Angadi - the birthplace of the Hoysalas

�Hoy Sala " ( Strike Sala ! ) said the guru Sudatta Muni to his student , Sala who was in an armed combat with a tiger . The beast had just attached the duo who were immersed in rituals at a Durga or Vasantha Parameshwari temple in a village called Sasakapura or Sosevur. The student struck the animal in one blow, immortalizing himself and his victim . The guru was so pleased that he asked Sala to establish a kingdom and the Hoysala dynasty was established with Sosevur as the capital .
The story is believed to have happenned more than 1000 years ago. at Sasakapura or Sosevur which is today identified as Angadi, a small hamlet in Chikmagalur district in Karnataka The temple of the Goddess , along with the ruins of more temples and basadis is the only proof of this myth .The folklore however became so popular that every temple of the Hoysalas has this story carved in stone and it became the royal emblem of the dynasty.

We were in Malenadu or the hilly regions of Karnataka when we heard this story. This was not a pleasure trip, but a journey that took us down eons of history , a quest in search of folklores and myths that gave an identity to the Hoysala Dynasty .We were looking for a humble beginning of this dynasty which had ruled this region for over 400 years.

Our destination was Angadi, a small hamlet lost in the hills of Karnataka, enveloped by coffee plantations and lush green fields. Nestled in the Western Ghats, in South India in the heart of coffee country, this nondescript village was once the birthplace of a powerful dynasty which ruled South India thousands of years ago.
The meandering roads snaked around a green fabric of coffee plantations and dense forests. The leaves of the pepper crops curled around the silver oak trees. It had rained a bit but the afternoon sun was now shining in all its glory. The snowy white blossoms of the coffee plants glistened even further . The dusty hamlets interrupted this green mosaic as they emerged one after another . It was late afternoon and the roads were empty .

We stopped by at a small town, Janapura to have some tea and take in the fresh air.The directions were loud and clear. Angadi was a further seven kms away. In about ten minutes we were there. A small village with a few houses scattered here and there , a couple of shops, a lone bus stand and green fields. At first glance, it looked like just another hamlet lost to the world. And yet, it was the cradle of a dynasty that built beautiful temples and made several conquests . However to our eyes, there was nothing historic about it. And then we took a short stroll, wondering if we had indeed come to the right village. To prove us right, stood a faded old relic under the shade of a tree ..a Hoysala inscription . We were indeed on the right track.


Angadi in Kannada means shop, but we hardly found any shops around . Surrounded by coffee plantations and open fields, it seemed to be a sleepy market . We finally found a small shop and asked them the route to the � Devasthanam � meaning temple in the local lingo. A couple of hands pointed uphill which took us through a coffee plantation which led to mud roads which split into two. There was not a soul around. We followed the road going upward and encountered steep hairpin bends which curved through the coffee plantations and led us to the Durga or the Vasantha Parameshwari temple . And this was the setting of the origins of the Dynasty

The origin of Hoysalas
The Hoysalas were not born kings but they ruled for 300 years . They were natives of Malnad, Karnataka and were tribal chiefs who were subordinates of the Western Chalukyas. Some inscriptions show them as lords of the Male (hills) while some indicate that they were descendants of the Yadava clan. Historically though the first Hoysala family record is dated 950 and names Arekalla as the chieftain, followed by Maruga and Nripa Kama I (976) .


But the kings who shaped the dynasties were Vishnuvardhan and Veera Bhallalla who became independent from the Chalukyas .Vishnuvardhan established his supremacy by defeating the Cholas in Talakadu . Historians claim that the story behind the Hoysala crest is a symbolic interpretation of this victory as the tiger , a symbol of the Cholas is shown subdued by a soldier.

But today the Hoysalas are remembered for their patronage to arts along with their exploits on the battlefield � a baffling 1500 temples built in 958 centres, of which the two famous ones are Belur and Halebid which were the capital cities of the dynasty. However, hardly a 100 survive today. Our trail had taken us down to 25 villages including Angadi , the original capital of the empire, where it all began.

The Durga temple was renovated and was well maintained . It did not look like a typical Hoysala temple either , going by their style . A tall structure supported by pillars with sculptures stood close by. The priest explained to us that the temple, which has been renovated recently was the original temple where Sala had killed the legendary tiger.

The pillars he said were used as a swing to cradle the Gods during festivals. I had read that there was the ruins of a Chennakesava temple here similar to the Belur temple . We asked him where the ruins were and he told us to follow the roads that went below. We were told that there were three temples as well as basadis

The ruins of Angadi
The priest guided us and we followed the road below until we came to almost a deadend. There seemed to be a rugged path above as we climbed on the rocks that led us inside the coffee plantation. We saw a few basadis with some sculptures inside while a few were left wide in the open. It was silent except for some parakeets which were shrieking in excitement. We almost thought the place was to ourselves when we heard some voices .

We squinted through the trees and found some workers. We went down and climbed another path where the ruins of the three temples awaited us . The Chennakesava temple , along with Patalarudreshwara and Mallikarjuna lay absolutely in ruins..The structures were being laid by the ASI workers who had just begun restoring these temples. The idols and sculptures were kept safely, especially the Chennakesava which stood in all its glory in the glare of the setting sun. As the sun touched down, we sat a while on the broken pillars gazing at the strewn idols and wondering about the times when a dynasty was laying its foundation stone in a small village. It dawned on us at that very moment, that we had just walked into a historic moment.

Getting there - Angadi is 18 kms from Mudigere and 25 kms away from Belur and 260 kms from Bangalore The ideal route from Bangalore would be to reach Belur and take the Mudigere route . At Janapura, one needs to take a left and Angadi is 6 kms from the junction. You can also reach Angadi through Sakleshpur and Chikmagalur . Accomodation in the form of home stays and resorts is available at Hanbal, which is the closest town as well as Sakleshpur, Chikmagalur and Mudigere.

A shorter version of this story , focussed on the myth was first published in my column, Inside Story and then much later in Spectrum, Deccan Herald.

Some wild musings

I was looking for inspiration to pen an article on my recent wildlife trips , when I decided to convert my friend my muse. She said a very simple thing - " You owe it to your subjects to write about them..now focus and write. " My immediate response was " Im writing about the denizens of the forest and Im not sure they appreciate mankind coming there to do a peekaboo and stare at them. " Write for the forests at least, " she answered and my thoughts took a different turn.

Instead of writing in my word document that reads 47 words now , I started posting my thoughts here.Do we as tourists, travellers, wildlifers, photographers really care for the forests and its denizens- be it man or animal ? I am part of a wildlife group and every day , my mail box is inundated by mails from the so called experts who preach about their take on wildlife.If lack of awareness is one of the key issues, this holier than thou attitude of the wildlife enthusiasts sometimes gets on my nerves too.

A friend recently remarked on how some photographers unethically disturb nests of birds to take a good photograph. Many times, we get special entries into forests to take pictures. Ive been guilty of it too when I went to Daroji to see sloth bears at close quarters. The animals no wonder ignored us.While writing this post,my intention is not to curtail tourism or photography,because this is the only way we get close to nature. Im just trying to say that we should rather be a bit sensitive to the forests too and understand that animals are tired of being chased. We can sight them in silence, take photographs without flash ,not wear bright clothes and leave as quickly as possible , giving them their space and privacy.For we have encroached into their territory .As my friend said,"The forests need us to survive. Its symbiotic."True, we need the forests to survive as well.

Inside Story - Shivappa Nayaka Palace, Shimoga

At first glance it hardly looks like a palace. But on a second glance it does not seem like a saw mill either. To me , it looks like an exquisitely designed home , carved in rosewood, replete with a Mangalore tiled roof with wooden pillars, an open courtyard, two narrow staircases leading to a hall flanked by rooms and a balcony .

It is well past noon and I am in the Shivappa Nayaka palace in Shimoga or Shivamogga, a town located on the banks of the river Tunga in the Malenadu heartland . We happen to be the only tourists in this sprawling palace. The staircase leads us upstairs and we enter the main durbar or the balcony of the palace . Looking out into the vast expanse , we see that the well manicured lawns have turned into a veritable art gallery with ancient sculptures scattered around them.


We wait patiently for the watchman to finish his lunch and take us on a guided tour. The original palace he says was built by Hiriya Venkatappa Nayak of the Keladi Dynasty in the 16th century. The Vijaynagar empire was declining and the Keladi Nayaks, who were ruling as chieftains under them , had slowly emerged emerging on their own. A local battle fought here between the Nayaks and the Palegars resulted in the former�s victory and hence a fort and a palace were built here. The victory was however shortlived. Soon, Adil Shah of the Bijapur Sultanate destroyed it after a bitter battle and it was later rebuilt by Shivappa Nayak in the Indo sarcenic style. The story however does not end here. When the British took over from the Nayak, they converted the palace into a saw mill to store logs..Finally the monument assumed its current form , after it was restored by the ASI.

Legends say that the Maratha ruler, Rajaram, the son of Chatrapthi Shivaji was hidden in this palace when he was pursued by the Mughal ruler Aurangazeb. The story dates to the later 16th century when the dynasty was ruled by Rani Chennamma, wife of Somashekara Nayaka . Rajaram, along with his confidants apparently entered her court dressed as a monk , seeking alms. They were passing through her kingdom and they sought refuge . The queen , against the advice of her officials, hid Rajaram in this palace for a few days until he carried on with his journey. While Rajaram escaped, an infuriated Aurangazeb sent his army to defeat the queen, but in the battle that followed, the queen�s forces defeated the Mughals, forcing them to sign a treaty with the Nayaks.

As the watchman finished the story, the parakeets screeched , announcing their displeasure at our prolonged presence. Looking up , we saw a tree that was filled with bats, who were probably enjoying their afternoon siesta. Fascinated , we watched them for a while and then continued on our quest to see more places and hear more stories.

A ruthlessly chopped version of this appeared in the Metro Plus today. I have no idea why editors amuse themselves by randomly removing words and paragraphs with no feel for continuity and style. They said it was a space crunch which made them remove 106 words from this story randomly, including the last paragraph

More wildlife from Kabini

When you are in a forest, one of the oft repeated wish is to see a tiger or a leopard. Well, yours truly is not an exception. But my luck has always been rather bad. However what started as a sour grapes attitude has suddenly changed . Today, I am easily satisfied with some sightings of birds. I enjoy looking at smaller mammals and am often rewarded by some quality sighting of the larger ones. During my trip to Kabini , I was staying at the JLR property and I was lucky to have a very good naturalist with me. Yes, I missed the sighting of a leopard and a sloth bear, but was very happy to see gaurs drinking waters and crossing the road in front of us, a smaller pack of dholes or wild dogs threatening a domestic dog, tuskers posing for us and even a threesome elephants dancing for us. In my earlier posts, I had spoken about a mother and a baby having a bath, besides our encounter with another family. So, now tell me , do we really miss a tiger or a leopard here ?

Kabini and her elephants - 2

When I went to Kabini last month, there were plenty of families around .Well, Im not referring to the human kind , but about elephants. We saw herds everywhere and although we did see a few tuskers around , it was interesting to watch the behaviour of these animals. In one of our jungle safaris, we came upon a family of three who just emerged out of the bushes onto the road. We were the only jeep around and we were rather deep into the jungle.

We switched off the engine and waited. I hesitated to use my camera , but then I took a couple of pictures just as they posed for us . As I closed the lens, the father shielded the mother and the calf from our view and then he led the group as they crossed the road. While keeping an eye on us, he shepherded them into the bushes and that is when I took out the camera again and even while his family was safely into the forests, he gave us one last look before exiting from our view.





In another scene, we were privy to the bathing scene of a mother and baby elephant who were enjoying a mud bath in the tiger's pool. The mother was extremely weak and we could see her bones..probably she had a hard time getting herself and her calf to kabini . We didnt see the leopard or the tiger , but we spent a good 20 mins watching them enjoy the water.I made a slide show on You Tube and you can watch the pair here

I'm just a bird in the sky ..

And no one can take my freedom away..so sing the river terns over the Bhadra backwaters in Lakkavalli where they come to breed every year

Here are a pair of cormorants singing the same song as they return home. To see more fascinating skies across the world, click here

India through my eyes - In the days of twitter and FB statuses

I saw this quaint little postbox just before I entered the portals of the Hoysala temple, Somnathpur .One day I told myself, I will shut myself from the digital world and return here , just to send a real post card to myself at least .I did that during my first international trip, when I was 21 and all excited to cover South East Asia and Australia. I sent a post card to my parents from every country and each post card was a souvenir . I didnt have money to buy anything and my memories lie in those post cards

When people turn wild..

This is not a post on travel, but a post on travelling . My husband says Ive become anti social. In a way I agree. My tolerance is rather very low and I blame it largely on the new breed of tourists who follow me wherever I go.

I have nothing against tourists in particular, but I seem to find a huge disconnect in the way they travel. I often travel to escape from the madding crowd and merge with the silence of the valleys . I choose monuments and forests that are off the tourist track and many a time, a new year's eve has been spent in a silent jungle resort which is not yet in the tourist map. But then travelling soon became a fad and travel stories have become conversation currency.

I understand that most tourists believe in letting their hair down when they travel and holidaying is all about relaxing and having fun. But I wonder if it is at the expense of a fellow traveller's peace and quiet ! "Notice me" says the brand of these new tourists, but I wish to tell them that they are an assault on my senses. They speak loudly, dress loudly , listen to loud music and crave for attention when they travel. Why cant they let a nondescript traveller like me enjoy my anonymity ?

I was recently in Kabini and I couldnt recognize it when I landed. It seemed to be a national park and a zoo rolled into one. Almost a 100 people and bulk of them were noisy loud children throwing tantrums with their parents screaming louder than the kids to be heard. One hip young mother told her son that she would throw a hot cup of coffee on the child if he didnt drink his milk. Another hyperactive kid was gargling water at the tap and spitting all over . She said sorry when I walked away in disgust.

And the most exciting sighting for these tourists was Rahul Dravid and his family. A tourist even had his picture clicked with him. " How about one with the leopard also?" asked a fellow traveller, but the joke of course was lost in the din. People still shout when they see spotted deer and of course get very excited when they spot elephants. As a tusker approaches the jeep, it is the perfect timing for a kid to cringe and cry. The excitement is always more if its a tiger. At Tyreguppe , in the tiger safari, a bunch of grown up men got into a nervous fit when they saw the home grown tigers - they started teasing it , while taking pictures on their mobile. The tiger just walked away ..

Tourists have hugely misunderstood the word " adventure " . In a recent trip to Bhadra, a bold young mother forgot that her 11 month baby would be hungry at 5 pm in the evening. So when the winds were making it difficult for the boat man to veer his vehicle and the boat was rocking in the waters ,wetting our feet inside, her daughter let out a loud wail announcing she was hungry.The adventurous mother didnt mind that the boat was extremely shaky , but went on to mix milk in the bottle and started silencing the baby by walking in the boat and feeding her, while we watched the scene with more attention than looking at the elephants on the opposite bank.

Food has always been the most important aspect of any trip. We all gorge on every delicious morsel and of course not just live to eat, but also travel to eat. However there are some who only eat ! While we were at a home stay in Masinagudi , a couple of families with teenaged kids dropped in as well. They made sure they didnt move beyond the dining room. they stood around the table attacking every dish with more vigour and patting their stomach after every meal. In fact they were least concerned that there were more guests at the property - after all, they have paid for the meal. while the kids protested after eating a dozen puris and an equal number of bread and other delicacies, the mother stacked away a few more for the journey , but before that she coaxed her daughter to eat more of the bananas.." You will feel hungry and we will not stop on the way..after all, we have paid na .."

I am tired of running away from such people. I am also tired of tolerating them. All I am hoping is that these families would enjoy travelling as much as I do and yet be more non intrusive . Am I asking for too much ?

Kabini and her elephants -1

I had taken my parents to Kabini to escape the Madras heat and the river was kind to us. A tributary of the Cauvery, the river has its origins in Wayanad . A dam built on it in the 1970s helped form the backwaters which has the Bandipur forests on one end of its bank and the Nagarhole on the other.




In summer, the waters recede, but the river and the forests on either banks play host to herds of elephants who migrate here looking for food.They grace the banks or enjoy a swim or even have a mud bath sometimes.





We were unlucky with the sightings of leopard and tiger, but were rewarded with quality sightings of elephants as we saw herds shepherding their young ones or tuskers locking horns.

Sometimes they are taking a bath or enjoying a swim while a lone tusker that let us watch him for a while.

These are some of the pictures from the banks. Coming up are the elephants from the Nagarhole forests