Sunset in Nripatungabetta, Hubli and Tungabhadra Dam

Nripatungabetta is a hillock  near Hubli, Karnataka, from where one can not only have a bird's eye view of the city but behold a beautiful sunset as well. Recently I was there and here are the pics....

Whatte view! Nripatungabetta, Hubli

Karnataka Pilgrimage Day 2: An Incessant Rain of Blessings all the way

            After all the strain of Day 1, we made it a point to wake up only after having been sufficiently blessed by the Goddess of Sleep and we followed it to the dot.  The Goddess was also kind enough in not testing us on this issue.

          Even as the others got ready, I sneaked into the verandah attached to our room in the Lalithambika Guest House of the Kollur Devasthana to catch a glimpse of the nature around us. And I was not disappointed at all.  I stared at the clouds hitting the hills at a distance and descending.

The clouds on the Western Ghats- Kollur, Karnataka

What a colour combination!

What a bliss to be here!

Karnataka Pilgrimage Day 1 : All’s well that ends well (including two ‘pots’ of ‘gold’) Part- II

           After a point, we entered into the Kudremukh National Park, home for the cheetah, spotted deer, bison and other animals.  Dilip alerted us to look around the surroundings to spot some wildlife.  It rained consistently and mist greeted us after a certain point.  Alas, time was too insufficient to even think of photography. We downed the window-glass and let the bliss overtake us.  Wow!  After a while we spotted a tail.  Whose could it be?  Of a fox? Or a wolf?  Oh no, it is a dog’s!  Suddenly Dilip found a small snake crossing the road (I could not see it, to my dismay).  The forest was dense and pleasant.  Memories of my trip to Darjeeling four years ago came to my mind.  Suddenly I looked at the watch: 4.30 p.m.  At inopportune times, we remember unpleasant things. 

Karnataka Pilgrimage Day 1 : All’s well that ends well (including two ‘pots’ of ‘gold’)- Part I

          After two successive sleepless train-borne nights, if one had to wake up so early that one is ready to be road-borne by 5.30 a.m., it is a tough start, to say the least.  If one was ready and eager to leave by the designated time and had to find another vehicle and a driver as the one supposed to turn up, did not, one knew what kind of day was in store.  This was the beginning of the Day 1 of our Karnataka Pilgrimage recently.

          We wanted to cover two places and pray at the temples and reach another temple town by the evening.  The one who planned it out for us had spent a decade in the Western Ghats, and specifically told me that the course of the journey and the serenity in the temples would compete with each other for the resultant peace of mind and the bliss of the soul.