Boat ride along Ulsoor Lake

It has been years since I came down to bangalore. I have been looking at Ulsoor lake for quite some time. Even though I made up my mind to visit the place many times, I could not due to various reasons [most of them invalid of-course :-)]. Finally I stepped into the lake side on a fine summer clear saturday 05 May 2012. The lake view is good but lake is not quite clean. Leave that apart. I took some snaps and a boat ride. The boat ride was quite nice and costs Rs.25 per head. There is no fee for either camera or entrance. Lots of people took the ride on the day since it was weekend. The boat was pretty much old but in good condition. Here is the video I took during boat ride. No music this time. The video is focused on lake and lake view rather than at passengers on board and boat itself. Hope you will enjoy the video.

As always the video was composed using KDENLIVE. The video is also available in HD quality. The encoder is H.264 with 12k bitrate and 384kbps audio bitrate (AAC).

The boat ride is available from 10AM to 6PM.

Watch my other videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/nakumar85/videos

Ananthapura lake temple

As name suggests the temple lies in mid of lake. The deity of the temple is Sri Mahavishnu. The beautiful temple is present in Kasargod district of Kerala. Not many houses around and almost people free zone except at temple sight. The temple was renovated in the year 2008.

The specialty of this temple is the idols of gods are not made of metal but of 108 herbal types. Since old icons had lost strength, in 1976 effort was made to develop metal idols. However, due to some incidents, it is believed that Lord Vishnu did not admire it and again the idols were made with herbals. This incident was quoted by temple worshiper. The sculptor was vaikom Shri Kailsh. It is believed that this temple is origin of Tiruvananthapuram Anantapadmanabha temple. Here in the temple Sri Anantapadmanabha is seated on serpent. Nearby there are idols of Sri-Devi and Bhoo-Devi. The Hanumanta and Garuda nod at the deity. There are idols of Nagakannike near by deity. Jaya and Vijaya stand as gate keepers. The temple is in mid of lake. There is small platform linking the temple entrance and deity's place. During heavy rains, the water in lake spills over the platform. Inside the deity's place there are mythology paintings. There is one more wall cover to preserve paintings.

The mythology of temple relates to devotee Bilvamangalatu swamiji. The devotee seems to be eminent as Bilvamangala in Bengal. While once swamiji was worshiping god, lord Vishnu disguised as a boy reached swamiji. It seems boy was too mischievous and interrupted swamiji's rituals. Irritated swamiji pushed the boy from his left hand. Furious boy disappeared near cave saying "you will see me again only in Ananta Forest". Later swamiji realized that it was none other than Lord Vishnu. Swamiji followed the way within the cave which lead to sea shore. From there it is believed that he traveled towards south to reach Ananta forest. Finally he reached Tiruvananthapuram where he had view of Lord Vishnu again. The same place is believed to be Padmanabha Swamy Temple of Tiruvananthapuram. Even today one can see the cave in north-east of Anantapura temple where Lord Vishnu disappeared. There is a well near the cave. The water for daily worship is pulled from this well.

Anantapura Temple in mid of lake

There is Lord Krishna temple towards south-west of main temple. The main attraction here is the crocodile present in the lake. Around 67 years back the British had killed the crocodile. However one more crocodile appeared next day. Nobody knows the source of crocodile since there are no rivers or lakes near by. The crocodile is harmless. Everyday the temple worshiper presents food to crocodile around 12PM. The name of crocodile is Babiya. If worshiper calls crocodile with its name nearby cave, the crocodile silently comes and have food. Worshiper told us that sometimes it comes out during evening time also. 

Cave where crocodile Babiya resides

Specials:

1) "MOSALE NAIVEDYA" (Rice to Crocodile) is prominent offering here in temple.
2) Deities are served with free meals in afternoon.

How to reach:

If you are coming from Mangalore, travel towards Kasargod along NH-17 (NH-66) and stop at Kumble. Follow the signboards and you will reach Kumble-Badiyadka road. Travel towards east for four kms and towards right you have signboard for the temple. Then travel in the narrow road for 1km to reach temple. It seems like there are no public transport to this place. Better to come by private vehicles.

There are no guest houses near by temple. Stay in Kumble or Kasargod or Mangalore.

Temple timings:

6:30 AM to 12:30 PM
5:30 PM to 8:00 PM

Ideal time to visit: November to March

Other places nearby: 

• Madhur ananteshwara siddhi-vinayak temple
• Kumble gopalakrishna temple
• Bekal fort
• Kasargod light house

Source: Temple information and mythology obtained from pamphlet provided in temple.

Wood Pecker drilling Tamarind tree

This was on someday at my hometown KAUP, we heard drilling sound. The sound was so powerful that we could hear it for many distance. I went curious about the sound. I thought that may be some house work was going on. However, the sound continued for long time past 6PM. Nobody works at that time.

My mother gave a clue that it might be wood pecker somewhere atop the tree drilling. Then I walked towards the tamarind tree nearby house where amplitude of sound was high. Aha! It was Mr.Wood Pecker which was making such huge sound. The quality of video is not so good but sound is really significant. It continued to make sound for many hours before resting for the day but I took only a minute of video. Amazed about its beak strength. Of-course it's standing position was just like a highly disciplined soldier.

Watch my other videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/nakumar85/videos

ಶ್ರೀರಾಮ-ನವಮಿಗೊಂದು ಹನುಮಂತನ ಸ್ಮರಣೆ

ರಾಮಾಯಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಹನುಮಂತನ ಪಾತ್ರ ಬಹಳ ಪ್ರಾಮುಖ್ಯತೆ ಪಡೆದಿದೆ. ಇದು ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ತಿಳಿದಿರುವ ವಿಚಾರ ಕೂಡ. ಶ್ರೀ ವಾದಿರಾಜರು ಹಾಡಿನ ಮೂಲಕ ಹನುಮಂತನ ಸ್ತುತಿ ಮಾಡಿ ಹೊಗಳಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ವಾದಿರಾಜರು ಹಾಡುಗಳು ಬಹಳ ವಿಸ್ತಾರವಾಗಿರುತ್ತವೆ. ಅವರ ಹನುಮಂತನ ಈ ಹಾಡು ಕೂಡ ಬಹಳ ವಿಸ್ತಾರವಾಗಿದೆ. ಈ ಹಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಪದ್ಯದ ಮೂಲಕ ವಾದಿರಾಜರು ಹನುಮಂತನ ಸಾಹಸಗಾಥೆಯನ್ನು ವಿವರಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಹನುಮನು ಸಾಗರ ದಾಟಿದ್ದು, ಜಾನಕಿಗೆ ಮುದ್ರಿಕೆ ನೀಡಿ ತದನಂತರ ಲಂಕೆಯ ಸುಟ್ಟು ಮತ್ತೆ ವಾನರ ಸೇನೆಯ ಮೂಲಕ ರಾವಣನನ್ನು ವಧಿಸಿ, ರಾಮನ ಪಟ್ಟಾಭಿಷೇಕದವರೆಗೂ ಈ ಹಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ವಿವರಣೆ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈ ಹಾಡಿನ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಬಿಂದು ಹನುಮಂತನೇ ಆಗಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ವಾದಿರಾಜರು ಸರಳ ಭಾಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹನುಮಂತನ ಗುಣಗಾನ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದಷ್ಟೇ ಸೊಗಸಾಗಿ ಶ್ರೀ ವಿದ್ಯಾಭೂಷಣರು ಮಧ್ಯಮಾವತಿ ರಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಅನುಗುಣವಾಗಿ ರಾಗದ ಛಾಯೆಗಳನ್ನು ಅಳವಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಸುಮಾರು ೧೭ ನಿಮಿಷದ ಈ ಹಾಡನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿ ಆನಂದಿಸಿ.

ಈ ಹಾಡಿನ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಹರಿದಾಸ ಸಂಪದದಲ್ಲಿದೆ: http://haridasa.sampada.net/ದಾಸಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ/ಎಷ್ಟು-ಸಾಹಸವಂತ-ನೀನೇ-ಬಲವಂತ/1887

ಹಾಡು ಕೃಪೆ: raaga.com

Yeshtu Sahasavanta

Visit to Goravanahalli Mahalakshmi Temple

On 18-03-2012 I visited Mahalakshmi temple of Goravanahalli. We started around 9 from Bangalore in friend's car and reached  Goravanahalli by 11:30. There was too much rush in the morning. You will enjoy the drive along NH-4 till Dabaspet and the beautiful scenery thereafter. The rocky mountains are beautiful sight to watch. On the way you will also feel the menace of cattle too  so beware while driving. They are so much adamant that it is cumbersome to halt them.

Goravanahalli is around 80kms from Bangalore (majestic). It is located in Koratagere Taluk of Tumkur district. One can take buses  from KR Market(private) or KSRTC bus stand. Direct buses are infrequent however one can catch bus to Koratagere and alight at  Nagenahalli cross before Koratagere and take an auto. The auto is mass transport system i.e. accumulates until auto is full.  It may cost around 15Rs per head. If you need to own an auto, it may cost you more (around 50 may be).

If you plan to go by personal vehicle, one has to take NH-4 route towards Tumkur, enter Dabaspet town (around 10kms before Tumkur. NH-4 runs on top of town)  and take deviation towards right. There are directions, however they are confusing since you will find multiple paths. Ask local people  and they will guide you well. It is about 37kms from Dabaspet. You will enjoy the nature en-route. However the roads barring few kilometers,  are narrow and dug out. Be careful if you are driving for first time. The road till Nelamangala is 6 lane while it is 4 lane thereafter till Dabaspet. You will have to pay separate toll for both roads. For 6 lane take daily pass of Rs.20 if you plan to return on same day. For four lane it is bit confusing. It costs you Rs.29 two way provided you do not cross Tumkur. The second toll booth was really confusing.

Do not miss the fresh vegetables  on the way especially radish and carrot. They look really good. You can find fresh items near the temple too. After around 30kms  past Dabaspet you need to observe for sign boards towards right. From there follow sign boards for nearly 6kms to reach the temple.

Since it was rush we took special entrance ticket for Rs.25 per head. I am not sure about the mythology behind the temple. Lots of  people do visit here. The temple and surroundings are well maintained. Also free afternoon meals are served from 11:00AM to 4:00PM.  Few meters away, you can visit Teeta Reservoir whose water is used for agricultural purpose by local people. We could find considerable water here  but not much since it was summer. Here are some pictures taken during visit. There was nice sunset too. I hope I captured at-least good snap not the best.

SRI MAHALAKSHMI TEMPLE

TEETA RESERVOIR

CATTLE

GORAVANAHALLI SUNSET

CLOSE-UP SUNSET

Bike ride to Nandi-Hills

This was on 14-Feb-2010 when myself and friend decided to visit Nandi-Hills. I was visiting for the first time and also first time having long bike ride. Of-course I was pillion since I neither had two-wheeler nor I knew to ride bike. The bike was XCD-135. So it was wonderful ride covering NH-7 and small highway leading to Nandi-Hills. The up hill way is narrow, however cleanly laid. The curves had wider roads where four wheelers could negotiate smoothly. Total distance was around 70kms. It was clear day but nice weather since summer was yet to begin. There were lot people too visiting the place since it was sunday Place is good for trekking too I suppose. This place was also used by tippu-sultan during summer I feel.

You can find many more things here. It is just nature to watch here and roam around. There is also guest house here however need to book rooms in advance. People are not allowed after some time in evening except who have booked guest house. This is precautionary measure to prevent suicides which was frequent in early days. The sunrise and sunset is beautiful to watch. However we did not stay there till evening since we almost covered everything by afternoon. It was around 2:30 when we reached bangalore back.

The first part of video is bike ride which includes NH-7 and riding uphill. The second part is collection of photos taken in and around hilly area. The up-hilling part is 3.5x fast-forwarded to accommodate more content.

Hope you will enjoy the video!

MUSIC: FLOATATION BY ULRICH SCHNAUSS

Travel to KAUP from BANGALORE at night in SWIFT DIESEL

This is one of the older videos however composed recently. We went to kaup from bangalore at night on 04 Oct 2011. This is the first time I traveled at night in a private vehicle. I was awake till Gundya and later on could not resist sleep. So the video contains clips till gundya and later on no videos were shot. It was really amazing drive. The car was swift diesel and this was first time I really felt torque of diesel cars. The car was also very smooth and you never feel even if you are driving around 100kmph. We could easily cover the journey in 8hrs despite the horrible shiraadi ghat road and one hour break near kunigal where we had dinner. Hope you will enjoy the video!

Of-course video is bit noisy since it was shot at night. It is quite lengthy video too. I kept it lengthy to cover entire journey in a single video. The car is owned by my colleague's friend and he drove along entire journey. Please watch for entire duration when you get time. I have used three music for the video.

1) Ulrich Schnauss - A million miles away
2) Ulrich Schnauss - Monday Paracetamol
3) Linkin Park - In the End

I know I have been using first two are being used repeatedly in my videos. However I do not find alternatives even. Suggest me if you have good travel tune.

The video was edited and composed using KDENLIVE under XUBUNTU. Wonderful open source tool for video editing and composing.


Watch my other videos too: http://www.youtube.com/user/nakumar85/videos