Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Wah Taj Wah!

A stroll around Taj

The Taj

Labels: , ,

Beautiful Rose




This kind of beautiful and pleasant smelling roses were often found on the way to Badri! I still can smell the fragrence of this rose! Ahhh!

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Pajaka Kshethra

Pajaka - the birth place of Sri Madhva Acharya is a quite and serene place!

For the one spiritually oriented, it's the place to feel elated and having a chance to know more about His divine charishma! And for the one otherwise, it's a small hamlet in the midst of lush green forests, hillocks to soak your heart in serenity!

Places to visit in Pajaka:

1. Ananta Padmanabha Mandira
The home of Sri Madhva. Here you can see a small shrine dedicated to Sri Ananta Padmanabha. You can get to know the wonderful stories of the powerful Acharya in his childhood.

Attached to this temple is the teertha(pond), created by Sri Acharya to please his age old father. It's believed that taking a dip in this pond is equvivalent to taking a dip in the four sacred ponds created by Sri Parashurama - Parashu Teertha, Bana(Spelt as Baana) Teertha, Gada Teertha and Dhanu Teertha.

2. Madhva Mandira
This is the place where Sri Vadiraja Swamy has installed the idol of Sri Madhva Acharya. You can also see the foot prints of Sri Acharya here.

3. Kunjaru Giri Temple
On small hillock around 1km from Pajaka is where Sri Durga resides. This small hillock is very beautiful giving the glimpses of Western ghats one side, Manipal at the another other side and the Arabian sea. This quite temple becomes home of activities during Navaratri/Dasara for the nine day long celebrations.

4. Parashurama Temple
Opposite to the Kunjaru hillock, there's one more where a temple is built for Lord Parashurama. At the base of the foot hill is one of the teertha he created thorwing his weapons.

5. Gurukula - Vedic School
This gurukula is aided by Pejawara matha and around 100 students reside here to quench their spiritual quest.


How to Reach
There are plenty of buses(private and govt) to visit Udupi from Bangalore, Mysore, Hassan, Madikeri etc.

From Udupi, Pajaka is around 15kms. There are very few buses at designated time to come directly to Pajaka. You can check for them in the service busstand.

If the direct bus is late, you can take a bus to Subhas Nagara, get down at Kunjaru Cross. From there take an auto to Pajaka. The auto rickshaw guys will also take you to Kunjaru temple, and then to Pajaka for a nominal fare.


Where to Stay
There are a lot of hotels and Dharma Chatras in Udupi. Pajaka, you can get a room to stay but you will have to have your own bedsheets etc for making it a comfortable stay.


Check for a few photographs of Pajaka Kshethra here.

Labels: , , ,

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Hogenakkal Falls - India's Niagara!

Mini hogenakkal falls gushing with full water



Hogenakkal Falls - aka "Smoking Rocks"

Labels: ,