Anchetty-Rasimanal Biodiversity survey

Above : The forest guesthouse at Anchetty

I was a member of KANS for a while but somehow due to one reason or the other couldnt make it to any of their past surveys.

This was one of the final surveys mainly aimed at finding out what kind of flora and fauna existed in the areas of Anchetty and Rasimanal.Getting here was a bit of a adventure since i havent been to these areas before.Anchetty can be reached via Hosur-mathigiri-denkanikotta-anchetty.It is about 140 kms from bangalore.


Thanks to Mahesh i got a drop from Denkanikotta to Anchetty,reached the forest guest house by 10pm.Sanjeev from KANS briefed me about the program.

Day 1 : Anchetty to Doddahalla trek to look for flora /fauna ,scat and pug marks on the way
Day 2 : Brief survey at Rasimanal on the banks of the river cauvery


Above : On the way to Anchetty forests
Woke up early and after a quick ,hot,yummy breakfast we headed towards our start point.As we started along the shrub jungle ,slowly one group consiting of Laxmeesha,karthik,aparna and me got lost along the way.The forest watcher venkatappa gave a mouthful for straying away from the team ,we was concerned since it was elephant area.



Above : An interesting velvet bug on the way

We were divided to 2 teams of 5 each going into two seperate trek routes.Our trek route turned out to be slightly longer but worth the effort.We trekked along the river bed of one of the tributaires of doddahalla which later joins cauvery.Much of it was dry,but gave us some interesting leads into some new shrub jungles for me.We spotted wild dogs,leopards ,wild boarspug marks along the way .Therer was a bit of confusion with venkatappa not able to correctly judge the distance for todays trek ,which lead us to being on the move always.
We briefly took a break .Everybody in the team -Mani,mahesh,karthik,george and me took a break to quench our thirst.It was a stagnant pool,but good enough to consume Venkatappa declared.We all had good gulps and rested for a whle before.

As we moved along from this place venkatappa sensed that there was a elephant and its cub in the vicinity,this was confirmed by the pug marks and the rich odour of the elephants that i could pick up.Elephants are always dangerous not matter what time of the day it is ,more so if it is with a little one ,always better to be on guard.We finally ended day 1 by hitting the road at around 12pm ,a good four hour trek.It was a nice experience in another kind of forest which
was an eye opener for me.



Above: On the banks of cauvery

We later headed for lunch where in a surprise waited for us ,curds :).We quickly headed towards Rasimanal to be joined by Thillai who had driven all the way from krishnagiri for this.There was some confusion in terms of the keys of the forest APC,we decied to give it a skip.It rained heavily towards late evening and these were welcome showers .The darker side of it was it meant about 14 people had to cram inside the watch tower .For veggies it was only idli+sauce -for others it was fish curry,fish fry and idlis.



Since there was space only for few ,some of decided to sleep inside the cars.The next day morning after finishing the morning ablutions ,we decided to head towards the place where the camera trap was set.Another interesting thing about these calm waters is that it is home to some fresh water crocodiles,hence i was always wary of going near the water.Couple of them even spotted them on the opposite banks.Also spotted were the rare river otters.



What is a camera trap :
A camera trap is motion sensor camera which is installed generally at a place frequented by animals,this time it was on the banks of the cauvery river.Unfortunately we didnt have any didnt have any animals sighted in the camera trap.Nevertheless it was a nice experience in knowing some techniques of tracking animals scientifically.



Above : A camera trap

After checking out some birds we decided to head back.A quick breakfast consisted of noodles thanks to guru and aparna ,post breakfast we decided to head back to bangalore.We decided to have a quick lunch,again it was simply delicious lunch.After a quick round of byes we decided to head back to bangalore

A good writeup by Aparna on how KANS plans to make Melagiris as a sanctuary,this would be an ideal soak up area to the present forests on the cauvery banks

http://highonwilderness.blogspot.com/2010/04/melagiri-sanctuary-proposal.html

Malakonda

My father spent his initial years at this place and he wanted to see the place very badly.We planned to visit -Malakonda-the abode of Lord Narasimha.The route to reach Malakonda is via Singarayakonda,kandukur,malakonda.



Above : View from below the temple



Above: On the way to the temple



Above: Govardhanagiri -near the kalyani



Above : Another view from the top of the temple

Again since it was summer ,that was something which always keeps me on my toes.We booked a garuda on the bangalore ongole route.As we woke up early morning we were surprised to see the highway was covered with dense fog with very low visibilty.After a tense 2 hour drive manovering heavy lorries on the way ,we finally managed to get down at Singarayakonda.From here we took a bus to Kandukur where we got a room.After a quick breakfast ,we headed towards the busstand to catch a bus toward Malakonda.





Above : View from the top of the hill



Above : Mica deposits in Malakonda

Malakonda is about an hour journey from Kandukur -about 30 kms.We reached around 9:30 am and took an shared auto to climb the hill.The temple is open only on saturdays.We then had darshan of the lord.After that we visited the laxmi-narasimha devasthana had darshan.After the Archana we were given the prasadam which we had and decided to climb down hill.It was really hot day and the sun was out in full blast touching close to 40 degrees.Another interesing feature of Malakonda is that it is situated in a shrub jungle .The vegetation here is very unique -the flora variety here is not found in any of the neighbouring areas apart from malakonda which makes it interesting.Even the rocks found here have many unique minerals not found elsewhere in the nearby areas.


We came back to Kandukur ,had lunch and slept like a log till 5pm.Evening was much cooler,we decided to check out the local market.



Above:Interesting display of food!!



Above : Chillies at the market




Above : The tobacco crop in the fields


Kandukur is the largest producer of Tobacco in the world,there is also a central tobacco research institute in the city.It is a matter with matter of pride that i can say that my grandfather ran one of the most successful hotels for about 18 years in this town,before returning back to our native in Karkala.To this day no other hotel has come anywhere near to breaking this record.As we moved along the market there was an old man -dad recognized him,so did the man -it was a break from the past.



Above : Old man selling tobacco leaves at the market



Above :Downtown Kandukur



Above : An old well dotted with many sculptures in its walls



Above : A temple in the town

We later visited an old temple where one of dad's friend is a priest and offered pooja to lord hanuman.We visited another old friend -spent about an hour .

A day well spent with dad enjoying his childhood memories brought back.We headed back to take the volvo back from
Singarayakonda to Bangalore.

Fort Penukonda

I was down with cold and fever for sometime.More than a month without exploring a place was running at the back of my mind,finally made up my mind on exploring Penukonda fort

.

Nevertheless i made all the necessary enquiries about Penukonda before hand.Got up early and headed towards Chikkaballapur at around 5am.A brief stop at the kamat hotel beyond Chikkaballapur with some crisp idli and vada was indeed a good start for the day :).Reached Penukonda at around 8am,parked my car near the fort entrance and walked along only to be stopped at the temple of Lord Venkateshwara.It was the first pooja for the day and indeed i was blessed.After the pooja ,prasad was given ,thanking the lord for the blessing and the good beginning for the day i went ahead only to see a giant hanuman statue.

It then dawned on me ,Penukonda is one of the holiest places in south India.It has 365 temples of Lord Hanuman alone.Right through this post i will bring out some facts which might be a bit disturbing ,but it has be taken at face value since these are facts and well documented.



Above : An erstwhile temple which was converted into a mosque post the conquest of the vijayanagar empire by the adilshah king

King krishnadevaraya was a staunch disciple of Lord Venkateshwara.He also believed in Lord
hanuman -the god of strength.He has installed hanuman vigraha in most places to make sure
that he gets to pray before ,before he sets out to do any work.

He also installed shiva linga which was brought from kashi.The shiva temple has very beautiful sculptures comparable to the hoysala architecture.One can imagine the granduer of the huge homa mantapa with all the hymns in full throttle -what a sight it must have been-sadly the homa mantapa is today a cattle stable.



Above : Shiva temple




Above : Homa mantapa










Above : Aymukteshwara temple



That is when i met my guide venkatesh,who intitally promised me to take me to the fort atop the hill but later backtracked sadly.As i climbed on it was a difficult to climb on since the heat was starting to beat me,there was little or no track visible all along,made my way along the rocky hills of the fort.Unfortunately there is very little of the fort which is remaining but the sheer joy of climbing the fort where once king krishnadevaraya ruled is indeed a joy in itself. After exploring the fort until a certain level where it overlooks a huge lake below,the path ahead was either non-existant or ended with a path full of thorns,it would have been a better idea to take a local along.Rested for a while before i started my descent to meet my guide at the Gagan mahal palace.



Venkatesh was sitting in the cosy halls of the Gagan mahal palace.The palace is in itself not a huge one.The ground floor has a elaborate halls which is said to have been used for king meeting the common people.The first floor has the durbar hall which is said to have housed the king's throne along with his son thimmaraya and his queen.A little ahead of this durbar hall is a small personal natya mandira where the king krishnadevaraya is said to have enjoyed the company of his misstresses.A small cozy place where there were dance performances personally for him.A fact to be known here is that the king was a sex maniac.He was known for his insatiable thirst for sex.It is said the king used to keep himself fit with a strict regimen of excercises daily.He became a king at the age of 20 and died at the prime age of 40-establishing on of the most flourishing kingdoms in south india.



Above : Durbar hall where the king used to sit on the throne



Above : The king's gym -it is said that he used to lift these heavy stones with ease as a part of his gym regimen



Above: A kalyani near the Vajramushti Hanuman devasthana
After exploring Gagan mahal palace i headed for lunch ,where i bumped into the raghavendra
swami brindavana -the priest there gave a brief of history.It is said the one of the disciples of raghavendra swami found a lot of hidden wealth ,since he was a sanyasi he offered it to the king .The king meantime welcomed the swami ,sought his blessings for the kingdom from the disciple.In spiritual acitivities the king sought a lot of guidance from them.After the fall of the vijayanagara empire ,vyasaraya again a raghvendra swami disciple came back after the fall of the vijayanagara empire.In a bid to stop the onslaught of the jains who were flourishing he took an initiative to establish his philosophy.He took on the jains in a spiritual and intellectual debate defeating the jains in each of them.It is said that he installed one hanuman for each win against the jains .In one year alone he installed 365 hanuman idols-establishing his philosophy and giving a new turn in the religious history of Penukonda.The heat was a bit too much to take ,after taking the blessing of Raghavendra swami ,i had lunch at the matha-thanking the priest ,i decided to conintue my journey of exploring penukonda.We later visited the vedavyasa theerthara brindavana-a nice calm place followed it by shree laxmi-kanta theerthara brindavana.A small abandoned hanuman temple near this brindavana is worth seeing.





After this we headed to the hanuman which is at the edge of the city in a ram temple which is again very famous.Each of these temples is different and has an aura of its own.Beside it is a giant statue of Kumbhakarana which was established recently as a tourist attraction.It is a welcome spot for kids to be shown about the hindu mythology,a place that the kids are sure to enjoy.

Later we entered back to the town checking out the prison of thimmaraya the son of Krishnadevaraya.Some interesting information about Krishnadevaraya can be found in this link

http://de-guide-offbeat.blogspot.com/2009/10/iconi-king-krishnadevaraya.html.

After checking out the sripadaraja matha at the edge of the town ,headed back after a memorable day out in the summer.

Hosaholalu and Kikkeri Bramheswara

Hosaholalu has an ancient Venkteshwara temple.Dissapointment once again for me since the priest had gone to Tirupati to invite them.Spending a few moments in the garden which is quite well maintained since it is under the ASI.


I decided to head towards Kikkeri.When i reached the place,the place was locked.A person there suggested that i go and request the priest who stays in the next lane.I walked down through the village to find the priest.When i knocked on his door ,he was having his lunch ,i patiently waited for him to complete.

He came along in his cycle about 15 minutes.During our interaction i came to know that he was from Shringeri and we both were pretty much from the same place.He showed me around the place.This has to be one of the best temples i have visited till date.The carvings are pretty much intact right through the temple ,it was a delight to the eyes.




Godess Chamundeshwari



Intricately carved pillars






Lord Channakeshava

Some parts of the temple are still incomplete indicating a war or some other kind of instablity leading to the incomplete sculptures.After a brief prayer he showed me around the temple.The huge nandi is simply amazing.Besides Nandi it also houses some very intricately carved sculptures of Lord Ganesha,Godess Chamundeshwari,Lord Channakeshava besides the main idol of Shiva linga.

The dateline dates back to ,when apparently the queen wanted to build a temple for lord Brahma,apparently was later advised by the courtiers not to do so.The queen then had a dream where Lord Shiva appeared and asked her to build a temple for him.Hence the name Brameshwara.

There is also a temple of Godess Parvathy which is set to have been built about 500 years later.The location of this temple is behind a huge lake .I can only wonder the granduer of this peaceful ,amazing temple in its hay days .

Today it is just a mute witness to the past.The temple has gone through some tumultous times with it being closed for almost 2 years inbetween for want of priests.The local MLA has spent about 2 lakhs to get some repairs done.I do hope the temple is preserved for the days to come

Varahanatha Kalahalli

One has to travel from Pandavapura-Bookanekere-Varahanatha Kalahalli
to reach this place.I was impressed by this place after seeing a fellow blogger Aravind who has a knack to exploring ancient temples.



It was quite a dissapointment for me since the temple was being broken into
pieces to build a new structure.I am certainly not sure what was the need for it.Generally as a matter of rule ,one is not supposed to see the vigraha when it is under renovation.It is as a rule that they move it to a neigbouring area and offer pooja when the renovation work is being done.

But i am glad that this was not done since that would mean taking a chance with the 18 feet idol of Lord Varahanatha.I am pretty sure they would have screwed the idol for sure.The renovation work is going to take another year i was told my the priest.The vigraha is packed with sand bags and now lays among the ruins of the structure being dismantled

After paying respect at the makeshift temple which has a quite a decent picture of the main idol,i decided to have some lunch on the banks of the kabini backwaters.It was heartening to see some lovely birds on which i spent some time clicking away their pictures.I then decided that it was time to head for Hosaholalu from here.









I was in for more surprises.I also found some lovely flamingoes in one of
the small lake a little ahead.It was certainly a treat for the eyes.I would certainly love to come back to this place once again to see the vigraha of Lord Varahanatha in full splendour