And the drive leads to Melkote..

Monsoon weekend without rain.. the weather is just perfect for a drive. We did not want to go too far since we had only Sunday to explore.

So we decided to head towards Melkote, known as “Badrinath of the South”. It is a town which is more than 1000 years old and is famous for “Vairamudi Brahmotsava” and its tasty Puliogare.

We started at 6 am and were on the Mysore road by 6.40 am. The traffic seemed endless. Though the road is good, you do not get the feeling that you have left the city at all till you cross Mandya. We stopped at Kamat Lokaruchi for breakfast. The route we took was:

Bangalore -> NH 275 to Ramanagara -> Channapatna -> Mandya -> Turn right to catch the old MC road -> Melkote (approx. 140 Kms in total)

After Mandya, do not take the right which has ‘Melkote’ signage. The road is not great. Go towards Pandavapura and then go on to Melkote. It will only add a couple of kilometers to the drive but the road is good.

It is only after you cross Mandya will you start enjoying the rural environment. Looking at the lush Green fields and small villages in between you tend to leave behind the tensions of city dwelling. There are signage all along the route to guide you.

We first went to Cheluvanarayana swamy temple. The crowd was less and the darshan was done within 30 minutes. The Vairamudi Brahmotsava is for this main diety.

Then we proceeded to climb up the hill to go to Yoga Narasimha swamy temple. It is believed that Prahlad himself installed the idol on the hill. It is a small hill with crude rock steps. There are two points from which you can start the climb up: one has 375 steps and the other 220 steps. You can take your car upto the second point so that you can climb up quickly.

The climb is not too steep and we saw quite a few elderly people climbing it with ease. The view from above is breath taking.

There are footprints carved on stone at one of the edges of the hill. Some believe that Lord Vishnu gave up his Narasimha avatar from here.

Be careful about the monkeys in the temple on the hill. They tend to snatch anything and everything. It started to rain soon after and we had a hurried downhill walk.

Right outside the Cheluvanarayana swamy temple, there are vendors selling the famous Melkote puliogare and curd rice. These are must-haves there. They also sell the readymade masala of puliogare.

Must visit places nearby:

Cheluvanarayana swamy temple, Rayagopura, Yoga narasimhaswamy temple, Sanskrit college, wildlife sanctuary and lots of ponds.

We could not make it to the wildlife sanctuary this time, but there is always a next time.

Kalam Ko Salaam

Words and thoughts escape me as I start this blog. With great difficulty and heavy heart, I force myself to concentrate.

Just like most of us, I heard of the man only after his name came up as Presidential candidate. I was amazed to know about his achievements and felt happy that India is also becoming a land of opportunity where a boy from a small village can be on the path to become the President. I started to read books written by him and about him. His 'Wings of Fire' gave wings to my dreams. His vision for the country helped me in visualizing a better country for my children. The more I came to know about the man, the more I wanted to know.

Some say it was his hard work, some say it was his destiny. Whatever the reasons attributed, there is no doubt that it was he who influenced the destiny of many others.

When he came to IIM Bangalore to give a lecture, it was an opportunity of a lifetime for many of us. As he outlined his vision for India, his question was: “Why don’t we aspire to make our children civil servants?” He could be the reason for some of my batch mates going into civil services after completing MBA. We were inspired to dream after listening to him.

His way of giving back to the society was his interaction with children whom he considered the torch bearers for the vision he had for our country. Everywhere he went, he met children with warmth and that is how he passed away. I cannot imagine any other way he could have spent his last moments in life.

I am honored to share my birthday with him. I can never become 10% of what he is. But he has inspired me to DREAM and I can only hope that I inspire at least one person’s life through my deeds in my lifetime. I pray for his soul and for his vision of India which he could not see fulfilled. Our true tribute to him would be working towards achieving his dreams for us.

“Dreams .. is not what you see in sleep

 Dreams .. is the thing which doesn’t let you sleep” – APJ