My mother is always interested to know about my travels and
explorations and during my previous travels with her; especially on our way
back from Gadag to Mangalore, I realized from where came my zeal to explore. We
stopped at a field where farmers were harvesting red chilies. Amma and I spoke
to the villagers and they were very nice to offer us their meal – Bhakri (Roti
made of corn) and special chutney made of chilly; dishes specific to northern
Karnataka. While others hesitated, we gladly accepted and tried the food. So I
always wanted Amma to be part of my research on the districts of Karnataka. And
so when my parents were here during August, I planned to cover most of
Chamarajanagar.
We left Bangalore on a Saturday evening (Aug- 18th) on
my car and drove to Mysore. On the way I took a deviation at Bidadi to show
them my office. Another stop at Adigas near Maddur and we were at Mysore by
7:30PM. Hardest of all was to find a hotel. Being a long weekend the lodges were
full. We drove to several and finally found one. I hoped to take pictures of
the palace during night, all lit but unfortunately the lighting is between 7Pm
to 8Pm. However a walk around the city was interesting.
We left Mysore early on Sunday and headed to Nanjangud. On
the way we stopped at the Palace entrance to capture some pictures.
Sri Kanteshwara temple at Nanjangud is a beautiful with a
magnificent gopura and huge courtyard. On our way to Chamrajanagar we stopped at a small village hotel–
A hut with open kitchen. The owner took extra interest to attend the kitchen to
serve his special guests. Few fresh dosas made a good breakfast. My father
likes the hotels in the villages. Whenever we drive around Mangalore, we always
make sure to stop at a village hotel to grab at least a cup of tea. The hotels
in villages around Mangalore though have a special attraction. They serve the
food that we normally cook at home and do not find in the men of a city hotel.
Sajige-Bajjil, Moode, Biscuit Roti, Goli Bajje, Neer Dosa etc.
The hotel owner suggested a shortcut to Yellandur. The road
next to the hotel would lead us there he said of course with a right and left
turn here and there. So we decided to try the interior routes than the main
road. We passed through a village called – Santhemaramana Halli and then
reached yellandur town to find it crowded with hundreds of people. It was a day
of Santhe (Market) where villagers once a week sell their harvest. We bought
our share of vegetables as well.
Yellandur town has
two temples – Gaurishwara temple with a beautifully carved enterance called Balle
Mantapa built by hoysalas. Rings carved out of the stone are the main
attraction here. Vishnu temple with Varaha as the main deity was a rare sight. There
are not many temples of Vishnu in varaha form with Bho devi on his lap (Goddess
Of earth). A kalayanotsava (Wedding) was in process and the priest was kind
enough to offer us an invitation to stay for lunch.
The farmers at the vegetable stall were very eager and
supportive of me taking their pictures and few demanded one and asked me to get
them a print next time I visited.
Next we drove to Chamrajanagar and found it a little
difficult to find a hotel. The town is very small and the hotel that we tried
would not let us check in till 5PM so after a Raagi moode lunch we drove to
Haralkote. Narrow roads led us to tiny villages. At one place when we asked for
directions the farmers just directed us to a village house where a function was
in progress; perhaps an engagement or something and they by default assumed all
cars for the day where driving there. Anyways after few detours we were on
right track and unfortunately both the temples – Hanuman and Janardhanswamy
were closed. It is said that Bhabruvahana (Son of Arjun) lived here. However as
per the original story he must have lived in Manipur. Anyways, every place has
its own versions of the epics.
On our way we stopped at a small scale industry that makes
jaggery and spoke to the workers about the process and even managed to get a
free bite at the product which was actually more salty than sweet.
We next drove to Chikhole and Suvarnavathi dam but anyway
the heat and the dry reservoir prevented us from spending a lot of time there.
Next stop - Channappanapura. This was a beautiful drive and
the roads winded up a hill where the gopura of the Veerbhadraswamy temple stood
tall and again closed. But luckily the priest had left his cell phone number
and when we called he offered to be there in 15 minutes and so he did. Those
fifteen minutes of wait for me was one of the best parts of this trip, because
the temple was on top of a small hill overlooking nothing but trees and fields
with no house or humans in sight.
The idol was tall and intricately carved. In our
conversations we spoke of how Mysore palace still pays them Rs25 per month and
the Government does nothing. The priests had to leave or had to find income through
their farms rather.
We drove back to the city and tried to locate a Jain temple.
Two men tried to help us by asking me to follow their bike. They took us to the
temple but it was closed too and was on such a narrow street that I don’t think
I could have found it otherwise. Seeing us confused in the maze of tiny
streets, they came back again and directed us to the main temple –
Chamrajeshwara temple.
The hotel was still not free to check-in so my dad be-friend
a Mangalorean shop keeper who directed us to a hotel. We managed to get two
rooms and settled in. We drove back to the temple and relaxed there for a
while. The courtyard, Gopura and the carvings are simply beautiful. Colours
from the evening sky made the place glow.
After a quick dinner we retired for
the day.
