World of Books and Travel

We made a sudden plan for a short trip to  Lepakshi Temple in Ananthapur Dist of Andhra Pradesh. It was a weekend, and it happened to be on a Sankranthi Festival Day.  We left early morning by 7.00 from Bangalore. It was a foggy morning and the drive was pleasant. We  took 3 hours to reach there which is inclusive of our break for breakfast on the way. First we stopped at the huge monolithic Nandi, and clicked some snaps. This structure is carved out of a single granite with finely carved ornaments, and smooth contours.   The colossal structure is 27ft in length and 15 ft in height and is the largest monolithic of Nandi in India. After a few feet away, lies the main ancient Lepakshi temple on a rocky hill. Veerabhadra Swamy temple at Lepakshi  was built in 16th century by two brothers (Virupanna and Veeranna) during the period of King Aliya Rama Raya of Vijayanagar kingdom.   The temples of Papanatheswara, Raghunatha, Srirama, Veerabha...

During my Hyderabad visit, I had the opportunity to visit the famous art museum called Salarjung Museum, located on the southern bank of the River Musi.  It is the 3rd largest museum in India, and is the effort of one man collection. These priced collections of arts belonging to different civilizations dating back to the 1st century, were the collections of Mr. Yousuf Ali Khan Salar Jung III (1889-1949).   He was the Prime Minister of the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad.  Our guide paid the entree fee of Rs.150/- on our behalf and took us inside. If you're person with a mind to appreciate art, you will enjoy the visit to this museum. If not, you're wasting your time.  Since I was very much interested in arts, I enjoyed every moment I spent there. Photography is not allowed here. In our available time of about 2 hours, I was enjoying the stunning collections of exhibits in the various galleries.  Some of them are the sculpture of veiled Rebeca ,  an Italian sculpt...

Hawa mahal I had a wonderful trip to Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.  I had to meet an old friend of mine after a lapse of 5 years.  She had come on leave from Malaysia and she requested me to spend a holiday with her.