12 Jyotirlinga Darshan

12 Jyotirlinga Darshan

Somnath

• Somnath
• Bhimashankar
• Trimbkeshwar
• Girshneshwar
• Vaijnath
• Nageshwar
• Sri-sailam
• Ramheshwaram
• Kashi Vishwanath
• Kedarnath
• Omkareshwar
• Mahakaleshwar

Shivgange Temple Trek

Shivgange Temple Trek

Shivgange is a famous temple near Bangalore and attracts a significant number of devotees. There are multiple temples as you scale the summit however and the climb becomes more treacherous and steep as one climbs up.

Tip:

- If you are planning to go all the way up I would recommend not to take off your shoes. The climb is full of gravel and medium stones and it will be difficult without shoes.

- Avoid carrying any bags. The monkeys are quite audacious and will inspect you and your bags for any eatables. I had one coming from behind climbing on my shoulder and inspecting my bag which I had to let go as there were two more following him.

Road to Shivgange

Ganesha Carved to the Left as you climb up the first flight of Stairs

Nandi as you take the left after the first flight of Stairs

Morning mist covering the peak

Small wooden Nandi on the second teample

Views below

Almost looks like Sphinx in the Mist

Cliff with very strong winds

Nandi on top of the Peak

Monkey family huddling together to protect the young ones from the Wind

Ambushed!

What have you got there :)!

Bhimashankar

Bhimashankar Temple

How to Reach?

Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga is about 110 KM from Pune and you can either take the state transport buses or hire a taxi to go there. It takes about 3-4 hrs from Pune.

Where to Stay?

There are only one or two accommodation options near the temple with basic facilities. If you are travelling with the elderly or have a vehicle you should stay at any of the resorts which are about 8-9 km from the temple.  Natraj Holiday Resort (It's more of a hotel) is a decent option. The double room rent was Rs 1200/-.

Where to Eat?

There are a number of eateries near the temple. The restaurant at Natraj holiday resort is also quite good. The tandoori roti and naan where crisp and the paneer soft.

Butter Naan, Tandoori Roti and Paneer Butter masala at Natraj :)

Local Commute?

It is better to get a own car or keep a taxi handy. The public transport is not frequent.

Attractions:

The temple is located in a Wildlife Sanctuary and it is a paradise for trekking. You have forts, waterfalls, view points at the ghats and a river source.

Kondhwal Water Falls: is a beautiful water fall in the area and you must visit it. The road shown by Google is not correct but the location is correct. There is a zip-line running across the falls as well. You may have to check with the forest rangers on the activity. There is an entry fee to enter this area of 30 INR per person.

Kondhwal Waterfall

Shivneri Fort: On the way back you should visit to the Shivneri fort. The birthplace for Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Tips: 

Do not take off your shoes when visiting the temple till the very end. There is a proper shoe stand right before the temple. The shop owners in their over enthusiasm mis-guide people to take their shoes off much earlier.

If you visit the temple at 4:30 am in the morning you can attend the arti and she the lingam. After that the silver cover if put on the stone lingam at around 5:30 am. After 6:30 they place another silver cover on top of the lingam.

Only Vodafone network worked in this area.

Devarayana Durga Half Day Trek

Devarayana Durga (Rating: Easy, Duration: 1/2 Day)

Devarayana durga is a small hamlet surrounded by small hills and a number of famous temples. The hills were used as watch towers and there are some remnants of the walls used as fortifications in the past.

One of the approach road to the temple is under construction and you should avoid taking a sedan type of car. There are blockades on the road. If you see those please look for a different route.

Search for Devrayana durga fort on Google to get the exact location of the trail.

Narshimha swamy Temple in the Town

There are stairs using which you could walk to the top of the hill. Alternatively you could drive your vehicle as well to the foothill of the temple. The place has a lot of monkeys so be careful.

Stairs to the hill top and the temple

Rose like flower used at the Temple

The top most man made structure to which we could not find a path

The views from the top of the temple are beautiful.

Tallest hill top

Temple pond

Main Temple

Nature at it work

Neighboring hills

TSTDCS: Warangal Kakatiya Heritage Tour Review

TSTDC: Warangal Kakatiya Heritage Tour Review

This is one of the weekend package tour from Telangana State Tourism development corporation. Tour starts from Yatri niwas in Secunderabad at 07:00 am in the morning. 

Yadagiri-gutta Temple:

The first stop is the Yadagiri-gutta temple. You reach there by about 09:00 am. You can have breakfast (Idly, Vada etc) at the Haritha Hotel. The prices are reasonable and the quality good.

The shrine is a bit crowded over weekends. There are two options to skips the queue. There is Rs 150 per head ticket and I think a Rs 512 per couple ticket. This is a shrine for Lord Narshimha. This is a local temple so you may only find signages in telugu. Photography inside the temple is prohibited and they may take your camera to check and delete any photographs.

The place is being renovated to make is a major tourist spot like Tirupathi in Andhra Pradesh.

The next stop is the Kalpuka Jain temple. There is a dress code here. Avoid wearing black clothes and shorts.

The town of Pembathi is famous for its sheet metal handicrafts. You could view the stuff in few shops which come on the way.

Reach Warangal and check-in to the comfortable AC room of Haritha Warangal and relax for about 2 hrs. You can have dinner in restaurant in the hotel. Both buffet and ala carte options are available.

Next head to the famous thousand pillars temple, bhadrakali temple and the Warangal fort. Optionally enjoy the sound and light show at the Warangal fort which gives a glimpse of the history of the Kakatiya kingdom.

Savandurga Trek

Savandurga Trek

Savandurga is a half day trek about 70 km from Bangalore and falls into a do it your self category.

Planning: Ideally you should book a ticket using the following Karnataka forest department website before you go, however no one checked the tickets. Plan on reaching by around 6 am or earlier if you are keen on the sunrise.

Trip: Search for Savandurga Trek path on Google maps. This should take you to the correct location. Park your vehicle near the big temple that you would see on your left. You could take the car further up but the space head is tends to get congested and could potentially create issues for everyone.

Temple with Parking Space

Notice the beautiful carvings on the top

 As you walk down from the car park towards the starting point for the trail you will notice a bus carved in stone as shown below. About 100 m ahead you will notice a muddy path going down on your left. There is a small grocery shop as well. Google map is not accurate w.r.t the trail path.

Stone Bus

 As you cross the grocery shot the muddy path will continue for some distance before it opens up at the base of the hill from where you need to start the climb. The entire trail is marked by arrows in white/yellow color. Look for the arrows and you should be good and should be able to make it to the top where there is a granite statute of the Nandi overlooking the valley below.

As you proceed with your climb you will first come across the remains of the Savandurga fort wall. The next milestone will be the remains of the bastion. Walk along the wall from the bastion and the follow the electric line/the arrows. You should be able to make it to the top.

Panoramic view of the valley below

Nandi on top of the Summit

Antara Ganga Trek

Antara Ganga Trek

Antara Ganga is a half day trek from Bangalore. The place is located in the Kolar district and is about a 1 hr drive from Bangalore.

Antara Ganga  literally means "Ganga" from the deep" in Kannada.

The trek starts from a the temple and it an easy trek. The highlight of the trek are the two caves: a normal cave and a water cave. It is advisable that you hire the local guide for these as the path is dark especially for the water cave and the path is not visible/marked.

You should be able to cover the place in about 3-4 hrs.

There are a couple of vendors selling tender coconut, cucumber and butter milk on the top. In fact the path to the water cave starts from the point where this particular vendor sits.

There is a car parking available at the entrance of the temple.

Entrance to the Temple

Path to the Temple

Temple and the Holy Pond with Water flowing from the Basava (Bull)

Starting point to the Trek after the Temple

Starting for the Normal Cave

Down the Normal Cave

There is a trail from the Therhalli village side as well although I have not explored that.

Gujrat: Atlantis of the East (Dwarka)

Atlantis of the East (Dwarka)

Dwarka is a must visit destination for multiple reasons. From a religious perspective it is one of Char Dhaams (Four Holiest places) of the Indian sub-continent. It also is in close proximity to 2 of the 12 Jyotirlinga's (12 holiest shrines of Lord Shiva): Nageshwar and world renowned temple of Somnath known of it's fabled riches.

Dwarka is well connected via train, road and air. Normally you could plan for it as part of your South Gujarat tour package

Stay: There is a peripheral area around the temple inside which cars are only allowed of your hotel has parking space. Check with the hotel if they have parking space if this is a potential concern for a fellow traveller. Hotel Damji was a good option. They had ample parking space and the Dwarikadish temple is within walking distance from the hotel.

Food: There are umpteen number of restaurants around the Dwarikadish temple serving different cuisines from North and South India.

Major Attractions: Dwarikadish temple is sits at the heart of the city. There are a number of other temples around Dwarka. Famous one's being the Rukminidevi temple and the Lord Krishna's temple on Beyt Dwarka island. Mul Dwarka is another area nearby by (from a religious perspective).

Rukmini Mata Temple

Dwarkadhish Temple

Hotel Damji

Hotel Damji

Mul Dwarka