Tirupathi Balaji And Srikalahasti

Tirupathi Balaji And Srikalahasti - 24th & 25th November 2023

Day 1: Travel from Bangalore to Tirupathi (247 Kms -5Hrs):  Travelled by Car on 24-Nov-2023,Friday from Bangalore at 5:30AM and reached Tirupathi by 10:30AM. Since did not have planned visit tickets books got into SSD Ticket Center at Srinivasam Complex near to Tirupathi Bus Stand, since any available tickets are prvoided at this center till stocks empty. We got the tickets within 2 mins as there was no queues there, tickets were for next day 25-Nov-2023, Saturday 5 AM Darshan.

Typically there are suppose 5 centers where the SSD Tickets are provided in Tirupathi. 

Tirupati SSD - SarvaDarshanTokens- Aadhaar Tokens(DDT-Dharma Darshan Tokens)

1. Alipiri -3AM- BhuDeviComplex- Aadhaar based token. 

 2. Srivari Mettalu -6AM- 240th Step - Aadhaar based Divya Darshan Token. 

From Morning 5Am. 

3. Govindaraja Swami Chatram -Backside Railway Station 

4. Visnu Nivasam- near railway station 

5. Srinivasam Complex- Busstand

Youtube post was useful to know this - https://youtu.be/QBxu3oC-KXQ?si=eWCg_EePG4AGdG7H

 Booked a place to stay near to Vishnu Nivasam, as TTD Accomodation were already filled by online bookings done by devotees. Stayed at Damodar Residency near to Govidaraja Swami Temple.

Finished the Lunch opposite to hotel at the SriVijayaVenkateshwara Bhavan, nice south indian meal served on plantain leaf and later had a nap for upto 3PM.

Places around the Sri Govinda Raja Swamy Vari Temple- 3:30 PM

Mobile phones are not allowed in the temple but there is a counter to keep them & collect back when going out, not much rush was there in the temple as visited around 3:30 -4 PM. Some nomincal Rs.20 Sheegra Dasrshan Tickets were taken but that also was not required as people here move quite fast. This template exactly resembles the Tirupathi temple on the mountain, so if somebody could not visit on hilltop can finish darshans here shortly.

1. Sri Govinda Raja Swamy Vari Temple

2. Sri Kalyana Venkateshwara Swamy Temple

3. Sri Aandal Amma Vari Temple

4. Sri Partha Sarathy Swamy Vari Temple

Tirchanur Padmavathi Temple - 5PM

Next we visited the Tirchanur Padmavathi Temple, where we had booked the Online tickets for Rs.200 Darshan as it was a Friday and evening 5 PM had planned in advance and it was planned for Gate 3 Visit, but the parking was pathetic around here nobody to guide and crowded street found a place to park and visited the temple. 

Being Uthanna Dwadashi, Tulsi habba and also Padmavathi Brahmostavams were ongoing, there was a beautiful Unjal Seva happening for Padmavathi Ammavaru at the temple with nice Annamaya Keetana offered to devi.

Day 2: Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam - 4 AM - 7:30 AM (Morning Darshnam through SSD)

ATGH - Alwar Tank Guest House

Next day morning woke up at 2AM got bathed checked out from the Room below hill at Tirupathi started towards the hill by around 3AM. Was a nice chill morning with pleasant weather in the morning, we had to wait for the gates to open to start climbing the hill in our car, it got opened in 15mins aorund 3:15 Am they aloowed us the condition is min,.45 mins to be taken to climb the hills one should not drive fast here. 

Our Sarvadarshana counter on the hill was at the ATGH, we parked the car outside the counter and started moving towards counter by around 4 AM. After a nice breif walks for say around a hour, there are counters with water & toilets for devotees to wait in queues we waited there until 7AM. Within the next 15mins our Darshnam happended with Sri Tirumala Venkateshwara fillin our eyes with the 2 second span we get in front of the lord. After this we visited the Varaha Swamy Temple near to the SrivariPushkarini Tank.
1.Sri Venkateswara Swamy Vaari Temple
2. TTD Laddu Counters
3. Shri Varaha Swamy Temple (near SrivariPushkarini Tank.)

Started from Tirupathi after having breakfast at Royal Sarangee Family Resturant at 9AM, took a cab to go to ATGH complex where we had parked our car. We started alighting down the hill around 9:15AM and came down to Alipiri by around 10AM. Had some snaps around the Garuda Deva the Alipiri Circle.

 Srikalahasthi (SKH) - 41 Kms from Tirupathi 1Hr 15Mins

Travelled from Alipiri Circle towards Srikalahasti for the Rahu Kalam Pooja though we were aware we could not reach by Rahukalam, we reached the temple by around 11:30AM, also here the parking places were not available though there were earmarked spaces, had to wait and get in.

Planned for the Rahu-Ketu pooja the kshetram starte by aorund 12PM noon and went on with pooja until around 3PM when we came out of the Temple complex.

Sanctum temples for the following dieties visited, very huge temple for shiva was reminded of the Nanjangudu Temple of Karnataka.

1.  Sri Kalahasteeswara means Shiva

2. Goddess Gnana Prasunambika Devi means Parvati 

3. Sri DakshnaMoorthy

* other gods Sadh Ganpathi, Annapurna, Subramanya, Suryanarayan, Kasi Viswanatha, etc.

Kalahastiswara and Gyanaprasunambika- The inner temple was built in the 5th century by the Rajendra Chola I and later by the the Vijayanagara kings in the 11th century .

According to legend Srikalahasti is named after Sri (spider), Kala (snake) and Hasti (elephant) as legend has it that that the 3 of them once worshiped the Shiva lingam here and attained Moksham or Salvation. Srikalahasti is also known as a Rahu-Ketu ( The 2 shadowy planet North node and South node) kshetra and also called Dakshina Kailasam.

Sree Dakshinamoorthy (Guru Graha Sambandham)

Sri- Spider

Kala - Sarpa

Hasti - Elephant

More details nicely written at ; https://www.aanmeegam.in/en/srikalahasti-temple-history-timings-festival-address/

Jaya Shri Krishna, Sarvam Krishnarpana Masthu.

CHIKKAMAGALUR TRIP - MAY 2019 - 4 Days

Day1 -23-May-2019 B'lore – Chikamagalur

6:15 AM Morning Gorguntepalya-Left-Tumkur Road Towards Nelamangal (15km)- Hassan –Mangalore rd, Breakfast – 7:30AM @ Udupi Upahar ------------------- Toll Road – 4lane road towards Hassan (10:30). Hassan-Belur Road (right turn) Belur to Chikkamgalur(1hr-11:15 AM) ------------------- On the Way visited the Hiremagaluru KodandaRama Swami Temple - 11:30 AM ------------------- Chikkamagalur – 12 PM Lunch @ Chikkamagalur Town (Maurya Deluxe Hotel) ------------------- Hirekolalau lake - Evening Afternoon there were rain showers till around 3:30 -4 PM,after which we explored the Hirekolalau lake for the rest of the evening.

Day 1- Homestay by 1 PM (Near Kaimara/Indavara)

Chiroos Homestay

Day 2- 24-May, Friday

·Shooting Viewpoint (Kavikal Gandi) - Could not visit but is on the way. ·Sitallayanagiri Mullayana Giri (Tallest Hill/peak in Karnataka) – 11:15AM ·        Lunch to be packed - We had to wait for another 4 hours to get down the peaks for Lunch as had paln to cover the rest same day.

Day 2- 24-May, Friday

BababudanGiri – Dattapeeta Manikhyadhare falls Deviramma Guuda (just seeing) Gaalikere Honnamana Halla (did not visit) Jhari Waterfalls or Butterfly Falls (did not visit)

Day 3- 25-May, Saturday

Travel from Homestay @ 9:20 AM. Hebbe Waterfalls -11Am to 1PM (Jeep to be taken- Rs.800 –perhead, bumpy trip.) Kemmandagundi - Krishnaraja Park - 1PM Shanthi Falls& Z Point (Did not go as trekking zone needs walk) 2:00 PM - Lunch @ Kemmanagundi Horticulture Department hosted Hotel, food was good (South Indian Meal). Kalahatti Falls – 3 PM

Day 4- 26-May, Sunday

9AM – Checkout Chikamagalur-Belwadi – Hoysala Temple (10-11AM)Belawadi Lake Sringeri Udbhava Ganapathi Belawadi to Halebidu – Hassan to Bangalore

Mumbai - Elephanta Caves

Mumbai Trip in a week - 24 to 29-Dec-2017

First Flight for my Dad (72 years) and daughter (06 years), enjoyed the flight thoroughly and went to Chinana (Father's Brother) House in Mumbai,  Day 1 first half was mostly meeting, greeting and feasting.



Wish to convey my heart felt regards to all Shantaram (Chinana), Hema Aunty (His wife), Cousin Swetha her sweet daughter Sahasra and mainly Cousin's Hubby Venkatraman (Sai) for all their hard work to ensure we had a fun filled stay in Mumbai. Mainly Venkatraman (Sai) without his skills like driving in Mumbai Traffic, Knowledge of Mumbai's nook and corner, etc. Would like to dedicate this blog to him and his patience to show us around in Mumbai.

From Right- Cousin's Hubby Venkatraman (Sai) with daughter Sahasra, 

Cousin Swetha  and; her Mom Hema Aunty, My Wife Divya and Daughter Madhavi.

Day 1: Evening drive to Gate Way of India and Marine Drive

Left home after a sumptuous lunch at 4 PM and browsed through the European style buildings before reaching the destination, like the Bank Buildings, Library, Mumbai University, etc and finally around 6:30 PM at the Gateway of India, made our way to the monument to have a good view of the same.

Monument was lit to match the din around with a mild lighting of monument to give the heritage look. Arches also looked so geometrically aligned, to give a beautiful view of the monument.
Opposite to this is the view of the Taj Hotel the old and the new, which
refreshed the militant attacks on these monuments. But the beautiful lighting of these just made them fade away in their bright twinkling of lights, also a cool breeze beside the Gateway of India gave a soothing feeling for the long travel and day so far.

Next made our way to the car and hit towards the Mumbai famous night time highlight i.e. Marine
Drive with the Necklace road lit with the street light along with curved coast strip. Children had some snacks which was carried from home they had fun time feeding on the same. We also enjoyed the cool breeze by sitting on the Marine Drive side ways along the sea border, with lights all around.


Meanwhile on our way back got to see beautifully lit two other major buildings i.e. Mumbai Corporation Building (Purple Light) and Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (earlier called Victoria Terminus, watch closely it was 9:30 PM).








By this time we had made most of our day 1 and all exhausted moved back towards home in anxiety towards the next day.

Day 2: Morning Drive to Temples (Siddhi Vinayak and Mahalakshmi)

Again we made the next day geared up to get all the blessing for the Star Lords of Mumbai, Prabhadevi Siddhi Vinayak Ji and Worli Mahalakshmi Temple.

Prabhadevi Siddhi Vinayak Ji- By time we reached the temple it was already 11:30 AM and there was huge queue bigger than Hanuman tail, so we had to do some Jugaad so my Cousin's Hubby Venkatraman (Sai) was very handy in dealing and get a special VVIP darshan, such a small deity of Vinayak Ji but such a peaceful stage in the center of the hall (slightly below the ground level).

Worli Mahalakshmi Temple- Very near to the Haji Ali is the famous Mahalakshmi temple which has lot of stories related to the Mumbai's history. 3 dieties of Sakthi here Mahakali, Mahasaraswati and Mahalakshmi. Again had a lucky visit to the temple even though there was a huge queue to reach the sanctum. Lakshmi ji seems wanted us to visit here and take her blessings we got the closet view of the deities and lotus flowers which were presented to the deities as prasad. Jay Mahalakshmi.

After all the divine travel moved to have some fun time at the famous Juhu Chowpathi beach we reached on time there around 5 PM enjoyed the waters and eateries around till 7 PM.

 After all the enjoyment with the water waves and swimming in the still Arabian Sea, enjoyed some of the Mumbai Chats. Mouth watering chats like Vada Pav, Bhelpuri, Mixed Ice cream with Rabdi,etc... Also got some raw mangoes sliced and also strangely some Saunf plants with saunf seeds which were being sold by some hawkers around.

Day 3: Day for rest and Shopping @ Dombivilli Market Place

Day 4: Drive to Elephanta Caves

We planned for a long day, hence left the home early by 7 Am as we had a 2.5 hrs drive to Gateway of India and reached around 9:30 AM there. Tickets for the Ferry (to and fro) - 180 Rs per head and additionally Rs.30, there was a entry fee near the Elephanta Caves. We waited anxiously to board the ferry and have the exciting 45 mins travel on the sea to reach the Elephanta Caves, finally around 10 AM we boarded and started sailing. Took some nice snaps from the breezy ride on the Ferry.

Reached the place around 11 AM where there is road which is like elephant trunk which leads to the Island of elephanta caves, there was small toy train ride which we could also cover by walk very easily, but took the ride for fun (Rs.10 per head). From there walked or rather climbed the steps towards the entrance of the Caves where the tickets are sold for the caves, but on the way you get to do a lot of shopping of interesting souvenirs of your trip to Mumbai and Elephanta caves.

Elephanta Caves (Gharipuri)

As we reached the first caves, it was the main summit of the cave temple of Elephanta. Not getting words to express the excellent Shiva Sculptors found inside could not imagine the workmanship and skill of people who created such a beautiful temple dedicated to Shiva and his pastimes like Gangavatarana, Kalyana Sundara Shiva, Nataraja, etc.

Day 5: Perosonal Trip to relatives places.
Got to know about Mumbai's traffic travelling across. Flight back to Bangalore, there ends the fairly tale (Trip to Mumbai)

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KukkeSubrahmanya- Belur-Halebidu

KukkeSubrahmanya- Belur-Halebidu


For a change went to Kukke through Mysore to Coorg, stayed for a day & then towards Kukke Subrahmanya. But for our bad luck the Bisile Ghat road was under construction & had to take the deviation, Sakleshpura - BMRoad - Gundiya, entered to Kukke Subrahmanya.






25th Dec & 26th Dec @ Kukke


Huge rush at Kukke Subrahmany being continuous 3-4 days leaves together lot of devotees had joined. 6:30 Am visit on Sunday in the queue ended with Darshan around 10AM (almost 3-3.5 hrs).




Someshwara Temple

Temple nearby around 3 Kms on right hand side from Kukke temple towards the Kumara Dhara on the half way, with Kumara Dhara flowing near this temple and also very less known but a big temple and surrondings with water stream was a beautiful view and with almost no people around.

Kumara Dhara river flowing in front of the temple also have steps to reach to river.

Belur- ChennaKeshava Temple

Wonderful temple from Hoysala ruler Vishnuvardhana, welomes you with the "Hoy - Sala", the symbol of Sala killing a Tiger.

There was a incident in the past when Sala one of the desendents of hoysala rulers was in his gurukula, once there was a tiger attack when his guru exclaimed "Hoy- Sala", means Sala attack this tiger and threw a stick to him, which was later killed by Sala, there by the descendants are called Hoysalas.

Pillars inside Sanctorium - Suppose there are around 48 pillars and no two pillars are similar and the decorations on the pillars are also so intricate that you can put your fingers within those carvings, so intricate designs of various designs, gods & goddesses on the pillars.

Madanike - Forms of dancing women depicting various dance steps depicting different aspects of bhava & forms.

 

Halebid - Again some 10-15kms from Belur one more splendorous hoysala temple but decided to Shiva, with lot of glorious pastimes of Shiva, Ramayana depicted on the Outer walls of this temple.

Ramayana - Sala Vriksha Upakatha - Where Sugriha before accepting Rama as his friend to eliminate Vali, puts a test to Rama to bring down 7 Sala Tree all together with a single arrow beautifully depicted here.

Mahabrahata - ChakraVyuha-War between the Pandavas & Kauravas, with the formation of warriors called as "Chakra Vyuha" depicted wonderfull with various Elephant riders, Horse riders & other armies forming a circular formation -ChakraVyuha.

Gajacharmambhara Shiva

The Gajasurasamhara form is associated by scholars to the epithet Krittivasa ("who has skin as his garment"), used in the Vedic hymn Shri Rudram Chamakam for Rudra, a Vedic God associated with Shiva.

The Kurma Purana describes the tale of Gajasurasamhara, when discussing the Krittivashvara ("The Lord who has skin as his garment") linga (the aniconic form of Shiva) of Varanasi. When an demon (Rakshasa) assumed the form of an elephant and terrorized Brahmins who were worshipping the linga, Shiva emerged from this linga, slew the demon, and removed the elephant skin, thereafter wearing the hide on his upper body

In sculpture, Gajasurasamhara is often pictured with eight arms. These multiple arms are uncommon in Shiva's iconography and are exclusively used in his combative forms.^[6] In such multiple-armed images, Shiva may carry various attributes like the trishula, a damaru, sword, kapala, pasha, deer, ankusha (goad), vajra (thunderbolt), arrow, gada (mace), khatavanga, tanka (a chisel-like weapon), bow, snake, the elephant's tusk and akshamala. His hands may be held in suchihasta mudra (gesture to draw or point out attention) or vismaya mudra. At least, two arms hold the elephant skin around the body. Gajasurasamhara is shown wearing a jatamukuta (matted hair crown), with a jatamandala (braided hair spreading from the head, forming a circle around it) and garlands of skulls. The jatamukuta may be embedded with skulls and durddhura flowers, while the jatamandala may be adored by Shival's usual attributes such as a snake and the crescent moon. His face is fearsome with round rolling eyes and protruding fangs.