Context:
L. Vasudev Prasad (LV – as he is fondly known in our group) invited us to his son’s wedding in Sringeri, scheduled for March 24th.
After some deliberation among the members, the final count was just seven of us (Nagesh (HSN), Prabhakar (NRP), Raghavendra (SGR), Ramesh Balaji (RB), Sujay (SG), Sathyateertha (BK), and yours truly) attending the wedding. BK mentioned he would make his own travel arrangements, as he planned to visit with his wife, Sudha. Therefore, it was left to the six of us to plan our trip. SG, from Mysuru, planned to join us at Hassan en route to Sringeri.
This was my third trip to Sringeri, the first in 1991 and the second in 2022.
Action:
On the 23rd morning, as scheduled, I got picked first at around 5:30. The vehicle was a Nissan Evalia—a not-so-bad choice for our 3-day trip, but since RB confirmed his attendance at the last minute, it precluded me from changing the vehicle. An adequate supply of water and other foodstuffs for our journey and return was loaded onto the vehicle.
We picked
up HSN and RB at the appointed time and sped away to Nagarabhavi, where we picked up NRP before
proceeding to Goragunte Paalya. The last passenger from Bengaluru, SGR, boarded here. In his haste and excitement, SGR had forgotten to retrieve his
luggage from the cab that dropped him here and was unaware till we enquired as
to where his luggage was. Fortunately, he called the driver of the cab, who
noticed it too and came to drop it off in the next few minutes. It was sheer
providence that the driver had noticed it, and he rushed to drop it before accepting
any further trips.
Thereafter, it was almost non-stop travel till Hassan (except for a pitstop for a coffee break in between), where we picked up SG from the Railway Station. So far, everything was as planned and we could stick to the timings to the tee. We had breakfast at Raama and proceeded to Kalasa.
The temple had just closed for the morning session. Nevertheless, we had the darshana of the Lord Kalaseshwara, as the doors had square openings. This temple is also known as Dakshin Kashi. The temple structure is of wood and pretty ancient, offering panoramic views from its hilltop locale. From here, crossing the Bhadra River, we went to our next destination, Horanadu. The weather was hot and humid, but it didn’t bother us in the AC vehicle. However, due to the overcast sky it appeared to rain anytime.
The Temple of Annapurneshwari is an imposing one, and it is believed that this idol was installed by Sage Agasthya a long time ago. Legend goes that, according to Linga Purana, Lord Shiva infuriated Goddess Parvathi by saying that everything in this world is Maaya, including the food. Goddess created an illusion to teach the Lord a lesson and made Him beg for food for his children. Lord finally realised it, and Goddess appeared in the form of Annapurneshwari and offered food to the Lord.
It is said
that people who pray here sincerely are bestowed with an abundance of food in
their lives by the Goddess.
We had good
food in the form of Prasada, a couple of us offered rice for the anna-daana had
darshana of the imposing Goddess and left for our next destination – HariHara
Pura where we stayed for the next two nights.
Reaching this place just around 3:00pm, we checked into our rooms, rested a bit, and changed into the traditional costume of Dhoti, Kurta, and Shalya (which became our default dress for the next day as well). I must add that the rooms were quite comfortable. There are 3 AC rooms, but we opted for the non-AC ones.
We then
visited the Narasimha temple next door. Just before we went to the temple, we
saw a huge and impressive idol of Hanuman set on a huge multistage
pedestal. There is a museum of Ganesha that we couldn’t see as it was
closed. The temple is on the banks of the Tunga River. Looking at the water flow
and a few people bathing there, SG and I decided to come early next morning for
a bath in the river – others didn’t show much interest.
The foundation of the Sthamba supporting the temple is supposed to have been installed by Sage Agasthya, who had worshipped the presiding deity Lord Lakshmi Narasimha. The idol appears to be of dark emerald, as the dark green is very distinct from the normal Saligrama idols. There is an idol of Goddess Sharada Parameshwari in the precinct. After offering our prayers there, we proceeded to the wedding venue, a good 20 km away in Sringeri.
Arriving
here, we were warmly welcomed by LV and his wife, Sahana. We caught up with BK
and his wife Sudha here. Though a bit late for a bite, we were forced to have
some snacks and coffee. Met with other friends of LV and a few of his
relatives. Around 8:30, it was time for dinner, and a sumptuous one at that. SG
and I couldn’t do justice to this elaborate meal but tasted different veggies
of the region. The Rasam (Saaru – as it is known in our side of the province) was
indeed the crowning glory of the food served, not discounting others, though.
Some snaps of the wedding eve
We reached
our lodge in time to hit the bed. Exhausted as we were, sleep welcomed us
instantly. The next morning, I woke SG up (he was my roommate, NRP and SGR
holed up in the room next door while HSN and RB were in the other) and post
completing our morning rituals, we treaded towards Tunga River. Thick fog had
enveloped the surroundings, and visibility was poor.
We had to
take the shortcut from inside the premises of the temple and, therefore, were
forced to leave our footwear at the entrance. The walk to the river was just
under 3-400 meters, and as we walked out of the temple premises, we realised how
irritatingly painful it was to walk on the road without footwear. Small stone
specks pressed against our soles and were causing an irritating pain. This
reminded us of our childhood days when we never thought twice about running on the
roads without footwear. Now, we have been pampered with the comforts of
footwear and we found it extremely irritating to our soles.
Our irate
minds were put to rest at the sight of the calmly flowing river. Sign boards requesting not to use soap in the river, were at various places. As we got down
the steps, we could see an elderly person bathing in a conducive space and
moved further ahead on the bank to not disturb him. Here, we readied
ourselves for the dip in the river. The water was warm and inviting. The flow
was regulated by the bunds built across the river at a couple of places. The
water level was not deep and we could lie down on the river bed comfortably.
Not satisfied, we went to the other place where the person was bathing earlier
and waded into the waist deep water.
The fishes
here were attacking our legs to eat the dead cells, and we enjoyed the free fish
spa at this place. There were many fishes over a foot long in this place and
were tickling our legs. The fog around gave a perfect backdrop as we could see
a few kids at the other side of the river enjoying themselves, swimming, and
playing in the water. After having our fill, we dried ourselves, clothed
and went towards the restaurant for our morning cuppa.
By then,
others had their cuppa as we readied ourselves to visit the wedding venue.
Reaching here, we were ushered to have our breakfast – Hot Iddlies –
accompanied with delicious chutney and sambar, Uppittu (Upma for the less
conversant), Carrot Halwa, Avalakki (Poha, again for the less conversant) with
curds washed down with excellent coffee, which we had a double dose of! With our stomachs full, we then concentrated on the wedding rituals (after all, this was the main
purpose of our visit) till the time of Antarpata (supposed to be the groom and
bride’s first meeting/sight of each other, before marriage – well, who cares
for it these days ..).
This done, we went towards Kigga which houses the temple of Rishyashringeshwara. There is a deep history about this place that goes back to the Ramayana time. The temple has been rebuilt and has the style of Hoysala architecture. The presiding deities here are Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesh and Goddess Durga. The name Sringeri is a derivative of this place as it was called Sringa Giri, which became Sringeri over time.
Rishyashringa Temple and the history of the temple on the walls.
Close by there is Sirimane Waterfalls, sourced from the mountains of the Sahyadri range. One has to climb down around 80 steps to approach the falls that gently descend around 30-40 feet in height. SGR and HSN had a blast, bathing under the falls while we watched. There wasn’t much of a crowd as it was a weekday and the children’s exams were in full swing. I’m sure this place would be crowded if not for this.
After
taking a few snaps here, we left for Sringeri as NRP insisted on having
darshana of the presiding senior Acharya at this first established Matha by
Adi Shankara. We had to hurry and reach Narasimha Vana, which is on the other
side of Sringeri Temple, crossing the Tunga River. With the Sun God smiling on us,
we had to walk briskly as the ground was roasting our soles. We were the last
few devotees to have the darshana of the Acharya.
This done, we proceeded to the wedding venue in haste. The ceremonies were complete and the bridal couple were relaxed and were patient enough to pose for a few pics with us. BK and his wife were already having lunch, and they left for Bengaluru soon after.
Bride and the Groom
We waited for our turn to have lunch, and my, my, what a spread it was! A copious flow of a plethora of items were served by smiling ladies and not to mention the bride’s parents who cajoled us to have more of sweets and other savouries. Saaru, again, was the crowning glory of the spread. It appeared that the train of food varieties served never ended, what with different types of curries, veggies, tambulis (a typical Malenadu concoction), a couple of sweet items, and Gasagasey Payasa (a sweet porridge made from poppy seeds). After what seemed an eternity, we finally had our stomachs to the brim as we slowly waddled to wash our hands.
Bidding
farewell to my friend LV, we were in no position to visit any place other than
our beds for a snooze. We lazily ambled across to our rooms at the lodge and hit the bed, only to wake up after a couple of hours.
After our
well-deserved siesta, we walked over to the restaurant at the end of the
complex for our usual fix of coffee. A few of us had Kashaya (tea made from
spices and milk), which was an excellent alternative to the traditional cuppa.
Our next
place of visit was Shakatapura, a short drive from where we stayed. This temple
is over 700 years old and is located on a huge expanse of ground on the banks
of the Tunga River. It was established by the disciple of Sri Thotakacharya, who
was one of the 4 original disciples of Adi Shankara. It underwent
renovation over a decade ago and is a part of the Shankara Mata.
Huge idols
of Ganesha and Subramanya flank the entrance to the temple. There are
idols of Adi Shankara and his disciples flanking the second level of the
entrance. The temple is quite majestic and Krishna, Lakshmi Narayana, Raja
Rajeshwari, and Dattatreya are worshipped here. The place is quite serene and
ideal for meditation.
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Pictures of the beautiful Shakatapura Temple
We pushed off past Sringeri from this place, where NRP had a specific shop to buy banana chips and such other. We all tasted the excellent product samples and bought various stuff for our consumption, back at home. He wanted to see the Abhisheka to Chandramouleshwara, performed by Acharya in the evening. The rest of us were not appropriately dressed to attend and hence loitered around in Sringeri, window shopping, having dinner, and such.
While Sujay and I were shopping for some spices, etc., we met a family from Mysuru who had settled in Bengaluru. We had a very good discussion on asafoetida (Hing - in the common dialect) and the sources that supply the shop. Also, I got to know the difference in honey that is commonly available in the Malenadu region. Nice conversation and very good information.
On NRP’s arrival from the
pooja, we proceeded to our lodge for the night. Based on our earlier experience
of bathing in the river, others expressed their desire to have a bath in the
river the next day.
Got up at
6:00 am, and the 4 of us (NRP, SG, SGR, and I) trotted towards the river. HSN and
RB were perhaps not in the mood to wake up so early, and hence, they didn’t come
along with us.
The weather
was nice, and there was no fog, unlike the previous day. We reached the banks of
the river and didn’t wait for long to get into the water. While immersing in
water and bathing, we had the fish doing their job of cleaning the dead cells
from our feet and soles. The water was quite warm, and we had our fill bathing
there.
After a refreshing bath, as we got out and dried our bodies, we could see the Sun peeking between the bushes yonder. It was quite a sight and we did capture this in our cell phone cameras.
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Once done, we meandered our way returning to our
lodge. On the way, I saw a person chanting Sri Hari Vayu Stuti in front of the
Lord Hanuman’s idol. I thought his face was familiar but didn’t give it much thought. While we were about to don our footwear, he called me by name, and then
I realised it was Ravindra Andagar, whom I had been acquainted with during my days in
South Africa. I had a good chat with him and his wife, remembering our days in
that country, and waved them off.
Changing to
our travel costumes, we had a quick breakfast at the adjoining restaurant and
checked out of the lodge. On the return journey, our first stop was the Kamandalu
Ganapathi temple near Koppa. The river Brahma Tirtha originates here in front
of the Ganapathi Idol. It is a wonderful sight to see the water gushing out of
the ground in front of the idol and flowing on to become a tributary of the Tunga
River. The temple is in the midst of a jungle, which makes it even more
exquisite.
As we hit the town, NRP took us to a Co-operative that collected, processed and sold Honey to various consumers, and we too bought some. We were told that the unit processes around 12-14 tons of honey a year. The person who was supervising the unit was kind enough to give us a quick tour, explaining the intricacies of the business. He said that they have over 3-4,000 Adivaasis as members of the Co-op, who bring in honey regularly. After passing quality tests, the raw honey is vacuumed into a receptacle where it undergoes multi-stage filtration to extricate impurities. The final product is bottled and sold.
Our next stop was Chikkamagaluru, where we had brunch at the Town Canteen. Each of us had a crisp Butter Masale Dose and a half and were quite full. Hereon, we pushed off to Hassan Bus Terminus, where we dropped off SG, bid farewell, and proceeded towards Bengaluru. On the way back, we had a pitstop at Swati restaurant complex for a cuppa. Dropping off SGR, NRP, HSN, and RB, I reached home a tad short of 8:00 pm. Dog tired, I hit the bed in no time, but not before unpacking and sorting off the clothes that needed a wash and stowing away the tote bag.
In a
nutshell, it was a well-deserved, quick, and effective break from the mundane
that was very much needed to recharge physically, mentally, and emotionally.
That we had a wedding to attend was the icing on the cake.
Looking
back, we would have loved if many more members of our group had joined us on
this sojourn to Sringeri. Understandably, we all have our priorities, and I hope
to see more members joining such trips in the future, given enough notice.
Thanks, LV
and Sahana, for inviting us, Amit and Nagalakshmi, to have your destination
wedding at the temple town!
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1 comment:
Such a detailed well phrased report. Thanks to your talent and patience. Keep it up.
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