance: Good.

Food: Very good.

Staff: Helpful.

Cost: Rs.1500 for two.

Reservations: No, walk-in Basis.

Timings: All week, Noon-11.30 pm.

Address: 14/1 Krishna Manare,

Woods Street, Ashok Nagar

Bangalore-25

Phone: 08041116878/9

Travel diaries: Land of rising sun, Arunachal Pradesh!

Someone at the Bangalore International Airport was flipping that glossy travel magazine, I stole an eye to see which magazine it was, instead noticed something which always brings a smile on my face, a complete magazine supplement on Arunachal Pradesh. People close to me know how fascinated I am about AP, the place I call home!

Life wasn't as easy back then, as tough terrains, extreme weather, government apathy and no development had made things difficult for people to live. The sudden realization that AP has huge potential as a niche tourist destination with the presence of natural beauty, pristine sceneries, wide variety of flora and fauna and conserved wildlife has set things rolling for the state and with the support of local communities and government, things are changing, for good!

Just in case you want to visit Arunachal and don't know where to go, here is my list of favorite place with the assurance, "you wont be disappointed".

Tawang:

 Plan your holiday between December-March to enjoy a snow kissed Tawang, visit the near by Pankang Teng Tso Lake which freezes in winter and is best for skiing, the tawang monastery also known as the second largest monastery in Asia.

Ziro:

This lush green township and UNESCO world heritage site, is the hottest new destination for music lovers. Zero music festival is organised every year in the month of September and boosts the participation of bands like Imphal talkies, Sky Rabbit and many more. Beautiful surroundings, amazing food, tonnes of beer and music! what else do you want?!

Photo Courtesy: Facebook

                                             Photo Courtesy: Facebook, Ziro Music Festival.

      Photo Courtesy: Facebook, Ziro Music Festival.

Apatani Tribe.

Namdapha National Park Trek:

Namdapha national park is the largest protected area in the Eastern Himalayan Biodiversity hotspot and is the third largest national park in terms of area.Home of 1000+ bird species, snow leopards, black bears, Red Panda, Hoolock Gibbons and many more endangered wildlife species. Namdapha is the only national park where camping is allowed inside the park.

                                                        

 Photo Courtesy: Facebook.

 Photo Courtesy: Facebook.

 Photo Courtesy: Facebook.

                                                                         Photo Courtesy: Facebook.
Anjaw:

This small china bordering district of Arunachal has still not come under the tourist radar. Perfect for a nature lovers and adventure seekers, you can engage yourself in activities like Trekking, fishing or camping on the banks of Lohit river. one can enjoy a walk in the township and explore the living habits, culture and tradition of the local Mishimi Tribe.
                                     
                                                           

  Photo Courtesy: Arif Siddiqui (facebook).

  Photo Courtesy: Arif Siddiqui (facebook).

                                                     Photo Courtesy: Arif Siddiqui (facebook).

Kodachadri trek!

It was the 4 day Durga Puja holiday for me and I was in no mood to sit and home and spend the holidays sleeping! I checked my bucketlist, Trekking to Kodachadri was pending for quite long time. I decided to do it.
We three friends embarked on our journey to kodachadri. we took KSRCTC bus and reached shimoga by 5am in the morning. After little confusion we got our bus to the next destination Nittur, where we had our breakfast and and proceed towards Kodachadri Homestay where we got freshened up and prepared for our trek.

Kodachadri Homestay

One can call Mr. Rajendra(9449145540), a very sweet and helpful gentleman and quite knowledgeful of the entire region. the rooms were clean and decent for overnight stay. If its a group, one can hire tent and the owners will arrange dinner alongside campfire on request.

We started our trekking by 9am first towards the Hidlumane falls, which was a 4 km moderate trek, though we decided to not hire a guide, someonevoluntered to be with us throughout the journey. Our Sweety! She was our new friend on the this exciting trip.

Rain god played cupid as continuous raining made it impossible for us to complete our trek till the sunset point. we somehow reached the Hidlumane waterfalls and decided to abandon the trek on the advise of locals as the rain wasn't planning to stop.

We came back to the base camp half halfheartedly as we couldn't finish the trek. 

May be we will finish this trek someother time, till then lemme share some of the amazing pictures of the trek with you.

Happy Durga Pujo!

Ahha! This is my favorite time of the year, too many festivals and holidays! Durga pujo, Diwali, christmas, new year and what not!

I love the happiness,chaos, explosive sound, overcrowded streets, nostalgia in the air!Everyone around is busy preparing for Durga Pujo or Navartri as you may call it. Durga Puja festival marks the victory of Goddess Durga over the evil buffalo demon Mahishasura. Thus, Durga Puja festival epitomises the victory of Good over Evil.

Durga Puja is widely celebrated in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand,Manipur, Odisha, Tripura and West Bengal, where it is a five-day annual holiday.

I am more of a Bengali-without-the-Bengali-genes(daddy, mommy, mine best friends were all bengalis, so you know the influence), Mommy used to perform the "kalash asthpna" for Goddess durga on the first day of the auspicious navratri, which marks the start of festivities and celebrations at home.

Celebrations means lots of shopping, sweets and awesome dishes, you know what I mean! The house used to be filled with ghee odour as something or other is continuously cooking in the kitchen, I used to love when the neighboring family would invite us for navratri feast on the eight day of the festivities and treat us like goddness durga, worship us and dool us up with gifts and savories.

Durga pujo is synomous of friends, fun, adda and pandal hopping!As been born in the eastern part of the country, "pandal hopping" is my favorite! If you are lucky enough, visit kolkata during these nine days, its a different world altogether! 

If you are like me, who is Bangalore, here is the list of Durga Puja Pandals in the city,

1. The Bengalee Association - Gayatri Vihar, Palace Grounds, Mekhri Circle. 

2.  Sarathi Socio-Cultural Trust - Mangala Kalyana Mantapa, 80 Ft Road, Koramangala 8th Block. Next to Aangan Restaurant and opposite to Ganesh Temple.

3. ALT Training College-Kaikondahalli, Sarjapur Main Road, Beside Total Mall and Prestige Pegasus Building.

4. Durgapuja Sharad Utsav 2013, opposite to Wipro Gate 16, (Beside Ajmera Infinity), Electronic City, Phase 1, Bangalore 100.

Talking about Durga Pujo and not mentioning about the traditional Bengali delicacies is a crime, which I am obviously not committing!!


The list is way too long, here is my favorite pick which you should definitely try!

 Luchi-Aloo dum:

 Labra:

Chola dal

Misti doi:

  5. Sorshe Illish (Hilsa fish made in a paste of mustard seeds):

6. Kosha Mangsho(Spicy Mutton curry):

7.Rosogulla:

8. Khicuri-Begun Bhaja with pickles:

Begun bhaja:

Still reading this post?! why-o-why?!
Go and nag your friend to take you for Pandal Hopping and discover the awesome "Bong connection"!

Happy Durga pujo to you once again!

:)