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.

....................to the Banks of Godari Ganga

Hmm, come summer, come mangoes!

                             Early on Tuesday morning, we headed for Bhadrachalam. We reached Vijayawada to pick up Uncle’s elder brother who was eager to have the blessings of Lord Rama. On his suggestion of a ‘shorter route’, we got stuck on narrow village roads for nearly an hour and a half, but I got the chance of clicking a tree full of tender mangoes and a flock of sheep.  I also saw a standing crop of corn- I just loved it, even if our ‘Driver Mama’ got annoyed.

The flock of sheep that excited me but annoyed my uncle

                To reach Bhadrachalam, we crossed the Godavari bridge beyond which we spotted the temple tower. Excitedly I began to sing, “Adigo Bhadradri, Gouthami Idigo Choodandi” (Yonder, we can see the  Bhadradri and here, we can see the Godavari).