Shri Kshetra Hole-Shankaranarayana Temple, Siddapura, Udupi District

That was truly lucky day for us. Yes unusual start to my blog. When we were heading towards the temple from Siddapura, the GPS was lost. The maps could not aptly locate the temple due to lack of mobile signal. On the way of our drive, we bumped into temple attendant who informed that temple is closed now and she is the one who manages the key. Wow! It is not even 11:00AM and temple was closed. Due to dearth of visitors, the temple has narrow timings except on special occasions. We requested her to open the temple for a while since it was our maiden visit. She obliged and we were enthralled. Yes the God himself ushered us to his shrine. We picked the lady in our car and when we reached, the priest was on verge of closing the gate. The temple attendant requested the priest and we also requested priest to open for a while. He gracefully accepted and the car slid to temple premises. We had satisfactory visit eventually and had pleasant view of the deity. We were the lone visitor at that time which was another plus point. The darshan was peaceful and rewarding. The temple is well maintained. Small shrines of Navagrahas, Lord Ganesh and Naga (serpent God) are located in front of temple (Don't remember exactly)

The primary attraction at Hole-Shankaranarayana is the shiva linga with nandi immersed inside the Varahi river that originates from Western Ghats. The river water is blocked by power corporation to generate electricity. When the power company releases the water to river, it is impossible to view the holy idols. During our visit, the river was dry which means the company had not let out water. We were excited and ready to spot the divine idol inside water. Initially, it was not possible to locate the shiva-linga. Later, we sought help of priest to locate the idols. We walked to middle of stream along with priest and viewed the divine shiva-linga with nandi. The nandi idol is relatively large compared to shiva-linga. The shiva-linga is difficult to spot unless someone who already knows points at it(like the priest who helped us in locating). The shiva linga is flat probably due to aging and continuous run of water over the idol (or that is original form?). We touched both idols and prayed for betterment. The path being over the stream, is rugged and slippery. Be careful of stones and slippages which could twist ankle. Being of religious importance, the devotees are not allowed with footwears to visit the linga residing in middle of stream. On auspicious occasions, people take dip in water before visiting the temple.

It was an hour of rewarding visit to Hole-Shankaranarayana mixed with luck from heaven :-). What else? There is plenty of nature to rejoice. The temple is bounded by thick forest with visible peaks of Western Ghats. The path to temple from Siddapura also quite enticing shrouded with dense canopy throughout. We thanked the priest and temple attendant for accepting our request and providing an opportunity to view the temple beyond the temple hours.

I am not aware of temple mythology. Internet provides good amount of mythological information about the temple. It is believed that sage Agasthya performed penance at this divine location. As per  information from priest, the temple is connected with Shankaranarayana temple located near Kundapura.

When to visit:

Can be visited throughout the year but has limited timings due to less crowd. Peak monsoon season may not be ideal for visit due to unsolicited river flooding or overflowing stream. If you want feel the linga, winter or summer season is best. However, the sensing of river idols is also tricky since the letting out water from power plant is neither regulated nor has specific schedules. The power plant airs a loud siren before letting out water. I guess there is 30mins gap between the siren and opening of dam.

Temple timings:

    On regular days: 7:30AM to 11AM and 4PM to 7PM

    On Monday: 7:30AM to 1PM and 4PM to 7PM

    The timings are extended on special occasions like MahaShivaratri, annual temple car festival etc..

Route:

Google maps is best but location pinned shows one km before destination. Even though there are numerous signboards along the temple road from Siddapura, the signboards as you near temple withers. Hence you tend to loose the direction just before temple. Drive for one km more from the location pinned by google maps. Perhaps, this place is dead-end since road further led to power corporation gate. 

Food:

On selected days, the temple offers lunch. Otherwise, there are no food options. The temple lies in middle of thick forest and human presence is minimal. Siddapura provides extensive food options.

Amenities:

Public toilet is available is well maintained with sufficient water & cleanliness. Mobile signal was not reachable. May be only BSNL is functional here.

Here is detailed video of our temple visit. You can freely photograph throughout the temple including sanctum.

Sonda Hayagriva Samudra

Our visit to Sonda Vadiraj Mutt during December 2019 was one of the most the fruitful pilgrimage journey in my lifetime. We explored Uttara Kannada extensively. Most of our stay was at Sonda itself immersing our-self in devotion. Located amidst the dense Western Ghats, the place is fabulous for nature lovers too! The dense forest area is home to wide variety of bird species which I could not capture due to lack of telephoto lens.

The Hayagriva meaning Horse-Neck is believed to be incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Sonda Vadiraja Mutt is well-known for this incarnation of Vishnu who blessed Seer Vadiraj around 500 years ago. Since then this holy place has become utmost importance for Hindu deities. 

One afternoon of our three days stay, I cut my nap and strolled towards the lake nearby the Mutt. This lake is called "Hayagriva Samudra". There is mythological story connected to the lake. The local king Arasappa Nayaka had lost battle and was wandering in forest undecided on next move. The king bumped into the sage Vadiraja at Tapovana and sought his asylum. The Sage blessed him and instructed him to wage war again. While he was proceeding for battle, it is believed that thousands of Horses followed the king to take part in battle. The horses took part in battle and enemy was defeated.  After the battle, the horses drank water in lake and from then the lake is known as "Hayagriva Samudra". The king submitted all his regal ornaments to sage Vadiraja as offering. These ornaments are opened and shown twice to public at Sonda Vadiraja Mutt every year. Once during Vijayadashami of Navaratri and other during seer Vadiraja's Aradhana time.

Here are the pictures for you! The azure sky colourfully reflected on the lake which increased the saturation of image. The green vegetation provided fine tonal contrast to overall frame.

Here is an oil painting of Shri Vadiraja Seer with Lord Vishnu incarnated as Hayagreeva (Horse-face) captured at Krishnapura Matha at Udupi

Soggy White Throated Kingfisher

We have White throated kingfisher couple at Amruthahalli lake and their resident. They generally perch over the fallen tree trop located at eastern side of lake. Perhaps, these kingfishers could be called common rather than the current common kingfisher. I spot them on every water body be it city or village. They are quite common near the water bodies eyeing on the prey. In contrast, its uncommon to see common kingfisher in Bangalore at least. Even though the white-throated are well adjusted to city environments, they are still not habituated to humans. Their behaviour remains like the ones I see in villages. Quite nervous on human sightings or it does not want to loose focus on its job? When the fly away, they fly quite far from the current location. So there is no second chance of shooting them at the same time. On rare occasions, I see them steady when humans approach. Probably bird is busy in targeting its prey. During that time if bird does not observe you for longer duration, you get lucky to shoot good portraits of it :-).

 

On one of the mornings, I saw this kingfisher soaking its body in mid of lake and perching back to its hunting ground. The birds know the importance of the morning bask under the Sun and also need to keep the feathers clean. The light was clear and bird was steady. As soon as I started aiming at it, the bird flew away. Looks like the bird was angry with me not allowing it peacefully dry & preen its body. Just before bird flew away, I caught few shots which came out ugly considering the morning sunlight and bird distance. My current camera and its lens does quite poor job of auto-focus in entangled vegetation. Here are pictures for record.

 

Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries

ಮಂಜು, ಕುಡ್ ಯು apply ಸಿಕ್ ಲೀವ್?!

ಬಹಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಬರೆದ ಇದು ಒಂದು ಕಾಲ್ಪನಿಕ ಬರಹ. ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರಿನ ಯಾವುದೋ‌ ಮೂಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಿದ್ದಿದ್ದನ್ನು ಹೆಕ್ಕಿ ಬ್ಲಾಗಿಗೆ ಸೇರಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ :-).

ದೀಪಾವಳಿಯ ವೀಕೆಂಡ್, ನೆಮ್ಮದಿಯಾಗಿ ಕುಟುಂಬದವರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಹಬ್ಬ ಆಚರಿಸುವ ಅಂದರೆ, ಅಂದೇ ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜರ್ ಕಾಲ್ ಬರಬೇಕೆ.

"ಮಂಜು ಸಮ್ ಇಶ್ಯೂ ಹಾಸ್ ಕಮ್ ಅಪ್, ಕುಡ್ ಯು ಲುಕ್ ಇಂಟು ಇಟ್ ಆನ್ ಪ್ರಯಾರಿಟಿ" ಅಂತಾ ಬಾಂಬ್ ಸಿಡಿಸಿದರು.

"ಬಟ್ ಸರ್, ಟುಡೆ ಈಸ್ ಫೆಸ್ಟಿವಲ್ ಡೇ. ಕುಡ್ ಯು ಆಸ್ಕ್ ಸಮ್ ಅಧರ್ ಟು ಹಾವ್ ಎ ಲುಕ್?" ಮಂಜು ವಾಪಾಸ್ ಹೇಳಿದನು
"ನೋ ನೋ ಮಂಜು, ದಿಸ್ ಈಸ್ ಪ್ರಯಾರಿಟಿ. ಇಟ್ ವಿಲ್ ಕಾಸ್ಟ್  ೧೦೦ಮಿ$ ಟು ದ ಕಂಪನಿ. ಯು ಹಾವ್ ಟು ಲುಕ್ ಇಂಟು ಇಟ್"‌ ಅಂತಾ ಕಾಲ್ ಕೆಳಗಿಳಿಸಿದನು.

ತಂಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇರೆ ಧರ್ಮದವರಿಗೆ ಸಹಾಯ ಕೇಳಿದರೂ ಯಾರು ಬಂದಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಮಂಜು ಕಷ್ಟಪಟ್ಟು ದುಡಿಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದರಿಂದ, ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜರ್ ಗೂ ಇವನ ಮೇಲೆ ಕೆಲಸ ತಾಗಿಸುವುದು ಗೀಳಾಗಿ ಬಿಟ್ಟಿತ್ತು. ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕೆ ಸರಿಯಾದ ಬ್ಯಾಕಪ್ ಇಡಿ ಎಂದರೂ, ಮ್ಯಾನೆಜರ್ ನೆಪ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದನು.

ಸರಿ ಎಂದು ಹಬ್ಬದ ದಿನ ಲ್ಯಾಪ್-ಟಾಪ್ ಓಪನ್ ಮಾಡಿ, ಲಾಗ್ ಚೆಕ್ ಮಾಡಿದನು. ಕಂಪನಿಯವರೋ, ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಸ್ಟೇಟಸ್ ಕೇಳುವವರು, ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುವವನು ಇವನೊಬ್ಬನೆ. ಸರಿ ಐಟಿ ಕೂಲಿಯವರ ಪಾಡು ತಿಳಿಯುವುದಿಲ್ಲವೇ. ಎಲ್ಲಿ ಏನಾಗುತ್ತೋ‌ ಅಂತಾ, ಲಾಗಿನ್ ಆಗುವುದು ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯವಾಯಿತು
.
ಸುಮಾರು ಎರಡು ದಿನ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಿದ ನಂತರ ತಿಳಿಯಿತು, ಇದು ಕಾಂಫಿಗರೇಶನ್ ಎರರ್ ಅಂತಾ. ಮಂಜು ತಲೆ ಚಚ್ಚಿಕೊಂಡನು. ಎರಡು ದಿನ, ಹಬ್ಬದ ಸುಖವೆಲ್ಲ ಸಾಫ್ಟ್-ವೇರ್ ಪಾಲಾಗಿತ್ತು.

ವೀಕೆಂಡ್ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರಿಂದ, ಎರಡು ದಿನ ಬಳಿಕ ಮಂಜುಗೆ ಹುಶಾರು ತಪ್ಪಿತು. ಸಿಕ್ ಲೀವ್ ಕೂಡಾ ಹಾಕಿದ್ದನು. ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜರ್ ಯುರೋಪ್ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾ ಮಜಾ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದನು. ಅಂದು ಕೂಡಾ ಕಾಲ್ ಮಾಡಿ, ಇದೇ ತರಹ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಇಶ್ಯೂ ಬಂದಿದೆ ಲಾಗಿನ್ ಆಗು ಅಂದನು. ತಂಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ರಜೆ ಹಾಕಿದ್ದರಿಂದ ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಮತ್ತೆ ಲಾಗಿನ್ ಆದನು. ಜ್ವರದ ಮಧ್ಯೆಯೆ ಫಿಕ್ಸ್ ಕೂಡಾ ಮಾಡಿ ಆಯಿತು, ಅದು ಬೇರೆ ಅನ್ಯರ ತಪ್ಪಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಇವನ ರೋಗ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿ, ಕಡೆಗೆ ಇನ್ನೂ ಎರಡು ದಿನ ರಜೆ ಹಾಕುವಂತಾಗಿತ್ತು.

ಮುಂದಿನ ವಾರ, ರಜೆಯ ಮೋಜಿನ ನಂತರ ಬೀಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜರ್, ಯುರೋಪಿನಿಂದ ತಂದ ಚಾಕಲೇಟ್ ಹಂಚಿದನು. ವೆಲ್ ಡನ್ ಟೀಮ್ ಅಂತಾ ತಂಡಕ್ಕೆ ಶಹಭಾಸ್ ನೀಡಿದನು. ಮಂಜುಗೆ ಒಮ್ಮೆಲೆ ಧಕ್ ಎಂದಿತು. ಅಲ್ಲಾ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು ಒಬ್ಬನೆ, ಪ್ರಶಂಸೆ ಎಲ್ಲಾರಿಗೂ, ಇದೆಂತಹ ನ್ಯಾಯ ಅನ್ನೋದು ಅವನಿಗೆ ಬೇಸರವಾಯಿತು.

ತಿಂಗಳ ಕೊನೆಯ ದಿನ ಎಂದಿನಂತೆ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಲೀವ್ಸ್ ಅಪ್ಪ್ಲೈ ಮಾಡಿ ಅಂತಾ ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜರ್ ಮೇಲ್ ಕಳುಹಿಸಿದನು. ಮಂಜು ಕೂಡಾ ಮೂರು ದಿನ ಬದಲು ಎರಡು ದಿನ ಅಪ್ಪ್ಲೈ ಮಾಡಿದನು. ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸಮಯದ ನಂತರ ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜರ್ ಮಂಜು ಬಳಿ ಬಂದು

"ಮಂಜು, ಐ ಸೀ ಯು ಅಪ್ಪ್ಲೈಡ್ ಓನ್ಲಿ ಟು ಡೇಯ್ಸ್ ಲೀವ್. ಪ್ಲೀಸ್ ಆಪ್ಲಾಯ್ ತ್ರೀ ಡೇಯ್ಸ್" ಅಂತಾ ತಾಕೀತು ಮಾಡಿದನು.

"ಬಟ್ ಹ್ಯಾರಿ, ಐ ಹಾವ್ ವರ್ಕಡ್ ಫಾರ್ ಫುಲ್ ವೀಕೆಂಡ್ ಆಂಡ್ ಒನ್ ಫುಲ್ ಡೇ ಡ್ಯೂರಿಂಗ್ ಸಿಕ್ ಲೀವ್. ಸೋ ಐ ಹಾವ್ ಓನ್ಲೀ ಟು ಡೇಯ್ಸ್ ಆಫ್ ಲೀವ್" ಅಂತ ಮಾರುತ್ತರ ನೀಡಿದನು.

"ದಟ್ ವಾಸ್ ಫಾರ್ ಓನ್ಲೀ ಕಸ್ಟಮರ್ ಅರ್ಜೆಂನ್ಸಿ ಯು ನೋ. ಯು ಟುಕ್ ಲಾಟ್ ಆಫ್ ಟೈಮ್ ಟು ಅನಲೈಸ್ ಕಾಂಫಿಗ್ ಎರರ್! ಮೋರವರ್ ಬಗ್ ಡ್ಯೂರಿಂಗ್ ಸಿಕ್ ಲೀವ್ ವಾಸ್ ಬೆಕೌಸ್ ಆಫ್ ಯುರ್ ಮಿಸ್ಟೇಕ್" ಅಂತಾ ನೀಚನಾಗಿ ನುಡಿದನು ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜರ್

ಎಲಾ ಇವನಾ! ತಾಳು ಮಾಡ್ತೀನಿ ಅಂತಾ ಮಂಜು ಸುಮ್ಮನೇ ಹಾಳು ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜರ್ ಹೇಳಿದಂತೆ ಕೇಳಿದನು. ಸುಮಾರು ಒಂದು ತಿಂಗಳ ನಂತರ, ತನ್ನ ರಾಜೀನಾಮೆಯನ್ನು ಸಮರ್ಪಿಸಿದನು.

"ವೈ ಮಂಜು, ಯು ವರ್ ಎಕ್ಸೆಲೆಂಟ್ ಹಿಯರ್. ವೈ ಸಡನ್ ದಿಸಿಶನ್. ಯು ನೋ ಹೌ ಡಿಫಿಕಲ್ಟ್ ಟು ಅಡ್ಜಸ್ಟ್ ಇನ್ ನ್ಯೂ ಕಂಪನಿ? ವಿ ಹಾವ್ ಎಕ್ಸಲೆಂಟ್ ವರ್ಕ್-ಲೈಫ್ ಬ್ಯಾಲೆಂಸ್. ನೋ ಕಂಪನಿ ಪ್ರೊವೈಡ್ಸ್ ಸಚ್ ಪೇ ಪ್ಯಾಕೇಜ್ ಆಸ್ ವೆಲ್" ಅಂತ ಬೆಣ್ಣೆ ಹಚ್ಚಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸಿದನು.

"ಐ ಹಾವ್ ಸೀನ್ ಕಂಪನಿ ವರ್ಕ್-ಲೈಫ್-ಬ್ಯಾಲೆಂಸ್ ಡ್ಯೂರಿಂಗ್ ದೀಪಾವಳಿ ಟೈಮ್ ಹ್ಯಾರಿ. ಮೈ ರೆಸ್ಪಾಂನಿಸಿಬಿಲಿಟಿ ಈಸ್ ಇಂಕ್ರೀಸಿಂಗ್ ಬಟ್ ಸ್ಯಾಲರಿ ಈಸ್ ಬಿಲೊ ಸ್ಟಾಂಡರ್ಡ್. ಎವೆರಿವೇರ್ ಸೇಮ್ ಸ್ಟೋರಿ ಬಟ್ ನ್ಯೂ ಕಂಪನಿ ಈಸ್ ಗಿವಿಂಗ್ ಮೋರ್ ಕಂಪನ್ಸೇಶನ್ ದಾನ್ ಹಿಯರ್. ಜಸ್ಟ್ ಅಕ್ಸೆಪ್ಟ್ ರೆಸಿಗ್ನೇಶನ್ ಅಂಡ್ ಇನಿಶಿಯೇಟ್ ನಾಲೆಡ್ಜ್ ಸೆಶನ್ಸ್ ಸೂನ್" ಎಂದು ಪರೋಕ್ಷವಾಗಿ ಟಾಂಟ್ ನೀಡಿದನು ಮಂಜು.

ತಲ್ಲಣಗೊಂಡ ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜರ್ ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಸೀದಾ ನಡೆದನು. ನೌಕರರ ಲೀವ್ ಉಳಿಸಿದರೆ ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜರ್ ಗಳಿಗೆ ಉತ್ತಮ ಬೋನಸ್ ಸಿಗುತ್ತದೆ ಎಂದು ಬಹುದಿನದ ಬಳಿಕ ತಿಳಿಯಿತು ಮಂಜುವಿಗೆ. ಎಲ್ಲಾರೂ ಸ್ವಾರ್ಥಕ್ಕಾಗೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುವುದೆಂದು ಅರಿತುಕೊಂಡು ತನ್ನ ದಾರಿ ಹಿಡಿದನು.

ಸರಿ, ೧೦೦ ಮಿಡಾಲರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಏನು ಪಾಲು ಸಿಕ್ಕಿತು, ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮಣ್ಣುಪಾಲು!

Bird Series - Common Moorhen

This bird generally forages at the entrance of Amruthahalli lake. At least I have spotted only at the entrance. May be its bit nervous to join other birds. The common moorhen has that red-yellow bill foraging on marsh land. The bird was seen restless when I photographed it. Looks like it turned nervous seeing me :-). Hence most of them turned non-sharp.  Over the water means, the food would aquatic vegetation or small aquatic creatures. Most of the time I have seen it hidden inside the dense vegetation with only its red portion exposed. One day, it came out open which helped to click few pictures. Here are those

 Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries

Bird Series - Bronze Winged Jacana

Yet another family of Jacana spotted in Amruthahalli lake during last week. This time its Bronze winged Jacana. It is named so because of Bronze coloured wing :-). The bird was busy having its breakfast on the wetlands of Amruthahalli Lake. Looks like they are OK to forage on normal wetlands than floating wetlands. Here are the pictures for record. Yes! They are not appealing as I you would expect. Hopefully on some day, the bird would sit near the boundary of lake to facilitate my photo-shoot :-D.

Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries