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| Jalakandeshwara Temple - Outer entrance |
I was tired
of wasting weekends by watching television programs. Western Ghats areas were
off the limits because of heavy rains; Krishna river area was also under the
threat of flooding; not enough leaves were available for North/ West Indian destinations.
What to do? Where to go? Unexpectedly, I got an old map from cupboard, along
with a paper listing out the attractions in Vellore. At an earlier instance I
cancelled the trip due to some personal reasons, so why not revive the plan
now?
Vellore –
History
Vellore, HQ
of district with the same name is located on the banks of River Palar in the
Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This city at various times in history came
under the rule of Pallavas (of Kanchipuram), Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas,
Vijayanagar, Rashtrakutas, Carnatic and British before finally joining with
Indian Union.
Vellore Fort
was built during the time of Chinna Bomma Nayak (subordinate of Vijayanagar).
In 17th century Vellore came under Nawabs. After Nawabs, administration passed
through various hands before finally settled under British in 19th century. During
British rule Tipu's family and Vikrama Rajasinha (last king of SriLanka) were
held as prisoners here.
Vellore fort
also witnessed the massacre of Vijayanagara royal family of Emperor Sriranga
Raya; and the uprising against British in 1806 (51 years before the first war
of Indian independence)
Sri Lakshmi
Temple (aka Golden Temple) constructed using about 1500km of with an estimated
expenditure of 300 crores is located around 8km away from Vellore bus terminus.
Towards
Vellore - Hosur, Krishnagiri, Ambur and then Vellore
My first
plan to go in a bus leaving Bangalore on Friday night. Later it became clear
that, going in night may not be a viable plan. Vellore is around 210 plus
hours from Bangalore – neither far enough nor close enough. So finally I
decided to go in Saturday morning.
Who wants to
wake up early in the morning that too in a holiday? So am I. Finally around
five in the morning I left the room and boarded a bus to Shantinagar.
In
Bangalore, Tamil Nadu government operate buses going to Chennai and rest of
Tamil Nadu from ShantiNagar, Andra Pradesh State RTC also operates from here,
Kerala RTC operates from Mysore Satellite Stand. Private buses operate from
various parts of city like Majestic, Madivala, Kalasiplalaya, Shantinagar etc.
Karnataka RTC operates mainly from Majestic, Shantinagar etc.
First
bus I saw in the line was going to Chennai. Vellore is located on Chennai route.
So I checked with conductor about Vellore (stress on‘ll’). He replied, “Velur?”
Hmm... I am not sure whether ‘Vellore’ (no stress on ‘ll’) is same as Vellore (emphasis
on ‘ll’). So I moved towards the end, searching for another official. Finally I
found one and he resolved my problem – Both names designate the same city. So I
went back to the first bus and sat comfortably on a side seat in second row.
Wow!!! no one else were there in the bus!!! When it would start? Would they be
ready to with only one passenger? After a while six more adults and two kids
came in and we started our journey at 6.40am.
Bus
was going too slow, as if its movement was hurting the bitumen coated NH7. Familiar
sceneries repeated on both sides; in between I slept as well. In between when I
woke up we were entering Hosur bus stand. We picked up some 10 – 15 people from
here and proceeded towards Vellore. Krishnagiri, Ambur and finally Vellore. We
traversed around 210+ kilometre in four and half hours!!!
After
having dosha (aka Dosa) and tea from a hotel located inside the stand, I walked
towards main road in search of a bus to Vellore Fort. By the way, both Dosha
and tea were good (so as the cost). Boarded No.1 bus and reached fort with in
some 15 minutes.
Jalakandeshwara Temple
 |
| Inside the mandapa |
Crossed
fort entrance and walked towards Jalakandeshwara Temple. There are a couple of
playgrounds on the other side. Kids were playing cricket there. Madapa made of
stone (with elaborate engravings of various episodes from puranas) was standing
on the left side, just after the gate of out temple wall.
I
spent approximately half an hour there. Next destination was actual temple. When
I was about to walk towards inner temple gate, one guard closed half door. He
made an elaborate expression, which in simple words can be translated to “why
you wasted your time outside?” Subsequently, he went inside and started blowing
his whistle asking people to go outside. After coming this much distance I was
not ready to go back without entering inside the temple. Hence I walked in
using the other half of that big gate and took a quick look. Where is the
sanctum? Well it was on another side. I quickly walked towards sanctum and got
a quick look of deity, from a distance.
Vellore Fort
 |
| Fort wall and Moat |
A
police training camp is occupying a substantial portion of the fort. After
taking a round, I reached in front of ASI Museum - nothing much to see, in fact
nobody was there in the premises other than person-in-charge.
After
watching the fort moat for a while I took the stairs to reach the top of fort’s
outer wall. Next one hour went in that way. Many couples were sitting there, in
shades, enjoying their private moments with partners. A little bit further, two
horses were viewing the city arteries through holes in the walls. 3-4 eagles
were drawing big circles in the sky.
 |
| View of Vellore City |
It’s
the time to move on. There was a big part located outside the fort walls. I
walked in diagonal direction reached the other end. Roads were busy; buses were
going in both directions; People were eagerly standing in the bus stop; at a
distance, in fort, Indian flag was flying high.
I
sat on the shades of a big tree for some time. A mid-aged person, probably in
his early fifties, was sitting some 10 metres away was constantly looking
towards me. In between he was walking here and there before finally coming back
to the shades.
Vellore City
 |
| Sky is not the limit |
Another
15 minutes. Finally I told bye to Vellore fort and started walking towards the
bus stop. That guy was also following me, at a distance. This time, he was
looking towards me and talking to somebody else on phone. Suddenly a bus came
and I boarded the same. Well, that guy too is walking towards the bus (but he
didn’t get in). Was he checking the destination of the bus? Is he planning to
follow the bus in another vehicle? I don’t know.
After
spending some more time in the city, I went to new bus stand and boarded a
direct bus to Bangalore. Without describing the road side sceneries of
Krishnagiri – Bangalore stretch in NH 07 this travelogue won’t be complete.
Here, in every 100 metres there is a granite quarry. I don’t know how long those
granite hills will last. Will consumers appetite for granite, last so long that,
there may not be any more hills at all? Probably yes.
Before
midnight I reached Bangalore.
Sajeev.
How
to reach Vellore
By
Road,
Vellore
is connected by road with mojor cities like Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore,
Tirupathi, Salem, Chittoor, Hosur, Nagercoil, Cuddalore, Kurnool, Trichy,
Thiruvannamalai, Kanyakumari, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Kanchipuram, Dharmapuri,
Erode, Tirupur, Palakkad, Krishnagiri etc. City has two bus terminals: the Town
Bus Terminus (opposite the fort and near CMC Hospital) and the Central Bus
Terminus (Near Green Circle).
By
Rail,
Vellore
has three main railway stations - Katpadi junction, Vellore Cantonment and
Vellore Town. Vellore-Katpadi Junction, 5 km north of CMC hospital is a major
one Chennai-Bangalore line running to Chennai, Bangalore, Tirupati and Trichy.
Direct rail links are available to Vijayawada, Tirupati, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur,
Bangalore, Bhopal, Mumbai, Mangalore, Tiruchchirapalli, Bilaspur, Korba, Patna,
Ernakulam, Trivandrum, Kanyakumari, Shirdi, Kanpur, Gaya, Dhanbad, Jammu Tawi,
Madurai, Bhilai, Gwalior, Chennai, Howrah, New Delhi, Coimbatore, Guwahati,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Jaipur etc. Vellore Cantonment is connected to
Tirupati, Chennai, Arakonnam etc.
By
Air,
City
has an airport near Abdullapuram but not of much use. Nearest international
airports are Chennai (130 km) and Bengalore(200 km); the nearest domestic
airport is Tirupati Airport (100 km).
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| Standing on the Fort wall |
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