World of Books and Travel

Bangalore is getting ready for the celebration of Gowri Ganesha Habba. September 3rd is not far for the people to rejoice in this celebration. Gowri Festival is celebrated on the previous day of Ganesh Festival. The prices of flowers, fruits and the beautifully carved idols in various sizes and shades, have already gone up. The shopkeepers both in the big shops as well as in the roadside, are trying to exhibit their best forms of Ganesha idols for the prospective buyers.

I had to visit my niece and family staying at Chendamangalam, about 42 kms from Ernakulam in Kerala. Chendamangalam is an amazingly beautiful small town, comprising of three rivers, seven inlets, hillocks and green pastures. There are some interesting places to explore in Chendamangalam. The Paliam Palace, 450 year old, is the architecture marvel of Kerala. It was the home of Paliath Achans, and now houses some rare artifacts, relics and historical documents. They were the hereditary prime ministers to the former Maharajas of the erstwhile state of Kochi. A visit to the hillock at Kottayil Kovilakom is worth because it presents an unusual view of the church, temple, mosque and the synagogue. Jewis Synagogue In the hillock, you can see a Hindu temple, a church, a mosque and the remains of a Jewish synagogue, all together within a distance of hardly one km of each other. It was amazingto see the co-existence of four religions harmoniously - a unique blend of culture! It is believed tha...

Recently I had visited a friend in Trissur. It happened to be a day of Festival in their church. The festival was called "Oottuthirunal" of our Lady of Carmel Forane and St.Vincent de Paul, at Edathiruthy in Trissur. My friend asked me to join her if I don't mind when she proceeded to the church. I was in fact only too happyto attend the festival . It was a grand festival with spectacular firework. Thousands of pilgrims attended this festival,followed by a mass feast.

During my recent visit to Thiruvananthapuram, I was keen to visit Veli Tourist Village. Veli Tourist Home is located amidst the lush green coconut groves and backwaters of Thiruvananthapuram, in the Veli Tourist Village, bordered by the Arabian Sea and the Veli Lagoon. It is a great picnic spot, with a beautiful garden and facilities for water sports. There is also a waterfront park which has a floating bridge that connects to the Shanghumukham Beach. The Veli Tourist Village is the place where the lake merges with the Arabian sea. The lagoon here is separated from the sea by a narrow sand bar. It is a nice place for tourists with young children to spend an afternoon. There are lots for the kids to do. Children can also enjoy a horse ride. Thiruvananthapuram Airport is just 3 kms away, and the railway station is just 8 kms away.

On the early morning of a Saturday we reached Badami House at Bangalore to board the KSTDC tourist bus to Mysore. There were few other buses also ready to proceed to different tourist destinations. Sharp at 7.15 a.m. our Volvo bus, began its journey through the "not-so-crowded" roads (because of the time) towards its destination Mysore, located 140 kms away. Among the tourists, there were many domestic and international tourists as 'first-timers' to experience the well known "City of Palaces" and many repeated visitors like me. The weather was extremely pleasant and hence our journey was enjoyable. By 9.30 a.m. we stopped for our breakfast at "Hanchina Mane Restaurant" at Somanahalli. Our next stop was at historic town Srirangapatna . It was the capital of Mysore rulers Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan, popularly known as Mysore Tiger. (Chamundeswari Temple) (Music Fountain) See the people trying to capture it in their mobile camera. (Hotel Mayur...

We left Belur by 3.30 p.m.for our next destination Halebid, which is just 16 kms away from there. The weather was cool, the landscape was beautiful and the roads were excellent. The small town was the earlier capital of Hoysalas, and then it was called as Dwarasamudra. Hotel Athithi Temple Garden Hoysaleswara Temple Shiva Parvathi Another guide was there who took us around. He explained in detail about the history of Halebid Hoysaleswara temple and the amazing architecture of the temple. The images of Hindu Gods were carved beautifully in different moods and in different shapes on the walls. Even after 100 years of hard labour, the work was not complete. With the wonderful memories of the architectural beauty of the temples, we boarded our tourist bus for our return. On the way, we stopped for dinner at Hotel Athithi. A nice and clean hotel. We reached back in Bangalore by 10.45 p.m, with the satisfaction of worth a trip.

After visiting Shravanabelagola, our KSTDC tourist bus headed towards Belur, 90 kms away from there. Belur is well-known for its marvelous temples built during the rule of Hoysala dynasty. (Gopuram of the Temple) We reached Belur by 12.30 p.m. and had our lunch at Hotel Mayura Velapuri, a unit of KSTDC, Belur. Then we got back to our bus and after 5 minutes we were at the entrance of the famous Chennakeshava temple. Chennakesava means "handsome Kesava". Our tourist guide requested us to be together and follow him. He took us inside the temple through the gopuram and reached the main temple. He then explained to us about the history and the architecture of the magnificent temple. For a moment, we stood there mesmerizing the beauty of the temple architecture. It was so much more beautiful than I had read in many travelogues. (Chenna Keshava Temple) The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and daily worship still goes on there. This beautiful magnificent temple was commissioned by...