Gokarna / OM Beach

Simply heaven on Earth!!

Clear water, dolphins swimming, bacon and eggs for breakfast, around Rs. 2000 for 2 days 1 night for the 5 of us, afternoon siesta on a hammock by the beach side….(Sigh!!) Oh and it doesn’t end there…bonfire by the moonlight, singing all night, meeting people from all over the world…who knew this place existed near Mangalore !!

The Om Beach or Gokarna…sounds familiar??

Namratha, Inal, Bijesh, Loreen and I set out on a weekend away from home. The fun part, as always, no itinerary and with the help of the GPRS we headed towards the north of Karnataka by a local train. If you are really not the kinds who’d mind getting into a ‘general compartment’ on a train, you could get there in just Rs.75 or so.  After 2 and half hours of travel we reached the destination, and hired a minivan to take us to Om beach.

Gokarna, at first did not seem convincing as there was not a soul at the railway station; the village did not have electricity to begin with and the place is densely populated. On reaching the beach at around 8:30pm we were directed by locals to climb down a couple of rocks to get to civilization. We managed to use the dim light from our cell phones to climb down the rocks and just like we hoped, it was a whole new world out there.

A stretch of around 8-9 shacks to our left, the gokarna beach to our right and a bright lit moonlight. One word to describe it all ‘Bellissimo’.  We were lucky to spot a place to rest as all shacks were occupied by tourists.

Post a great dinner and some schmooze with a couple of tourists we called it a night. Next morning I left to trek on a hill, a suggestion made by a British tourist the previous evening, to spot Dolphins. A sight that was worth a trek to the top.

A boat ride is something you would not want to miss, while at Gokarna. It ferries you straight to another secluded island and you can spend some time there, pick up a couple of handmade ornaments or buy hammocks, 
which we did for Rs. 150, and also get a better view of the OM beach or spot more Dolphins( if you get lucky). Om beach is named so because it is shaped like the auspicious ॐ [Om] symbol. Om beach is the only naturally Om shaped beach. You also have the option to hire speed boats at the shore.


A place you must visit if you happen to be in this part of the world.

Written and edited by 

Laveena Dsouza

Drive to Dharmasthala Part III

Stairs to get to the Statue

One among the five monolithic statues in Karnataka…around 40 feet high…Another one being carved in Gujarat…any guesses?

The Gomateshwara Bahubali (Dharmasthala), is the 3^rd tallest in Karnataka and a sacred place of the Jains. Apparently every 12 years the town would celebrate a festival called the Masthabisheka where the believers would anoint the statue with milk, turmeric, rice powder and sandalwood. 

Built out of a single stone  fifty-seven feet high. According to history the giant image was carved in 981 A.D., by order of Chavundaraya, the minister of the Ganga King Rachamalla. 

It is also believed that Bahubali stood motionless in meditation for years, until creepers grew around his limbs and mole hills grew over his body giving shelter to cobras.

     The other sculptural and architectural contribution of Chavundaraya is the Yaksha Kamba that you can spot infront of the statue.

The History

 
 

Mahamasthabhishkam of Lord Gomateshwara

 

And that's how my trip ended....

Written and edited by 

Laveena Dsouza

Drive to Dharmasthala Part II

Something rotten in the state of Denmark?

Dodging between exams…graduated yet again ….dealing with a bunch of ‘nosey-parkers’ here I am :) . 






So where were we? 

Ah! Sri Manjunatheshwara Temple. 

If you do happen to look for a description on Google and spot a blog that describes this place to be surrounded by “lush green forests and hills of Malnad”, I'd say don't fall for it. With a temperature of around 33 degrees you certainly won’t bother to spot Malnad and the lush green forests would not even remotely entice you. Having said that, its still worth the visit. Ensure you carry alot of H2O, sunscreen, a headgear and some food.

View of the temple

Nevertheless what is really interesting though is the history of the place and how the Heggade family came into being. Currently the successor of the Heggade clan, Veerendra Heggade, is the one who is responsible for this pilgrim centre.  Few of Veerendra Heggade’s contributions are listed on http://www.vishwatulusammelana.com and I must state that the premises is well maintained considering it welcomes around 10,000 pilgrims almost everyday. What is also commendable about this place is the temple also provides protection to the needy – Abhayadana; free medicine – Aushadhadana; promotion of educational facilities – Vidyadana.

We spotted a couple of ancient temple chariots right infront of the temple ground, assuming they are used during  Pattanajae Jatre. Each of them are labeled with names of donors, just like on the images.

 

The image to the right is a view when you enter Annapurna dinning hall, located to the left of the temple. A simple meal of rice, dal, vegetables and buttermilk is served here everyday and is scrupulously clean.

A colossal clock at the entrance of the temple 

 






The exit and entrance of the temple.

 Post this we went to check out the Manjusha Car Museum. With a decent taste of classic and vintage cars I was all the more excited about visiting the museum more than anything else we had on the itinerary. Unfortunately cameras were restricted  inside the museum.

(image courtesy google) 

(image courtesy google) 

For more information refer to  http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/vintage-cars-classics-india/79766-manjusha-museum-dharmasthala-3.html

(image courtesy google)

                                                                               More to come ->

(image courtesy google)

Written and edited by 

Laveena Dsouza