World of Books and Travel

Recently I was invited by my neighbours to attend a birthday party of their grandson. I was eager to attend it since it was an unusual type of birthday celebration. It was not celebrated at home in a conventional way, but the celebration was with the inmates of an old age home - Sri Sai Old Age Home Orphanage, Magadi Main Road, Sunkadakatte, Bangalore.  It was an overwhelming experience for everyone.   As we stepped in we saw two aged women walking in the veranda. Seeing our unfamiliar faces they paused and stared at us.   Their eyes looked tired and empty, and greeted us with a faint smile.




Sri Sai Old Age Home Orphanage is located in Magadi Main Road, Sunkadakatte, Bangalore. serving the elderly senior citizens and destitutes. It was started by late K.L. Ravi Kumar, who was in scrap business, 17 years ago and since his death 5 years ago, his sons Pradeep Kumar and Sashi Kumar continue this noble work. These young brothers spend their whole time in taking care of the aged and orphaned…

I had an opportunity to visit Swananda Loka, an upcoming Ganapathi Temple in Hoyasala style of architecture, housed in the Swananda Ashrama complex located in the Agara village in Tataguni, 3 km off Kanakapura Road.










Swananda Loka is believed to be the heavenly abode of Lord Ganesha.

The 9-acre temple complex area with lush green gardens is a feast to the eyes and mind. The piolet project was completed successfully and the model called Ganapathi Panchayathana is  open to visitors.  Around the main shrine, the temple would have 4 shrines for the 4 Yuga Ganapathis and idols of 32 manifestations of Lord Ganapathi.

In this Swanandashrama  complex, there is also a  temple for Lord Subramanya and another one for  Devi. In this Devi temple, Goddess is sitting on the snake.

A goshala is also there where cows are taken care of.

The Ashram also promotes education of rural children and organizes socio cultural events.

I was blessed to attend a Mangalarthi puja in the temple which was followed by…

We had been thinking of visiting Mamallapuram for a very long time and finally it worked out last month. (Oct 2019).

Mamallapuram, also known as Mahabalipuram, is an old town along the Coramandal coast of  Bay of Bengal and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located in Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu. Mamallapuram and is famous for the stone-cut work of a group of monuments, made by the Pallava kings  who ruled this place between 5th and 8th centuries. 

After checking in to the hotel, we had our lunch and immediately after that we hired an autorikshaw for the afternoon to take us around all the important tourist places there. Actually most of them were in walkable distance only.  Since we had only half-a-day there, we preferred to save time. The autorikshaw driver was friendly and knowledgable person. His details are given below.






















When I told him I will be giving his photo and mobile number in my travelogue he was mighty thrilled.

I can't write the full beauty of the place in word…

During our recent trip to Dhanushkodi we had to pass through Rameswaram, which is connected with Annai Indira Gandhi Road Bridge (Pamban Road Bridge.)


Annai Indira Gandhi Road Bridge is the longest sea bridge in southern India measuring nearly 2.2 kms in length. It connects the National Highway (NH 49) with Rameswaram on Pamban Island, and stands parallel to Pamban Rail Bridge. Rameswaram is located in Tamil nadu and is steeped in Ramayana legends.


This road bridge is also popularly known as Pamban Road Bridge. This is an engineering marvel and is one of the first sea bridges.It is  surrounded by blue water from all sides and offering beautiful views of the Railway Bridge and Rameshwaram Island. The new visitors to Rameswaram stop over here to have an amazing view of the Pamban Rail bridge over which the train passes to Rameswaram. They can also see innumerable fishing boats scattered in the sea. The ships also pass under this bridge.
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After the cyclone of 1964, there was a need for a r…

Thirumalai Nayakar Mahal  of Madurai is one of the important historic places in Tamil Nadu. It is located just 1.2 kms away from Madurai Meenakshi Temple (Meenakshi Amman Temple) and hence it is easy to visit this place to those people who visit Meenakshi Temple.


It was built in 1636 AD by the Nayakar Dynasty king Thirumalai Nayaakkar, by an Italian architect. It was four times bigger to what we see today as many things including ornaments have been removed from here. 
There is a light and sound musical programme in the evenings, both in English and in Tamil, the local language.  
Please see the video to get a proper view of this historic and architectural beauty and further details. 

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There is also a museum inside which should not be missed.

Dhanushkodi is located at the southern tip of Rameswaram on the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu. It is also the place for the union of two mighty oceans– Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean, and is elongated in shape.It is also the end of India and we felt we are at the endof the earth.



You can also check out this video on Dhanushkodi. 

As we were driving closer to this place a frightening silence came upon us. However, surprisingly we began to get Simhalese language on our car radio . In the next few minutes, we got a welcoming message on our mobile from Airtel Srilanka. Sri Lanka is just 31 km away from here.
Finally we reached our destination where a post is standing erect, to mark the end point of the land and we got a feeling that we are at the end of the world.


The Tragic History of this place -
It was once a flourishing trade hub with Sri Lanka, (then called Ceylon)   but today it is an abandoned city, also called as ghost city, with the ruins. There was a ferocious cyclone on the midnight…