Hussain Sagar-Hyderabad

Hussain Sagar

Our next stop after Birla Mandir was Hussain Sagar. It was built in 1562 by Hazrat Hussain Shah Wali, so aptly named after him during the rein of Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah. It is one of the largest man-made lakes that feeds on canals from Musi River throughout the year. Earlier it was the only source of water supply for drinking and irrigational purposes to Hyderabad before Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar were built on River Musi. This lake also separates Hyderabad from Secunderabad.

Lord Buddha

It famously holds world's tallest monolith statue of Lord Buddha of 58 feet. We had to be happy seeing the statue from a distance as it was almost 9:30 P.M. We could see few ferries shuttling near the statue. We promised ourselves to come back again in the future to see this. We did a bit of strolling, tried capturing night view of lake in our lens, basically getting essence of the city.

Tip: Best thing to do is make Birla Mandir and Hussain Sagar a half day program, so that one can visit Buddha statue, Lumbini Park; and mainly try street foods, which we had to give a miss due to time constraint.

Vellore Fort

Vellore Fort

This post is overdue. It has been lying in draft for more than a month now. This trip happened on May 10th. We finished the draft today and posting as it is.

Last Sunday we were supposed to attend a wedding in Chennai. Mother came down to visit us as it is her summer holidays. Our original plan was to take her to Kanchipuram en-route, but she had been there on a school trip. We changed the plan at the nth moment to Vellore. Usually we do a thorough research on the place before we could get there. This time it didn't happen that way. Lets say we just went with the flow. We zeroed down on Vellore fort and golden temple.

Bangalore-Chennai Highway

We started early in the morning at 5. The route was Electronic city-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Ambur-Vellore on Chennai Highway. Fifteen kilometers to Vellore and we were on GPS. We reached the fort at 7:30.

Map

It is a beautiful fort indeed. According to Wikipedia "it sprawled over an area of 133 acres and is located at an altitude of 220 m within a broken mountain range. The fort is surrounded by a moat which was once used as an additional line of defense. The fort is considered to be among the best of military architecture in Southern India and is known for its grand bastion, wide moat, and tough masnory." It is mentioned that "there is no such fort on the face of earth like the one in Vellore. It had deep wet ditch where once 10,000 crocodiles swarmed, waiting to grab every intruder into this impregnable fort."  

The fort was built by Vijayanagara Empire in 1566 AD. It was under the control of many rulers; part of Vijayanagara Empire (Aravidu Dynasty), Bijapur Sultanate, Marathas, Mughal army, British India, now maintained by ASI.

Sentry Figurine

Jalagandeshwara temple inside the fort is the highlight. The outer door is one of its kind. Big, strong. It would have taken an army of men to open and close this.

Jalagandeshwara Temple

As soon as you enter, there is a Kalyana Mantapa (marriage hall) on the left side with sculpture on pillars. We were just marveled at the carvings and sheer beauty. It speaks volumes about the artists of that period.

Kalyana Mantapa

Door & Pillar

It is easy to decipher if you have a little bit knowledge about mythology. Nonetheless we spent almost two hours appreciating the intricate details of the sculptures. Unfortunately, there is not much explanation available and we came to our own conclusion. There is a strange pull in this place which you don't find in popular temples. There is pushakarini (water tank) on the right side filled with filth. The temple was unused for a very long time, though sanctified with an idol of Lord Shiva, hence the name Jalagandeeshwara.

Yali-Mythical Creature

There is mosque in the fort, which is closed for the visitors.

Mosque

There is a church, which was built in British period, which is also closed on the day of our visit.

St. John's Church

There is a museum, which was closed to our disappointment because it is the second Saturday, so it is better to plan accordingly. I totally recommend this fort to those who like history and architecture.

India's top medical institute Christian Medical College and Hospital is present in this city.

How to Reach: Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Ambur-Vellore

Travel Tip: Reach early in the morning to beat the soaring heat.

Golden Temple Sripuram, Vellore

Golden temple or Lakshmi Narayani Temple in Vellore is a popular among religious folks. Few of our acquaintances spoke highly about the place and as it is on the way to Chennai, we decided to include it.

After seeing Vellore fort, we headed to the temple which is around 7 to 8 km from the fort. The sign posts are well-marked and wouldn't be difficult to locate the place. As it happens with most temples it was crowded with small shops selling flowers, sugarcane juice, sodas, savories, etc. We parked the car outside the gate. It was scorching hot and Tamil Nadu's summer was at its best. Few ladies were selling plastic covers for 2 rupees to keep the shoes and sandals which we ignored, only to come back again and get it. As soon as you enter the gate, on the left side there was inquiry center and there is a board depicting "darshana takes 3 hours ", which put us off immediately.

First of all we are non-religious person and if it is standing in a queue for hours to darshana (seeing main deity), we will run miles away in opposite direction. If any religious place doesn't have historical importance, it is definitely not for us. And this temple was built in 2007. If it is not for mother we would have returned without seeing it.

After depositing our shoes/sandals at the counter, we started walking. We left our cameras, cell phones, and bags inside the car as they are prohibited inside. We were made to wait in a room locked and we felt like caged animals. There were small shops selling snacks, soft drinks, coffee, etc. After waiting for half an hour, we were made to walk slowly. They block the walkway many times, so we had to pass through shops selling medicine, cloths, books, sovereign, and what not. On both sides of walkway there are small cutouts of Godman Sakti Amman and depicting his charity work and of course quotes in English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu. We couldn't get the word megalomaniac out of our mind. Now you may ask why didn't we opt for special darshana which is merely 250 rupees per person. We are from rural part of the State and have seen fair shares of popular temples and know what real crowd is. Here an illusion was created for non-existent crowd. After an hour or so we reached the temple. The temple is beautiful. There is a pond surrounding the temple in which coins, currency, bangles, etc., strewn around.   

We presume they left it scattered to create a tradition where it is believed throwing coins to water brings luck. We were told the temple looks magnificent at night with lighting and glittering gold. Well, we can imagine golden temple gleaming in the pond. 
 
The people who opted for special entry were made to sit closer to sanctum sanctorum. And less mortals like us were huffed and puffed, and could steal only a glimpse. Our two cents on this temple is that it is a great place for resort or theme park because of the sprawling garden, which is maintained very well. It is way too much commercialized for a temple.    
 
Vellore is well connected by bus and train from both Bangalore and Chennai.

Visit if you are in Vellore for some work.
 
PS:  Our only consolation is that this temple ranks #13 in the "Large Hindu Temple" list.

Golden Triangle III-Belur

Hoysala Symbol

Here we come to the last leg of Golden Triangle. Velapuri is the former name for Belur, that is mere 22 KM from Halebidu. We left off to Belur around 12 p.m. from Halebidu and reached within an hour. Even though it was lunch time, we decided to have it a little later as we had late breakfast in Halebidu. The sun tried maximum to beat us down, however, it was pleasant December afternoon and air was cool and wintry. An ornate gopuram/temple tower welcomed us in to the Chennakeshava temple complex.

Gopuram/Temple Tower

Our knowledge was very limited other than what we studied in history class. The Chennakeshava temple was built to commemorate the victory of Hoysalas over Cholas in the great battle of Talakkad. Originally known as Bitti Deva of Jainism, King Vishnuvardhana converted to Hinduism under the influence of Ramanujacharya, and then famously adopted the name Vishnuvardhana. Vishnuvardhana and his wife Shantala Devi are great patrons of art and architecture. The temple was started in 1116 AD by Vishnuvardhana; furthered by his son, Narasimha Raya; and finished by his grandson, Veera Ballala. It took almost 103 years to complete this building and one will understand nothing less of a century justifies this magnificent architecture.

Courtyard

Chennakeshava Temple

Pushkarini

Mantapa

We overheard unabashedly to a guide explaining everything in detail to another group. We started getting really dirty glances from the people who actually paid for the guide, so we stopped following them. All we could hear while parting was the word Madanikas and 40 something number. We waited for a few minutes for them to go away further and we were off in search of Madanikas.

First we entered the inside of temple. As we said in our earlier post, "Belur Ola Nodu, Halebidu Hora Nodu" (means beauty of Belur lies in inner sanctum and Halebidu outside) and we realized why it is said and how aptly indeed. The navaranga mantapa (hall) has spectacular polished pillars and ceilings. The pillars are of three different sizes and each one is unique. Narasimha pillar and Mohini statues are quite popular here. Narasimha pillar is carved with miniature figures and difficult to miss as it is decked with kumkuma (vermilion) marked by devotees. Do not forget to look up to see the brilliant ornate circle in the ceiling. It is the first and foremost thing to remember while visiting a Hoysala temple. Due to lack of sufficient light, could not get the perfect shot.

Pillars

Ceiling

Highlight of Belur is the Madanikas, celestial nymphs or bracketed figures of dancers, musicians, drummers, instrumentalists, groomers. It is said that Madanikas were inspired by Queen Shantala who is an eminent dancer herself. The most popular is the Darpana Sundari (lady looking into the mirror). Some of them have been disfigured by invaders and miscreants, nonetheless they are the beauties to behold.

Darpana Sundari

Madanikas

Madanikas

Madanikas

Madanikas

Madanikas

Madanikas

Madanikas

Madanikas

Madanikas

Another focal point is the gravity pillar, a unique 42 feet tall lamp post (Karthika Deepotsava Stambha) that stands on its own without any foundation or base, which is why it is called gravity pillar. The temple complex houses Kappe Chennigaraya and Lakshmi Narayana temples. The main temple is surrounded by Soumyanayaki and Ranganayaki, consorts of Chennakeshava.

Gravity Pillar

Kappe Chennigaraya Temple

Lord Krishna & Srimannarayana

We sat there for a very long time as the weather was pleasant and cheerful. How do you appreciate a jewel of wonder wherein each stone sings a melodious tune and each sculpture tells a unique story. The sun was already setting and our stomach started rumbling. We were so hooked up with this majestic beauty that we almost forgot we had skipped the lunch. With a content mind and a heavy heart, we bid adieu to Belur, one of the intricate architectures on earth.

PS: Listen to the beautiful Kannada song "Shilegalu Sangeethava Hadide" from the movie Rathasapthami which pays homage to this temple.

Travel Tip: Hire a guide.  You do not want to run like headless chicken in search of Madanikas as we did.