A journey from Jahapanah to Aurangzeb

The story is about a girl, Henna, who calls her best friend "Jahapanah" because he lives a very luxurious life. This guy is on a senior post in a manufacturing firm and is mostly out of India. 

Always lives an ostentatious life by staying in five or seven star hotels, shows off an extravagant and splendid life. 

Best friend know each others so well without saying a word. Henna is damn sure that he doesn't like this artificial life and believes in simplicity.

One day, they get into an argument on a small thing and the Henna says,

"akdu, khadoosh !!!

Jahapanah kya kah diya, mujhe to apni kaneez hi samajhane lage hain !!!

aapka naam jahapanah nahi, aurangzeb hona chahiye !!!

Sukra hai ki aap sachi wale aurangzeb nahi hai !!!

Otherwise, aapne to shah jahan ke black taj mahal banane ke khawaab pur bhi pabandi laga di hoti.

aur white taj mahal, wo to kabhi banta hi nahi !!!"

Bechare Jahapanah !!! iske baad kahte bhi to kya kahte :-)

Auro Grace, Whitefield, Bangalore

Restaurant Type : multi-cuisine

Price for Two : Approx. 1000

As the name suggest, it is the aura of the place that adds grace to the flavor of food and gives a soothing experience at the aura grace. It is an open air restaurant and the breeze in the air was very relaxing from the stress of daily life. They have AC seating as well. 

I tried Fajitas, it was yummy but I couldn't finish this, it was too much food for me :-)

It included a sizzler with lots of vegetables - broccoli, capsicum, tomato, mushroom, cottage cheese and more along with three chapattis, rice, three kind of peppers, cream, sprouts and onion.

They have good variety of delicious pastas as well. They can also serve alcohol with food. As always we ordered glass of white wine. 

We only girls had made plan to have lunch together here in a week day and this place really added to our enjoyment.

Address: Whitefield Main Road, Whitefield, Bangalore

Landmark: Opposite Greenwood High International School

Last words from Hampi Tour

Whatever i have written about Hampi till now is only a glimpse of what Hampi is hiding within itself. Each monument of Hampi has an underlying story and unique magnificent architecture to explain. There is much more to explore and explain about Hampi.

Unfortunately my 3 day tour to Hampi had to shorten up by 1 and half days due to some personal reasons. But still i appreciate the opportunity that i got a chance to visit this place. A long life is awaiting ahead to visit many more such places including Hampi.
 

 

The fact about Hampi ruins is that despite being the world heritage site, authority is least bothered to maintain the heritage in a good state. 

Ruins are turning down with the time and very little is being done. If this state of this city continues the same way, time will be there when the whole city will convert into debris and we no longer would be able to appreciate our culture and heritage that we have today.

Lets take a pledge now to save our heritage and create awareness among people about such places to gain more attention of everyone and to take appropriate actions.

Tourist Places, Hampi

Elephant Stable

I have seen first elephant stable of my life in Hampi itself. This structure has got a long line of 11 chambers, dome like structure with arched doorways which opens up in an open large space to have this royal animal. This magnificant structure again represents the incredible work done in the era of Vijayanagar emperors.

Badavi Linga

Badavi Linga is a huge shiva linga of approximately 10-12 feet. It is located in a chamber with its one side open. Chamber is partly filled with water as the water channel has been made to channelize through it.

There is a very interesting story related to this shiva linga.

The story behind this linga is that there was a old poor lady. She had no means to survive. She asked the king to help in making her living, but the king denied to help her for free. He asked the lady to do some work and in return he will arrange her food and other necessary amenities. Then, this lady spent the rest of her life in making this shiva linga which is known as Badavi, it means poor in local terms.

Krishna Temple 

The temple was built by the ruler Krishnadevaraya in the 16th century.





Apart from Yalis, ten incarnation of Lord Vishnu can also be seen here.

Hazare Rama Temple -

Many important events of Ramayana are carved into stones here.

Connections to Ramayana, Hampi

It is believed that Hampi has been a important milestone in the history of ramayana. 

Anegundi, northern side of Tungbhadra river is also called as Kishkinda where Rama defeated Bali to establish Sugriva empire. Also, prepared all strategies to have a war with Ravan.

Anjaneya Hills

On the other side of Tungabhadra river, Anjaneya hill is located in the middle of Anegondi area. It's approximately 4-5 kms from the river. Distance between the Anegundi and Hampi can be covered with Coracles or the motor boats.

Views on the way and after reaching the hill are undoubtably extraordinary. It is said to be the birth place of Hanuman who was born to Anjana and therefore the place is called Anjaneya hills.

To reach top of the hill, approx. 600 steps are to be climbed. There is no shops on the way except at the bottom of the temple so it is advisable to carry some stuff with you like water and food but be careful of the monkeys on the way.

I felt damn tired in climbing the stairs but the magnificent views from the hills made me feel relaxed.

Other Tourist Attractions are:
Pampa Sarover
Sugrive's Cave
Anegundi Fort

The only thing which couldn't convince me is not to figure out exactly how this place is related to the Ramayana because as per my knowledge, Ramayana happened millions of years ago and most of the temples there are only few centuries old.

Eat, Stay and Travel - Hampi

BiCycle and Moped Rental

City can be visited on the rented moped bikes, bicycle or the auto. I enjoyed my first day exploring hampi ruins on the rented moped. Don't imagine me driving the moped :-) I was doing stunts by standing on the back seat somehow balancing myself and moped ...

Second day, i preferred to rent a geared bicycle. I enjoyed running bicycle after a number of years :-). The way was too scenic that can only be enjoyed on an open vehicle like a bike or cycle. I drove it around 12 kms but its difficult to run them on the hilly areas because they say it's a geared one but actually its not.

Issue with Rental Moped - Unfortunately the moped that we hired broke twice and the repairing stations in hampi were 3 to 5 kms away. We had to hire a auto to get our bike to the station. Autos there, charge a lumpsome money, they dont use meter at all. I lost my patience when it broke second time and servicewala told me that patches for the old punctures on the tyre are coming out. I contacted the owner, he apologised and offered me free service for one more day which i didnt utilize.

I really couldn't stick to my travelling plan for the day and had to shift visiting one of the temple to accomodate this in the second day.

Travel from Bangalore to Hampi

Hampi is approximately 300 km away from Bangalore. I took a train from Bangalore to Hospet (Hampi Express).

The trip to catch the train was quite adventurous. I got late in office that day due to some meetings and on the way to the Majestic Railway station from whitefield, I was day dreaming of running behind the train in case i reach the station a little late. Luckily, I got there few minutes in advance and boarded the train easily.

Hampi to hospet is overnight journey. Hospet, a small town located about 12 kilometers (8 miles) from Hampi is the nearest railway station. From the hospet railway station, we took an auto to reach bus stand. From Hospet, public buses are easily found to reach Hampi.

There is an amazing bus with a great palace like interior with pillars inside, dark brown yellow colour, named as VijayaRath. Rent is only 5 rs higher than the local bus. It was not at all crowded. I really enjoyed my journey in the bus.

Where to Eat 

You won't find many options on the way to tourist places for the food, we survived the whole day on chips, buiscuits, masala nimbu soda, coconut water and mineral water. These can be found in most of the building you visit. Some of the local restaurants can be found which offer you food with very cheap price .

Mango Tree is the only available popular restaurant, View is too scenic as this is close to the river. Seating arrangement is quite indian, sitting on a mattresses on floor and a small table in front of you to serve the food. They serve different kind of cusinies like Chinese, Maxican and more along with the indian but it is all vegeterian. I tried roti and curry which were average food.

I had trouble with the mosquitos, even the mosquitos repellent coils were ineffective for me at that place. Also, you have to make sure you took off your slippers before entering the restaurant.

Accomodation

If you are planning to stay in Hampi, don't expect any luxury place to stay. There are more of home stays which can easily be found in 500-700 rs. I reckon that cheapest would be 100 rs.

There are some resorts available after crossing the tungbhadra river. Food options strictly limited to the place to stay.

Tourist Attractions of Hampi

Hampi is very enriched heritage site and is also popular for its historical background. There are plenty of temples whose monolithic architecture from kingdom of vijayanagar summons travelers. Glimpse of mind-boggling architecture from one of the biggest empire in India can still be seen in its remaining ruins.

Here are few on the top list (Places to see) :

• Kadlekalu Ganapathi
• Sasivekalu Ganapathi
• Vittala Temple
• Krishana Temple
• Hazare RamaTemple
• Badavi Linga
• Ugra Narsimha
• Virupaksha Temple
• Elephant Stable
• Queen's Bath
• Pushpkarni

I will write about few of these places in detail in my next blog but i can say that all of them are surely worth a visit.

Musical Pillars and Stone Chariot - Vitthala Temple, Hampi

Vitthala Temple

This is one of the most sumptuous and outstanding developement in Hampi which takes your breath away. Musical Pillars and Stone Chariot (which itself is a temple) are the major attractions of Vitthala temple.

In Vithala temple, i was amazed to hear the concept of musical pillars. There are 56 musical pillars in magnificent Ranga Mantapa, one of the sanctum in the temple.

Each pillar emits different kind of music tones like tabla, bansuri, vidan and many more. It is built in such a way that with the emission of the sound from one pillar starts emitting sounds from other pillars also and creates music. Doesn't it surprise you ? Our guide emitted the tabla tone from one of pillar, it was really tantalizing.

I was disappointed to see that there is a fall down in this sanctum the same day. Someone or probably many in the past put a lot of efforts to make this enthralling and excellent piece of architecture which probably is beyond the imagination of any. But due to lack of maintainance, one of the fall down happened that day.

Stone Chariot is another attraction of this Vithala temple. As the name suggests, it's a shirine built as a chariot that was meant for taking out the deities on a traditional procession.

Vittale represents Lord Vishnu and the chariot represents Lord Garuna.

Currently the chariot is devoid of any idol and originally placed 2 horses have been replaced with 2 stone elephants to drag the chariot. Chariots stands on a rectangular platform and faces the temple. Chariot also has got beautiful intricate carvings.

Our guide showed us the remaining hints of the natural colors in some part of the chariot that were used initially to make this chariot colorful. With the passage of time, this color has wiped off from the chariot and only glimpse of it can be seen now.

Yalis, Hindu Mythology Creature, Hampi

Yalis, Hindu Mythology Creature - "Hampi", Karnataka state, India.

Yalis are believed to be more powerful than the lion or elephant in Hindu mythology.

I was amazed to find one similar giant mythological creature carved on the pillars in many temples in Hampi, including Vittala temple and ramachutaya temple.

This creature is mostly used in the south indian sculpture, known as Yali (In Tamil).

This sculpture is a horse like animal with the face of a lion with its front legs raised, balancing on its rear legs. The armed soldier riding the Yali holds the chain hanging from the beast’s mouth.

Sometimes, yali is carved with the head of an elephant.

Yali is also known as Vyalam or Sarabham in Sanskrit.

Hampi - Diamond Trade Center

Hampi, Karnataka state, India, was a Diamond Trade Center.

Hampi was built in 1336 in dravidian style, last capital of Vijayanagar. I still need to learn the difference between the different style of architectures from history. But i could say dravidian style consists primarily of pyramid shaped temples and buildings which have intricate carvings on stones including kings, dancers, deities or warriors. It is said to be originated from Tamilnadu and is called kovils.

Many people say that city is comprised of ruin buildings but from my imaginary eyes, i could see that it would been have been one of most grandiose, austere, delightful and enriched sites when it was built. Inspite of the ruins, the building exists in their new and well established state.

During ancient times, Hampi had been a thriving commercial center, with the trade of horses and gems (emarland, rubies, diamonds and many more).

Imagine, valuable things like diamonds ( caret < 34) and other precious stones were sold openly in the area outside the temples, palaces et cetera. Diamonds > 34 were given to king as royalty by the nobles who were given the mining rights.

The main street selling diamonds and other precious stones, was surprisingly called Pan Supaari Street.

I could see the trade areas outside many buildings in Hampi but am not quite aware of the diamond mining stuff. Probably that used to happen in the other side of area after crossing the tungbhadra river. There we could see only the mountains built of rock sized stones.

Related Post :
A Memorable Experience to Hampi (Part - I)

A Memorable Experience to Hampi

     
"Hampi", Karnataka state, India, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

This is one of most beautiful places that i have ever visited.  It is the site of the once-magnificent capital of the Vijayanagar Empire. 

When i entered this city i realized that this is what i have always been looking forward from a tourist place when i want to keep myself away from the hustle-bustle of the metro city. This place is so calm and serene, natural and attractive, adorable and dazzling, it's difficult to say in words what it makes you feel.

I could spent a long time there doing nothing but appraising the beauty of the old architecture, temples, palaces etc. At most of the attractions, relaxing, soothing sound of water and blowing wind can be heard. Everywhere in the city, sky is clear, air is refreshing, so much greenery all around, this place calms your mind and help alleviate stress.

Rock size stones can be seen on sides of the roads in middle of the mountain peaks. City’s rocky landscape, dotted with ancient temple ruins, makes it a unique climbing experience. This place is completely peaceful, no honking of horns, no other kind of pollution, rather you hear the musical sounds of the bells coming from the temples nearby which soothe and revive your worn out nerves.

Best Time to Travel - November to March (the cooler months) being the peak season. The ruins cover a wide area, but it’s possible to see the main sites in a day or two. However, this goes against Hampi’s relaxed grain, so plan on lingering for a while.

Related Post:
A Memorable Experience to Hampi (Part - II)

Barbeque Nation, Whitefield, Bangalore

This is my first blog ever , so why not start with the restaurants I visited during my stay in bangalore. I will write down about all of the them,, each one has diffrent flavour of food and ambience, But I am starting with my best experience - PART I

 

Barbeque Nation, Whitefield, Bangalore
( They have opened up a new outlet in Park Square mall next to ITPL, Whitefield. )
Cuisine Type - Indian -

Barbeque has a good reputation in the market both for its food and service. Brand sells itself and they don’t need to put extra effort to gather its customer attentions. They can easily take the customer advantage by providing less quality. But they don't do so.

I am glad to write review about my visit to this new franchise. Barbeque Nation Bangalore is Heaven to for all the foodies. Customer service is also quite impressive here along with the awesome food.  As usual, we started with starters, barbeque specialty. The variety of Salads and Barbeques are mind boggling. They have a grill placed right below each table. The good part was they specifically came to us to make sure if we need more variety in the starters to add on, i told fruits and they didn’t let the flag down on our table until they served what more i wanted to have. Food was delicious and finally dessert, something i can't resist to. I tried many but my favorite among them would be to have a combination of hot gulab jamun with ice-cream. I was disappointed with the fact, gulab jamun was cold enough not to enjoy with ice-cream. I gave this as a feedback. and believe me, manager of this particular outlet personally took care of my request and insisted me to have one more round of garma garam gulab jamun with ice-cream. He kept insisting me until i agreed. my stomach was so stuffed that day, i can't remember any other day when i had even half of the food i had that day.

It's a very memorable experience. They added to it by not accepting the tip. This was quite surprising to me, we wanted to give the tip and they refused. If given a chance, I would like to visit this restaurant again.

Approx. Buffet Price for Two : 1400/-