World of Books and Travel

As our shadows lengthened we reached our next destination - Pattadakkal, a World Heritage Centre. All were with full excitement to be there. Pattadakkal, the second capital of the Chalukyan kings, is located 29 kms from Badami, along the bank of the river Malaprabha. Built in 7th and 8th centuries, Pattadakkal was served as the royal coronation site. Pattadakkal is a World Heritage Center today. The temple complex is dotted with 10 major temples representing both north and south Indian architecture. Pattadakkal is also famous for its Music and Dance Festival organized annually by the Government of Karnataka, held in in the month of January. Many renowned and upcoming dancers take part in this festival. The dances are inspired by the different inscription and images carved on the temple walls. During the festival, a craft mela is also organized.

Our next destination was Shivayoga Mandira at Badami, which is 11 kms away from Pattadakkal. Located in a serene place, Shivayoga Mandir is a great place to visit.

Another great place we visited was Mahakuta (Mahakoota) Kshetra, an ancient temple built by Chalukyas. Mahakuta is a small town surrounded by hills and cool atmosphere, located 14 kms away from Badami, in Bagalkot District. Mahakuta is renowned for the Mahakuteshwara Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, built in Dravidian style. In the courtyard, there are 15 small temples with intricate sculptures. The temples, built by Chalukyan dynasty, are dated to the 6th or 7th century. Mahakuta was once a great center of shaiva cult. Now only in one temple poojas are performed. Another beautiful attraction is a natural pond called Vishnu Pushkarni. There is a small shrine in the centre of the Vishnu Pushkarni tank and in it is a Shiva linga (universal symbol of Lord Shiva) called Panchamukha linga ("five faced linga"), one face for each direction and one on top. This pond is now used as a relaxing joint by the visitors. This place is often called Dakshina Kasi because of its religious im...

Our next trip was to the world famous Badami Cave temples, built in 578 AD. Badami was the capital of early Chalukyas until eight century, lying in between mountains and lakes. There was a small amount of entrance fee to be paid to see the temples. Our group leader paid the fee for us and hence I don't know how much it was. I was wonder stuck at the view of the mighty cave temples, the marvels of the Chalukyan style of architecture. Though I had read about these temples in several places, experiencing it by being there and exploring these ancient temples was something which words can't explain enough. Even in the scorching sun, the gigantic deep reddish sandstone cave temples looked marvelous. I was imagining how they would have looked in the early morning or in the evening in the pleasant mood of the Sun God! There were many stone steps one has to climb to reach each temple. There were four caves on the rock - two were devoted to Lord Vishnu, one to Lord Shiva and the last...

Our Yoga group had arranged for an annual tour and this year it was towards North Karnataka. We were a large crowd, and were accommodated in four buses. Our Yoga Guru had made arrangements for our stay and food in the respective places. It was past one O' clock when we reached Badami. Our first visit was to the famous Banashankari Temple, built in 17th century. Banashankari Temple is located at Cholachigud 5 kilometers from Badami - the historic capital of Chalukyas and The idol of Goddess Banashankari, made out of black stone,is seated as a lion treading down the demon with her foot. The idol has eight hands and is seen holding trishul-damadurga, kapaalpatra, ghanta, veda scripts and khadg-kheta. Since photography was not allowed inside, I was able to click just two photos from outside. The first one was an outside view of the temple, and the second one was the temple chariot which was decorated and used during the car festival (Jan-Feb). The top of the chariot was protected b...

14th April was the New Year Festival for many Indians in different parts of the country. They celebrated the New Year with different names. In Kerala, it was "Vishu" whereas in Tamil Nadu it was called "Puthandu," and for Bengalis and Punjabis the New Year was "Baisakhi". Assamese celebraated it as "Goru Bihu". The important features of this festival (Vishu) are Kani Kanal (viewing the auspicious things as the first sight of the year), Kaineetam (distributing money by the elders to the young ones). The yellow colored flower called "Konnapoo" blooms during Vishu time and it is an important part of the Vishu Kani preparation.

Some of the beautiful Gerbera flowers of Bangalore, capital city of Karnataka in South India.