Trails in Andhra Pradesh

Lepakshi

We visited several temples in 2008 and I have posted most of them. Some like Shibi, Madurai Meenakshi temple are yet to be posted. However coming back to the trails - the last legs of my 2008 heritage trails were in Andhra Pradesh..Two different dynasties this time and neither of them complete though - the Vijaynagar in Lepakshi and Kakatiya in Warangal and around.Im leaving you with two collages, one of Lepakshi and the other of the old Warangal Fort..Lepakshi was a day trip from Bangalore while Warangal was an overnight trip from Hyderabad. We covered a lot of places enroute to Warangal and then travelled onwards to Palampet. I missed Bhongir as it had become dark, but I hope to get there again sometime..Some of my stories on these destinations have been published recently.

Warangal Fort

I hope you liked the collages from all three posts from all three states - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Let me know which one you liked the best ( you could even choose any one collage ) and I would be glad to help if you plan to follow any of these trails in 2009.

The Chola Trail - roads taken in 2008

Gangaikondacholapuram

The Chola trail gave me something more than just an dose of history. A sense of identity as well. It is very difficult to be objective and write about the trail , so I am not even trying as of now. I am just putting down some raw information to help you understand the might and the glory of this dynasty, which was one of the most powerful in South India and they established its supremacy in South Asia as well.

This ancient Tamil dynasty held sway for more than 1500 years and its origins are mired in myths and poetry as the chronology matches the reign of Emperor Ashoka (273 BC-232 BC). Literature heralds the rulers to be descendants of the Sun God.Historically though the reign is divided into three distinct eras �the early Cholas (2nd century BC-9th century AD), the medieval Cholas (9th -11th century AD) and the later Cholas (11th -13th century AD).Our story starts somewhere in the middle of 10th century and moves on to the 12th during the reign of Raja Raja Chola 1 and his son Rajendra Chola 1 and later on to Raja Raja Chola II

Darasuram

All that remains today as a witness to their might are The Great Living Chola temples . The Brihadeshwar temples in Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram and the Airaveteshwar temple at Darasuram built by these kings are part of UNESCO World heritage Site and this is where the trail actually begins .

The Big Brihadeshwara Temple, Thanjavur

We start with Thanjavur, the original BIG Brihadeshwara temple , or the Periya Koil built by Raja Raja Chola 1 in the 11th century in Thanjavur.This was the moment I was waiting for, a moment that defined this trail for me.My eyes follow the Vimana of the temple as my neck crane to capture its height. It is an understatement to call it big. It is larger than life .Consider this . At a height of 216 feet the towering Vimana is the tallest of its kind in the world dwarfing the Gopura, or the outer tower. The shikara or the golden dome replete with numerous stucco figures weighs 80 tonnes . Elephants were apparently used to draw this single granite block on a 6 km ramp to place it on top. The Nandi weighs 27 tonnes and is the second largest in the country while the main deity, the Shivalinga is at a height of 8.7 metres, the largest in the world. Life size representations of Gods and Goddesses fill the sculptured panels and the temple is a repository of records for posterity . 108 Bharatnatyam dance postures are depicted here and the corridors and ceilings are a colourful blend of fresco and mural paintings �unique to this dynasty.Architecturally the temple is the most ambitious structural granite temple to be ever built in the world and hence it is the first to become a Great Living Chola temple and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site .There is so much to say, but I will end here for now about this temple.

I went to the 11th century when Rajendra Chola 1 , the next ruler had moved beyond South India and invaded East upto the Gangetic Plain and created ripples overseas in Asia and overpowered all of today�s Srilanka, Maldives, Malaysia and Indonesia. Yet, his capital ,Gangaikondacholapuram that controlled this mighty empire for over 250 years has simply vanished from the face of this earth. When Rajendra Chola 1 conquered the Gangetic plain, he wanted to celebrate . He also wanted to portray to posterity that he was probably greater than his father Raja Raja Chola 1 who had immortalised himself with the Big Brihadeshwara temple in Thanjavur. So Rajendra took a step further. After all, he was the commander in chief in his father�s army as well. He moved away from Thanjavur , his father�s capital and built another Brihadeshwara temple in a new found capital called Gangaikondacholapuram which literally means the town of the Chola who captured even the Ganges. However he did not complete the temple. And he finally ensured that his father�s temple was bigger than his . Its tempting to delve deeper and share stories and information about the temple, but I wouldnt know where to end ...

The third destination was Darasuram at the Airavateshwar temple built by Raja Raja Chola II in the 12th century . Called Rajarajapuram , this is indeed a sculpture�s dream in stone. A temple shaped like a chariot drawn by horses and supported by 100 monolith pillars carved exquisitely greet us. And finally ,a Chola trail is incomplete if one does not refer to the golden Chidambaram temple .

Chidambaram
Do enjoy the pictures for now..I may at a later stage write in detail about these temples. However if you are eager to read more, my friend's Vijay's site , Poetry in stone will give you information on the temples. Vijay himself is a treasure house of knowledge when it comes to the sculptures and he along with Siva helped me a lot during this trail. My uncle and my mother who accompanied me shared a lot of their knowledge with me as well.

Hoysala Trail - The roads taken in 2008

A collage of all the Hoysala temples visited in 2008

The Hoysala trail was one of my best trips this year and it was done in two parts besides several other independent jaunts. My earliest tryst with the Hoysalas was probably as a kid when my parents and I had visited Belur and Halebeedu. A couple of years ago, I went to Belur again with my cousins and then Sharath and I took a day trip to Talakadu and Somnathpur, near Mysore.

At Mosale, another twin temples awaited us.

However the trip that got me interested was in January this year when I went with my uncle's family to the coffee estate at Bikodu near Belur.We covered just about three places - Belur, Belavadi and Nuggehalli which blogged about extensively. What I saw and read excited me to probe more that led to the trail a couple of months later. As the series has hardly been blogged, Ive decided to post some pictures at least to give you an indication of the trail .

At Marle , where the twin temples of Keshava and Siddeshwara stand built during the time of Vishnuvardhan

My cousin, Lalitha and I embarked on this trail with just 3 full days in hand and an agenda to see at least 20 villages. We made Bikodu, near Belur our base and drove all around the belt, looking at maps, losing our way sometimes .We were indeed the objects of curiosity in most of these villages, especially among kids .Some of the temples were maintained so well by the ASI, some were in complete ruins, some were opened by the villagers, some we opened ourselves. We heard stories at some temples, but at most temples, no one had any information to share.

At Hullekere near Gandasi, where we opened the doors to this beautiful Keshava temple.

The villages that we visited included Anekere, Shantigram, Marle, Javagal, Chatachatahalli, Halebeedu, Basadihalli, Hulekere,Pushpagiri, Adagur, Kondajji, Dodagaddavalli,Mudugere, Hullekere, Arsikere ,Haranahalli, Koravangala ,Mosale and Angadi where it all began. Later on Sharath and I went to Arekere and Kaidala besides Somanathpur.

The lights of Goa

Recession and now terror, the lights in Goa's Palolem beach may dim, but will never fade away...Wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

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Camera Critters

Walk into any Indian temple and you will see a plethora of sculptures dedicated to elephants, tigers , horses and even the mythological yali .The picture above is one that I shot at Darasuram in Tamil Nadu, a 12th century temple built by the Cholas.

The second is a picture of young Sala who is shown killing a tiger on the " gopura" of the temple at Doddagaddavalli, a Hoysala temple. There is a story behind this sculpture which led to the dynasty being found in the 11th century. The story takes one to Angadi, the birthplace of the Hoysala Dynasty , a small village tucked away inside a coffee estate .Click here to read my story of Angadi in CLAY.

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India through my eyes - Palette or plate at Lepakshi ?

I thought it was first a giant palette used by the royal artists to paint the walls of the temple..maybe I imagined that the colours for the exotic murals came from here. The Vijaynagar kings had indeed patronised the artists to paint some wonderful murals that still stand the test of time in Lepakshi..However I was told by the guide that this was probably where the locals used to be served food and hence the "thali" like shape of this sculpture. I wouldnt know which is right though..

December has seen very little travel from my end except for my trips to Chennai which has become quite regular. I was there last week and got back yesterday and I am off again tomorrow. I havent been extremely busy , but just been a bit tied down with little things.I will be slowly catching up on all your blogs and here is the regular reading list from me.My Inside Story in Today's Metro Plus is about Lepakshi as well, meanwhile CLAY has an interesting story by Celine on the Datia Palace

And its celebration time as Ive got this award from Hitchwriter, whose posts and photographs are always a pleasure to visit. Thank you so much. I really cannot choose 8 bloggers and as usual, I pass it on to all those who visit my blog.

Wildlife Photography exhibition in Bangalore

Do visit this exhibition if you have the time .It is at Chitrakala Parishad.Gowreesh is a friend of mine and he is also a graphic designer and blogger . He blog, Bimba is in Kannada and even if you dont understand the language, his photographs are wonderful. He is also a writer at CLAY

Some monkey business to attend to...

I had visitors today at home...unwelcome though. A couple of monkeys entered my 3rd floor apartment through the balcony while I was seated in the living room, watching a film and trying to work on a story . They sneaked in post lunch. We have an open kitchen and the house is kind of seamless, so an entry inside the kitchen virtually meant they are in my drawing room. It was a rather cloudy day, so I threw the balcony doors open .I saw a movement through my bamboo curtains and I thought maybe it is the wind or probably a bird in my little garden, when I suddenly spotted one monkey stealthily sitting next to the sink in my kitchen balcony..I rushed to close my balcony doors when I was stopped by one sitting happily inside my kitchen munching a carrot that it has probably snatched from somebody else's house..Today I had skipped preparing lunch and there was nothing in the house to munch..not even a stray biscuit ..so the monkeys probably had knocked at the wrong number. They didnt give up though..when I finally with the help of people chased them away, I saw one desperately opening a dustbin and gnawing at some pieces of apple and orange peels. They had plucked some flower buds in desperation and tugged at the clothes and left some paw marks in my kitchen ..but fortunately disappeared..Some monkey business this.Incidentally this is the second time I am seeing monkeys in this area in these few years Ive lived here .(By the way, the monkey in the picture is not the one that visited me today..this was taken at the Shibi temple at Tumkur..I had no intention of photographing my visitors.more keen on chasing them away :))

River Kali

Some trips are planned, some are spontaneous, some bring in me the traveller, some a backpacker and some , a tourist. Some are laid back, some are very hectic, some are assignments, some are luxury, some are to chill out, some are to bond with friends, some are wild and adventurous, some are to relax in a hammock ,some are to learn, some are to unlearn, some are to slog and some are just to soak in all the fun..this trip was one of those..:)

India through my eyes - The Ramappa temple

The ASI board says that it was built in the 13th century (1243 AD) by a General, Recherla Rudra serving in the army of the Kakatiya king, Ganapatideva. Located in Palampet, a small village , this is the famous Ramappa temple .We travelled around 70 kms from Warangal and we did not even find a single signboard.Even though it seems out of bound to most tourists, its quite a favourite among locals. The picture however is taken against the background of one of the smaller shrines in the temple complex. More on Ramappa Lake here.

Some weekend reading if you have the time. Medhini's beautiful story on Sanchi Stupa in CLAY,Jungle Lodges's blog has some great wild life stories in Tales of the Wild and my story on the journey of a coffee bean in Bangalore Mirror today. The last one especially is not your regular travel story, so let me know what you think.I have a lot of writing to do this week and I go to Chennai after that.Have a good week

The moon in Bandipur

This is not the night sky, but an early morning sky at about 5.45 am in Bandipur Wildlife Santuary in Karnataka, India .Our morning safari in the jungles had just begun.

If you want to do sky gazing, do visit Skywatch

Camera Critters

The pictures make me think how innocent people have been slaughtered by the terrorists in Mumbai last week. I was in no mood to post, until I saw the pictures that were taken in a small village called Chikeyelshetti in Bandipur , near Bangalore in Karnataka .

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Some interesting posts that I found this week. There is Deepak'spost on Mahabaleshwar in CLAY . I would also recommend a post by Sandeep on Kabini where two tuskers are fighting and his sighting of a leopard published in Jungle Lodge's blog . My stories have been published. There is a story on Bandipur has been published in Bangalore Mirror today and also in JLR blog.The Inside Story in Metro Plus,The Hindu is about a small village called Kolanupaka.Click here to read it.

Do we need Jayanthi Natarajan and Alyque Padamsee's sound bites ?

The crisis is over and a new day will hopefully dawn. Questions are being asked.Some of the right questions are facilities and equipment for our police forces and what is the government doing..And media houses still want sound bites and we have spokespersons like Jayanthi Natarajan holding fort on " Mumbai spirit " and "resilience" and the politicians are doing , especially " someone like Sonia Gandhi who has suffered the loss of her husband.." Jayanthi even went to the extent to say that "she speaks on behalf of Congress and not the govt of India " ..why do we have to suffer such politicians ..and why is media doing such stories ? If it is not pontification, it is sensationalism or getting overdramatic..some of the well known anchors turn drama queens and mouth sentiments that will probably win them best actress awards..Just surfed and there was an old report on BBC on some of the international guests who had been released from the Trident-Oberois and most of them said they will come back to Mumbai. Something finally to feel good about..

Mumbai will pick itself up as it has always done . But this issue will soon become an "incident" and will probably be heard only in the studios in all the TV channels who will fan political opportunism by getting some of these trombones to speak and make a mockery of people's lives...and its sad that intelligent and sensitive people like us actually consume this nonsense ( and that included me , until now )

Let us salute the police, the army , the NSG and every single member who has fought for Mumbai's release. Let us salute the spirit of Hemant Karkare's wife who rejected the compensation, the courage and poise of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's father and many others who have given up their lives ....

Will someone just beep Jayanthi Natarajan and her likes out and focus on the real issues ..

A dark morning

Its dark in Chennai where I am currently, as it has been raining cats and dogs. My house is an island and I am stranded, waiting for the waters to recede .On the other side of the coast in Mumbai, it is been raining bullets. I feel extremely hollow and sad as I wake up to the killings in Mumbai. Besides Chennai, Mumbai is the city that has groomed me and I owe a lot to this city.I studied there, lived there, built my life and career there and lots of friends and colleagues are still there . It was the safest city at one time and I used to feel proud when I said I have walked around the city post midnight. My college (Sophia Polytechnique ) where I studied and stayed was much closer to South Mumbai and these areas are virtually home to me. It hurts to see so many people dead and the city waking up to terror...My heart goes out to those out there ...When will we ever wake up to stop this ? It is time to act now..no more analysis..

A wild trip to Londa and Goa

This trip was wild..though it had little to do with wild animals - we did manage to see a sambhar deer when we crossed the Dandeli forests at 3 am as we returned from Palolem Beach ..Where did I go ? Londa, Ganeshkudi, Dandeli and Goa and it was really a wild trip on the banks of the River Kali where we had hornbills for company..I am completely exhausted and defocussed ..Just returned to Bangalore to realize there has been no power for the last four hours. I am off to Chennai tomorrow and will be catching up on all your blogs this weekend..Have a great week

The Bandipur Diary . Wild Conversations - Part 3

" Can you see the cattle ?" A herd has just stopped our jeep from moving any further.."Yes, so .. in India, you see cattle everywhere." " Yes, but this is forestland and you see cattle grazing right in the middle of a forest ..thats the problem..beginning of man-animal conflict." Mithun opens the book "Romancing the Elephants" . With him in the jeep are the German couple and us gazing at a satellite map where the greens and the browns merge.." The forests have become overgrazed, its just shrubbery now . This is illegal. and you will find villagers complaining that animals walk into their homes and lift their cattle..but they are actually encroaching.."

" But where will they go ? I mean, the villagers .." "Ah ! thats what you city bred thinks..most of the villagers are migrant..they dont live here..or they are tribals who were living in the forests and have been rehabilitated..and the cattle, you think they are for milk ? Its mainly for manure..to send to neighbouring states and towns..""You mean, Tamil Nadu and Kerala ? They have their own cattle.".."not enough..agricultural lands need manure..all these cattle are raised and the dung is processed into manure and sent there..also beef.."

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" See that hillock ..that is the crucial chicken neck of this corridor..and that is the resort I told you about..they have fenced all 40 acres , but the built up area is only 10 acres.." " But isnt tourism good in a way..I mean they hire local people, prevent poaching..?" " " They have to hire local people as they cant get anyone..yes, tourism is good in a way, but not all resorts here are into eco tourism..they are into what you call green washing..just having some huts and less towels doesnt become eco tourism .."

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" Does he carry a rifle with him now ? " " A double barrel gun .."elephants attacking sarva sadhanam .." " Very common,he says, he uses it then .." Nim hesaru .." "Kempanna." " Idhe oora ?" Illa, Chikatti ,Nanjangudu hathra..familyala ooru alli ." " He stays in the quarters here ? " " Can you pls translate what he says ? "

"He is Kempanna , a watcher and his beat is the Moyar range...4500 acres and only 3 of them watch the entire area...the three go together all the time." "Poaching, wildlife chasing him, looking for dead beasts.. " ." yen maduthu ?" " Biggest problem is he says is of cattle grazers and they are not allowed into the range and they have lots of fights." " So what time does he start his day ? " 8 am till 6 pm and night sometimes...if there is any problem ..nights there are elephants..its dangerous .."

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"Hey, Baaro illi.. Nim Hesaru ? " "Gaviyappa" " Yen, nimuhasugule jaasthiaagbittidhe.." " Aye ..aye..manne, ondhu kempu huli bandhuhodathabidithu ."

"Howda ! kempu hulia..athara yennum ille .." " Aye..Aye..challenge ..yeradu kara idhe..ondhu kappubare, inondhu kempu bare..."

Mithun laughs . " He is challenging me that there is a red tiger.." You mean, he is referring to the stripes.." "Yes, he says there are two..one he claims is red and the other black..one of them lifted his cattle day before yesterday .. " " Wild animals here ?.." " yes, elephants, leopards, hyenas , wild dogs also.."

" So, how many villages are there ?.." " About 10 and more cattle than people.." " But why is this land fenced ? " "One North Indian - he has bought the land here and fenced it.." " and is he building a homestay ? " " No, grows seasonal crops - here try, these "? Gaviyappa picks up some horse grams and gives us." Hope these fences do not electrocute him " ..We leave

"Aye aye..alli nodhu ..guddatha mele..aane idhe.." Gaviyappa 's eyes strain as he points to elephants on the yonder hill.
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" This village is Lokhire..and it is the best among VFC ..villages and forests conservation ..they are managing the entire area, growing crops, and ensuring that the cattle does not graze into farm lands ..very good cooperation..we also wanted to set up a home stay here and ensure the villagers get the benefit..now we will go to Chikyelshetty."
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" We will sit under this tree...and have some refreshments by the stream.." " Nice temple ."."yes, the priest and his family helped us to run this home stay..amazing...and a modern toilet too..yes, they had this idea of having plants as well.." "So, can we stay here ? " " Yes, only for you..we had to close this down as the authorities did not approve..we were only giving tourists a taste of rural tourism and wildlife..food is cooked by the villagers..no alcohol as there is a temple here..but you can drink by the stream.. ! " " Where can you get a view like this ..fields and a hillock outside your door ? "

"Uchaya the main guy is behind the furniture project and we will pick him up in Bandipur..he is coming from his village there "" Oh ! we cant see the furniture or the workshop ? " " They are kept locked inside a school, the workshop has shifted .".."So who runs it ?" " Uchayya is the main guy and there are two NGOs - Atree and ForestScapes. "

" This village has about 70 people...where ..I hardly see a few homes ? " "Full of lantena" .."we will go towards the school....you can take the pictures from the window .." " School hogthiya ..yava class ?" "Eight standard ..Ivathu raja " "They want to pose for a picture..with goats.."" Where are these guys ? I think we have lost our way..this is real India..nice..can we buy a bell like that ? The one around the cow's neck " "Will try in the market.. " "School yelli..?" "These are the furniture..any orders coming in ? yes, one small homestay have placed an order".."why not the others who say they promote eco tourism ? "

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Thanks for your patience in reading this series.Bandipur is a national park located in the state of Karnataka beyond Mysore.The forests extend into Tamil Nadu as Mudhumalai and into Kerala as Wynad.I have deliberately kept away facts and travel related information from this posts. The idea is also to create a diary feel, raw, unedited and little choppy without information or details ..but I wanted to try a new style of writing and I wanted to bring out some aspects of wildlife and eco tourism. The tendency is to always describe a safari and focus on sighting..but there is more to wildlife than just game. The conversations are of different subjects and it doesnt matter who is talking or even sometimes the context or the descriptions...In fact I had recorded a conversation on my phone, but my file transfer is not working well..I deliberately avoided posting pictures as well..

I didnt want these posts to go into a series of descriptions and narratives and the idea was to cut to the chase and get readers into thinking..of wildlife, eco tourism, man animal conflict...I am not an authority on any of these things to pass a judgement or even a solution to some of these issues..but I wanted to create an awareness ..the trip opened my eyes and I hope I have tried in my limited way to open your minds to some real stories..thanks..and here is one last conversation....the last word, I would say ..By the way, I acknowledge my husband's impatient contributions in helping me with the Kannada while writing this post.

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"Ah smellu..yestu gama gama idhe..basmati rice thra.." " Cooking inside the forest right in the afternoon..?" " No, the smell of basmati rice..a tiger's urine smells like that.." " Eh ? " " You mean, there is a tiger here, behind these bushes..?" " No, a tiger's urine smells for more than half an hour..even after the tiger has left..sometimes over 1/2kms..even some plants give out that smell..gama gama idhe alva..sakath smell ! " I have sinus and a blocked nose..

The Bandipur Diary - Wild Conversations - 2

"Morning." " Morning ." "Good sighting yesterday - elephants, gaurs, deer .Didnt know South India had so much wildlife."

6 am and the moon shines out of a bright blue sky .There are only 3 of us in the jeep. Olaf ,Katja and I .

" First time here ?" Yes.But we've been to Kanha,Ranthambore, Kaziranga ..this is beautiful, we've just been to Periyar.. Back home, this part of India is not promoted at all..only Rajasthan and Goa . Must tell the tourists going to Jaipur to come down and see the wildlife..do you get foreign tourists ? A herd of spotted deer stare at us as we slow down. "Sir, a crested serpent eagle.."

"We stay in Cologne for just 5-6 months .We're mainly in africa..we run a project, a park in Zambia..Ah South Africa is good, Botswana is very expensive, Kenya is very crowded.. you can see one leopard surrounded by 4 jeeps of tourists..In Zambia, not much of crowds ..but you will see a leopard for sure, though mornings can be like this, no sighting.."

" Sir,"..the jeep slows..." gaur behind the bush.." Ah ! It's sitting, not a good picture.."

" Do you know of any good projects in India ? Our focus is on elephants now, man animal conflict,conservation of forests..." Sir, in Bandipur, 1200 -1400 elephants and 70-80 tigers.." "We do a lot of work in Burma ..we've taken elephants from there to Cologne and brought rhinos to Burma from Africa..we're going to Bangkok for the elephant conference..let me give you my card, we 're vets, conservationists and this is my travel agency..we will promote India too.."

" Yen sikhthu ?" Alli yennu illa".."dam hathira?" "Ok..lets go .." You see these orange flowers.. "Lantena ." Yes, yes..they are weeds..they make the forests into a shrubbery, good ornamental plants..but bad for the forests.." Are you coming to the village where they are making furniture out of lantena ..? Yes, we are.."

The Bandipur Diary - Wild conversations -Part 1

" Karnataka alone has lost 100 elephants in less than a year and it is mainly female elephants that are dying ." The wood cracked as the smoke curled up , warming up the air. Mithun the naturalist in Bandipur is speaking to the guests. He moves on from one group to the other .The conversation gets heated.More figures are rattled. Unofficially it is claimed that 40 elephants in just 15 days have died.."maybe an exaggeration," someone muttered, chewing on groundnuts."It is a serious concern," he cried indignantly. "Didnt you read the papers ? Its poisoning and not poaching," He moved on to the next table.." So , did you enjoy the safari ? Did you see the herd ? Oh ! yesterday, there was a herd at the hilltop..." conversations drown in the drinks as tourists take over the conversation from conservation. "Give me a beer please !And a sprite for me !"
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"Travelling today is all about badge value," I say. " I agree," he nods. Tourists , today have a lot of disposable income, are educated , but their idea of a holiday is to come, get drunk, listen to loud music , eat good food and party ! Thats ok, but why come to a wild life destination..you could do that in any resort ? " And of course,throw a mineral water bottle or a lays chips plastic cover around .." lol...

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"Hi,do you need a wake up call ? 5.30 am ..that would be great ?" "By the way, Mithun,what was that about elephants .. ? Mithun turns around and the conversation goes back to conservation ." They are electrocuted, poisoned as there is a conflict..last time 60 elephants barged into a sugarcane field..their corridor is taken over by man. Resorts are being set up in their corridor..a recent upmarket resort with just 10 acres of built up area has fenced 40 acres and thats the crucial corridor, " His fingers trace a satellite map which shows the elephant trail.." Hey, do you want to go tomorrow after the safari to the villages ? You will get their perspective."Sounds good to me !

Back from Bandipura

Thanks for your wishes. I am back in Bangalore and it has been a day of power cuts and traffic jams.It was refreshing to be in the wilds again..I was staying at Bandipur Safari Lodge, a beautiful property of Jungle Lodges and Resorts overlooking the hills.A bit of a bad luck as I missed out most of the sighting. We missed leopards and elephants, but saw this beautiful peacock ready to do a jig for us.I believe there is more to a wild holiday than just safaris and wildlife and I will be posting about it soon.

Off to Bandipur

After a long time, I am off to the jungles..The last time I went a bit wild was probably a year ago..2008 has largely been heritage except for Coorg and Karwar. Finally I get to go to Bandipur courtesy JLR (Jungle Lodges & Resorts .)Few destinations are alluring enough to be visited again and again and Bandipur is one of them. I will see you all next week and have a good weekend and I will leave you with some great posts at CLAY of Mridula's Prashar Lake and Gowreesh's Daroji.

The skies at 15,000 feet in Arunachal Pradesh

We were in Arunachal Pradesh beyond Tawang driving at 15,000 feet, probably a bit lesser as the picture indicates. It was bright and sunny out there although it was freezing and we were breathless , but the blue sky was a perfect foil to the rocky mountains .The mountains, sometimes filled with snow gave us directions on how to cross the border. We were closer to China and Tibet, but we had no proper documents to venture on the journey . Maybe sometime...

If you want to do sky gazing, do visit Skywatch