Visit to Aavani Betta and Kotilingeshwara Temple near Kolar
(As experienced by Radha, Sathyathirtha (BK), Shankara,
Suresh Babu (KV) and Yours Truly)
Though this article was written on the 13th of January 2020, it had limited circulation amongst my childhood classmates only. I was inspired to post this on seeing the pictures of this posted on her WhatsApp status by my niece, Priya, yesterday. Thanks Priya!
Here's goes the story:
Off we went, on Saturday 11th January for a short trip that had been deliberated ad nauseum, for weeks, in our classmates' group and finally the number of people for the trip was reduced to just 5 and Radha was the sole girl from the group. Maybe my persistent pursuit or her determination to see the Sita Parvathi Temple on Aavani Hill, which she missed on her earlier trip there, made her come along with us yesterday. She was a wonderful company and made the group lively with her anecdotes. As planned, we picked her up at Gandhi Bazaar near her sister’s house as she braved the morning chill and rode a two-wheeler from her place in Kengeri in the wee hours. Kudos to you, Radha. We all appreciate your enthusiasm!
Since we were just 5, we could snuggle into one car and what
a car it was! KV had brought out his prized Merc for this trip
and who would dare to complain?
Started off at 7:30am, a tad later than we thought and after a
brief halt at Brahmin’s Coffee House, Shankarpuram, where we had a quick breakfast (Iddlies, Vadas, Kharabaath, et al), we were off. Radha's offer of Nimbu Peppermints brought back the memories from our childhood days when we were buying them for 3 paise per
mint and 5 paise for 2 mints.
The roads were just getting a tad busy and we had to negotiate a dense bumper-to-bumper traffic till we crossed
Krishnarajapuram. Once through, we could feel the comfort of Merc and KV’s
superb driving skills. They competed with each other, as to who was better!
On the way, we had a lot of memories flowing. Radha shared a
lot of her experiences from many of her trekking bouts in the Himalayas.
Shankara narrated his experiences from his Air Force days. I narrated an
incident of my out-of-body experience and BK chipped in with his one-line touches of humour. Memories were just rekindled and flowing
that we lost out on the time, experiencing and savouring the events all over again.
Before long and close to 8:40am, we had our pit stop at
Maiyyas, a short break, stretched ourselves and rejuvenated with a shot of
coffee. Aavani Betta is just about a 40-minute drive from here.
On the road conditions, I must say that the roads were
decent enough, except when we overshot our destination and went into the
wilderness of the Aavani village.
We started climbing the hill around 9:40 am.
The climb was quite interesting. The steps were asymmetrical
and the rock was chipped off in many places, creating makeshift (though solid) steps.
Nevertheless, we started off, unabated, as our aim was to
reach the Sita Parvati Temple before it closed. Though we crossed a lot of
interesting sites on the way to the Temple, we couldn’t afford the luxury of
even glancing at it but deferred to see each and every one of them on
the way back. More on this later.
We had a smart kid as a guide, along with his dog named Guli, who kept us entertained till midway when he was replaced by other urchins who acted as our guides throughout the tour of this place
Our main concern was BK, who had medical conditions and we suggested him to take it easy. He was ably assisted by KV, in the initial stages and I
took over from him well after the midway to the summit. We proceeded with
caution not to overstrain BK, as he took enough care by slowing down wherever
he felt a bit strained.
We were amazed at the rock formations here. A few pictures of them are below.
We continued on our trek to reach the summit and the path
was paved with steps cut out of rocks, standard granite steps, walking on plain ground and
sometimes, we had to climb the rocks itself.
That said, we were excited with each step towards the summit
as it was nothing short of thorough enjoyment. Shankara shared Little Hearts biscuits which we nibbled through our climb.
By that time, Sun God was smiling on us brightly and my caution to bring caps
to protect our heads came in handy, as we were ready to receive Sun God’s
blessings.
Shankara, in the meantime, was engaged in a good chat with
the Sita Parvati temple’s priest who was on his way to the temple.
By the time we reached the top of the hill, it was around 10:40 am, a good hour’s climb. We lost no time in getting into the temple and performed Ashttottara seeking blessings of the presiding deity, Sita Parvati. The beauty and the positive energy dispelled in this temple is something that is beyond words!
The priest explained the prominence of the place and we started recollecting our knowledge of Ramaayana – Ayodhya Khaanda, where Sita, sent to forest by Raama and her life while in Vaalmiki Ashrama.
(Maybe ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) or any another agency, can be requested to examine the veracity of the claims made on the legends mentioned in this travelogue, as the actual spot where Maa Sita was sent to forest and the aftermath, took place in North India).
He explained that this is the birthplace of Lava and Khusha,
to Sita and the place where the horse from the Ashwamedha Yaaga was tied up by
the twins. Also, the place where Sita finally went to her mother’s (Bhumi Devi)
abode, is where the deity of Sita is currently installed. The feet of The Goddess
signify the place that is said to be the spot.
Having done and dusted with our main intent, it was time for
us to savour and behold the beauty of this hillock. The cool breeze, despite
warm and sunny weather, was gentle and was more than welcome after our climb of
over 620 steps (as explained by the priest).
Some sight to behold, from the top of the hill!
We then embarked on exploring the other sites on this hill. First in our sight was the ‘Horalu Gundu’ where a huge
slightly curved boulder, stood with its two ends on a rocky base, leaving a
small gap for a person to roll from one side and come out on the other. This
needs to be experienced to appreciate how big or small, the gap is and we
(Shankara and I) took no time in experiencing it. Legend has it that Sita, when
pregnant, rolled here in pain before delivering the twins, Lava and Kusha.
Anyone who rolls under this rock will be rid of all bad energies and kids with
stomach ailments, will be rid of them. Also, those who are childless, beget
children.
Quite near this is Agni tirtha, where legend goes that Sita
underwent Agni Pariksha again and this time Agni was doused by water.
This done, we carried on to the next interesting sight where
legend goes that when the horse (of Ashwamedha Yaaga was tied up and Lava and
Kusha were busy fighting Raama’s army), was hungry and ate the boulder as can
be seen by a hole and the imprint of its front hoof clearly visible.
Thereafter, we proceeded to see the other sites on this
beautiful hill.
Next in tow was the Ekanta Raama Swamy Mandira where it is
said Lord Raama, saddened with the fact that he waged war against his sons and also
of Maa Sita’s departure, sat in meditation after installing a Shiva Linga, as
suggested by Sage Valmiki.
Another legend goes that most of the vessels used by Sita and the twins were embedded on the rock and to prevent deterioration, Hanuman inverted this rock. We can see various vessel shapes including the double cradle of the twins on the ceiling of this rock. When some of these holes are slapped by our hand we can hear sounds as if it is coming out of a copper vessel. On the ground is a twin Shiva Linga supposed to be installed by the twins.
While climbing down a rock, due to uneven and asymmetrical
stone steps, I slipped twisting and spraining my right ankle and was in severe
pain.
God sent me help in the form of a young medical student (of nearby medical college), who was hiking there with her friend. She gently massaged my foot and gave me a sort of first aid to continue my hike with others. Thank you, young lady (by the way her name was Vadhu – queer name). God bless you and may your tribe increase, Vadhu!
Way back, there was one more site called Lakshmana thirtha (Paataala Ganga) or Dhanushkoti where legend goes that when Lakshmana left Sita in this place on the orders of Raama, Sita was aghast and fainted. Lakshmana then proceeded to hit the earth with an arrow from his bow and lo and behold, there was water from the ground and used this to revive Sita. It is said that this water doesn’t dry up despite the drying of nearby lakes.
Opposite this, is
a pond full of lotuses but we could see only a few blooms. One of our guides
ventured into the pond to get me and Radha, a couple of lotuses.
Still limping and being helped by others, we resumed the
quest for other sites. Then we came to the birthplace of the twins, Lava and
Kusha, to Sita “Sage Vaalmiki’s Ashrama”. Flanked by the idols of Sri
Veerabhadra Swamy (favorite deity of the Sage) and the Sage himself.
The last of the sites was the Pancha Paandava Temple where
it is said that the Pandavas, during their exile, installed five Shiva Lingas.
Hobbling downhill, gritting my teeth to contain my pain, I
was glad that we were back on the foothills from where we started. It took us
about an hour for the descent. The sun was directly above us by now.
There was a cucumber vendor whom we stormed, for we were a
bit thirsty and hungry by then. As he peeled and sliced the cucumbers adding
masala and a pinch of salt and chili powder, we remembered our schooldays
lives. Savouring the memories, we hogged on the cucumbers as if this was the
best thing in the world. Wow!
Just next to where we had parked, there was Aavani Shankara
Mata and we had the darshan of Sri Sharada Devi and Aadi Guru. It was quite a
sight to behold. Elsewhere, in the new Panchalingeshwara temple, there was a film shoot on Bharatanatyam in progress. Tired that we were, we neither had the
inclination nor the time to watch this and avoided this.
The priest over there was very kind and it was overwhelming to us when he insisted that we have our lunch there and he would prepare it in no time. He wanted us to have coffee at least. This was a very humbling experience for all of us. We politely refused saying that we will definitely accept his hospitality when we come next time, with more people. We bid farewell to him and proceeded to our next venue, Sri Ramalingeshwara Temple.
This temple is jointly administered by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) and the Muzarai Department of the Government. It is an architectural beauty where Raama and his brothers each have installed Shiva Lingas. Rich carvings are found on the ceiling of a few temples here.
There is also a temple dedicated to Vaali and Sugriva, the Vaanara brothers. We couldn’t photograph in Ramalingeshwara Temple as photography was prohibited.
This completed our Aavani Hills expedition and just as we
were deciding on the next program, our stomachs started growling and complaining of hunger. Thankfully, KV had
brought double butter-greased Khaara Buns that we hogged as if there was no
tomorrow.
Hunger averted, we then proceeded towards Kotilingeshwara (Literal meaning, A Crore - 10 million - Lingas) temple on KGF Road. This road too, was pretty decent for the kind of car we
were travelling. We reached the temple at a little over 2:00pm.
This temple is located on a piece of land that is over a
couple of acres and one can easily get lost amidst the number of Shiva Lingaas
that have been installed and continue to grow in number, as devotees keep
installing them for various reasons.
There are a number of temples dedicated to various deities
and it also houses a huge Shiva Linga towering around 108 feet, overlooking an
idol of Nandi which itself is over 50 feet in height.
The magnitude of this temple and its contents must be seen,
to be believed. Here are some of the pictures taken on this site.
Well, this concluded our short trip to visit a couple of places, as planned. Way back was an eventless one as we dropped our anchor first, at Gandhi Bazaar, seeing Radha off and then went in search of a decent place where we could eat
something to end our journey. Isn’t it befitting that we had to
complete the circle with breakfast and end with an evening snack? Sorry, we
missed you, Radha.
KV, I don’t have to elaborate on your driving skills or on the comfortable and safe cocoon your Merc provided us. Thanks also for providing us with snacks and special thanks to your mom for the churmuri.
Shankara and BK, I can’t express my gratitude enough for the
lively company throughout the trip’s expanse. BK's one-liner humours were
great.
Radha, I am sure your passion for trekking didn’t deter your
enthusiasm, being the only girl in the group. My sincere thanks to you for
coming and gelling with this group.
On the whole, it was a day well spent by all of us, the only
blotch being my twisted ankle.
Looking forward to our next adventure!!!
My two cents about Aavani betta, to the State Government:
Aavani Betta needs some serious plans and actions from the local authorities and the State's Ministry of
Culture and the Ministry of Tourism, to develop this as a major
tourist spot and we must take pride in
this.
Most of the tourists come to the foot of the hill where Aavani Shankara Mata and Ramalingeshwara temple are located but are dissuaded from making it to the top
of the hill due to the steep climb coupled with the unstructured and haphazard
flight of steps leading to the temple. Safety is also an important
aspect that is missing here.
Signing off on behalf of the team (KV, BK, Shankara and Radha) and hoping to see you in my next travelogue.....
Till then.... be good, think good and do good!
.jpeg)
No comments:
Post a Comment