Tour de Savandurga

So it all started when I was mugging up to utilize our last day of long weekend. I was discussing with Pranjal when Shreyansh suggested for few places and finally we agreed for Savandurga!!!

We asked few other friends and finally we were 7 in count. Savandurga is about 60 kilometers from Bangalore. It is Asia's one of the highest monolith hills and famous for trekking and rock climbing. I woke up by a miss call of Sarjit at around 5.15 AM which was just to show that he woke up early. We had four bikes and all of us met at Udupi bus stop in BTM. Me, Shreyansh, Sarjit and Prajjwal were driving. We just crossed under bridge of Jayanagar and Sarjit was behind Shreyansh with blowing horn of his bike. This continued for next 4-5 kilometers till Shreyansh took a side and said that his ears are paining. I couldn't control my laugh and soon we were on the toll gate of Mysore road. After paying money, we raced our bikes on the beautiful highway, leaving Shreyansh behind, who was busy clicking selfies. We stopped at a tea stall and till we finished, it drizzled. We wiped water from our bikes and engines ignited again.
There was a right turn after Rajarajeswari dental college which lead us to our target. Road was narrow with sharp turns at some places. After riding around 20-30 minutes, we took a right turn and that mesmerized me. A water body with a huge hill on its back side. This was Manchanabele reservoir. Whole place was full of greenery. A drizzle made whole place unforgettable since weather added another flavour.

I thought that I had clicked best picture with smartphone till I found below one, clicked by Anuj.

I took off my helmet since I was not on highway. Pandit was sitting behind me and he whipered ,"Mangoes" There were Mango orchards on both sides of road and they were making Pandit to behave like a greedy. I smiled and increased speed. As I was spending time on road, I was falling in love with it. Trees covering it from both sides made it my second favorite biking road after Coorg.
After a ride of around 1-1.5 hours we reached to a check point where we had to pay INR 80 for 4 bikes. I always think why we pay money to non-government local people who will never take responsibility if something happens to you or your bike. I don't know where this type of money goes. Anyway, just after crossing it, we saw a beautiful rock body and I couldn't stop myself from clicking a picture.

Since I was busy in clicking, others crossed and went ahead. I saw them standing under a tree with a big white temple and a huge hill. That was Veerabhadraswamy temple.

Veerabhadraswamy temple, Savandurga

I walked a few meters to cover huge hill in my lens and fortunately I got a good click.

We started again by taking a right turn and soon we reached parking area. There is another temple at foothills. Local worshipers were there to visit. We started with a short walk in a grove after which base of hill can be reached.

grove at foothill of Savandurga

As I crossed that grove I saw a group of rocks on my right side.

But that was just a demo, when I saw in front, I started doubting myself on trekking.

Savandurga, view from foothill

But, I could see Shreyansh, Sarjit, Pandit, Pranjal and Ujjwal were already ahead. I thanked God for stopping rain. It seemed very slippery. I started walk and suddenly I turned my head towards right. Temple was peeking from grove and hill.

In spite of trekking straight (which had a danger of slipping) we decided to take right and go for a round trekking. We jumped over few rocks and found a way which was already been followed by many others. We crossed stone stairs made by trekkers and reached in a grove where Pandit was resting after taking off his shirt and showing his wooden skeleton. We also rested for few minutes and after around 100-200 meters, Anuj and Prajjwal took a straight way and I ,with others, moved more right for a safer side. Sarjit asked me to see back for the beautiful view of river Arkavathi.

After a walk of few meters, I saw another view on just right side...other hills covered with flora and our bare hill on which we were trekking.


Sun was showing its effect and I started sweating. Sarjit had same condition,so, we took rest under the shadow of a huge stone. Anuj also crawled in with us. View from that stone was really beautiful.

We started again and on our right side, river was still giving us a scenic view to fill in our eyes.

We walked a few more meters when I heard Pandit shouting, " Elephant...!!!" I was confused, elephant and at this place? Then I saw where he was pointing to...

Elephant rock, Savandurga

Yes, it was an elephant but not a real one. I rushed to take another picture from nearby and got a clear view...

Elephant rock, Savandurga

I thanked Pandit for showing this to us. On our left side, there was a boundary at around 100 meters of height...

Mid way, Savandurga

I thought this is our target and though it was a straight ascent but I reached on top in few minutes by walking like a monkey. Others were resting under a bush. We clicked a picture and when I saw ahead, that was not end. There was a vendor under a swing like tree selling double priced tetra pack juices who told that it was just mid way.

Now, we took a right where a footpath like boundary wall was made. We started walking on it and when I saw on my right, there was a big stone resting without any support. I have seen butter rock in Mahabalipuram and it was similar to that...It was just still...no movement...

Now, Arkavathi river was on our left side...making scene beautiful...

We were little tired but walking with joy...cracking jokes...pulling each others leg...
There were many paths made by flowing water...which helped us in climbing...I took help of one of them and climbed around 100 more meters. Now the scene on my left was so beautiful...a big hole on rock...full of water and a tree...with river flowing far away...

I continued trek to reach a bushy place where Pandit was resting and others were pulling his leg. I clicked picture of nearby dry hole full of bushes...

We started again and encountered another pond like structure...it seems they get water when it rains...

We crossed few big cactus bushes to find a man made restroom type structure on our left. On our right side, I could see a white temple which was our end point. But, I took a left to see beyond that man made restroom...there was a pond...which seemed to have a human intervention in its design...
River was flowing far away...

I returned back to our path and again there was a grove to cross...We jumped over rocks...and rushed towards temple...

temple view from far, savandurga

We crossed a cave like path with white flowered trees....and adjusting ourselves on that bases made by trekkers we finally reached top most point...
There was a Nandi temple...

Nandi temple, hill top, Savandurga

I jumped over the rocks to see left side view from Nandi temple...

On the right side of Nandi temple, there was another hill on which rain water flowed through rocks making a scene as if rocks cried...

After removing his shirt again, Pandit was singing loudly under a rock...when a vistor went near him and gave few coins...
We laughed loudly...
Pranjal called us...telling shadow of Nandi temple is very cold. I walked till the end and met with another scenic beauty...

End point view, Savandurga

Again same vendor came with juices...but this time prices were tripled...with were thirsty and lack of option forced us to buy juices...

This was my first trek on a monolith rock...full of beauty and good experiences...
A must to visit place!!!

Trip credit : Shreyansh, Pranjal
Pic credit : Me, Anuj
Jokes credit : Sarjit, Pandit

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Tour de Anthargange

So it all started before labor day's long weekend when Sarjit and me had a discussion on utilizing this long weekend. Finally we agreed on Anthargange!!!

Sarjit asked Shreyansh and Anuj and they both were also ready. Anthargange is a mountain in the south-eastern part of beautiful Karnataka. It is famous of caving and trekking. We need to drive for around 70 kilo-meters from Bangalore to reach here. Me and Shreyansh started at around 6 AM in the morning and reached Domlur , where Sarjit was waiting with Anuj. Highway was very busy and due to traffic in morning I thought we should have left a bit early. We didn't have much fuel so stopped at Indian Oil's. Sarjit was keen to post his travel plan on social network. We clicked few pictures there. Our next stop was SLV Delites, a roadside hotel. We ordered Kesari bath, Dosa's, Idly and Vada's. Food was good and place was clean.

SLV Delight Hotel

We started again. There is a resort, Confident Amoon, on highway which they have constructed on the theme of Egyptian Gods. It couldn't stop myself from taking a picture of their entrance.

Entance of Confident Amoon, resort

Rocks with flora were making highway look very beautiful. This was first time that my 135cc bike touched 112 Km/h.

Roadside view on highway to Kolar

We saw one signboard saying " Welcome to milk and silk city if Kolar". Kolar is also famous for its gold mines. We took a left and entered in thr residential township. Anuj was guiding us with maps and soon we crossed a road covered with orange flowers.

We reached Anthargange at around 8.15 AM. I saw it's gate with something written in Kannada and a Shivalingam on top of it.

We parked our bikes and started walking on stairs. "Monkey's", Anuj said when Sarjit was busy taking selfies. I think there were 30+ monkeys. I kept my specks inside in the fear that any of them will come, slap me and will snatch my vision. It is a forest area and around 100-200 stairs are there to reach the temple. There is a pond which gets water from a Basava ( stone bull). People were filling containers with water coming out.

Water from Basava and Pond 

We visited temple and prayed in front of Shivalingam. There were two persons sitting inside temple who started playing one musical instrument. I asked its name and they answered, Nadaswaram.

We came out but didn't know from where to start and at same time one small boy came," Bhaiyya, caving?" I was not too sure if we should take him but then Shreyansh said, 'let's take him". He told his name was Siddhesh and we started trekking by taking left of pond. Shreyansh and Anuj were ahead with Siddhesh and me and Sarjit were a few meters behind them.Suddenly a big monkey came from somewhere and Sarjit, instantly threw water bottle that he was holding. Now, our only hope of water was with that monkey who was drinking it like people drink cold drinks in advertisements. Granite rocks were very sharp and there were cactus plants also.

Cactus in Anthargange

At some places you will find stairs on rocks which make the path easy to walk.

Stairs on rock

I had a bag with my helmet and other stuff. After few meters I started feeling tired. I saw behind, trees on the ground were looking very small. On my left and right, there were huge rocks with plants on them.

"Where are you", Sarjit shouted from some height and I replied back. I started again and after some distance I stopped again. Bright Sun was in the sky, I was feeling the warmth of it. But it was so quiet...not a single word...full of serenity ,which I badly miss in big cities like Bangalore. Road with orange flowers was visible from there. I wanted to spend some more time but I could hear others calling me. Insects in the grass also started making sound as if they didn't like my presence in their area. I started again crossing the stones and rocks.

Others were sitting under a tree with Siddhesh and a vendor, Naveed who was selling buttermilk and water melons. They had a school book of Hindi and Siddhesh started reading it loudly. We had buttermilk and started again to enter trekking cave, as they call it!

Entrance of Trekking Cave

Siddhesh as a kid was very mischievous and was jumping over the rocks. I was a bit concerned about this and he asked," easy way or tough way?" I said, "tough!" Sarjit stared and Anuj smiled at me at the same time. Caving is most beautiful part of Anthargange and it makes you to believe in yourself and your body. We jumped, crawled and somehow came out of this. Shreyansh was confused, " which was the easy one?" Siddhesh smiled and shouted," It's same, I was just playing". I laughed and the we headed downside to enter in another cave called Water cave.
Since water cave had very narrow openings and too dark, Shreyansh opted to sit on the entrance. We turned our mobile lights and entered. This cave was very cold in spite of high temperature outside. We saw some water inside that. Sarjit was wearing jeans and stylish shirt and he had difficulty which crawling inside the cave. I think person with heavy body should avoid entering this.
We came out, tired and satisfied. Siddhesh was keen to run back for new customers, so we paid him and started returning. It was more hot now and we reached down soon. After having cucumber and water, we headed back. We stopped at one roadside food court to have lunch.

Food court, Highway star

Overall trip was memorable and satisfying!!!

Pic credit : Me, Shreyansh
Trip Credit : Sarjit
Map guide : Anuj

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Tour de Jammu

http://raghavs1003.blogspot.in/2017/03/tour-de-patnitop.html

Next day, taxi came at around 8.30 and due to tiredness of walk to Vaishno devi temple , we started by 9 AM. We crossed Agar Jitto and Nav devi temples and reached Baba Dhansar after around 30-40 minutes!
It is situated on the bank of river and we were able to hear sound of flowing water from height.

Flowing water view from hill top, Baba Dhansar

We had to cross around 200 stairs downside to reach the temple. There is a big campus outside the temple and water comes in a small lake through one spring. There is one main temple of Baba Dhansar and a cave where idol of Lord Shiva is rooted with whole family. Priest in the temple took prasad carried by us and told about the mythological story behind the temple.

Water source at Baba Dhansar

Place was really serene and after our pooja, we headed back towards Nav devi.

As name suggests, this temple has idols of 9 Goddesses. One more feature of this place is abundance of monkeys or I should say "snatching monkeys". While Mum was purchasing prasad I saw one adult monkey snatched some eatable from a child. We had to downstairs since temple is below the hill. Actually there are two caves, one it open where Lord Hanuman is seated after which we are supposed to cross a slender path with pointed rocks. Old or fat persons should avoid this path. Inside this cave idols of Goddesses at seated. We came out and while dad was about to open bag of eatables a monkey came,snatched,ran away : dad couldn't even react. We had sugarcane juice there and moved towards our next site : Baba Agar Jitto!

Baba Agar Jitto is temple based on a local story about a farmer Jitto. Its entrance was still in construction. After visiting it, we took same road to cross Katra and headed towards Jammu. They have developed road and rails between Jammu and Katra. Driver turned wheels on a narrow road and forced me to ask," where are we going?" "Kol Kandoli Temple"

Entrance of Kol Kandoli temple

Inside view of Kol kandoli temple

Kol Kandoli temple is situated in Nagrota town. When we stopped at Army check post and showed our identity, driver explained, " In the last days of November'16 terrorists attacked on this camp. Many soldiers died". A feeling of respect came from inside. Not only me, whole country respects and loves soldiers...because of whom we live and celebrate in country. Car was parked and we entered temple premises. As per mythology, Pandvas build this temple during their exile. There are two main idols, one brass idol and one pindi of Goddess. There are many other temples also build inside premises. We came out and called driver who was busy chatting with some his friend type person. He took us to next site, Peer Kho or Jamvant Gufa!

In between, we were on the road parallel to famous Tawi river on the bank of which Jammu is situated. River didn't have enough water which made me thought of drought there. We crossed a narrow bridge and while crossing driver said," that is Bahu fort...and below it we can see mini haridwar"

Bahu fort from bridge and Mini Haridwar at left most of picture

We reached somewhere which was looking like cloth market. Driver indicated,"temple is inside the street". This place is famous for naturally made Shivalingam inside a cave. There are many other idols seated due to various beliefs. As per mythology, Jamvant from Ramanaya did meditation in this cave.  One more story is famous on some local saint on how he saved people from some goon.
We came out of campus and while we had famous Raghunath temple in our mind, driver said, we can visit Suchetgarh Indo-Pak border where oldest Raghunath temple is situated. Since we had visited Raghunath temple of Jammu during our earlier visit to Vaishnodevi, we agreed.

Suchetgarh border is around 30 km far from Jammu city after crossing Jammu airport. Single road is not as good as in city. BSF ensures security of this post. We reached there after about 1 and half hours. Driver parked car and we moved towards check post. Officer asked us to show ID proof and provide vehicle number. We provided details and they allowed us to enter inside premises. Raghunath temple is on right side of entrance. We thought of visiting it later and moved inside. There is a canteen on left side of entrance. Some construction was going on there. A big black wall features logo and details of BSF : our pride. We went behind it and could see fence of Indian side.

Indian fencing at left side of picture 

This was my first ever visit to any Indian border and I was a bit emotional with a feeling of security and respect for Army men.  After waiting for some other visitors, they opened main gate for us. Now, I could see neighbor's flag painted far away on their side.

Border

I was walking towards the end point as was feeling as if I am going to the door of my own home : once it will be opened, I will see neighbor. There is an old tree with number 918, half of which is owned by our neighbor. I was little surprised by seeing farms on border. I asked one soldier," who does farming here?" "local villagers of Suchetgarh, our last village". I saw mile stone 919 behind which land owner were neighbors. When I tried to went near, before Army men, my father stopped,   "don't go near". I smiled and returned back. One thing which I noticed was extreme silence...some kind of peace. As if we have never fought any war...never lost any ones life. Alas! I wished this could be true and if not ,this peace last forever and we never lose any life. Our visit time was over and other visitors were waiting outside. I walked back keeping memories of silence. Just before the door, a dog jumped from a bush and ran towards farms. My mum asked a stingering question, " what is the nationality of this dog?" No one had answer. Animals roam here and there and we human, most intelligent creature on planet, fight.
There is a museum which contains various pictures of Army events and brave soldiers who died during wars. One of the most touching picture is of a soldiers smiling while his whole face is red with blood. This border is also known as Octroi! I came to know when I read below notice board.

After coming back, we entered through a small gate and crossed garden to enter into the temple.

Priest gave us sweet water which along with drinking I touched on my hairs. Later ,I realized the content of sweet water was sugar when my hairs became hard as if I have used some gel on them. I came outside and walked back towards car after taking our ID cards from check post. One shop selling local products attracted me. When I entered, shopkeeper grinned and immediately tossed a packet of Shilajit on the counter. I stared at him and he said, " Le jaiye bhaiyya, asli hai". I smiled and denied. Engine was ignited for taking us to Bahu fort and Gardens.

Bahu fort is situated on the bank of river Tawi. There is an aquarium and a beautiful garden on stairs. There is a local story of King Jambu lochan and his brother Bahu lochan who built this fort. King saw a goat and a tiger side by side drinking water of river Tawi without any fear and attack. He considered this place peaceful and so this fort was made.

We can have full view of Jammu city from this fort. There is a famous temple inside this fort, " Kali mata temple". Driver stopped car on one side and said," it will take around 2 hours to see Temple, Garden and Aquarium. I will wait on lower side gate of garden". We walked around 600-700 meters by taking prasad to reach entrance of fort. Here also one monkey snatched prasad like Nau devi, but this time from my Mum. Bags, mobiles etc are not allowed inside. My brother, who was not interested to go inside, kept everything while we went inside. It was aarti time and it took us around 45-50 minutes to come out of it. We walked back to find way to aquarium and garden. Their main gates are on the right side, behind the car parking, once we come out of temple path. We took ticket for Aquarium and walked inside. Engineers have shown their creativity : we enter through a mouthed structure of fish, whole aquarium is in basement, and come out from tailed structure of fish.

Jammu city on the bank of Tawi

Before entering, we preferred to stand over the boundary to see panoramic view of Jammu city.  Dry Tawi river, vehicles running on the bridge, bulbs on far buildings and addition to this, pleasant breeze. I really didn't want to leave that place but Mum called for Aquarium. I have seen aquarium in many places,so, soon we were on the ticket counter of gardens. There is a beautiful fountain and man made water body just when we enter the garden. It looked similar to Brindavan garden of Mysore.

Bagh-e-Bahu

Water drains through cemented path and small fountains add beauty to it. We reached near lower gate where there was a row of colored fountains. Driver was waiting for us. Our tour was over and he took us to Sharma Vaishno Dhaba near railway station. Food was really tasty and the way waiter served made us eat more.

We paid bill to the driver on Jammu Tawi station and rushed though crowded entrance to find our train.

Trip credit : Mum
Pic credit: Me

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