The Grand Winter Trip Part I

We knew that the forthcoming year was going to be very busy for both of us. My wife is on the verge of switching jobs and I have to shoulder additional responsibilities in my current position. Our daughter Malu in all probability will go to play school in 2010. So, I guess we both knew that we had to make good use of the shut down days at the end of the year. These days coincided with the arrival of Mahalakshmy’s uncle from USA. So, the blue print of the trip was prepared days before the shutdown and the arrangements confirmed. We celebrated Christmas in Bangalore and started our journey to Palakkad on December the 26th.

DAY 1

December 26th is the Boxing Day and the traditional Boxing Day tests (cricket) start on that day in Australia and South Africa. Pakistan was battling against Australia at the G on that day and later South Africa was supposed to lock horns against England. However, it was a different kind of a test for me as I was about to embark on the longest road trip I have ever made in my life. We started quite early at 6:00 A.M from Bangalore. The route was the usual Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani-Perundurai-Avinashi-Coimbatore-Palakkad. The A2B at Chinar was always crowded and you have to wait in a queue to get breakfast. Hence, we decided to have breakfast at Sri Krishna Inn attached to a HPCL outlet. This is just before the A2B with signage provided 5 km before the outlet. The food was really good and the rest rooms were maintained exceptionally well. As, this was my 10th trip through this route; I knew (thought I knew) the roads like the back of my hand. However, to my surprise; the road from Mettur to Bhavani was in a real deplorable state. I would recommend anyone traveling through these roads to go straight from Thoppur (instead of taking the right turn towards Mettur) to Salem (NH 7) and then take NH 47 to Erode. This will increase the total distance by 30-35 km. However, the road is very good and you can easily go at speeds of 100 km/hr. One caveat on taking this route is that you need to pay an additional toll (Approx Rs. 30) just before entering Salem town. We had lunch around 1:00 p.m at Vazhiyoram Oottupuraa near Walayar. Vazhiyoram restaurants are sustainable wayside tourism amenities along major roads across Kerala State. We reached my home around 2:00 P.M

DAY 2

Lazed and lolled at home. I expectantly switched on the idiot box to watch the last match between India and Srilanka. Even for an avid cricket fan like me; the match failed to ignite any interest. However, I still sat up to watch it just because there was nothing else to do. Anyway, it was a short lived pastime as the match was called off after 25.4 overs after the Kotla pitch fiasco. Honestly, I don’t remember what I did after that. So, let me put a stop here for the Day 2 chronicles.

DAY 3

We decided to start from Palakkad to Madurai at 7:00 A.M. The route chosen was Palakkad-Pollachi-Udumalai-Pazhani-Odanchathram-Dindigul-Madurai. From, Odanchathram; the signs given to Madurai are for taking a right towards Sempatti. However, I would recommend all prospective travelers to go straight towards Dindigul and take a right at the first under pass. This will lead you to the four laned NH 7. The last 60 odd km to Madurai was a breeze with speeds touching 120 km/hr. We had to pay toll of around Rs. 30 just before Madurai. The four laning work is still going on in NH 7 and you need to be careful of people and vehicles coming from the opposite direction. Avoid going to Madurai city through Samayanellur as the roads are very bad. Instead continue on NH 7 and take the next left turn. Signs are also provided. This will lead you to Melakkal Road and from there Kochadai and then to the city. Now for a little digression;

There are six murugan temples in Tamilnadu which are called Arupadai Veedu (Six Battle places). These are Tirupparankundram (1), Tiruchendur (2), Tiru Avinankudi: Pazhani (3), Swami Malai (4), Tiruttani (5), Pazhamuthircholai (6). Of these Tirupparankundram and Pazhamuthircholai are near Madurai and I had intended to visit both the temples during my stay in Madurai. I had also made plans to visit Tiru Avinankudi which is on the way to Palakkad. Now coming back to the chronicle; we reached Madurai by 11:00 A.M. Our intention was to visit the temples near Madurai on that day. Around 3:30 PM we started our journey and our first destination was Pazhamuthircholai. It is situated 19km from Madurai. Unlike the other five veedu; this temple has no grand edifice surrounding the central shrine of worship. This temple of Muruga is situated on the Vrishabhadri hill in a beautiful surrounding.

Pazhamuthircholai

The moorthy is Muruga with the Devis Valli and Devasena on either side. There is a perumal kovil at the foot hills called Alagar Malai. It was Vaikunta Ekadashi on Dec 28th and there was heavy rush at the temple. So, we went up to the Murugan temple first for darshan. On the way, we passed the famous “Naaval” tree where Murugan gave blessings to Avayyar.

“Naaval” tree where Lord Murugan gave blessings to Avayyar

After visiting the temple, we climbed the 130 odd steps to the Rakkayi Amman kovil. There is an unknown water source called Noopura Ganga at this place and if you open the trap door in front of the Sanctum Sanatorium; you will see the origin of the water source. After that we visited the Alagar Perumal kovil. The gopurams are very big and the architecture and characters will remind one of Khajuraho.

The Alagar Malai Perumal Kovil Entrance and Gopuram

There was heavy rush but still we had a good darshan and returned through the Swarga Vasal (Vaikunta Dwara).. Our next stop was the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple. There is literally no parking available near the Meenakshi Amman temple and the allotted place is always full. We had a local driver driving for us at that point of time and he took care of the parking woes. It is customary to worship Devi Meenakshi and then Lord Sundareshwar. It is advisable to enter the temple through the Ashta Sakthi Mandapam on the eastern street (Chithrai Gopuram). We passed through the beautiful potramarai kulam (Golden Lotus Tank) and then crossed the Kilikoottu mandapam to the Meenakshi Amman shrine. We had taken the Rs. 100 darshan tickets and we could bypass all the huge snaking lines to get a very good darshan of Devi. From the shrine, we retraced our steps back to Kilikoottu mandapam. At the northern end, Mukkuruni Vinayagar facing south welcomed us.

Mukkuruni Vinayagar

We visited the Sundareshwar shrine after that and went out through the south entrance.

We had planned to visit Tirupparankundram also but it was not possible as the time was 8:00 P.M. We decided to head to our retreat as we had to get up early next morning for the Kodai Kanal Trip.

To be continued.

The Grand Winter Trip

I had intimated about my plans of a grand winter trip. Anyway, I was able to expedite most of my plans and complete the nine day trip. Brief details of what was achieved in nine days.

2659 km
3 States
2 Hill Stations
1 down in my wish list to visit all Jyothir Lingas in India.
and loads of unadulterated fun.

I can only do justice to the entire trip if I break it into 3 separate posts. I will start with 2 posts a week. Watch this space. More to follow.....

P.S: I am parking the BIB mini series for the time being and will reignite it later.

BIB III: The Italian Job

For us, Italian food is synonymous to Pizza and Italian restaurants are limited to Pizza Hut and Domino’s. However, there is no dearth of good Italian restaurants in any metro cities in India. When I was in Chennai, I was a frequent visitor of Bella Ciao in 4th Seaward road near East Coast Road. However, if you are a vegetarian and love Italian food; then there is nothing better than Little Italy. I have been to the Little Italy in Chennai as well as the one in Bengaluru. However, in BIB; I will concentrate on the one here in Bengaluru. Even though there are three Little Italy’s in Bengaluru (One inside Salarpuria Tech Park near ITPL, the main one at Indira Nagar and the newly opened one in Koramangala) the crème de la crème is located at 100 ft road Indira Nagar. It is advisable to book a table before going there as the waiting time can range anywhere between 30 min to 1 hour on weekends. You can choose for an air-conditioned space or the open air seats (smoking zone). The food available is a veggie’s delight. You can get a taste of genuine Italian food ranging from minestrone soup to thin crust pan pizzas. I had mentioned in my previous post that Chili’s is a very good place to go for a date. I take this opportunity to amend that statement. If you are a vegetarian (or if your date is a vegetarian), then Little Italy is one of the best places to go for a dinner and that too a candle lit one. I don’t recollect seeing a bar. However, I do recollect that you can choose from an array of mock tails ranging from Virgin Mary to Hex on the Beach (No pun intended).

LOCATION: Little Italy is located at 100 ft road Indira Nagar. It is better to come to this restaurant through old airport road. If you are travelling from Marathahalli; take the fly over near Domlur towards Indira Nagar. The restaurant will be seen on the right side within a kilometer. It is advisable to take a U turn and give your car for valet parking rather than parking on the opposite side.

CUISINE: The name says it all and the guarantee that I can give all of you is that you can get authentic Italian food which will transport you to Florence or Sicily for some time. For any main course on the menu; you can customize the order by choosing the pasta of your choice. You can choose Spaghetti, Ravioli or Macaroni as the pasta for your main course.

PROS: Excellent food and ambience. A must visit for all Italian food lovers and veggies.

CONS: Cost little bit on the higher side. An ordinary dinner for two can make your wallet lighter by 1500 Rs.
P.S: I think I should remove cost as the negative points for any restaurants in Bengaluru as all the good restaurants are on the higher side and I need to harp again and again about this like a broken record.

RATING: 4 / 5

BAWARCHIS IN BENGALURU II

Bengaluru is one place in India where almost all typical American franchise restaurants have set up shop. You will find TGI Friday’s and Ruby Tuesday’s in Bangalore and Au Bon Pain the Boston based franchise being the latest. However, if you are a fan of Mexican food and if you have ever been to Chili’s in America; then Chili’s here in “Namma Bengaluru” is a must visit.

The ambience inside the restaurant will transport you to US of A and you can enjoy the nostalgia. Now for a little bit of history on Chili’s: Chili's Grill & Bar is a restaurant chain founded by Larry Lavine. Chili's first location, a converted postal station on Greenville Avenue in Dallas, Texas, opened on March 13, 1975. Lavine's concept was to create an informal full-service dining restaurant with a menu featuring different types of hamburgers offered at an affordable price. The brand proved successful, and by the early 1980s there were 22 more Chili's locations in the region, all featuring similar Southwest decor. In 1983, Lavine sold the company to restaurant executive Norman E. Brinker, formerly of the Pillsbury restaurant group. The restaurant was then converted to Tex-Mexican cuisine. Chili's is currently owned by Brinker International and now has locations in all 50 U.S. states and 24 international locations.

LOCATION: The restaurant is located at Old Airport Road. If you are travelling from Marathahalli towards MG road; the restaurant is on the left side. The nearest landmark is the Kempfort/Total Mall. There is ample parking available. You have to take the small left side road to reach the parking space.

CUISINE: Typical Mexican food with Fajitas, Burritos, Tacos, Quesadillas, Nachos, Salsa etc. You can make your own Burrito from the Fajitas and Tortillas. They have given three step instructions on the menu card to make your own customized Burrito. There is also a bar provided so you can either choose your favorite cocktail or order a pitcher of beer.

PROS: Excellent food and ambience. Very nice place to go for a date or a romantic evening.

CONS: The cost is little bit on the higher side. A single main course can cost from Rs. 250-400.

RATING: 3.5/5

BAWARCHIS IN BENGALURU

I am yet to start on my end of the year trips. Hopefully, it will come to fruition sooner rather than later and I will be able to chronicle it right here in this space at the beginning of next year. Cricket is dull and dreary at the moment with India already at the zenith in the ICC test rankings. The prospect of a five match one day series is like an old wine in an even older bottle (Three five match one day series in the last 18 months; I think India and Sri Lanka would be sharing the same dressing room now). So, I thought I will take up this opportunity to write about the restaurants I have visited in Bangalore. This will be a series of short posts that will follow a standard template. I will be explaining about the location of the restaurant, the cuisines available, Plus & Minus, followed by very own rating (Maximum rating of five). My objective on including this in My BLOG: well, if this information helps even one person; then I would consider it as a job well done.

It is only befitting that I should start this series with one of the most traditional restaurants in Bangalore. Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR) is one of the oldest and most traditional heritage restaurants in Bangalore. These days MTR branches are mushrooming in all parts of Bangalore and you can visit any of these to get a taste of MTR. However, none of the branches will match the ambience of the main MTR in Lal Bagh main road. MTR has created history in pioneering a mix for Rava idli. So, it goes without saying that the breakfast, coffee and sweets are out of the world. However, the crown jewel is the proper Kannada lunch served in the afternoon. I would recommend all of you to visit this place for lunch at least once so as to savor a proper Kannadiga food that is really scarce to find in Bengaluru.

LOCATION: This restaurant is quite difficult to find for newbie in Bengaluru. It is situated at the Lal Bagh Main Road on the right side just after Urvashi theatre. There is no parking in front of the restaurant. The parking place is provided fifty meters ahead on the right side just before thr Lal Bagh junction.

Blink and you Miss entrance to MTR

CUISINE: Traditional South Indian fare. I would recommend you to try out the lunch at this place. The restaurant opens for lunch at 12:30 p.m. and my advice is to reach the place by 12:20 p.m. A single lunch token will make your pocket lighter by 120 rupees. Then you will be guided to the waiting room at the top. There are three tiffin rooms and you will be allowed to go inside only when one of the rooms is empty. In case, you come exactly at 12:230 p.m.; waiting time of approximately 30 min can be avoided. I need to warn you to take a very light breakfast on that day because otherwise you will not be able to do justice to the lunch. Anyway, the food starts with grape juice, followed by a tiffin item (They had served Dosa on one day and Poori when I visited a second time). The accessories will be chutney and sagu (masala in Malayalam and Tamil). This will be followed by the side dishes for the main course which includes a thoran (poriyal), payasam, a second carrot poriyal and traditional kannada pappad (small ones). A liberal helping of badam halwa was served next when I had visited the place. Then came the main course with bisibella bath followed by sambhar and rice, then rasam and finally curd rice. The dessert comprised of ice cream and fruit salad and a meeta paan. I forgot to mention that everything is unlimited so it gives you the license to “stuff your gills”.

PLUS: Excellent food and good value for money.

MINUS: The ambience might be a deterrent for some.

RATING: 4.5/5

Malaikotai (Rock Fort) Trip

My daughter’s first birthday fell on November the 10th. We had already decided to go to Palakkad for the celebrations. As we had informed our Managers well in advance, we had in our hand a little nine day vacation. However, this trip was not the ordinary kind of holiday where you get up late and spend the whole day in lazy manner. We had already made plans for each and every day including the B day. One of the plans was to visit the city of Malaikotai, Trichy. I had a long pending promise given to my parents to take them to all the temples in Trichy and we believed that this was the right time to fulfill the promise. However, as soon as we reached Palakkad on 7th afternoon; it was clear that only the rain gods will have the final say in our trip. Anyway, we hoped for the best and planned to start on 8th morning at 5:00 a.m. The rains relented by 4:00 a.m but there was no power and we could only start by 7:00 a.m

I had already checked in to Google maps to find the shortest route. I found that the shortest route is to take the Coimbatore Highway (NH 47) and then continue in the L& T bye pass and take the right turn towards Trichy road. The route identified as the shortest was Palladam –Kangeyam – Vellaikovil –Karur and Trichy. The rain had not stopped completely and there was drizzling throughout. The visibility was not great and we only went at safe speed of around 80 km/hr. We had breakfast at a small Drive In at an IOC petrol bunk near Palladam and resumed our journey. We followed the signs for Trichy and on track to reach Kangeyam. However, we could only see sign boards towards Dharapuram. I was very sure that we did not miss any intersections. I had a quick check at my google maps and found that I still could go to Karur from Dharapuram. I decided not to turn back and continued to Dharapuram and from there to Karur. The rains stopped completely and it was a very pleasant drive till Karur. However, the last 75 km from Karur to Trichy was like “Chinese Torture”. For any lesser mortal car; it would have been the beginning of the end. The roads were literally non-existent. The road construction was going on and the road left out was so narrow for even single side traffic. We passed through a place called “Kulithalai” , a literal translation of this to English would go something like Bath Head!. Anyway, after long and arduous two hours; we reached the outskirts of Trichy around 1:30 p.m. We checked in to our hotel. We had harbored ideas of visiting all the temples in Trichy on 8th and go to Thanjavur on 9th. However, the unprecedented rains poured cold water to all our plans (No pun intended). So, we decided to stick to Trichy and cover all the temples. We paid a visit to our relatives in Trichy and they introduced us to their friends who had come with the same intention of visiting the temples. The only difference was that they had stayed in Trichy for a long time and knew all the temples like the back of their hand. That was the first divine intervention and we had and the second one also that did not take very long to come. The rains stopped completely and the skies brightened. We had a late lunch at our hotel and we met our guides on the way and followed their white Maruti 800. The first destination was Samayapuram Mariyamman off the Villupuram Chennai highway (NH 45) approximately 15 km from the city. Our guides had contacts at the right places and we were granted entry directly and had a good darshan. The next destination was a very old temple called Katru Azhagiya Singa Perumal (Lord Narasimha) temple near Srirangam. Legend has it that Lord Narasimha came to this place after all his anger had abated. The beautiful idol in the sanctum sanctorum has Lord Narasimha along with Goddess Lakshmi on his lap (Shanta Narasimha). As per the priests, this temple is much older than Srirangam Ranganatha Swamy temple. Our next destination was the famous Shiva temple; Thiruvanikaval. This is one of the pancha bootha sthalas in Tamil Nadu and this symbolizes the element water. The inner temple is at a lower level and there is always water under the Shiva linga. The main priest was kind enough to show us the water. The legend of this temple is that two devout followers of Lord Shiva; a white elephant and a spider used to perform pujas for the Shiva Linga. The spider wove webs and the elephant cleaned the linga by bringing water in it’s trunk and destroyed the web. This led to a confrontation wherein the spider went into the trunk of the elephant and both died only to be given another life by none other than Lord Shiva himself… I had visited Srikalahasti last month and the legend was similar and the only difference was the addition of a snake. Curious, isn’t it? The last place to visit was the Lord Subhramanya temple in a nearby Village called Vayalur. Our guides used to come to this temple on every Skanda Shashti when they were in Trichy and hence were familiar with all the priests. We were treated like royalty and a special puja was performed for only us. Our relatives had invited us for dinner and we reached there around 9:00 p.m . We reached our hotel at 10:00 p.m and decided to go to to Srirangam and Malaikotai Uchi Pillayar the next day.

We woke at around 5:00 a.m and started to Srirangam Rangantha swamy temple at 6:30 p.m. We reached there by 7:20 a.m. There was hardly any crowd and we were bestowed with a very good darshan free of cost. We visited the Thayar Sanidhi and the other parivaras. We started our journey from Srirangam to Malaikotai around 8:45 a.m.

Srirangam Gopuram

Close up of Gopuram: Lord Vishnu in Ananthashayanam

Malaikotai is in the middle of the town and the roads were narrow. We were warned that parking would be a problem and we were given directions to park at Singarathopu. Did I tell you: We were without our guides the next day and combined driving and navigation was little bit too much of multi tasking. Anyway, we parked on the road (Being a weekday, the roads were not very crowded) and visited Manicka Vinayagar. After that we started our climb to the top of Malaikotai. We visited the Shiva and Amman shrines on the way and reached the top. Again, we had a good darshan and reached our base by 11:00 a.m.

Malaikotai Uchi Pilayar

I did not want to take the Karur route and we decided to take the Dindigul route. They say that Trichy is in the middle of Tamilnadu and you can literally go directly to any place in Tamilnadu. The route was Trichy – Dindigul – Ottanchathram – Palani-Pollachi-Palakkad. I was not familiar with Trichy-Dindigul route. However, I knew that the route from Dindigul is very good as I had traveled in that road during my Madurai trip. However, there were no demons in the road till Dindigul and we covered the 100 odd kilometers very fast. We reached Palakkad by 5:00 p.m and Monday and this is where my post ends….

P.S I will only be travelling during end of December and will provide some filler posts on my expert unadulterated views on Cricket….

TRIP TO TIRUMALA

It is one of the anomalies in my life that I have never been to Tirupathi. We had planned a trip to Tirupathi several times; however it never happened due to different reasons. There is a saying that unless and until Lord Venkateshwara beckons you; a trip to Tirupathi can never be realized. I think I did not get that divine invitation in the twenty nine years of my life. However, all the celestial configurations fell into place in early October. Four of my colleagues and me started planning for this trip around that time. Even though two people backed out; we finalized the trip. The start date was October 10th and return on October 12th. So, the group comprised of Govind; a veteran of many Tirupathi trips and who knew the place like the back of his hand; Jagan; a first timer and myself. We went to the TTD office in Malleshwaram and purchased Rs. 50 darshan tickets for October 11. The darshan time was given as 3:00 p.m.

Jagan and Govind

And the Driver ( Yours Truly)

As my house was near K.R puram; everyone decided to start from my place. We started around 1:00 p.m on October 10th. From my house; we took the route to Battarahalli and touched Old Madras Road. The traffic was quite heavy for a Saturday afternoon. We stopped at Kamat Upachar for lunch which was some where between Hosakote and Narasapura approximately 50 km from Bangalore. The route taken was Old Mardas Road - Mulbagal – Palamner – Chithoor – Tirupathi. We reached Tirupathi around 7:00 p.m and checked into a hotel. We visited Alamelu Mankamma temple around 7:30 p.m. We had dinner at Bhimas near the railway station and had spicy Andhra meals for dinner the effect of which I was to know the next day.

The Starting Point of our 3500 step climb....

The idea was to climb up to the temple. So, we needed to cover around 3500 steps spread around 17 km. We started from our hotel at around 6:00 a.m and took an auto to Alipiri. We started climbing the steps and after half an hour I realized that I am in trouble and the heavy spicy Andhra meal was churning inside my stomach. I knew I had to throw up immediately otherwise I am not going to reach the top walking the 17 k.m. So, I stopped and Jagan also stopped along with me. Govind continued walking unaware of all these happenings. After throwing up; it was as if a fresh lease of life was bestowed upon me. We walked quickly and caught up with Govind who was waiting for us at Gali Gopuram. We came to know that Tirupathi Tirumala Devasthanam (TTD) was offering special privileges to pedestrian pilgrims. All pedestrians can get a free Darshan ticket at Gali Gopuram and get head tonsured free and also get two laddus. The advantage with this ticket is that there is no time of entry and whenever you reach the top; one can go to the Vaikuntam II complex and get in with the pedestrian queue. We reached the top around 11:00 a.m and joined the people in the waiting room at around 11: 45 a.m. The gates were not opened till 2:45 p.m as some VIP was visiting the temple. We watched the Kalyanotsvam and Dolotsvam on television provided in the waiting room. Finally, the gates were opened and we were on our way. The roller coaster ride from there to inside the temple took approximately an hour. We had a very good darshan and couple of greased palms ensured that we were back for another darshan and this time we were able to stay there for close to a minute. Our next destination was the Sri Vari hundi and there was a separate queue for that. As the officials were replacing the hundi; it took us time. However, we could give our offerings very quickly after that. We got the customary two laddus per person. Govind with his local expertise requested the officials to give another pair of laddus for the Rs. 50 tickets purchased from Malleshwaram. The officials obliged and we got four laddus per person. We took a jeep back to our hotel and reached there by 6:30 p.m. We had dinner again at Bhimas and this time I was wise enough to order soup and a dosa.

We started at 6:00 a.m on the next day to Kalahasti. The route was the Nellore-Vijayawada route (The route which connects the South India to the Eastern part of India). We reached the outskirts of the temple and found a board on the left side giving directions to the temple. However, Govind was skeptical about that and he told that we had to cross a bridge to reach the temple. We took the shorter route and found to our dismay that they charge Rs. 50 to use the route and reached thhe South entrance. My advice to all the people who are planning to visit Sri Kalahasti is to take the longer route. Anyway, there was no big rush at the temple and we were able to have a very good darshan of Shiva and Amman.

Entrance to SriKalaHasti

We started back by around 7:30 a.m. We decided to give Kanipakkam Vinayakar temple a skip as 12th were a working day and wanted to reach office by mid day. The journey was uneventful. We had breakfast at a Reliance A1 plaza (They had rechristened it to Nandi Plaza) near Chithoor. We reached my place by around 12:30 p.m. Govind and Jagan decided to give office a miss that day because of logistical issue. I for my part reached office at around 1:30 p.m and it was business as usual from there onwards. So, my last line teaser for all of you is that I will update you about my Rock fort and Palani trip in my next post…