KOTE MAHAGANAPATHI TEMPLE / MADIKERI FORT

Sunday, 8th April 2018

KOTE MAHAGANAPATHI TEMPLE

Having left VirajaPete 8.00 am in the morning, we reached Madikeri in about 45 minutes and our first visit was to KoteGanapathi Temple in Madikeri Fort (Basthi).

WALKING AROUND KOTE (BASTHI)

MADIKERI VIEW

Madikeri Fort is situated in the heart of the city and some of the old buildings are used as district offices. At the north-east corner of the entrance, there are two life-sized masonry elephants.

MASONRY ELEPHANTS

Walking round on walls of the fort gives panoramic view of Madikeri. There is also a place in the corner, a place where the Britishers used to hang the people on death sentence.

We walked around the place for an hour and proceeded to our next visit.

posted Friday 20th April 2018

VISITING PLACES - HUNSUR / MYSURU

Sunday/Monday, 8 /9 April 2018

On the way back from our Madikeri trip, we stopped over at Hunsur and visited mom's brother, SatishRao's residence. He with his wife, Malathi running a successful mess and fast food outlets and are very hard working. They have a nice house in the first floor , inaugurated about two years ago. He has some 6 rooms in the second floor for renting

They are told we would be coming for lunch, but we could reach there only in the evening after our visits at Madikeri. However, we had dinner on banana leaf, cooked and served by Malathi.

We left from there at 8 pm to Mysuru, which is at a distance of 40 km.

Next day we had nice lunch at Madhwa Bhavana Hotel at Mysuru, again on banana leaf, after which we left for Bengaluru.

posted Tuesday 17th April 2018

VENUGOPALA SWAMY TEMPLE - HOSA KANNAMBADI,MYSURU

Monday 9th April 2018

We visited New GopalaSwamy Temple at back waters of KrishnaRaja Sagar (KRS) Dam at Mysuru in the morning of 9th April. It is about 10 km from Brindavan Gardens of KRS. The road leading to the temple, though tarred, but not very good. One has to pass through few villages and there are no signboards on the way.

The temple is recently opened to public and it is also become a tourist attraction. The original Temple submerged after the KRS Dam built in 1930 and for more than 70 years, the temple was under water and resurface only when water level goes down.

A philanthropist Sri Hari Khoday of the Khode Foundation, took up the task of relocating and restoring the temple at HosaKannambadi.

The in-house architects of the group marked each and every slab used in construction of original temple, which was built in 12th Century. Each and every temple stone was removed and reconstructed at HosaKannambadi with trained artisans and sculptors.

The site and the surroundings are beautiful and since it is new, it is neat and clean. There are green carpets at the entrance and around the inner portion. Beautiful idols of all Gods like Ganesha, Shiva, Parvathi, Rama, Krishna etc, Names of all River Gods like Sindhu, Narmada, Kaveri etc, names of all Rishis like Atri, Jamadagni, Parashurama, Bharadhwaja etc are placed inside a small enclosure around the inner temple. One can walk around the corridor seeing these idols.

The temple maintains strict silence inside, no bells, no Kaanike (Offerings) to the box or to the priest.

Outside the temple, the area is beautiful, three sides surrounded by backwaters, lot of parking, ideal like picnic spot.

It was worth the visit after searching and inquiring at the villages.

Sunday 15th April 2018

ABBEY FALLS - MADIKERI (KODAGU)

Sunday, 8th April 2018

After going round MandalaPatti, we were dropped back in Madikeri, and we took our car to go to Abbey Falls, which is at a distance of 8 km from the city.

Abbey Falls stands surrounded by a blanket of greenery and the beauty is enchanting. To reach the waterfall, one has to cover a short distance by foot, walking down the steps.

On the way to waterfall, one will be greeted by lush plantations of spice and coffee. The sound of the water along with aroma of plantations is delight in itself.The brilliant view from the hanging bridge is sight to cherish.

During rainy season, the gush of waterfalls is much more, as the volume of water is more.

A number of small streams come together to form the sizzling cascade at Abbey Falls. The cascade gushes down a height of 70 ft to form a pool below that joins River Cauvery. During the monsoon season, as the streams widen and the level of water increases, the rush down the cascade thicker and beautiful watch.

We spent about half an hour at the falls and walked back, climbing up the steps, reached Madikeri and had our Lunch at ShantiSagar and proceeded further to Hunsur.

Posted Saturday 14th April 2018

SWAMI JAGADATMANANDA - PONNAMPETE

Saturday, 7th April 2018

We visited Swami Jagadatmananda at Sri Ramakrishna Sharadashrama at Ponnampete this morning.

87-year old Swamiji was available and was reading book and was happy to see us, as I visited a couple of times earlier.  He happens to be my uncle Srinivasa Kedilaya's elder son from Balekudru.
He left the house more than 60 years ago and joined Ramakrishna Ashrama and later became Swami Jagadatmananda and was in charge of Ramakrishna Ashram at various places.

SWAMI JAGADATMANANDA 7/4/2018

Swami Jagadatmananda, who served as the Ashram president, from the year 2000 till the year 2010, has been an inspiration to many, all over the world. The suppressed and depressed souls, have found succour and relief through his thought provoking ideas and views, which have been conveyed down the years through his discourses and writings. It was under his tenure as the President of the Ashram, that the beautiful Universal Temple was consecrated in the year 2009.

Swami Jagadatmananda is the author of the book – ‘Learn to Live’, which has received rave reviews by discerning critics, both in India and abroad. The book which was originally written in Kannada, titled ‘Badukalu Kaliyiri’, has been translated into many languages.

‘Learn to Live’, written by Swami Jagadatmananda is a fascinating and provocative book, which goads and inspires humanity to rediscover the plain and simple ways to live life. Apart from delving deep into the powers of the fathomless reserves of the mind, the book extols humans to rediscover the joy of living, through un-conniving and selfless service to all. The power of love and prayer has been aptly exemplified with illustrative examples from real life. Many unexpected occurrences in life, both eventful as well as uneventful, have been vividly explained with authentic case histories, using the vedantic theory of Karma.

The book highlights the virtues of morality, faith, patience, character and goodness, in tiding over the vicissitudes of life with self-confidence. The value of sincerity in the means to achieve a goal, rather than keeping the end goal alone as the target, has been extolled in the book.

This book has inspired many a person to reach the higher echelons of success, in their own chosen sphere of life. Likewise, many a person seeking answers to the questions posed by the rigorous grind of life, have found it in this book, which inspires a reader to indeed live a life sublime!

Sri Ramakrishna Sharadashrama

The Ashram’s foundation stone was laid on 7th of February, 1927. Within a span of 6 months, a lovely Ashram had sprung up amidst mystical surroundings of the Ashram. Swami Nirmalananda consecrated the Ashram on 10th of June, 1927. The newly set up Ashram had a small pooja room, a prayer hall, a kitchen and a couple of rooms to accommodate resident monks.

Swami Jagadatmananda

Along with us: Retd. Major VenkataGiri Saya, Suresh Cukkemane, Vanaja saya, UshaSuresh Cukkemane, Nalini Somayaji, Jayarama Somayaji

Posted Friday 13th April 2018

VISITING PLACES - MANDALAPATTI - AMAZING MOUNTAINS

Sunday, 8th April 2018

Madikeri ( Coorg )

The fog covered awe-inspiring mountains around MandalaPatti located about 20 km from Madikeri is most unexplored region of Coorg till recently. The treacherous road and curves makes it risky to drive a car. One has to hire a 4-wheel drive jeep to reach the view point to view the mountain range.

The forest department has constructed a watchtower atop the mountain which provides a magnificent view of Phuspagiri Mountain range.

It's an hours drive in the jeep to the watchtower. The view is simply amazing, wondering the creation of such a vast mountain range. We spent about half hour atop and walked back to jeep, and returned to Madikeri.

Posted Friday 13th April 2018