Amrutesvara Temple, Amruthapura

T
he Amruteshvara temple (Kannada: ಅಮೃತೇಶ್ವರ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ) also spelt "Amrutesvara" or "Amruteshwara", is located in the town of Amruthapura, 67 km north of Chikmagalur town in the Chikkamagaluru district of the Karnataka state, India. Located 110 km from Hassan and 35 km fromShimoga on NH 206, Amruthapura is known for the splendid Amruteshvara temple. 

The temple was built in 1196 C.E. by Amrutheshwara Dandanayaka (lit, "commander") under Hoysala King Veera Ballala II. It is located in an idyllic spot, in the close vicinity of the Bhadra River reservoir. During their rise to power in the 11th-12th centuries, the Hoysala kings created many important towns and cities (nagara) along the malnad (hill) regions of present day Karnataka where they built many ornate temples.

The temple is a fine example of 12th century Hoysala architecture with a wide open mantapa  ^]Surrounded by Palm and Coconut farms, the temple still has a well preserved original outer wall with interesting, equally spaced circular carvings. The temple has one vimana (shrine and tower) and therefore is a ekakuta design and has a closed mantapa (hall) that connects the sanctum to the large open mantapa.

It is medium sized Hoysala temple and compares closely with the Veera Narayana Temple, Belavadi inmandapa structure and size. The open mandapa has twenty nine bays and the closed mantapa has nine bays with a side porch that leads to a separate shrine on the south side. The shrine is square in shape has the original superstructure (sikhara) which is richly adorned with sculptures of Kirthimukhas(demon faces), miniature decorative towers (aedicule). Below the superstructure, the usual panel ofHindu deities is absent. The base of the wall has five mouldings which according to art critic Foekema is an "older Hoysala style".The Sukanasi, the tower on top of the vestibule that connects the sanctum to the closed mantapa (the Sukanasi appears like the nose of the superstructure), has the original Hoysala emblem of "Sala" fighting the lion.

It was on Monday, 30th Decemebr 2013, when we were returning from Sagar. It's about 

5km from the main road, Shivamogga-Bangalore...

Tuesday 31 Dec.2013

COMING TO CLOSE OF 2013

Time is such a wonderful concept...... it puts everything into back of memory...... days, months and years..... woderful time spent...... bad time, jolly time...... time for evrything goes back.....
0nly memories remain...... if it is recorded somewhere, it will remain....
otherwise that also will be erased......

Some times one wonders..... what is the purpose of life.....
Birth, grow.... school, college...... join work..... marriage..... children........ they grow.......house..
and you grow old.......and one day.....
What we achieved in life..... shared with others......... helped others probably will remain....
Sunday, Dec.22, 2013

JAGADISH AND PRATIMA SHETTY

DECEMBER 9, 2013

It was on Monday, 9th Dec. 2013, when longtime friend fom Dubai, Jagadish & Pratima Shetty came to visit us here at Birthi.

They were acuaintaces and nice people close to us Dubai for number of years, now returned and settled in Mangalore.

Pratima is a good stage actor and performed in number of dramas in Dubai in Karnataka Sangha and Dhvani Pratishtana programs.
written on 15th Dec. 2013

WEDDING - ASHWATH S/o GEETHA JP

It was on Sunday, 8th Dec. 2013, wedding reception of Ashwanth, son of Mrs Geetha Jayapraksh, English teacher at Our Own, Al Warqa, Dubai.  She was a colleague for six years, when I was supervisor at the same school.
As usual, we attended the reception, wished the new couple, had dinner and back in the house.

Also had met Mrs Magdalen Paul, who was also English teacher in my Department during those days, came from Chennai to attend the wedding. It was a pleasant surprise to meet the lady after more than three years.
written on 15-12-2013

VISIT TO FARM NEAR MYSORE

Mr Satish Hande, lives in Mysore and was working in AbuDhabi for many years and now settled back and is very keen in agriculture.

He is very hard working, very positive in his approach and a nice gentleman. He purchased a 7-acre uncultivated land near Mysore, 15 Km on the way to HD Kote. He developed the land with all reuqirements for agricultural produce like sugar cane, banana, tomato, chilli, brinjal, water melon and many more. He started just about 6 months or more and now doing well with problems of worms and bad seeds. However, he takes lot of interest in growing vegetables, spends the whole day taking care, watering, manuring and other related work.

We were amazed and happy to visit the farm last week, 6th Dec 2013, spent an hour, got some good vegetables without chemicals, thanked Mr Hande and his wife Usha and returned to Bangalore.
written on 13-12-13

KADALE KAAI PARISHE 2013

Groundnut farmers from far and near converge with their produce to Basvanagudi, Bangalore for the annual kadale kaai PARISHE (Festival). This happens every year in the month of December and large number of people gather for enjoying different kinds of groundnuts and the atmosphere is festive one,

We visited the place one afternoon, walked around the place, road was closed for vehicular traffic, people roam around freely, and buy items other than kadale kaai also.
The mood is festive and people enjoy.
The sad part is people least bothered about cleanliness, hygiene and littering. The place is littered with food plates, plastic bags, papers and no toilet fecilities.

written on 13-12-13

SUVARNA SAMBRAMA

It was series of programs presenting stage drama and live performance of matured and hobby artists and clebrating of 50 years of Ravindra Kalakshetra, at Bengaluru, a prestigious venue for performing artists. It may be cultural, musical, honouring celebrties or felicitations.

We attended the inaugural program, and it was arranged outside, free air and under the tree in the natural surroundings. There big names from Ranga Kalavidaru, people from department of Kannada and culture......  dance forms like Kamsaale, dollu kunitha etc and usual "BHASHANA" on the accomplishments from various cultural fields. There were B. Jayashree, Mukhya mantri Chandru, Prasanna and more.

written on 12-12-13

LUNCH AT MAHARAJ BHOG

It was just a casual grand lunch together...... all decided to go to Maharaj Bhog at Lavelle Road....

We were five..... me, mom, Ravi, Vidya and Rishi.....  It was north indian style grand lunch, good one too..... had heavy and stomach full.....

Returned after visiting UB City, nearby shopping mall....
written on 12-12-13

WEDDING - SHASHANK/VIDYASHREE

It was quite some time that we attended wedding function. There was an invitation from Major Ravindra, the family living at the end of the road in the 13A Cross. It was his son's wedding at Sri Hari Kalyana Mantap in Banashankari on 22nd November 2013

with Shashank and Vidyashree

We wished the newly married couple Shashank and Vidyashree, a happy and long married life, had grand lunch and returned.
Written on 12-12-13

SAAVAYAVA FOOD PRODUCTS

These days, the agricultural food products are so much contaminated with all kinds of chemicals, general health of people are deteriorating. Blood pressure, diabetes are common ailments, people are striving hard to keep it under control.

Agri saavayava products

To encourage the people using agric products with no chemicals in fertilizers or preservatives, an exhibition was arranged at Chamarajpet, Bangalore. Though many agriculturists displayed their products, the response was very poor. However, we purchased some usable products like rice, millet, wheat, jaggery etc and spent some time.

Receiving jaggery

Thursday, 12-12-13

NAADA NAMANA

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

I was wondering why I have not written blog for almost a month...... no events?? no activites...??
Yes .... there were many for last one month...

Naada Namana....Musical Tribute to great singer Manna Dey at ravindra Kalakshetra, Bengaluru on 15th Nov. 2013

Archana Udupa singing

That was a very good presentation with singers from Karnataka singing famous songs from Manna Dey's album. Archana Udupa, Sangeetha Katti, Sairam and some others sang well with an excellent orchestra.
It was about two hours program, and we just happen to go there and enjoyed.

Sangeetha Katti

 written on Dec 12, 2013

GORAVANA HALLI MAHALAKSHMI

 T
emple Goravanahalli is located in Koratagere Taluk of Tumkur district. It is said that Abbayya, a poor man was blessed to get the idol of Mahalakshmi. After worshipping Mahalakshmi at his home, Abbayya became rich. He started doing charity work and his home earned the tag ‘Lakshmi Nivasa’. Later Abbayya’s brother Thotadappa joined Abbayya in his charity work. After the death of Abbayya, Thotadappa was performing poojas to the Goddess. One day in his dreams, Mahalakshmi asked him to build a shrine for Her. So, Thotadappa built a shrine for Mahalakshmi. After Thotadappa, Chowdayya was performing poojas. But from the year 1910 the temple was in a neglected state. 

      Goravanahalli Shree Mahalakshmi Temple Main Entrance, In the year 1925, Kamalamma on arriving at Goravanahalli, saw the neglected state of the temple. She started performing the poojas for the Goddess. Then again after a year temple was in a neglected state, when she left the place. But then in 1952, Kamalamma was back in Goravanahalli and settled there. After this regular poojas were performed by Kamalamma. People wait in queue for the darshana of Shree Mahalakshmi. In due time, temple attained fame by word of mouth. Tuesdays and Fridays are considered very auspicious here and lot of people visit the temple in these days of the week. Lakshadeepotsava is one of the revered religious programmes here in Karthika maasa.
On Sunday 10th November 2013, we went for trip to Siddara Betta and on our way back at 7 pm, visited the Mahalakshmi Temple at Goravanahalli. The place was quiet, not much of crowd, darshan was quick and also we had the chance to have prasada in form of food (anna sambar), without much hassle.
It was a pleasant surprise and blessings from the Goddess. The place has lots of shops for buying festival items.
15th Nov 2013 

TULSI POOJA

Tulsi is a consecrated plant that holds lot of importance for the traditional Hindus. In most of the Hindu homes, people worship Tulsi plant on a daily basis. Many people keep a plant of Tulsi in front of their house, since Tulsi has a lot of reverence for them. On the festive occasion of 'Kartik Shukla Dwadashi' that usually falls two weeks after the celebration of Diwali, tulsi plants are adorned with varied artistic things made from sugarcane, flowers and mango leaves. After decorating Tulsi Vrindavana, people offer prayers to Tulsi. Clay lamps are lit all around the tulsi plant. The event is usually celebrated as tulsi vivah, in which tulsi is married to Lord Vishnu.

Today, Thursday 14th November 2013, also being children's day, Tulsi pooja was celebrated at Birthi Mane. Tulsi Brindavan was decorated and nellikai plant branch was planted with tulsi plant, as a symbol of Lord Vishnu marrying Tulsi,  light the lamp on nelli kai, and bless the family. 

SIDDARA BETTA

Siddara Betta is one of the visited places near Madhugiri and  is a rocky hill situated in Tumkur district. The place lies at a distance of about 100 kms from Bangalore. The place is mainly known for a temple and a few caves located at the top of the hill.

Nalini at the foot of the Betta

There is a shrine of Lord Siddalingeshwara (Shiva) inside one of the caves. That is why the placeholds an attraction equally for the pilgrims and trekkers and nature lovers.

appa loosing steam.....

Siddara Betta, a wonderful tourist place near  Madhugiri, has historic significance attached to it. Siddara Betta is a Kannada expression to describe Hill of Saints. The naturally beautiful place was once home to countless Hindu Saints who preferred the place to perform sacred meditation and to obtain Nirvana. But with time, this practice gradually diminished.

Well on the top

We were five, Mom, Ravi, Vidya and Rishi, in the car started a bit late that is 10.45 in the morning, reached Tumkur at 1.30pm after having some food at Kamath on the way. We spent some time serching for the road to Siddara Betta, and eventually reached the foot of the hill at 3.00pm after passing through some villages. Climbing the steps started immediately and it was steep and I could manage three fourths of the hill and I was exhausted and I gave up. The rest continued the trek and reached the top and spent some time getting explanation about the place from a guide. It had a small Udbhava Linga temple and caves and a well in the rocks 5ft deep. 

Vidya, Ravi & Rishi....

The group came down safely at 6 pm and we started our journey back via Koratagere. We stopped over at the famous Mahalakshmi temple, Guravana Halli, had darshan and also prasada in form food (anna sambar) which was good. Thank God, there was not much crowd,,,,, otherwise, we would have spent lot of time standing in the queue.
We lost our way near Dabaspet but we were back at home at 10.30pm.
It was a pleasant trip and enjoyed.
Tueday 12 Nov 2013

DEEPAVALI 2013

Diwali is popularly known as the "festival of lights", the most significant spiritual meaning behind it is "the awareness of the inner light". Central to Hindu philosophy (primarily the Yoga, Vedanta, and Samkhya schools of Hindu philosophy) is the belief that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. The celebration of Diwali as the "victory of good over evil", refers to the light of higher knowledge dispelling all ignorance, the ignorance that masks one's true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With this awakening comes compassion and the awareness of the oneness of all things (higher knowledge). This brings ananda(joy or peace). Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Diwali is the celebration of this Inner Light.

The thirteenth day of the Krishna Paksha is celebrated as "neeru tumbo habba" when the house is cleaned, painted afresh and the vessels are washed, bedecked and filled with fresh water for the festival. The next day is Naraka Chaturdashi, considered very auspicious. People wake up before dawn and apply oil on their scalp and body before taking bath, a ritual known asTailabhyanjana. In parts of North Karnataka, this is followed by the women of the house performing Aarti on the men. The bursting of the crackers ensues. The next day is Lakshmi mahaapooje on Amavaasye (new-moon day) 

We (Ravi, mom, Rishi and Vidya) also got up early, applied oil to head and the body and had a wonderful hot water bath, and then with new clothes burst few crackers. Mom made some nice panchakajjaya, dose and we all had stomachful breakfast.
Late in the evening also we burst some crackers and patakis.
Monday November 4, 2013

ಕನ್ನಡ ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ ೨೦೧೩ (KANNADA RAJYOTSAVA)

The state of Mysore was created taking into fold various parts of the region, which were ruled by kings. Several districts in, now called North Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka were dissolved in the new state. The new state was named after Mysore, which by itself was a princely state. After prolonged debate the name of the state was changed to Karnataka on November 1, 1973.

Officially the new state was born on Nov. 1 and on this day every year birthday of the state is celebrated. This is popularly called as Kannada Rajyotsava or Karnataka Rajyotsava. Rajyotsava means “birth of a state”.
Bangalore, State capital, has people from all over India, coming and settling down with the result, it has less than 35% people speaking Kannada.  Tamil, Teugu, Malayalam,Marathi, Hindi are spoken and kannadiga is a kind hearted person, who will learn the other language rather than teach Kannada. In the process Kannada is not getting importance.
People is power and position talk about encouraging kannada but send their children to English medium schools and other tha kannada films are thriving in the city.
Kannadigas continue to say....

ಕನ್ನಡ ಉಳಿಸಿ, ಕನ್ನಡ ಬಳಸಿ, ಕನ್ನಡ ಬೆಳೆಸಿ.....

ಎಲ್ಲಾದರು ಇರು, ಎಂತಾದರು ಇರು, ನೀ ಕನ್ನಡವಾಗಿರು....

Monday, November 4, 2013

SAVANDURGA TRIP

On Saturday, 26Oct decided that we should go to Savandurga hills...... We were five... Rishi, Mom, Supriya and Smitha and myself,,,,,, we got ready early on Sunday 27th Oct and left from Birthi Mane at Bhuvaneshwari Nagar, Bangalore at 8.30am.....

Reached foot of hills after driving along Magadi road about 70km at around 10.30am. There was celebrations at the Lakshmi Narasimha temple at the bootom of the hills and lots of people. 

We could see the huge monolith rock infront of us and few people climbing.

All were excited that we could easily climb the hills and after walking through a pathway through shrubs, we reached the bottom of the rockhills. After few 100metres the steepness of the rock put me down and I decided not tp proceed further and sat. After about another 50m, Smitha slipped and fell and she also sat on the rocks. Only mom, rish and Suppi continued the tough and challenging climb and after about an hour they reahced the top, clicked many photos. It took another hour or so to climb down and all were back safely, dead tired, but with sense of achievement. 

Savandurga is a hill 65 km west of Bangalore off the Magadi road,. The hill is considered to be among the largest monolith hills in Asia The hill rises to 1226 m above mean sea level and forms a part of the Deccan plateau. It consists of peninsular gneiss, granites, basic dykes and laterites. The Arkavathi river passes nearby through the Thippagondanahalli reservoir and on towards Manchanabele dam.

Savandurga is formed by two hills known locally as Karigudda (black hill) and Biligudda (white hill). The earliest record of the name of the hill is from 1340 AD by Hoysala Ballala III from Madabalu where it is called Savandi. Another view is that the name is originated from Samantadurga attributed to a Samantharaya, a governor under Ahchutaraya at Magadi, although there is no inscription confirming this. This was the secondary capital of the Magadi rulers such as Kempegowda. From 1638 to 1728, Mysore took over this place and Dalavayi Devaraja occupied this place with the palace at Nelapattana. In 1791.

Thursday 31 Oct 2013

DELHI SIGHTSEEING

Delhi is a fascinating place, country's capital and is made beautiful for last few years. The place is horrible near Red Fort, Candani Chowk and Old Delhi. However, we time off to visit some places travelling by metro, which is a superb means of transportation..... fast, no traffic, reliable and cheap. Some of the places we visited were

INDIA GATE

1. India Gate: At the centre of New Delhi stands the 42 m high India Gate, an "Arc-de-Triomphe" like archway in the middle of a crossroad. Almost similar to its French counterpart, it commemorates the 70,000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the British Army during the World War I. The memorial bears the names of more than 13,516 British and Indian soldiers killed in the Northwestern Frontier in the Afghan war of 1919.

JANTAR MANTAR

2. Jantar Mantar:(Yantra - instruments, mantra - formulae) was constrcted in 1724. Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur who built this observatory went on to build other observatories in Ujjain , Varanasi and Mathura. Jai Singh had found the existing astronomical instruments too small to take correct measurements and so he built these larger and more accurate instruments.

RED FORT

3. Red Fort: The Red sandstone walls of the massive Red Fort (Lal Qila) rise 33-m above the clamour of Old Delhi as a reminder of the magnificent power and pomp of the Mughal emperors. The walls, built in 1638, were designed to keep out invaders, now they mainly keep out the noise and confusion of the city.
The main gate, Lahore Gate, is one of the emotional and symbolic focal points of the modern Indian nation and attracts a major crowd on eachIndependence Day.

4. Swami Narayan Temple (Akshara Dham): Swaminarayan Akshardham in New Delhi, inaugurated in 2005,  epitomizes 10,000 years of Indian culture in all its breathtaking grandeur, beauty, wisdom an d bliss. It brilliantly showcases the essence of India’s ancient architecture, traditions and timeless spiritual messages. The Akshardham experience is an enlightening journey through India’s glorious art, values and contributions for the progress, happiness and harmony of mankind. 
The Swaminarayan Akshardham complex was built in only five years through the blessings of HDH Pramukh Swami Maharaj of the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) and the colossal devotional efforts of 11,000 artisans and thousands of BAPS volunteers. Heralded by the Guinness World Record as the World’s Largest Comprehensive Hindu Temple, the complex was inaugurated on 6 November, 2005.

BIRLA MANDIR

5. Birla Mandir: Laxmi Narayan Temple, also known as Birla Mandir, is one of Delhi's major temples and a major tourist attraction. Built by the industrialst G.D. Birla in 1938, this beautiful temple is located in the west of Connaught Place.

6. Karol Bagh: Also spelled as Qarol Bagh, is a mixed residential-cum-commercial neighbourhood in Delhi, India, known for its shopping streets, like the Ghaffar Market and Ajmal Khan Road.

7. Palika Bazaar: This underground, air-conditioned market located below the inner circle of Connaught Place was set up in the late 1970s. It is especially famous for cheap electronic goods and clothes. From footwear to clothing to nightwear to perfumes to accessories to electronic gadgets to DVDsand CDs, you will get a wide range of products in this massive market. You may also buy curios and small knick-knacks to take back home as souvenirs. There are hundreds of shops in Palika Bazaar. It is estimated to have some 15,000 people within its confines at any given time and also attracts many foreign tourists. Although bargaining is the mantra for shopping anywhere in Delhi, it must be followed here rigorously.

Monday, 28 Oct.2013