Skywatch Friday - Letter to the Sun

With the path of Sun moving towards the Northern hemisphere, my "Letter to the Sun" to shine us with glow of glory. Despite the blistering heat of day, the Sun sets with colorful note during dusk.

Oh my Lord, you are the curator of life as well destroyer. You have great energy embedded for the cumbersome nuclear fusion phenomenon. You are the pristine star sparkling the world with even energy without discrimination. Shower us part of your energy to fuse the pains of life to transcend difficulties and tread towards path of wisdom. Bless us with energy to persevere in life and surmount the difficulties. Let the life shine like your beautiful golden hour light despite the hurdles. Give us abundant energy to overcome sorrows of life like your plenitude presence even when the clouds mask your shine. Provide warmth under sorrows and lead us to light under darkness.

Below are my visual prayer to Lord Sun and seek colorful life as his sunset.

This was Golden Sunset captured on the way from Shivanasamudra

And some from benevolent Kaup beach & my village

Polish duo composed a perfect "Letter to Sun" via magical notes of piano. Co-incidentally, it was composed at the dawn of 2015! I must say its perfect way to communicate to burning Sun your request via calm celestial piano leads. Watch out for that lovely melody from 1:20 to 2:17 with gradual befriending of Sun at breakdown point 3:13. The best part I love is that conjunction of dual lead riff melody at 2:39 which prolongs throughout the music. This style is normal in trance but pattern in current music captivated me bit more. 2:19-2:39, watch out how the beautiful celestial pad gradually meets the main lead. Such a brilliant composition.

Hear it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu-olXijJBA

Finally oh my lord do not drain my interest to hear uplifting music even though a handful listen to such genre.


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Shivamogga Diaries - Koodli, where sisters meet

It has been more than a year since I visited few places near Shivamogga. Even though it was short trip, I enjoyed the mother nature to fullest. Here is the write-up of my first visit during that time.

I will start off with the sequel of ramblings ensued from here and later shift towards the actual post. Hope you won't be bored!

Early morning, I found my scribbling pad nestled deep within the the maze of bag compartment. Alas! I remembered myself relentlessly wandering previous night to buy stationary which resulted in vain. The stout baggage had restricted me not to meddle with luggage the other night. I was annoyed whilst simultaneously happy to find my scrap book. I happily documented few wordings and metaphors with loss of factor of 25% approximately.

To give some background, I was in Shivamogga to attend a marriage reception of my friend. Even though the function was scheduled on Sunday, I departed early which is a day before, to wander nearby. I found a lodge to rest for meager amount which I will be holding for two days. Fortunately it was located near bus stop. I freshened up and later had hefty breakfast. The Mayura hotel beneath the lodge offers tasty breakfast to relish. Once done with day routines, I inquired one of the native to reach Koodli and expectedly he guided well. As per his direction, I entered private bus stand and boarded bus to Koodli cross. There are barely any direct buses destined to Koodli rather one has to reach Koodli cross and bank upon auto to reach the place. Koodli is just 16kms from Shivamogga and barely takes 30 minutes to reach if you have own arrangements. Most of the private buses destined towards Chitradurga halt at Koodli cross. Myself reached Koodli cross at 10:30AM and caught an auto towards the Koodli. The auto costs Rs.10/- in mass transport mode while Rs.50/- in dedicated mode. 10 minutes in auto, I reached Koodli and now its time to explore.

Koodli meaning confluence in Kannada is sacred place due to the merging of sisters named Tunga & Bhadra. Tunga which descends from gorgeous Kuduremukh ghats is the sweetest water I have ever tasted. Bhadra also originates from Kuduremukh ghats alongside Tunga & Netravati rivers. All three rivers originate at Gangamoola situated in Kuduremukh ghats. Tunga flows via Shringeri while Bhadra flows towards Bhadravati. Netravati flows west towards Mangalore and merges with Arabian Sea. In Koodli, one can easily distinguish the Tunga & Bhadra rivers during the peak monsoon season when both rivers brim past the banks. Left one is Tunga & right is Bhadra. The rivers do not mix rather merge and hence one can visualize the clear demarcation with dark Bhadra and lighter Tunga. Apart from auspicious confluence, the place hosts yet another glorious Hoysala monument Rameshwara temple curated by the Archaelogical department houses Lord Shiva as primary deity. More details are posted as picture below. Apart from the monument, Shankara matha and Sharadamba temple is situated nearby confluence. The main attraction however remains the river confluence. Don't miss the beautiful rural landscape en-route to the village.

CONFLUENCE POINT

RAMESHWARA TEMPLE

ARCHAIC TEMPLE & ANTIQUE SHOT

THE MEYTHOLOGY

Food: There is no proper source of food here at Koodli. The temples may provide food but I cannot guarantee. Anyways Shivamogga is fairly nearby and not a problem

Transport: Ample bus services till Koodli cross and later rickshaws. Dedicated autos tend to overcharge for slight increase in waiting time. Self transport arrangements are always best option.

Best Time: Obviously during monsoon season when rivers brim due to heavy outflow from Dam. One can visualize the boundary between Tunga & Bhadra.

SHANKARA MATH

SHARADAMBA TEMPLE

A Realization:

Things which are not used for quite sometime will malfunction for sure. This principle even holds good for human brains. My camera also malfunctioned for sometime and I thought it may be end of life. It has been lying idle for long and woken up swiftly. Fortunately after sometime, it woke up. The mystical behavior surprised me to some extent. After waking up, I concluded the malfunction was may be due to moisture impeding smooth electrical flow. Later on, it never misbehaved which concreted my analysis [still unclear though, just bragging :)]. To some extent we  we implement such strategies during monsoon season in coast. The malfunctioning of dial phone fades away once you warm it up on voltage stabilizer (Sun being a rare sight). Consequently, I did same mapping here!

Chatli Meenu - Tale of a Royal shrimp

A short drive from Kundapur to Bhatkal along National highway 17 reveals some of strangest scenes along the vibrant mangrove backwaters. One can visualize the neatly arranged net roofed swamps besides paddy fields. Even though the swamps are not restricted along National Highway, these are the glimpses catching attention of commuters for the first time. The unique visuals are nothing but tale of royal fish farming. Indigenously known as "Chatli Meenu" or "Seegadi", these fishes are meant for export purposes which costs dear in local market. Even the owners of this such fishery industry draw huge amounts of profit provided the process turns out as planned. It requires equal amount of diligence to reap the revenue which is explained in following sections. Here is short tale of a harvest which I penned down after conversation with one of the care-taker such swamp. Hope it entices the readers as well :).

Disclaimer: Some of the points mentioned below seems eccentric or exaggerating. It is neither to mislead or gain TRP like Indian media :-). I just tranformed verbal communication to readable format :-).

Let me start with the figures!

-- The fisheries is aimed at exporting the fishes costs 3lakhs/KG in Indian market. Seems aggrandize, but true! It requires equal amount of pain to tag it with export quality brand.
-- Twice a year, yield is obtained. One yield is obtained in span of 4 months with 2 months being maintenance period.
-- The presence of backwater or river provides perfect environment for the royal fish harvest.
-- It requires Rs.30,000 per month to maintain each swamp.
-- About 2-4 bags of special food bags are necessary to feed the fishes. Each bag costs 2500 and weighs 25kg.
-- A dedicated doctor is nominated to monitor health of fishes.
-- It requires 24hrs of attention. The care-takers of such swamps live in small camps to look after the pond.
-- Despite being low in depth, a special transport mechanism is provided to feed the fishes. This to prevent any side effects arising out of human interaction.
-- The last two months of harvet requires careful attention. At this time, the fans which are attached on top of the pond needs to drive unabated to supply unprecedented oxygen.
-- The untimely food or fan timings would provoke the fishes to reach the surface of pond risking entire harvest.
-- The yield per harvest is about 8 tons. The density of yield also matters. Lesser the density more is profit since less quanity of fish constitute per KG.
-- A slight  mistake leads to loss of 25-30lacs. An equal amount of profit is reaped if all is well! (else "all in well"). The owners such swamps own grand SUVs as well (may be even mansions).
-- The lost yield is sold at meagre price of 300 per KG in local market.
-- End of harvest season, the fish is transported with required temperature to Mangalore port which is further exported to USA & middle east.
-- With required quality checks, the importing countries charge heavy bill on this royal dish.
-- The high-cost is attributed to its nutrient contents & taste.

The maintenance

-- Once harvest season concludes, it is time for maintenance. the water is drained out of pond & fans are taken out for complete check.
-- The damp field is now spread with limestone & other anti-germ materials. Later fresh stock of buffered water is let into the pond. Subsequently the water is bleached and kept ready for next harvest.
-- The pond is filled with water filtered from backwaters.
-- Before the water is let-in to the swamps, the water from backwater is buffered in a temporary swamp.
-- The water should be thoroughly filtered to prevent unwanted materials and also the foreign fishes (which are present in backwaters).
-- The crystal clear water is made translucent by spreading sugar, jaggery or rice floor. The sunlight should not reach the deep surface of pond which could otherwise hamper growth of fish.
-- The swamps are roofed with closely woven nets to prevent intrusion of stray birds, and external entities.
-- The harvest requires saline water with certain ph level (80-90). The presence of vast number of backwaters provide bountiful saline water along the rural areas of Kundapura.
-- The depth of pond is about 4-5 feet.
The infants are brought from TamilNadu (where this type of harvest is popular) again packaged with right diligence and left in pond for breeding.

On concluding note, what's the need of such expensive food? Well it's profit for one and pleasure for another. Also, I assume it is high in nutrients. Why do we have cars ranging from Alto to Rolce royce? It's the same case with this breed of fish.

A brief visit to Chikka Tirupathi

28 June 2014,

Seeking hiatus from prolonged work schedule, I decided to visit few places nearby my house. Since my parents were in Bangalore, the car proved to be favourable for travel. My father had been to native for short work and myself and mother decided to travel to Chikka Tirupathi to seek blessings of Lord Venkateshwara for peace. The distance from my house is mere 35kms and we predicted around an hour of journey on lazy Saturday afternoon. The stage was set to visit the temple town and we started around 2:20PM, 2 hours delayed than planned. The drive was smooth till Sarjapura while fantastic thereafter till Chikka-Tirupathi.

It took more time to reach Sarjapur primarily due to the presence of humps and traffic. Even the town of Sarjapur has narrow roadways which makes it difficult to negotiate car along with a mini truck simultaneously. Fortunately due to renovation work, the heavy vehicles were directed along the outskirts of town. The road along the town seemed like a residential path with tightly knit shops with the goods protruding towards the main highway. The absurd parking by tempos added to further misery to traffic snarls. We wasted almost 20 minutes within town limits battling through traffic mayhem. Later on, it was fantastic drive along well laid NH-207 with beautiful rural landscape. The width of highway did not seem to be adhering to NH standards but was manageable due to feeble traffic. In matter of 10 minutes we covered 13kms and reached Chikka-Tirupathi.

The temple had different look than the one I viewed it 2-3 years back. It might have drawn attention for renovation by Government. The renovation work is still under progress. We parked car in parking place (not sure it was designated) and left for temple. Being Saturday, there was sufficient crowd in temple. May be the crowd would grow further during evening. After a while, we entered temple premises. Crowd in temple was not huge however the disciplined worship for every batch of crowd by priest, delays the darshan of Lord. Even though someone feels impatient at slow moving queue, during your turn, the soul will be filled with devotion due to the disciplined, systematic worship of priest. The deity along with Sridevi and Bhoodevi on either sides, was well decorated and adorned with ornaments. A short pooja thereafter, we left the sanctum sanatarium. Sequel to our darshan, we spent some time around temple reading the fable and enjoying with monkeys. Beware of any food belongings, monkeys will mercilessly try to snatch them. The notice in front of temple prohibited the photography inside temple premises. However, I captured few of them for memory. Later, I spotted few more people snapping the temple which broke my shackles and grabbed many without hesitation. Fortunately temple authorities also did not object. Once we were out of temple, its time to head back to home which was an hour of smooth journey except along aforementioned Sarjapura town.

The fable as narrated in placard. The fable is printed in Kannada and here is my translation to English. Hope it is meaningful.

Filled with religious traditions, India consists of widespread temples, rivers. One among them is the Chikka-Tirupathi located in Malur Taluk of Kolar district. The place is situated 40kms from heart of Bangalore city, 15 kms from Kolar town and 15kms from Malur town. The place has ample transport connectivity from all these locations.

Kolar was ruled by gangas during 2nd and 3rd centuries. In their regime, the place was divided into small territories. Out of them, KolalaNaadu was prominent and famous. Based on vaastu and genre of temple, it is believed to be renovated during Chola's regime. As per the mythology, when the Kandavavana caught fire, a serpent named Takshaka had cursed Agni to be all vorous & be devoid of radiance. This has happened during Mahabharata times. Agni to liberate the curse, carried out fierce penace to pacify lord vishnu. Drawn by this, Lord Vishnu along with Sridevi and Bhoodevi appeared in front of Agni as Venkateshwara and liberated the malison on Agni. In memory of the incident, it is belived that Agni instated the idols of Lord Venkateshwara along with Sridevi and Bhoodevi. The lord here is known for tendering helping hand for the devotees. Residents nearby precede their journey to Tirumala Tirupathi by visiting Chikka Tirupathi.

The place is near to TamilNaadu border. The poojas are offered as per "Vaikhaanana Aagama" tradition. Every year pushpa pallakki is offered to Lord during Full moon of chaitra maasa and brahma rathothsava is performed on Pubba nakshatra of same month. During Shravana Maasa, the annual car festival is celebrated with pomp and glory. Every english new year and Ekaadashi of Margashira maasa (known as Vaikunta Ekadashi), devotees throng in great numbers to seek blessings of Lord Srinivasa.

Temple timings:

6:30AM to 7PM without break.

Distance:

40kms from Bangalore city bus stand via ulsoor, whitefield.
35kms from HSR Layout via Sarjapura

Skywatch Friday - Shivagange trails & prowess monkeys

Shivagange hike is popular among Bangaloreans as weekend getaway. Apart from hike, it also hosts some of the archaic temples worshipped as sacred destination. The last time I hiked Shivagange with my co-operative friends and this time it was with my sweetheart. It was her first experience of real hike as well which she managed more than my expectation! Apart from enjoying the greenery surrounding the region, we also breathed warm wind with scattered monsoon clouds. The intermittent cloud cover provided temporary shelter right beneath the blazing Sun. Reaching the summit, it was relaxing to be seated at the peak of windswept Shivagange hills. Despite the rampaging monkeys, it was wonderful day with perfect weather for hike. Below are visual summary of landscape we witnessed during the day with help of our optical master! Hope you enjoy the pictures.

FEW MILES AWAY!

LOOKS LIKE A SHIVA-LINGA FROM DISTANCE

THE POND AT THE ENTRANCE

All of these joy comes with package of growling monkeys to reckon with :(. The sultry weather provokes the intrepid monkeys strolling along rails to snatch the water bottles from the hikers. Their mischief is imperceptible to fatigue body unless co-hikers scream at it :). The nimble monkeys resort to open daylight robbery to quench their thirst & hunger. Monkeys investigate nook and cranny of surrounding area as well your bag to find traces of food. Once found, they are adamant and aggressive to seize the food. Monkeys constantly pester hikers for food in their bags. if not found, they may even create ruckus by spoiling belongings (including camera accessories). They even ruined my timelapse set-up :(. If you possess food, either be ready to fend off monkeys or turn submissive :).

RECENT RAINS HAVE GARNISHED REGION WITH GREEN CANVAS

VERTIGO

EARTH IS SPHERICAL

HANDS-UP!!

TIME TO BRIBE THE CUSTOMS OFFICER :)

OM NAMO BHAGAVATE RUDRAYA

EVERYTHING LOOKS DWARFISH FROM VANTAGE

MONOLITH NANDI STATUE

FINALLY REACHED SUMMIT

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Skywatch Friday - Vehement Vermilion Sky over Paadooru

This is my first blog of the year 2016. Incidentally, it happened to be originated from my village. Willing to be active writer in new year as well!

The cirro-stratus clouds create most sultry weather and often cursed by landscape photographers. They turn atmosphere hazy which acts as hindrance to landscape shoots. But as proverb says every trouble has happy ending. After day long presence with diffused sun light, they shut off the day with colourful glows! This was similar scene over fields of my village after sun sunk beneath the horizon. The Sun had emblazoned the sky in partnership with cirrus clouds and created vermilion dusk over the stratosphere. These clouds which acted as shabby constituent turn the twilight sky with glorious spectacle garnishing with vivid colours. This portrait of sky with landscape (beach would be perfect) is what photographers have longing for. This was the scene during withdrawal of monsoon over my village. The atmospheric elements blent with golden hour sun created magnificent spectacle over skies. The landscape coupled with reflections of transforming skies provided perfect composition for my camera. The ephemeral timelapse captured the phenomenon with accurate details. The reflections on the abandoned paddy field garnished the composition with virtual footprints as foreground subject. The upshot of nature's mystery is this blog post with swanky title ;-).

Hope you enjoy the vivid fleeting glimpses and celebrate the ever joyous nature. 

I was bit late first day to capture the beauty of nature but did not miss next day's event.

This is second day's incarnations of nature was captured entirely. The sky which remained insipid later transformed to glowing yellow then orange spectacle then saffron beauty finally culminating in vermilion sky.

I even captured third day's event as well but did not much concentrate on photography rather my retina enjoyed to fullest.

I did capture few HDR shots but such scenes are snapped against silhouettes of landscape. Any-ways even HDRs turned out brilliant than expected. Hope you enjoy them too!

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