Sirsi Part I
Sirsi Part II
Sirsi Part III
Our Sarathi, Sunil landed at the customary starting point for Alemaarigalu trips, the "Sandeep's House". After the customary pooja to our chariot, "Tavera" stopped at Agara, where we could see "Alaana" showering affections over her dad (Prashanth), the next pit stop was Kalamandir near marath halli , where our smarty Latesh found cooling his heals with some other Smart-E's. Raghu got in to our vehicle near Hebbal Flyover.
"Yes yes..Sirsi five hundred rupees!" latesh said to a stranger in the bus stop, when that guy asked will this go to XYZ place.
After that no stopping, but when it was stopped, what a magical sight filled in front of our eyes.
A cool landscape, breezing winds, chilled water in the canal, tempted us to get in to. Had a nice bath over there, our body, sitting idle doing nothing on the wheels for close to ten hours, was refreshed.
With high on enthusiasm, energy, we started ticking off the list of places from our itinerary.
After munching the crispy masala dosa in Satkar Hotel, we entered Sirsi's centre of power, The Marikaamba Temple.
The architecture of the temple is unique from the other south indian temples.
It appears more like a palace from outside than a temple, but when you get in to the temple, eyes would refuse to flutter.
The paintings on the wall, the gopura, the goddess "Maarikamba" idol, the temple complex, every things inspires you to fold your hand, do the meditation. That is the power of this temple.
It lies in the heart of the town, you ask anyone, they will lift you up, and show the way to the temple. That is the affection people show here to the travellers in this part of our state. Amazing hospitality.
The maarikaamba temple dates back to around 400 years, we pressed again the gas pedal of time, and surprisingly it took us almost 1800-1900 years back from the present time.
That is the Kadamba dyanasty's power house "Banavaasi".
The Banavaasi has everything in it, devotion, heritage, history, architecture, hospitality.
We were greeted by two majestic elephants, and with the main entrance decked with nice carvings.
`The temple complex was huge, and as per the history narrated very nicely by the priest, the temple got its expansion from three to four kingdoms, each dynasty different in their own respects, and so the structures.
The monolith stone mantapa, where you can see the three worlds carvings, Big Nandi, a rare phenomena where, one eye pointed towards Shiva, and the other towards Parvathi.
The temple has all the Ashta Dikpaalakas in their destined position, a very feature in any temples, Ganapathi in different forms, and also a Half Ganapathi(ardha ganapathi), the other half believed to be in Kashi in north India.
The major attraction of this temple is "Sri Madhukeshwara". The linga is in honey color and hence the name. The linga impresses our eyes with its size, color and after it is completely decorated with garlands, flowers, you can not take your eye sight from the Garbha Gudi.
The priest gave a brief information about each and every stone carvings in the temple and also the history of the temple. From our group conveyed a sincere vote of appreciation for his efforts , and he invited all of us to the lunch (Anna Daana) in the dining hall of the temple complex. What a meal it was, hot rice, saaru, chilled butter milk. The stomach patted our back saying "you people are taking care of me really well".
It was our time to do the little fast forward, we traveled about 1200-1400 years forward, and opened our eyes, we could see Shiva linga's everywhere.
This place called Sri Sahasralinga Kshetra.
A popular king in this locality from Sondhe dynasty, didn't had children to continue his legacy, upon a suggestion from the priest, he ordered to carve linga and nandi's in the heart of the river "Shaalmala", and worshiped and got the heir to the throne.
When the water level is low in the river, you can see as many shivalinga and nandi your eyes can count.
Since Sun already booked return ticket, we had to rush, with a short break in Yellapura, we headed towards Satoddi falls, one of the serene falls i had seen so far.
With no chance of taking a bath, falls was in her glory, so we had to be contended with doing more freezing in camera, than in the chilled waters of the falls.
This water falls is a part of Kodasalli dam, the stunning approach path of almost 5 Kms, is a motorable road but with a high degree of difficulty, in the dense deep forest takes you to the falls forest check post. There you need to take entry ticket, and trek again for about half a kilometer inside the forest to find out this perfect wallpaper falls.
Our sarathi's driving skills were tested on the way to back to Sirsi, and as always he was the winner in the test. A brief stint at the Yellapura check post for recharging our souls, we headed to Sirsi to find a place to rest our tired body.
There is a proverb, FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED!. This proverb can be improved further saying "A Friend's one call can do wonders in an isolated place. Mr.Prakash Hegde of "Ittige Cement" blog fame did wonder by giving a call to Mr. Vishwa, the owner of Hotel Madhuvana, to accommodate the tired souls to take rest, and recharge for the next day outing.
Mr. Vishwa was generous in helping us to spend a night there, and Mr. Prakash (Prakash Hegde's Relative) who greeted us and helped us to plot a perfect program for the next day, which helped us to manage the time, as well as visit as many places possible on the run.
Our alemarigalu group bow our head in respect and also salutes with a great appreciation to the generosity, and hospitality to Mr. Vishwa, Mr. Prakash & Mr. Prakash Hegde for helping us in a big way which can not be measured in any yardstick.
Recharged team was ready for the grind next day for visiting varied place like a hillock, falls, temple, beach, and the Hotel CA!
creek...creek...the reverse gear signal was showing an indicator.. ..saying....the vehicle reached a dead end, and so the blog.
Thanks for everyone who visited, read, and commented on the four part series of breathtaking sirsi and its surroundings.
Sirsi Part II
Sirsi Part III
Our Sarathi, Sunil landed at the customary starting point for Alemaarigalu trips, the "Sandeep's House". After the customary pooja to our chariot, "Tavera" stopped at Agara, where we could see "Alaana" showering affections over her dad (Prashanth), the next pit stop was Kalamandir near marath halli , where our smarty Latesh found cooling his heals with some other Smart-E's. Raghu got in to our vehicle near Hebbal Flyover.
"Yes yes..Sirsi five hundred rupees!" latesh said to a stranger in the bus stop, when that guy asked will this go to XYZ place.
After that no stopping, but when it was stopped, what a magical sight filled in front of our eyes.
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| Beautiful landscape which made us to stop for a break! |
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| Chilling canal! |
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| Sirsi map and its sorroundings |
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| Sri Maarikaamba Temple - Sirsi |
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| Temple complex |
It appears more like a palace from outside than a temple, but when you get in to the temple, eyes would refuse to flutter.
 |
| One of the many beautiful paintings |
The paintings on the wall, the gopura, the goddess "Maarikamba" idol, the temple complex, every things inspires you to fold your hand, do the meditation. That is the power of this temple.
 |
| Gopura - A unique creation |
It lies in the heart of the town, you ask anyone, they will lift you up, and show the way to the temple. That is the affection people show here to the travellers in this part of our state. Amazing hospitality.
 |
| From 1930 animals sacrifice had been stopped |
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| Route map we followed to Banavasi from Sirsi |
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| Banavaasi temple complex |
The Banavaasi has everything in it, devotion, heritage, history, architecture, hospitality.
 |
| Elephant and its nice carvings |
We were greeted by two majestic elephants, and with the main entrance decked with nice carvings.
 |
| Carvings on the door at the entrance |
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| Slighly tilted nandi! |
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| Nandi from the side wing |
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| Nandi sitting pretty in a stone pillared stage |
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| Temple complex |
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| A stone mantap with three world |
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| Single stone mantapa |
The temple has all the Ashta Dikpaalakas in their destined position, a very feature in any temples, Ganapathi in different forms, and also a Half Ganapathi(ardha ganapathi), the other half believed to be in Kashi in north India.
The major attraction of this temple is "Sri Madhukeshwara". The linga is in honey color and hence the name. The linga impresses our eyes with its size, color and after it is completely decorated with garlands, flowers, you can not take your eye sight from the Garbha Gudi.
The priest gave a brief information about each and every stone carvings in the temple and also the history of the temple. From our group conveyed a sincere vote of appreciation for his efforts , and he invited all of us to the lunch (Anna Daana) in the dining hall of the temple complex. What a meal it was, hot rice, saaru, chilled butter milk. The stomach patted our back saying "you people are taking care of me really well".
It was our time to do the little fast forward, we traveled about 1200-1400 years forward, and opened our eyes, we could see Shiva linga's everywhere.
 |
| Road map to Sahasralinga from Banavaasi |
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| Sign board for taking turn on the highway! |
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| Many shivalingas and nandi in the river Shalmala |
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| Carvings, Carvings and many more! |
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| Road map from Sahasralinga to Satoddi falls |
With no chance of taking a bath, falls was in her glory, so we had to be contended with doing more freezing in camera, than in the chilled waters of the falls.
 |
| Post card falls - Satoddi falls |
This water falls is a part of Kodasalli dam, the stunning approach path of almost 5 Kms, is a motorable road but with a high degree of difficulty, in the dense deep forest takes you to the falls forest check post. There you need to take entry ticket, and trek again for about half a kilometer inside the forest to find out this perfect wallpaper falls.
 |
| Picture perfect - Satoddi falls |
There is a proverb, FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED!. This proverb can be improved further saying "A Friend's one call can do wonders in an isolated place. Mr.Prakash Hegde of "Ittige Cement" blog fame did wonder by giving a call to Mr. Vishwa, the owner of Hotel Madhuvana, to accommodate the tired souls to take rest, and recharge for the next day outing.
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| Shelter for our stay...A grand hotel |
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| Latesh, Sri, Prakash, Sandeep, Prashanth, Raghu, Sunil |
Our alemarigalu group bow our head in respect and also salutes with a great appreciation to the generosity, and hospitality to Mr. Vishwa, Mr. Prakash & Mr. Prakash Hegde for helping us in a big way which can not be measured in any yardstick.
Recharged team was ready for the grind next day for visiting varied place like a hillock, falls, temple, beach, and the Hotel CA!
Thanks for everyone who visited, read, and commented on the four part series of breathtaking sirsi and its surroundings.
Imteresting and fabulous pictures followed by nice nerrative commentry...good work Shrikanth Manju
ReplyDeleteAs always an entertaining and gripping blog Sri. Your story-telling is very addictive and captivating.
ReplyDeletea beautifully nerrated tripping experience with beautiful photos..i am expecting mauch more from your side.
ReplyDeleteSri Maarikaamba Temple is a different architectural construction. I love the paintings.
ReplyDeleteSuperb series 'Sriman'. By giving such posts we wish God bless you "Ayushyaman'
Thank you Azad sir, your appreciation will keep the tempo in high.
ReplyDeleteThank you Prashanth. Tried to different, and if a vivid reader like you appreciate it..it is worth a weight in gold. Thank you so much
ReplyDeleteBaalu Sir, your writings are inspiration to me. and always you are setting the standard bar, so that we can try to reach that level. Yes will try my best to reach your expectation. Thank you so much for your appreciation.
ReplyDeleteBadari sir, wishes from people like you will serve my career for years. Thank you so much.
ReplyDeletegood try
ReplyDelete