Kanva Dam and Ramadevarabetta (Karnataka)

I didn’t know that there is a vulture sanctuary near Bangalore. As soon as I knew, plan was put in place to go there. Due to headache, Divya dropped out at the last minute. So finally it was me, Gokul and his mother-in-law. We left Bangalore before dawn and reached the sanctuary just around sunrise. It was too early, sanctuary is yet to open. Well, without wasting much time, we changed our destination to Kanva Dam; located close to Ramanagara city. 

 

Entrance

Google maps showed us the shortest distance; unfortunately not the best road. So we ended up going via narrow broken roads through villages. Cows mostly in white, black and white; some where in different shades of brown were roaming freely. Houses were mostly small and located close to the road. Slowly we started seeing a water body on one side; however, dam still eluded us. Finally we entered a much wider road and reached the dam quickly. 

 

Kanva Dam

 

This reservoir was formed as a result of damming the Kanva river in 1946. Located in Ramanagara district, Kanva dam occupies close to 800 hectares and aids in irrigation of fields.

 

Main gate was closed, however there was an opening in the side and we went inside via that. Major outlet of dam was close to the main gate itself. After crest gates there was a long earthen bud which blocked the water and formed that reservoir. Other side of the bund was a steep slope, lined with lengthy coconut trees. I sat at one place; Gokul and his mother-in-law continued walking; Gokul was pointing at something and explaining about it to mom. I looked in that direction, didn’t notice anything special. Well, I sat down in the green grass and looked at the water for sometime and then walked through the earthen bund and joined them. Atmosphere was cool and reservoir was calm and clean. We walked till a rusted iron structure which was slightly pointed to the dam. From top of that structure, it looked like a kind of valve through which water was gushing out to the other side. Hardly five people were there in the vicinity of the dam. 

Landscape around the old dam was quite beautiful and natural. After being the part of nature for close to eight decades, dam fit well in to the naturally scheme of things! As sun moved up, we started walking back. Sanctuary might have been opened by this time. 

 

Temple and Vulture Sanctuary

This sanctuary was established in 2012 to protect vultures, who are one of the essential part in the animal chain. For many vultures are not that glamorous animals and focus is probably less on protecting them. The drop in vulture numbers are alarming. It is estimated that, 97% of the long billed and 99% of the Egyptian vultures have disappeared.  Environmentalists and bird watchers campaigned to have the area declared as a sanctuary. In 2012, around 346.41 hectares was earmarked as a protected area for the vultures. Although I didn’t find any, as per the records this sanctuary is home to long-billed, Egyptian, white-backed vultures.

 

While we were about to take a turn to sanctuary, one police personal requested for a lift. We stopped and picked him up. On the way, he told a lot of things about that place etc. Close to sanctuary he got down from the vehicle and showed us where to see the vulture. I hardly see anything in the direction he pointed. Probably Gokul has sharper eyes as he was agreeing to everything. Did he really see the culture or the place? Police guy looked at me and tried again, this time I saw the point in the rocks which matched his description but not any vultures.

 

Anyway we said good bye to him and went inside the sanctuary and parked the vehicle. There was a good number of people there. A lot of them were actually came to visit the Sita-Rama temple on the top. "It is believed that Sri Rama, Seetha and Lakshmana lived here for a certain period during their exile life. Hayagriva hand sculpted the idols of Sri Rama, Seetha, and Lakshmana which reside in this temple. There is a Kalyani (pond) which is said to be formed by Sri Rama's arrow when Seetha couldn't find water for bathing. There is a Saptharshi hillock on the side of this hillock which was formed by Seetha's curse to Saptharshi (Seven sages) because they were peeping at the pond when she was bathing". The famous Gabbar Singh's hideout (from Sholey movie) is said to be visible from this viewpoint.

 

Even Gokul's mom was very much interested in the temple and praying there. However, it was not easy to reach there, there were a lot of steps to climb. Please note that easy is a relative word here; probably this will be very easy for someone else. However, stuck in the home due to COVID for a long time and laziness - not much Physical activity other than eating!! took its toll.

Slowly we started climbing, Gokul's mother-in-law was the most fit among us. She hardly required any break. However, we both took three to four breaks. After a while we reached a small temple on the way and soon the two located close to the top of the hill. In fact its this temple which attract a lot of crowd not the sanctuary. In a relatively flat place there were two temples; one was a small Shiva temple and  the other one, Rama-Seetha temple, was relatively big.

Inside Rama-Seetha temple there was a lot of crowd and some bajan was going on there. We went inside and came back; just outside the main door there was prasadam. This time we met the police personal, to whom we gave lift earlier. We talked about the place and temple; in fact the conversation was between Gokul and him as he was the who can converse in Kannada better. 

Later Gokul's mom went to Shiva temple and requested the priest to do some poojas. That will take some time. From here one can see majestic hillock on the backside of the temple. Our destination standing on top of that. We three started walking and finally reached the point from where we need to climb vertically. A number of steps were cut in to the rock and an old rusted iron railing offered people something to hold on. 

It was not too difficult but very risky one to climb. Gokul persuaded mom not to go. She looked at the railing and steps ahead for some time - thinking what to say. Well, continued persuasion was very effective; finally she agreed to go back and wait for me in the temple. For me the view from top of that hill was too tempting to miss. So I continued further and reached the top. Wow, it was indeed a good view. I looked for a good position and sat there for next 30 minutes. 

Way to the top

View from the top

Top of the hill was very flat. Two girls and one guy were creating different videos for Instagram reels or for some other apps. They started recording before I came and continued even after I left!!! First time, got the realization that its not easy to create reels. People really spend a lot of time to create those. At one end, there was a group playing Hindi songs from a portable speaker. At a distance, two guys were trying various position to get the better photo. Hardly any one was there at the furthest end. After walking around, I came back to my previous position and sat there. From the top, views are always good!! Suddenly Gokul called and told that, they are exploring some other temple somewhere down and will be back soon. Well, some more time to spend on the top. Finally it was time to go back, so used the steps chiseled in stone and came down and walked towards the temple. 

 

Gokul and mom reached there some time before me and they completed some poojas. When I reached there. preist was giving some prasadam to her. Its time to climb down the steps and visit the final destination in this short trip - Cocoon Market. 

 

Government Cocoon Market, Ramanagara

Spread over two acres, this market is believed to be one of the largest cocoon market in the continent. As per their website, around 40 to 50 tons of cocoon are sold here in everyday. 

 

There were 4-6 police personals deployed near the gate. I walked towards them and requested permission to go inside. They initially looked confused and were not sure whether to say yes or no. After a miunute they asked for an identity card. I gave my driving license and waited. One guy took it and read the details couple of times. Looked like they are still not sure whether to say yes or no. Finally they asked us to go to the first floor and meet the person in charge. We climbed the steps and reached first floow. One office room at the left side was open. Light was turned on in that room and at the person in charge was sitting at his desk. 

I requested for permission to see inside of that market. He looked at me (Gokul was standing at the door step and mom was outside of that room) and asked – what is your purpose to go inside? It’s a valid question, I was neither a seller nor a buyer. I told him that we are coming from Bangalore and never saw cocoon in the past, so just want to take a look around quickly. 

 

Its from here things became wired. He repeated the same question, as if he never heard my answer. Bewildered, I repeated my answer. He could have said, yes or no and would have been the end of it. By this time, Gokul slowly came inside and he was standing almost mid way between me and the door. Officer continued his conversation; its possible that we may carry some diseases and it might affect the cocoon in his warehouses or thousands of people who deal with that everyday. Well, I just wondered what additional germs we might carry compared to thousands of people in and around that place! Also this happened during the third quarter of 2022; by that time people started wearing masks. Even the officer who spoke with us was not wearing one. 

Well that supposed to be the end of the visit. Most often (if not always) one can’t win over a government official by arguing on something. Being right is doesn’t help in these arguments!!! He kept on saying something and again asked what is your purpose to visit the market. This time, I didn’t repeat the answer; turned and walked towards the door. Gokul was standing at the same place and looking at this drama. While walking back, he started asking Kokul to tell me about the dangerous in visiting inside. I didn't wait for his sentence to finish; came down; collected my ID card; looked inside the market from the gate and left. May not be close, atleast I saw what a cocoon is.

 

I never understood why the beaurocrats behave the way they do. In many cases they were quick to reject any request and make people wait; just because they can do so. Almost half a year later, similar incident happened at Mulli checkpost in Kerala-Tamilnadu border. Tamilnadu forest guards forced us to drive all the way back to Coonnor and take Coimbatore - Palakkad road to reach Mannarkkad. That time, I could see Kerala checkpost couple of hundred meters away; but no they were adamant and didn’t let us pass!! More on that in Mulli article.

Sajeev

Gokul and his mother-in-law exploring the dam

Taking a break

At the top

Someshwara temple, Bangalore

Mandapa in front of the temple. Photo from Wikipedia

Its not everyday that one discover an old famous temple (yet unknown to me) in Bangalore city. This is what happened on that weekend. As my mother was in Bangalore at that time, I was looking for a temple to visit during weekend. Then suddenly Someshwara temple came the in search results.

 

Located close to Halasuru metro station in Old Madras Road (OMR), this temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and one of the oldest temple in the city. It is believed that, this temple dates back to Chola period. Significant additions were later made during the Vijayanagara period; when Kampagowda was the ruler of then Bangalore.

 

Halasuru (better known as Ulsoor) is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Bangalore. It is believed that, there was an early settlement around Someshwara temple. In mid 16th century, Halasuru was one of the 12 hoblis (group of villages) granted by Achutaraya (then ruler of Vijayanagar empire) to the local ruler Kempagowda. Water for for farming and sustaining a community was available from Ulsoor lake (attributed to Kempagowda). Later in 1807, Company established a cantonment in Ulsoor.

 

We went there on a Saturday morning. After parking the bike in the front; we walked towards the temple. First structure we encounter was a majestic pillar in front of gopuram. After looking at the pillar for sometime we walked towards the gopuram. It’s an imposing structure. Lower half of the gopuram was constructed using stone and the multi- storied upper half was constructed using brick and mortar. Crossing the gopuram took us to a large ground, were small shrines are present on both sides. After visiting these shrines we walked towards the mahamandapa.

 

Mahamandatpa is located in front of main shrine and have 48 decorated pillars. These pillars have more than five hundred relief sculptures carved into it. Most pillars have seated lions at its base; however, the carvings in the middle and top differs. Frequently used relief sculptures are that of Shiva (in the forms of Nataraja, Virabhadra, Mrityunjaya, Umasahita etc), Parvati, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Ganesha etc. There were also carvings of animals, ascetic, gods, goddesses, hybrid animals etc.

 

On the door way, there is an illustration of King Ravana shaking Mt. Kailasha; goddess Mahishasuramardini; dwarapalakas etc. In one pillar, symbol of Vijayanagar kings - double headed eagle - is depicted. This image later became the symbol of Wodeyar kings of Mysore and eventually become part of Karnataka State emblem.

 

Closed circular pathway comes after open mandapa; here we saw the idols of a lot of deities. We took a left turn to the path way; after walking the entire circumference reached the front again. This time we went inside and saw sanctum (rectangular/square in shape) and the idol of Shiva inside. There were hardly 10-15 people inside. After spending some time there we came outside.

 

On the right side of main temple, there is a separate shrine for Kamakshi Devi (a form of goddess Parvati).

 

Outer walls of main temple on the right side depict wedding ceremony of Parvati and Shiva (Girija kalyana story). Brahma officiating the marriage as priest; father of the bride (also king of mountains Himavan) pour sacred water to the arm of Shiva; which then falls in to the joint hands of the couple and then flows down to the mouth of Nandi.

 

A Navagraha (nine planets) temple is located on the north side. There are 12 pillars to this temple and each pillar depict a saint (rishi).

Row of sculptures on the southern wall shows nava nathas (nine saints) on various animals. Its not that, only gods and rishis are depicted here. We also have dancer's gestures, porters, wrestlers, snake charmers, huntsman etc.

 

The story of the temple may not be complete without telling the story of Venkata Sundara Sani. She was a devadasi attached to Someshawara Temple. She wrote the book on dance titled, 'Rasikajana Manollasini Sarasangraha Bharata' in Sanskrit written using Kannada script in 1908. This temple was also a meltipng pot of various cultures, traditions and various regions of south India. Performers here used the works from Telugu composers Tyagaraja, Shyama Shastry etc; also from Kannada composers Purandaradasa, Vyasatirtha etc. In Sani's book there are references to Bharatanatya which means the rich tradition of Tamil culture as well.

 

Recent excavations showed the presence of a Kalyani (temple pond) associated with the temple. It is estimated that Kalyani may be more than 1200 years old.

 

We went through the shirnes one by one and finally reached the room where some yajna was going on. After watching the ritual for some time, we came out and crossed the gopuram once again.

 

Sajeev

 

References

1. Someshwara Temple - Ulsoor - INTACH

2. A temple and its dancer who published a book

Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple, Bangalore

Trident - Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple

Located close to Bull temple (near Kempegowda circle) in Bangalore, this temple is an example of India's rock cut temple architecture model. This was probably an existing temple, and/or renovated/built by Kempegowda in 16th century. It is believed that, both sage Gautama and Baradwaja performed penance here. Idols of both sages are currently present in the cave path surrounding the shrine. 

Probably because it’s a cave temple, entrace is not facing any cardinal directions like east, west, north or south but south-west.

In front of the temple, there are two structures known as Suryapana and Chandrapana. These looks like a disc placed on top of a stone pillar. Flagstaff and Nandi's statue are located in between these two. Two more stone pillars - one a trident and another a damaru (two headed drum) are located in the compound. 

Outer mandapa has pillars in Vijayanagar style. It is believed that, a steady stream of water always flows through the cave. Gavi means cave, water represents Ganga, hence the name Gavi Gangadhareshwara.

In addition to the main shrine of Shivam, there are smaller shines for Parvati and Durga. In the long path surrounding all these shrines, there are idols of Saptamatrikas, Sridevi, Boodevi etc. An idol of Agni (god of fire) is also present. 

The temple is designed in a such a way that, on makarashankranti day of every year beam of sun rays pass through the windows, Nandi's horns and touch shiva linga. On this day every year, thousands come to view this spectacle. 

There is a wonderful article here which explains a lot more about this phenomenon -> The mysteries of Bangalore's famous 'Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple' - Live Mint

Suryapana and Chandrapana

We reached the temple just after nine in the morning on a weekend. Since there was hardly much people at that time; parking was easy and we walked rest of the way. The place looked quite like a village; it didn't give any indication that such an old temple is located there. 

Ignoring the light rains, we went inside. The experience was a bit different as it was a cave temple and there was only was to go out and come in. After a while, more people came inside and priest closed the sanctum for poojas. We waited till the opening of sanctum, as one is not supposed to leave any temple while sanctum's door is closed for pooja. During this time, people started chanting mantras loud and in sync which gave special experience to all those inside.

Sajeev

Tunchan parambu (Tirur)

Entry

Thunchan Parambu (aka Thunchan Memorial Trust& Research Centre) is located in Tirur town (in Malappuram district of Kerala). This place is just 2km away from Tirur railway station. Tunchan  Parambu is believed to be the birthplace of Thunchath Ezhuthachan; who is a member of pracheena kavitrayam (ancient triumvirate) and father of modern Malayalam language. He had a very distinctive poetic style, which later became famous as kilippattu (parrot song) style. 

Adhyatma Ramayanam (written in parrot song style) is his principle work. This work is a translation of the Adhyatma Ramayana; a text attributed to Ramananda, who was a leading fugure in Bhakti movement. While writing this book Ezhuthachan used Grantha based Malayalam script instead of then dominant Vatteluttu writing. Recitation of 'Adhyathmaramayanam Kilippattu' is very important across Hindu families in Kerala. Month of Karkitakam (Malayalam calendar) is celebrated as the Ramayana month and the book is recited at least once from beginning to end across Hindu houses and temples in Kerala.

On the holy day of Vijayadasami, children were brought here to write their first ever letters. This place is believed to a holy place to start writing. Annually a week long literary festival is also organized here. 

Very less parking space is available at the location. Entry is free; however one need to pay for taking photos (even using mobile). Once we enter the area; on the right there is a mandapam. Further down, you can see another mandapam housing a huge parrot, stylus and a replica of palm-leaves in metal. Behind that, there is one more mandapam. If you walk to the right, you may see a small pond; followed by a compound where a Kanjira (Strychnine) tree and temple is located. 

Sajeev

Note:

1, Other members of old triumvirate are - Kunchan Nambiar and Cherusseri Namboothiri

2. Members of Ādhunika kavitrayam (modern triumvirate) are N.Kumaran Asan, Vallathol Narayana Menon and Ulloor S.Parameswara Iyer.

Pond

Parrot and Stylus

Museum

Kanjira (Strychnine) tree

Temple

Padinjarekkara Beach (Tirur)

Located at the western side (Arabian Sea) of Malappuram District of Kerala, this beach is a nice place to spend a wonderful evening. Beach sits just north of, confluence of Bharathapuzha (the longest river in the state of Kerala), Tirur River and Arabian Sea. One can reach here by taking the beautiful Karma road from Chamravattam Bridge (Chammaravattam Ayyappa Temple is located at the other end of the bridge) and then crossing the estury by boat from Ponnani Harbour. However, the way we always take is Tirur- Alathiyoor- Kuttayi- Padinjarekkara road. In Alathiyoor-Kuttayi stretch road is a little narrow; but good. One kilometer after crossing the Kuttayi bridge, the road became straight and wide till the end. From Tirur it will take around 18km to reach the beach. 

Padinjarekkara beach - way of water

Padinjarekkara beach - near by cafe

Way of water

People enjoying the sunset

There is enough parking (paid) space at the beach. Some entertainment options are available for kids as well. One side of the beach is dotted with Casuarina trees from here you can enjoy a distant view or walk to the waters to enjoy the waves for hours!!!

Sajeev