Showing posts with label Tamil Nadu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tamil Nadu. Show all posts
Rameshwaram - Tracing the footsteps of Lord Ram
Gaurav VermaTuesday, June 01, 2021Ancient, Ramayana, Religious, Sacred Places, Tamil Nadu, Temples
2 comments
It
all seemed like a fantasy at first. It was an auspicious full moon night. Goddess
Parvati, dressed up in all the fineries, was taking the round of the Rameshwaram
temple in a golden palanquin. The accompanying chants, smoke and drum beats added
to the rare spectacle. The following round by Lord Shiva from his sanctum to the
goddess’ almost seemed like a royal routine. And, why not, for, he is the Lord
of the Lord here in Rameshwaram – literally meaning Ram’s god.
When
Lord Ram returned to these shores after slaying Ravan in Lanka, despite being on
the right side, he wanted to repent for the killings. He washed his hair at the
spot now called Jada Teertham before worshipping Shiv. Where Laxman, Ram’s
younger brother, took bath Laxman Teertham. It so happened that Hanuman was
getting late in bringing a lingam from the Himalayas for the worship, so Sita
built one from sand. The lingam in the sanctum of the Ramanathaswamy temple or
the Rameshwaram temple is believed to be the same. And, the 22 tanks and wells in
the temple’s periphery, called teerthams, are said to absolve the sins of human
beings today.
A quick trip to Chennai
Garima VermaTuesday, February 13, 2018Ancient Architecture, Ancient temples, Beaches, Chennai Weekend, History, Resort Review, Tamil Nadu
2 comments
Revisiting the grandeur of Pallavas is a must when
in the capital of Tamil Nadu.
Nature sometimes does love to show its humorous
side. So, here I was trying to escape the chill of the north. A quick getaway to
Chennai looked like a sign from heaven.
Being a light traveller though did attract a
worried 'your luggage is very less for two days ma’m' from the chauffeur,
little did I know that his concern would actually translate into one. Who would
have imagined that otherwise much-dreaded heat and humidity of this city would
choose to be a no-show just when desired!
Coimbatore, Gateway to the Bliss...
Gaurav VermaFriday, March 25, 2016Ancient temples, Bangalore Weekend, Chennai Weekend, Hill Top Temples, Mountains, Road Trip, Spiritual, Tamil Nadu, Waterfalls
4 comments
Coimbatore
is 2nd largest city in Tamil Nadu and one of the major
industrial centers in this state. With these statistics any hopes of good
sightseeing should have been effectively dropped. However, smoke filled
environment and traffic jams were not in my destiny as I came across a well-planned
beautiful city.
During my stay here, I came to know about lot of
beautiful temples in and around Coimbatore and therefore a real temple run was
on the cards.
15 km. from Coimbatore and situated in lush green hilly surroundings is the Marudhamalai temple, dedicated to Lord Murugan. It was twilight when I reached the temple, which is actually the best time to see the hazy ambience created by the blue skies and the hills. Situated on a hilltop, temple rises like a mirage to surround over the landscapes.
Kodaikanal - Gift of the Forest
Raghav VermaSunday, January 05, 2014Bangalore Weekend, camping, Nature, Tamil Nadu, Travel, trekking
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I have been staying in Bangalore for the last two years, working day in and day out. Off late was feeling too much cramped by not being able to enjoy at all. This was the time I came across articles posted on this site, Travel Diaries and thanks to the posted articles, I started believing that for a small trip all we need is a decision and a weekend. As there are a lot of places to explore near to Bangalore, so I discussed my plans with some of my friends. What I realized they also had same opinion about me and were planning to go out for some time.
Four was the company for us and one fine evening we packed our bags and boarded a late night bus to "Kodaikanal". We had whole travel plan in our mind that we will have our first stop in Kodaikanal where we had to take permission from the District Forest Officer to enter the forest for trekking but were unaware of the little obstacles we may face in-between.
We had little hint that Kodaikanal may give a feeling of a hill station but never imagined that it would welcome us with somewhat like below.
Four was the company for us and one fine evening we packed our bags and boarded a late night bus to "Kodaikanal". We had whole travel plan in our mind that we will have our first stop in Kodaikanal where we had to take permission from the District Forest Officer to enter the forest for trekking but were unaware of the little obstacles we may face in-between.
We had little hint that Kodaikanal may give a feeling of a hill station but never imagined that it would welcome us with somewhat like below.
The scenic beauty made us believe that it is going to be one of the best Independence Day celebrations. We had a limited time of 3 days with us to explore whatever we could have and it takes more than 2 days to trek till Munnar Top Slip.
On the outskirts of Kodaikanal, our bus had a pit stop at a highway roadside hotel. We had a delicious South-Indian breakfast and as expected it was "VOWWW".
On the outskirts of Kodaikanal, our bus had a pit stop at a highway roadside hotel. We had a delicious South-Indian breakfast and as expected it was "VOWWW".
On reaching Kodaikanal, we straight away rushed to District Forest Office (DFO) to seek permission for trekking to Munnar. We were with our full spirits when we arrived at DFO but it had something weird in its box for us.
Government officials simply rejected our request to enter the forest by saying ‘It’s dangerous to trek in this season due to some internal problems in that area’. As it was our Independence day so we could not get District Forest Officer to talk and convince him to grant the permission. Waited and kept argued for 3 hours but their response was same and finally we decided to step back and search for a good decent hotel keeping one thing in mind ‘Lets Live today and Fight tomorrow’.
Kodaikanal is a small town with lot of staying options suitable to all budgets. Luckily we got a very good place managed by Tamil Nadu Government itself with easily affordable price of 500/- per room. Rooms were really clean and surroundings were AWESOME.
We had complete half day with us so we just moved out to explore the city after having an economical & hygienic lunch in the HOTEL itself. The moment we stepped out of our hotel we saw many tourists cycling on the roads so without wasting a second we went to a nearby cycle shop and grabbed four cycles on rent.
Cycling after a long time was an extraordinary experience and we were feeling like kids again. We cycled around 5 km. to very a popular and beautiful place called ‘CROAKER'S WALK’. Within no time it was evening and place started to transform into a beautiful hill station with lights glowing in night.
There was a small teashop where we had one of the best tea of our lives having unique & fresh aroma, unfortunately the teashop guy was unable to fulfil our one of the companion's request of having Bournvita instead of Tea & Coffee. After having snacks we set out to explore the place on foot, as evening was setting in we were enjoying the foggy air of the evening.
There was a small teashop where we had one of the best tea of our lives having unique & fresh aroma, unfortunately the teashop guy was unable to fulfil our one of the companion's request of having Bournvita instead of Tea & Coffee. After having snacks we set out to explore the place on foot, as evening was setting in we were enjoying the foggy air of the evening.
Day 2– We were standing at DFO at sharp 9 AM and got to know that officer will arrive at around 11 AM, this did not matter as we were prepared to wait. Finally, our long wait ended and the officer arrived. Despite sitting immediate outside the office we could not get officer's appointment and finally we had conversation with him over the mobile phone only and answer was still 'NO'. We decided to keep aside our egos and asked the same officer to suggest some better alternatives as we thought that the Forest officer is the person most knowledgeable about the Forest. By seeing our eagerness to trek, the same officer suggested us an alternate trek at Tamil Nadu, Kerala border.
We boarded a common city bus in the late evening which took around 2-3 hours to reach our destination place. We have already decided that instead of luxuries of hotel we will be pitching in the tents. So immediately after reaching our spot we starting preparing our camps & bonfire to cook some food.
It was a perfect
night with 0% pollution and brightly shining stars which is a little difficult
to find in city's life. While camping you can cook your own food
under the blue sky; you can cook whatever you like. Naturally prepared food is
always out of the league and same we experienced while having it under the dark
blue sky - 'SIMPLY DELICIOUS'.
The
place had plenty of Eucalyptus tree leaves which made lighting fire easy. After
the dinner, our beautiful camps were waiting to serve us with a good sleep.
Day 3:
Day 3:
Whole
beautiful nature was in front of my eyes in the morning. I was feeling
rejuvenated and 6 hours of sleep seemed like a sleep of continuous 24 hours.
No doubt it was one of the wonderful mornings I saw, having said
that it was also our last day of trip so we quickly geared ourselves for 6 KM
trek which includes one waterfall also. I was really excited about the
waterfall as I love playing with water irrespective of not knowing how to swim.
In the beginning itself we saw a tomato and garlic plantations
coming our way which was quite surprising and delightful to see.
After these
plantations, we came across one Mystery Rock and if taken a closer look
at you will find the rocks on the upper side resemble some faces. There was
something unusual about this place.
After meddling over the mysteries associated with the Mystery Rock, we again continued our trekking on the less explored path:
After meddling over the mysteries associated with the Mystery Rock, we again continued our trekking on the less explored path:
In our 6 km. of trekking we searched our way through
the forest and lot of different trees, majority being pine trees:
In about one hour we completed the trek and reached
our cherished spot, "the Waterfall". Seeing a waterfall
without any crowd was amazing.
It was time when we had
to move and leave the place for Kodaikanal where we had to catch our bus back
to Bangalore. However, it was every difficult to bid farewell to such lovely
surroundings.
Standing here I was
thinking that our trip could have got extended by a few days more but I was
really happy in my heart that despite not getting the DFO's permission to trek
we did not ended up spending time in Kodaikanal itself, but instead explored a
new place which most common tourists does not do.
Kodaikanal is situated in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu and is 9 hours from Bangalore by bus. The nearest Railway stations are Palani Railway Station - 64 km. north, Kodai Road Station - 80 km. south east and Dindigul Railway Junction - 100 km. east.
