Tuesday, the twenty ninth was Ramzan (Ramadhan Mubarak!) and it was a holiday! So my family decides to set-off and explore the most "touristy" places around my city!(i.e. Bangalore) So we set off by car in the early hours of tuesday, on a semi-tight schedule, to Bluff Falls, Talakadu, Somnathpur and Balmuri Falls!
Here is how it started!
If you follow my blog you will know i've currently been watching Skins and obviously i watched it late into the night and went to bed well past midnight! There's only so much you can expect from a late-night sleeper. I woke up forty five minutes before our car arrived and boy, was i fast! I thought i did a pretty good job with getting ready, until of course the car engine was revved up and i realised i forgot my sunglasses! How can i be tourist if i don't have sunglasses? (yes its a big deal for me ok?) Nevertheless, i did not dare utter a word about it being the late-runner of the family.
Our first pit stop was for breakfast at a tiny little Iyengari restaurant. Having had little to nothing to eat the previous i gobbled all the food i could lay my hands on! Especially the yummy puliyogare!
Our next stop was a small one at the side of the road where we saw a lake full of lotus flowers. It went on and on as far as the eyes could see! It was a brilliant sight!
Bluff falls was our first real 'destined' stop. It is actually two sets of falls of the same river a few kilometers away from each other. We, however, visited the first one only. The mighty falls were loud, rushing, threatening and beautiful. Everything a waterfall should be. You could just stare at it all day and not tire. In fact i did feel like growing some wings and flying over it! (oh silly me!) There of course we encountered a few, two, three, DOZEN monkeys! Cute little trouble makers, they were! The first thing i saw as i stepped closer to the falls was a cute little monkey chasing a rogue little girl (or is it the other way round?)
We drove a few hours, i presume, as i fell asleep in the car, to Talakad. Its a very historically-rich town. We ran into a local who offered to guide us through the past of the place. (in exchange for the moneys, of course)
Of the many stories the place has, the most well known is the curse of the queen of the land Alamelu. There are different variations of the story and this is what i was told.
The Story : The king of the land could not have any kids. But to keep his pedigree going he adopted a child from the area. The young prince grew up and was married off to Alamelu.They did not have any kids, but lived a happy life, until the king was diagnosed by the royal physician that he had bone marrow cancer. On being asked for the cure, the couple were advised by the physician to go and have a dip in the holy river of Cauvery. Unfortunately, the king drowned widowing Alamelu. The then king of mysore advised Alamelu to hand over her possessions to his kingdom and become a patron. Alamelu declined stating that it was everything her husband had earned and would not turn it in. Infuriated, the king ordered his guards to take it from her forcefully. This in turn infuriated Alamelu who uttered the following: That Talakad must be lost (that is metaphorically said in kannada as 'maralagali' due to which it was filled by sand), that a whirlpool must be created so the possessions she has and her dead body should never be found, and lastly, that the king of mysore shall not have children.
If you are wondering if it actually happened, let me state the facts and you can decide for yourself. Firstly, the temples were supposedly excavated a few decades ago and more and more excavations are resulting in more and more discoveries of temples and palaces. It is believed that there is an entire kingdom still buried under the sand ( SO EXCITING GAAAH!!)
Secondly, the mysore king, a few generations ago (i am not sure how many) was indeed unable to have children and had to adopt. There has been an alternate cycle of birthing and adopting so.......
After this we had lunch in a homely tiffin room with hot and tasty south-indian meals. From there we were all set to take off to somnathpur when my mother remembered we had not seen the river where the 'curse drama' had occured. So we did detour back into the little town and went onto the banks of river cauvery which was filled with people with wet tightie-not even that white-whities and other wet forms of clothing that was not appealing to the eyes. Since we came this far, we decided to go on a boat ride. (FUN) It was all adventure and fun until the boat man decided to do the signature spinning of the boat and i almost vomited into the boat! (PROJECTILE)
We later found we were a few hours behind schedule and yes, this was the beginning of a word war between my sister and her mother, as my sister wanted to play in the waters of balmuri falls and my aunt wanted to revel in the history of the Somnathpur Temple. Long argument short, we decided to take a quick stop at the temple and hurry up to splash around in the water at balmuri.
In somnathpur now, it is the exact replica of the temples at Belur and Halebid, beautiful nonetheless. Breathtaking hand etched sculptures. I keep wondering how on earth they got so much done with lack of electricity and technology.
Soon after, we left to Balmuri. Let me just tell you, it was a good call not to ditch somnathpur to play in the waters of the kaveri at balmuri, because as it turns out, the water level were dangerously high and only boat rides were currently allowed and no splish-splash shizz was permitted.
Yes, another boat ride in the same river, in a different location. I must say, it was a good choice because the sunset view from a boat in the middle of the waters was the best way to end the trip! There we treated ourselves to roadside bhel puri and masala pineapples and mangoes.
The last place we stopped was also a topic of debate. But we did end up at an extravagantly exciting place. It was a food court with everyone's choice of food. I cant remember the name, but it was like a mirage in a desert. Or the casino Percy jackson enters with his friends in the first book yeah? Perfect ending to an exciting day I'd say!
Here is how it started!
If you follow my blog you will know i've currently been watching Skins and obviously i watched it late into the night and went to bed well past midnight! There's only so much you can expect from a late-night sleeper. I woke up forty five minutes before our car arrived and boy, was i fast! I thought i did a pretty good job with getting ready, until of course the car engine was revved up and i realised i forgot my sunglasses! How can i be tourist if i don't have sunglasses? (yes its a big deal for me ok?) Nevertheless, i did not dare utter a word about it being the late-runner of the family.
Our first pit stop was for breakfast at a tiny little Iyengari restaurant. Having had little to nothing to eat the previous i gobbled all the food i could lay my hands on! Especially the yummy puliyogare!
Our next stop was a small one at the side of the road where we saw a lake full of lotus flowers. It went on and on as far as the eyes could see! It was a brilliant sight!
Bluff falls was our first real 'destined' stop. It is actually two sets of falls of the same river a few kilometers away from each other. We, however, visited the first one only. The mighty falls were loud, rushing, threatening and beautiful. Everything a waterfall should be. You could just stare at it all day and not tire. In fact i did feel like growing some wings and flying over it! (oh silly me!) There of course we encountered a few, two, three, DOZEN monkeys! Cute little trouble makers, they were! The first thing i saw as i stepped closer to the falls was a cute little monkey chasing a rogue little girl (or is it the other way round?)
(look at the tiny one at the bottom left corner, so cute!!)
We drove a few hours, i presume, as i fell asleep in the car, to Talakad. Its a very historically-rich town. We ran into a local who offered to guide us through the past of the place. (in exchange for the moneys, of course)
Of the many stories the place has, the most well known is the curse of the queen of the land Alamelu. There are different variations of the story and this is what i was told.
The Story : The king of the land could not have any kids. But to keep his pedigree going he adopted a child from the area. The young prince grew up and was married off to Alamelu.They did not have any kids, but lived a happy life, until the king was diagnosed by the royal physician that he had bone marrow cancer. On being asked for the cure, the couple were advised by the physician to go and have a dip in the holy river of Cauvery. Unfortunately, the king drowned widowing Alamelu. The then king of mysore advised Alamelu to hand over her possessions to his kingdom and become a patron. Alamelu declined stating that it was everything her husband had earned and would not turn it in. Infuriated, the king ordered his guards to take it from her forcefully. This in turn infuriated Alamelu who uttered the following: That Talakad must be lost (that is metaphorically said in kannada as 'maralagali' due to which it was filled by sand), that a whirlpool must be created so the possessions she has and her dead body should never be found, and lastly, that the king of mysore shall not have children.
If you are wondering if it actually happened, let me state the facts and you can decide for yourself. Firstly, the temples were supposedly excavated a few decades ago and more and more excavations are resulting in more and more discoveries of temples and palaces. It is believed that there is an entire kingdom still buried under the sand ( SO EXCITING GAAAH!!)
Secondly, the mysore king, a few generations ago (i am not sure how many) was indeed unable to have children and had to adopt. There has been an alternate cycle of birthing and adopting so.......
After this we had lunch in a homely tiffin room with hot and tasty south-indian meals. From there we were all set to take off to somnathpur when my mother remembered we had not seen the river where the 'curse drama' had occured. So we did detour back into the little town and went onto the banks of river cauvery which was filled with people with wet tightie-not even that white-whities and other wet forms of clothing that was not appealing to the eyes. Since we came this far, we decided to go on a boat ride. (FUN) It was all adventure and fun until the boat man decided to do the signature spinning of the boat and i almost vomited into the boat! (PROJECTILE)
(my aunt, me and my sister)
We later found we were a few hours behind schedule and yes, this was the beginning of a word war between my sister and her mother, as my sister wanted to play in the waters of balmuri falls and my aunt wanted to revel in the history of the Somnathpur Temple. Long argument short, we decided to take a quick stop at the temple and hurry up to splash around in the water at balmuri.
In somnathpur now, it is the exact replica of the temples at Belur and Halebid, beautiful nonetheless. Breathtaking hand etched sculptures. I keep wondering how on earth they got so much done with lack of electricity and technology.
Soon after, we left to Balmuri. Let me just tell you, it was a good call not to ditch somnathpur to play in the waters of the kaveri at balmuri, because as it turns out, the water level were dangerously high and only boat rides were currently allowed and no splish-splash shizz was permitted.
Yes, another boat ride in the same river, in a different location. I must say, it was a good choice because the sunset view from a boat in the middle of the waters was the best way to end the trip! There we treated ourselves to roadside bhel puri and masala pineapples and mangoes.
The last place we stopped was also a topic of debate. But we did end up at an extravagantly exciting place. It was a food court with everyone's choice of food. I cant remember the name, but it was like a mirage in a desert. Or the casino Percy jackson enters with his friends in the first book yeah? Perfect ending to an exciting day I'd say!
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