POTD: Glorious sea of magenta πŸ’– (guest post)

The magenta water lilies are in full bloom as far as eyes can see. They have covered the paddy fields and are a spectacular sight to behold !! And where is this? @Kottayam, Kerala. Early morning is the best time to visit this lovely scene and you can go amidst this bloom in a vallam…

Bangalore Palace tour 🏰: Glimpse into the Wodeyars story – Part 𝟚

To continue with the historical timeline, the mighty Vijayanagar empire which ruled almost the whole of the south India, met its ruin in 1565 at the battle of Talikota πŸ‘‰ Hampi chronicles: Beginning with the end πŸŒ„ (Starting the Hampi trailπŸšΆπŸ»β€β™€οΈ) After the disintegration of the Vijayanagara empire, the land was divided among the feudal…

A Bangalore staycation @Hyatt Centric 🌴

Bangalore weather is gorgeous and one perfect way to enjoy it is by the poolside at the Hyatt Centric; flanked by champa (frangipani) trees with its dark green foliage and speckles of pretty white fragrant flowers ❀and palm trees swaying in the cool breeze. With the pandemic still not over, the pool is closed for…

Itinerary for a weekend in downtown Bangalore πŸ™

There is no dearth of activities that you can partake in Bangalore and a weekend is hardly enough time for all indulgences. But given a weekend we managed to cram in a staycation, a walking trail, shopping, a fantastic restaurant and even tour a palace ! It was a welcome break from the homebound weekends…

Tabebuia bloom in Bangalore 🌸🌸

At first I thought they were Cherry Blossoms; but no, they are Tabebuia and more correctly Tabebuia rosea marked by the clusters of baby pink trumpet shaped flowers🌸. And with each breeze they shower the sidewalks and the dividers along the roads, weaving a carpet of powdery pink. But the pink is so light that…

Hampi Chronicles: Last glance πŸŒ…

It was close to 5:00 pm by the time we finished with the sights at the Vitthala temple complex. There were buggy rides ferrying people from the Vitthala temple to the car park, driving along the length of the 1 km long bazaar or Chariot street. People were standing in queue waiting for the rides,…

Hampi chronicles: Framed by boulders & filled with stories πŸ‘’

“The city of Bidjnagar( Vijayanagar) is such that the pupil of the eye has never seen a place like it and the ear of intelligence has never been informed that there existed anything to equal it in the world.” as recorded by Abdur Razzaq, the Persian envoy from the court of Shahrukh in Herat to…

Hampi chronicles: Bazaar and beyond 🏞

The picture below helps to get an idea about the once thriving markets of Vijayanagar, which must have been glorious so as to be recorded by travellers. R K Narayan paints the picture beautifully for us in his book The Emerald Route ” One can let one’s imagination roam over the old bazaar street in…

Hampi chronicles: Hemakuta Hill – the Granite abode of Gods πŸŒ…

We are on a trail covering the sacred centre of Vijayanagar and after starting with the Virupaksha temple πŸ‘‰Hampi chronicles: Charmed by the colonettes at Virupaksha temple πŸ›•, the next destination is the Hemakuta hill situated right next to and above the Virupaksha temple complex. The entrance to the Hemakuta hill is a majestic quadrilateral…

Hampi chronicles: The curse that saved a temple βš”οΈ

There are many stories leading to the origins of the Vijayanagar empire, too many in fact; but they all have some converging points. A broad outline of these narratives is aptly outlined by Srinivas Reddy in his book Raya stating ” It is a tale of two brothers, a sacred geography and one legendary sage.”…

Nature walk in Chikmagalur 🌺

6:30 am was the reporting time for the Nature Walk from the hotel. The idea of a nature walk sounded good and exciting !! The scenery was going to be new and I like the tit bits of info that guides provide. Gireesh was our guide, an employee of the hotel. He handed us canes…

Jain dedication in Badami πŸ™

The fourth cave temple in Badami is a Jain temple and this was a total surprise. I know very little about the Jain religion. It’s my ignorance, but Karnataka has a rich history with respect to the Jain religion; Sravanabelagola in Karnataka is one of the most important centres of Jain religion being the home…