Mysore - Coorg Vacation on Year End

This time, during the year-end vacation, we went to Mysore - Coorg tour for 5 days. We planned for this tour in September, booked tickets in October, accommodation booking in November 2012. We planned ahead of time as this was the year end high season.

We started our tour on 25^th December from Chennai by Mysore Express 10.00pm and reached Mysore the next day, 26^th December at 8 AM. We refreshed ourselves at Mysore Yatri Nivas located near to the Railway station. Tavera vehicle is waiting for our 9 member team. We started from our Hotel by 11.00 AM as we have to prepare our food, it took time.

Chamundi Temple

Day 1:

Chamundeeshwari Temple is situated on the top of Chamundi hill which is about 3,489 ft. above sea level and located at a distance of 13 kms from Mysore. The temple is dedicated to Sri Chamundeeshwari, is an incarnation of Goddess Durga. The temple has a very beautiful idol of the goddess wearing a garland of skulls. (Special Entry fee Rs.30 per person)

On the way to this temple we can see demon-king Mahishasura’s statue. On return we saw a huge Nandi statue. This colossal Nandi is one of the largest in India, 16 ft. (4.8 meters) tall at the front and 25 ft. (7.5 meters) in length. The magnificent pendent bells around its neck are exquisite. Nandi and the temple beside it are located at the 700th step of the Chamundi Hill. A panoramic view of the city can be seen from the top of the Chamundi hills. From here, you can see the race course, the Lalitha Mahal palace and Mysore Palace.

Nandi near Chamundi Hills

Next we went to Wax Museum (Entry fee Rs.30 and Camera Fee Rs.10) where we saw the wax statues of different musicians playing different instruments and we took photos near Superman and other statues.

Wax Museum

We reached Mysore Zoo at 2:30 PM (Entry fee Rs.40 per person and for Camera Rs.20).  We had our lunch there which we brought. On our entry a big Giraffe welcomed us, we thought it’s a statue as the Giraffe was still and then it moved slightly, only then we realized it’s a real one. It’s very tall and we saw few more Giraffes roaming around there. We saw variety of birds.  Red headed eagle attracted me a lot as it was sitting majestically like a king.

Then we also saw tiger, deer, bear, chimpanzee, gorilla, elephant and snakes. By that time it was 4.30pm, we moved from there to next point.  

Mysore Zoo

Mysore Palace is located in the heart of the city. Mysore Palace is one of the most visited monuments in India. And it’s one of the largest palaces in the country, also known as Amba Vilas Palace, was the residence of the Wodayar Maharaja's of the Mysore state. The Palace built in Indo-Saracenic style and blends together Hindu, Muslim, Rajput, and Gothic styles of architecture. It is a three-storied stone structure, with marble domes and a 145 ft five-storied tower. Above the central arch is an impressive sculpture of Gajalakshmi, the goddess of wealth, prosperity, good luck, and abundance with her elephants. The palace is surrounded by a large garden, designed by the well-known British architect, Henry Irwin. The palace is a treasure house of exquisite carvings and works of art from all over the world.

The palace is now converted into a museum that treasures souvenirs, paintings, jewellery  royal costumes and other items, which were once possessed by the Wodayars. It's a Kaleidoscope of stained glass & mirrors. The ground floor with an enclosed courtyard displays costumes, musical instruments, children toys and numerous portraits. The upper floor has a small collection of weapons. The beautifully carved mahogany ceilings, solid silver doors, white marble floors and superb columned Durbar Hall are a feast to the eyes. The marriage pavilion or the Kalyana Mandapa with a centre octagonal gabled roof, covered by stained glasses, is to the south of the building. The flooring of this magnificent Kalyana Mandapa has artistic geometrical patterns created by using glittering glazed tiles imported from England. The building has gorgeous chandeliers of Czechoslovakian make.

Mysore Palace

The royal throne, regal seat of the palace is called the ChinnadaSimhasana or RatnaSimahasana with captivating artwork on its gold plates is displayed during the Dussehra festival. The Maharajas of Mysore used to sit on the golden throne and hold durbars in the Palace Durbar Hall. The paintings of eight manifestations of Goddess Shakthi (strength) and an original painting of the renowned painter Raja Ravi Verma are also on display. The palace complex has a selection of twelve Hindu temples. The oldest of these was built in the 14th century, while the most recent was built in 1953. Someshvara Temple, dedicated to God Lord Shiva and Lakshmiramana Temple, dedicated to God Lord Vishnu are some of the more famous temples.

Mysore Palace

A silhouette of the Mysore Palace illuminated with 98,260 bulbs, shimmering against an inky black night is one of the most enduring images of the city. Although tourists are allowed to visit the palace, they are not allowed to take photographs inside the palace. Mysore Palace is the venue for the famous Mysore Dussehra Festival, during which leading artists perform on a stage set up in the palace grounds. On the tenth day of the festival VijayaDashami, a parade with caparisoned elephants and other floats originate from the palace grounds.

                                       

It took 2 1/2 hours for us to see the two buildings and they charged Entry fee for first Main palace Rs.40 and the second museum building fee Rs.35 per person.

After that we went to Brindavan Garden which is situated on Krishna Raja Sagar (KSR) Dam 19kms from Mysore City. (Entry fees Rs.15 per person) It has nice garden full of fountains and at 7PM the "musical fountain" light and music show begins. We reached there by 7.30pm and     by that time the garden was illuminated by light and we enjoyed musical fountain also. They played some cine songs in the musical fountain show. Compared to Akshardham, Delhi musical fountain show, it’s no way spectacular. Boating facility also is there to move from the garden to Musical fountain. Rs. 10 per person for one way boating.

We started late in the morning so we missed out some places on our 1^st day plan. Tippu sultan palace & memorial and Srirangapatna Temple, we missed out due to lack of time. By 8.30pm we were back to our accommodations. We covered only 5 places in one day.

Brindavan Garden

Day 2:

The second day we started earlier by 8.30am from our hotel and proceeded according to second day tour plan around Mysore city.

Somnathpura Temple

First, we went to Somnathpura Temple situated 35 km from Mysore towards Bangalore. Somnathpur is a tiny village which is located on the banks of river Cauvery and is named after its founder Somnath the chief commander of the Hoysala Army. The temple of Somnathpur is a typical example for Hoysala architecture. The stone carving which is inside the temple is an awesome example of stone carving.  In the temple, the outer walls are decorated with a series of star-shaped folds and the entire surface is covered with carved stone plaques. The walls above the plinth are also carved with exquisite figures of gods and goddesses, taken from the Hindu puranas, and meticulously arranged in vertical panels. The Keshava temple is one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture and is in a very well preserved condition. The temple is in the care of the Archeological Survey of India as a protected heritage site and visitors are allowed only from 9:00AM to 5:30PM. Entry fees per person Rs.5 collected by Archeological Survey of India. When I see this temple a thought came in my mind that it looks similar to Tharasuram Temple situated near Kumbakonam.

After that we went to Talakad which is situated 45 km from Mysore on the banks of the river Cauvery. Talakad is known for its sand dunes.

Talakad Temple

                                              

A historic site, Talakadu has number of temples that are buried under the sand dunes. The most imposing temples here are Viadyeshvara, Pataleshvara, Maruleshvara, Kritinarayana, Gourishankara and the Anandeshvara. The Pataleshwara Shivalingam is said to change colors during the day (red in the morning, black in afternoon and white in the evening). The temples buried in the sand are opened up for ceremonial worship on the occasion when there will be five Mondays in the month of Karthika and a large number of devotees visit the place to have panchalinga darshan. It comes once in 12 years, for the first time in this millennium it had come in just three years 2006 and 2009.

Curse of Talakad: Talakad is also tagged with the curse called “Curse of Talakad” by Alamelamma on the Wodeyars of Mysore. She cursed “Talakadu managali, Malangi madwagali, Mysooru arasarige makkalu aagadirali” which translates to “May Malangi turn into an unfathomed whirlpool, Talakad turn into a barren expanse of sand (We can see this place submerged under sand dunes several meters deep) and the Rajas of Wodeyar not beget male heir”. Till today whatever she had said stands true.

We took bath in the river and went boating (parisal). For boating they charged Rs.20 per person and we negotiated for Rs.15 per person. They collect Rs. 10 per kid / School children. We saw throughout our trip wherever we go School children were visiting these places with their teachers. I think in Karnataka, Schools are arranging these kinds of educational tours and it’s a good thing for children. 

Barachukki Falls

Next we went to Barachukki Falls and it is located 80 kms from Mysore. We have to climb down around 300 steps (not sure) to reach the falls. A rocky small pond and falls will invite you to take a dip. We have to cross a small rocky stream to reach near the falls.  In rainy season there is so much of water that there will be boat facility there. I took bath on the small falls and taken few photos climbing on the rocks. The water falls refreshed me a lot, but on return it was difficult to climb up as it was too steep to reach the plains and made us tired. Few of us got hurt by the rocks.

The Shivanasamudra Falls is on the Kaveri River after the river has wound its way through the rocks and ravines of the Deccan Plateau and drops off to form waterfalls. The island town of Shivanasamudra divides the river into twin waterfalls. This is a segmented waterfall. The Kaveri River itself is splitting a few kilometers to the south into western and eastern branches. The western branch results in the twin waterfalls of Gaganachukki, whereas the eastern branch results in the Barachukki falls. The Barachukki Falls, gushing out from a height of 250 feet, is very spectacular.

Gaganachukki Falls

Then we went to Gaganachukki falls (also called Bluff) is located near the Shivanasamudra thermal power station. It was really a breathtaking view from the view point. We cannot go down near the falls. But there is some other way near dhargah where we can reach the top of the falls. Some people trek to this place also but it is very dangerous and we heard few people lost their lives when they try to go there. So it is not advisable to go there without proper guidance.

It was 5.00 pm at that time and we planned to return to our hotel room. We almost travelled 100 km in one way so we needed 2 1/2 hours to reach our hotel. On the way to our hotel we went to Srirangapattina, a historical place (We missed out this place on day 1 plan). By the time we reached Srirangapattina it was 7.30 pm and no power was there in that area. We saw Srirangapattina temple only and we are unable to see Tippu’s Palace. In Srirangapattina Tippu sultan’s palace and Monument is there but we couldn’t see it because they close that by 6.00pm.

Finally we reached our Hotel by 9.00pm and had our dinner and taken rest.

Day 3: Four new members from Chennai joined our group in the morning by 8.00 am. Everyone refreshed and we vacated the Hotel rooms and proceeded to Coorg by 9 am. We now booked a Tempo Traveller 13 seater Van for the Coorg sightseeing as our team strength increased to 13. The road was good and the TT (Tempo Traveller) was sliding on the road to reach Coorg. We first reached Kushal Nagar (before 40 km to Coorg) where our accommodation was arranged. We dumped our luggage in the room and we started our sightseeing from there by 12.00 pm. First we went to Dubare Elephant Camp located 15 km from Kushal Nagar. The final one Km stretch was very narrow to reach the dubare and the time was slipping fast. By the time we reached to the camp site it was 1.00 pm. They said the elephant ride will close by 12.30 pm and we were upset to hear that. Also white water rafting was there and during that time there was not plenty of water flowing in the river, they said no water rafting but only fun rafting we can do. We had no other option but to go for this. But the good thing is that even kids and old age people can go for this rafting. They charged Rs.100 per person with life jacket for a 30 min ride. We have to row on this boat and we enjoyed a lot by rowing and singing “yelelo- I-lesa”. The Guide on the boat stopped at one place near a stream end and we can get down at that place and can swim or play in the water. But we are not preplanned for swimming, so we played in the stream and taken lot of photos by posing differently.

After our fun ride we had our lunch and we planned to cross the river to see the elephant camping / elephant ride site, where we can go by motor boat (Rs. 10 per person one way) but I decided to go by wading the river. First most of them hesitated to come with me. But When I get ready by wearing my shorts and proceeded in the water stream most of them decided to come along with me. Because when I entered to the stream they came to know that it was not very deep and water stream was not so fast. We crossed the river by forming human chains and reached the other side of the river, where we saw only one aged elephant standing there. We took some photos near the elephant and returned back. 

Bamboo Tree Hut

Then we moved from there to Nisargadhama Natural Park 3kms from Kushalnagar towards Madikeri off the state highway. Nisargadhama is a 25 acre island formed by river Kaveri with bamboos, teak, sandalwood trees, streams and wild life covering it. The place is filled with thick foliage of Bamboo plants and other trees around the river which creates the impression of a mini-forest. The island is accessible through a hanging rope bridge. The Deer, Peacock and children's park are the main attraction of this place. Also you can take a ride on the elephant around the Nisargadama. On the day we went, the elephant ride was not operated. We get into knee deep water at safe points along the river and took few photos. You can enjoy boating and swimming apart from just watching the natural park. The forest department runs guest house and treetop bamboo cottages for guests. We climbed one of a treetop bamboo cottage and took some photos.

Hanging Bridge

Nisargadama - Kaveri River

Paintings on the Wall

Now the time was around 6.00 pm and we moved to our next place Tibetan Golden Temple located 4 kms from Kushal Nagar (and 35km from Madikeri). There is no power there at that time and a dull lighting facility was arranged inside the temple. The temple is very wonderful and very silent. We missed the real beauty of the temple in the darkness. We saw a lot of monks there doing prayer in one of the Temple premises. This Tibetan settlement at Bailkoppa is the second largest Tibetan settlement outside Tibet. There are over 7,000 monks and students at the Tibetan monastery. This temple attracts large number of tourists from all over India. Three 40 feet tall golden Buddha statues namely Buddha, Padmasambhava and Amitayusare are the major attractions of this Golden Temple in the main temple complex. The wall of the temple is decorated with colorful paintings depicting gods and demons from Tibetan Buddhist mythology.

We spent some time for waiting the lights to come and meditated few minutes. Before that there is so much of noise from the crowd who visited the temple and after seeing we sat down in the hall for meditation everybody maintained silence.

After that we returned to our barracks and took rest. 

Tibetian Golden Temple

Day 4: We started today by 8.30 am and proceeded to Talacauvery which is located 44km from Madikeri and from Kushal Nagar 74km. It was a long journey travelled at a stretch. On the way to Talacauvery we went to Bagamandala Temple.

Bhagamandala is situated at the confluence of two rivers, the Kaveri and the Kanika. A third river, the Sujyothi is said to join from underground. It is considered sacred as a river confluence (Triveni Sangamam). We saw a lot of people there taking holy bath in that place. We didn’t prepare for that so we immersed our legs and moved for temple darshan. The temple here, built in Kerala style, has smaller shrines dedicated to various gods Bhagandeshwara (Ishwara), Subramanya, Mahavishnu and Ganapati.

Then we travelled further 8 km to reach Talacauveri, which is the origin of river Kaveri on the eastern slopes of Brahmagiri peak at 1350 meters altitude.

An enclosure around the spring called Gundige is connected to a small pond beside. The water from the pond goes underground and comes out after about one kilometer down the hill. We saw two temples there, a Shiva temple and Lord Ganesha’s temple. In the pond people were taking bath & offering prayers and we decided not to take bath on that pond as it was not running water. The pandit sitting near the gundige was giving theertham (kaveri water) to everyone and if we give money he will pour water on us from the gundige. We heard that, the Trimurtis – Brahma, Vishnu and Shankar gave darshan to sage Agastya at the holy Ashwantha tree near the temple.

Brahmagiri

From the Talakaveri temple, steep steps lead up to the nearby Brahmagiri peak. It is believed that the 7 great sages called the Sapta Maharishis had performed a special yagna here. It’s little difficult to climb up to the top as the steps are too steep and it was hot at that time. We thought something is there on the top. But nothing is there, but the view was awesome as you can see the entire Brahmagirihills and kodagu range from there.  We took lot photos from there in different positions. I saw fencing going along the hill and it was said to be the border of Karnataka and Kerala. I jumped over the fence J crossed border and posed for photos. My group members were shouting at me by seeing this as I was doing some pranks as usual there.  We returned from there and had tender coconut water. Everywhere in Mysore we saw lot of tender coconuts available for Rs.15 -20 and the water was very sweet.

We again proceeded to Madikeri for Lunch. After lunch we went to Abbey falls. On the way to Abbey falls our TT vehicle got break down, the driver said it stopped due to empty tank. We scolded the driver for this and asked him to arrange alternative vehicle. He spoke to somebody for arranging vehicle as the petrol pump was 7 km away. By the time we were roaming around that place. There was near a small hillock and my friend said you cannot climb to the hillock; I said I can and started immediately to climb. It was very straight and not a solid rock, it was piling of sand and somehow I managed and climbed up. Again people are shouting at me to return. Some of them told that to get down on the other way but I descended by the same way as I climbed up. Meanwhile the alternative vehicle came to pick up, but it was a Tavera, can accommodate only 9 persons and 10 of our group members occupied that vehicle. Only me and my friend left alone and I said we will come by walk as the destination is around 2 km (as told by the Driver). It was a new experience for us to walk on the steep dusty road with my back pack (they forgot to take from me). On the way we enjoyed coffee plantations and took photos from there. We almost walked 2.5km before the vehicle came back to pick up us. We reached the Abbey falls by 5.00 pm and our group members are returning from the falls saying they are not allowing to take bath in the falls as it was rocky and not advisable. We plucked some branches of coffee plant to take home in memory of Coorg. Again we are waiting for our vehicle there as the driver had gone for filling petrol. After 30 minutes the vehicle came back to pick us and by that the time it was 6.00 pm. 

Abbey Falls

Then we went to Raja’s seat the Sunset point, where the Madikeri Raja would enjoy the sunset from there and spend the evening. By the time we were there it was 7.30pm and very dark. We missed out the sunset due to vehicle problem. In Raja seat you can enjoy Toy train and Musical fountain. Entry fee for Park / Musical fountain is Rs. 5 and for Toy Train Rs.10. On the way to this Raja seat we went to Omkareswara Temple located 1 Km away from the heart of the Madikeri town. The Omkareshwara temple was built by Lingarajendra in 1820 with both Islamic and Gothic style of architecture.  According to stone inscriptions in the premises, the king killed a Brahmin in order to fulfill his political ambitions. After the death of Brahmin, the king built this temple to appease his spirit. A big tank situated opposite the temple is populated largely by fishes and devotees are allowed to feed them. The Poojari said the Shiva Lingam worshipped in the temple had been brought from Varanasi. 

Raja's Seat

In Madikeri, fort and Museum are there near Raja’s seat but they were closed by 6pm so we could  not see them. We returned to our base by 9.30 pm and had dinner.

Day 5: We started from our room by 8.30 am after vacating it and proceeded to Mysore in our TT vehicle. We had already booked a train from Mysore at 11.00 am to Bangalore as our plan for the day was shopping at Bangalore. We reached Mysore RS around 10.20am and boarded the Tippu express train after settling our vehicle’s bills. Reached Bangalore around 2.00pm and had our lunch. After our lunch we decided to go for ISKON temple first. Most of us went by bus and me and my friends travelled by call taxi and reached ISKON. We had a darshan at temple and returned to MG Road for shopping and purchased few slippers and dresses there.

We boarded the train at Bangalore by 22.40 and reached Chennai the next day Monday 4.40 am. Thus our tour ended.

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Visit my Hindi Blog: http://merabharatmahan-mountabu.blogspot.in/

Wild Tribe Adventure

Wild Tribe Ranch located near Ponneri, about 40mins drive from Chennai on the Kolkata Highway.

In our office we arranged a team outing on 22nd December for our employees. There we can have team-building activities and outbound training. We had great fun and adventure with our team in Wild Tribe.

Riding ATV

Ejection Bungee

Obstacle Run

Paint Ball Shooting

Bullie the Bull

Trampoline Jump

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Visit my Hindi Blog: http://merabharatmahan-mountabu.blogspot.in/

Trekking to Thiruvannamalai

Thiruvannamalai is situated 185 km from Chennai and 210 km from Bangalore. Saathanoor Dam across Thenpennai River is a tourist place near Thiruvannamalai. The height of the Annamalai hill is approximately 2,669 feet. Gingee Fort is another popular tourist destination located on the Tindivanam-Thiruvannaamalai road, 40 km from Thiruvannamalai.

Thiruvannamalai is one of the Pancha Bootha Sthalangal representing the fire element along with Chidambaram, Sri Kalahasti, Thiruvanaikoil and Kanchipuram representing space, wind, water and earth respectively.

Four Brahmotsavams are celebrated every year, the most famous of which is the one celebrated during the Tamil month of Karthikai (November/December). The ten day event culminates on the day of Karthigai Deepam. On that evening, a huge lamp is lit in a cauldron with three tons of ghee at the top of the Annamalai hill. 

Every full moon night, tens of thousands of pilgrims worship Shiva by circumbulating the Annamalai hill barefoot. The circumbulation covers a distance of about 14 km. On the yearly Chitra Powrnami (full moon) night in the Tamil calendar year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from across the world visit the sacred town.

Guru Ramana Maharshi lived in Thiruvannamalai for fifty three years until he dropped his mortal coils in 1950. His ashram, Sri Ramanasramam, is located at the foot of the Annamalai hill, to the west of the town. 

Karthigai Maha Deepam Festival

Karthigai Maha Deepam is a great grand festival in Thiruvannamalai and the North Arcot region. On this day Thiruvanamalai town, having a population of 5 lakhs, accommodates over 86 lakh people. This great grand fest reaches its high spirituality by lighting Mahadeepam at Thiruvannamalai Mountain which is 2900 feet high. The Great grand fest of Karthigai Mahadeepam is celebrated for 10 days.

We should know in detail about this annual holy beacon festival. Brahma and Vishnu were both quarrelling about their relative superiority. To give a decision on it and to erase their ego Lord Siva stood before them in the form of a blazing mountain. Having failed in their attempt to find out its top and bottom the two prayed to Lord Siva for His grace. He blessed them saying that he would appear in the form of Jothi on the top of the hill every year on the day of Karthigai in the month of Karthigai. To commemorate this event the Deepam festivals is being conducted at Tiruvannamalai every year.

Of the five elements earth,water,fire,air and ether, fire is considered important as being in the middle. Adding Sun, Moon and Soul to these it is said that God exposes Himself in eight forms "Ashtamurthams". So the Vedas, Agamas and Puranas extol God as Rudragni Sivajothi and Paramjudar. Just as fire destroys impurity in anything, God destroy the darkness of ignorance and egoism in men and blesses them with the light of wisdom. This is short is the philosophic truth behind the celebration of the festival.

On the hill top there is a big copper turn in which large quantities of camphor, ghee and wicks(of cloths) are poured and when these are lighted it will be seen from miles around for somedays after the Deepam festival day. We do not have such a huge light in any other place of our country. On the same night the eleven storeyed Gopuram is also lit with "Ahals"(earthern oil lamps) set in rows in all the storeys. Though this festival is special to Tiruvannamalai it is common throught the Tamil country. Lighting festival is celebrated in all the temples of South India including Vishnu temples. All the houses will also be illuminated with number of lamps being arranged in rows to give beautiful appearance.

Annamalaiyar Temple

The temple dedicated to Lord Shiva was built between the 9th and the 10th centuries by the Chola kings of the Tamil empire. The temple is famous for its Massive Gopurams.[11] This has been determined from an inscription in the structure that was made during the reign of Chola kings who ruled in the ninth century A.D

The 11 tiered East Rajagopuram towers to a height of 217 feet, while the fortified walls pierced with 4 gopura entrances offer a formidable look to this vast temple complex. The Pei Gopuram, Tirumanjana Gopuram and Ammanaiammal gopuram are the other three. The 1000 pillared hall and the temple tank were built by Krishna Deva Rayarar of Vijayanagar. Each of the prakarams (outer courtyard) has a huge Nandi and several towers such as the Vallala Maharaja Gopuram and Kili Gopuram.

It is one of the Panchabhoota Sthalam - representing five basic elements. This is the Tejo Sthalam among the Pancha Bootha Sthalams representing Fire. The others are - Thiruvanaikaval (Aapo sthalam - Water) Kanchipuram (Prithvi sthalam - Earth) Kalahasti(Vayu sthalam - Air) Chidambaram (Akasa sthalam - Space).

About my experience of Trekking to Thiruvannamalai:

I have a thought that I have to visit Thiruvannamalai with in a week after Karthigai deepam. So, I decided to go any day of the 10 day festival. On Sunday December 2nd we decided to go there by Car. One of my friends is having car and we three peoples are planning to start by 6AM and we fixed a common meeting point at Guindy. As decided I have to call the other 2 persons to wake up in the early morning. I woke up by 3.50am and refreshed myself and started to call others. Baskar called me up by 5am and I tried to call my other friend Venkatesh by 5.10am but he did’nt picked up. I prepared some idlies with idly powder for breakfast and lunch and started calling again Venkatesh. But he was still not picking the call. I thought he slept and kept the phone somewhere and the time is moving to 6.00am. So we two are decided to go by bus and started by bike to reach CMBT. When I was on the road Venkatesh is calling me to say he was just woke up and he will be ready in another half an hour and we decided to meet as per our plan at Guindy. 

I reached there by 7:00 AM and Baskar is waiting there for us and Venkatesh is reached there by 7:20 AM for some traffic reasons. Finally we started from there by Car 7:30 AM. It was a wonderful experience to travel by car in a High way. Venkatesh had driven the car as professional. We stopped the car at Mathuranthagam around 9 AM and had breakfast. 

We reached Thiruvannamalai  by 11:00 AM and trying to park our car around the temple. It was not easy to find a place to park our car. It took 15-20 minutes and finally we found a place nearby North Gopuram entrance. We refreshed ourselves and went inside the temple for Darshan of Annamalaiyar. After that we had some food and we were discussing to go for Girivalam or Hill Climbing. It was then 1.30 pm so it was not possible to cover both. So we decided to climb the hill to see the Mahadeepam closely. We started our journey by 2.00 pm with water carrying with our backpack. Somebody said we don’t have to wear slippers on the hill but It was not easy for us to climb without slippers and don’t have practice also. So we decided to walk with slippers. First it was a normal step we climbed and after that it was a real rock climb and we are tired. So we drank water and taken some rest and climbed again. In between we met some of the peoples climbing down and we asked about the distance and they said it is nearer only. But it’s keep on going....

After that we realized that they are encouraging us to climb to reach the destination. But in the mid-way one of them said if you can’t climb up, now itself decide and return from here otherwise you will get in to trouble. This was a discouraging word heard from the weak person (incapable of climbing hills or they don’t have the faith in God), and I returned them we can climb up any hills as we already climbed some of the hills and we have the faith in God. They then closed their mouth and went down. We don’t loss our faith and courage and we taken some rest often and by this way we climbed above the hill by 4:30 PM. It took two and half hours to climb to reach the Mahadeepam. The hill was steep and a height of 2700 ft.

It was a good experience for us to climb in a fresh air with aiming high to reach the top. In the hill there was lot of herbs but we don’t know the names of them. Someone gave us one herb and he said Sakkarai vilvam, it tasted like a sugar dipped leaves. On the way to the hill we met few of the foreigners climbing up to take darshan of Mahadeepam. One Foreigner started slogans on God Siva on the hill. 

The deepam has no flame that time and the temple workers are preparing the deepam to flame by pouring ghee and oil on the copper turn. The copper turn can contain 3 tons of oil. First we decided in the starting of Hill climb, we will come down immediately after we reach the top before the sun sets. But when we reached the top we decided to wait there to see the light of the deepam. They said they will light up the deepam by 6.00 only. By the time we had some food there by sharing idly prepared by me. It gave some energy for us.  

Exactly by 6.00 pm they lighted the Mahadeepam and everywhere the sound reflected “Harohara”, “Harohara”.  That place was now filled with a spiritual wave. After our Mahadeepam Darshan we started to climb down from the hill. Now it was more difficult to climb down as the path was very rocky and the sun light was going down. Slowly we climbed down from the hill and my leg was started paining due to cramps in my thigh and calf.  Finally we reached the foot hill by around 8.00 PM. We had some refreshments and started towards Chennai by 8:45 PM and we reach Chennai (Guindy) by 11:45 PM. 

The leg pain was lasted 3 days for everyone but the memories of Trekking to Thiruvannmalai Deepa Darisanam will be long lasting forever.

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