TIRUPATI (OUR KULADEVATHA)

My parents Kuladevatha( Family god) is Lord Shiva..  Ramesh's family god is Lord Balaji in Tirupati. 


After Marriage we tried visiting Tirupati almost every year.

We always go on a APDTC package trip..  Its an AC volvo bus, we start on friday night and reach Tirupati around 2 or 3am. A room is alloted to take bath and get ready. Bus picks up around 5am..

Tiruchanoor (Image from net)

First he takes us to Tiruchanoor to visit Padmavathi, after that we he drops us near a hotel to have breakfast.  


     

Padmavathi 

After breakfast we are transferred to a Tempo which goes up the hill to visit Lord Balaji on Tirumala hills.. There we are asked to drop our Cell phones and Slippers in a store and collect acknowledgement..

Lord Balaji

   

Tirupati (Image from net)

We join a Seegra Darshan group and maximum 2 to 3hrs we get the Darshan... After darshan we collect our cell phones and Slippers back and take the  AC Volvo bus again. 

He starts to bangalore, on the way stops for lunch.

By saturday 8 or 9pm we are in bangalore.. Cost of this trips is around 1500 per person. Bit costly but AC bus a hotel to take bath and mainly getting darshan in 2 to 3hrs makes it worth. 

There are lots of temples and places of interest to visit near Tirupati. Some day we should  go on own and try to cover those places.





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WEEK-END GET-AWAYS FROM BANGALORE:(2 days)

Me and Ramesh are Software Engineers, We love traveling in week-ends..Here are the places, which can be covered in week-end without taking leave :)

1.KARNATAKA

CHITRADURGA - HIRIYUR 

MYSORE 

MYSORE 2 - BANDIPUR





2.TAMILNADU 
 
OOTY 

MADURAI AND KARAIKUDI 


THARANGAMBADI - NAGAPATTINAM

PONDICHERRY(TEAM OUTING)

3.KERALA

 MUNNAR 


KUMARAKOAM BOAT HOUSE  

  
4. GOA

GOA (TEAM OUTING) 

GOA WITH FAMILY

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TRIPS IN KERALA

MUNNAR

KUMARAKOAM BOAT HOUSE

 

DAY 2 : MUNNAR

DAY 2: Coimbatore direction.

Next day cab came on time, we started to first destination

Anamudi peak

It is the highest peak in Western Ghats  and in South India having an elevation of 2,695 metres . I was so thrilled. Anamudi means "Elephants Forehead". The Place looks like Elephant's forehead, so the name. You can even hike up Anamudi and enjoy breathtaking views. But driver drove to the peak,  It is amazing view from top. We took some pic and headed to next place..

Anamudi peak

Rajamalai National park

Driver told the park remains closed for 45-60 days from February 1st onwards during the calving season. So we had to skip this... Driver also told  a flower  "Neel Kurinji" , which blooms once in 12years can be found here, last  bloom was in 2006, so next it will be in 2018..It was 2;00pm by then, we had lunch and asked what is next destination, he told  its spending time in tea plantation.. 

Fun time in Tea estate

Neel Kurinji

We had enough of  tea estates from ooty and madikeri and  now munnar, we decided to go back tonite, against our original plans of 3days in munnar....Driver took us back to hotel, we packed and checked out hotel.. Hotel  boys said, we cant get tickets back to bangalore, as it was sunday nite (very hard to get tickets on week-ends). Driver then suggested, we can go to Coimbatore and take any buses to bangalore... We asked driver to drop to coimbatore, but he refused saying he doesnt have permit to travel other state. We then asked him to drop us to bus stand where we can get bus to coimbatore. Took a private bus to coimbatore. And from coimbatore took a  Private AC bus to bangalore.. Reached bangalore by 7;00am. Ramesh decided to go office on monday and take off on tuesday for Anniversary. We just spent day at home, and evening went to a restaurant for dinner..

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DAY 1 : MUNNAR

DAY 1 :  Mattupetty direction

Cheeyappara waterfall

The water comes down from a height of 1000 feet.  I got into water and started playing, Ramesh was hesitant saying he doesn’t want his jeans get wet.  And started taking my picture, while taking picture he slipped and fell in water fall, got completely drenched, even camera was completely drenched.. I was very upset, as we wont have camera for entire trip...We removed camera parts n kept in sun for 15mins, to our surprise, camera started working. Ramesh said, 'thank god, otherwise you would have made me by new camera'... We spent some more time in falls and left to next place...

water fall

Near Falls

Ramesh completely drenched in water

Crystal water at base of falls

 Tata Tea Estate

Our vehicle driver told that today tea is cultivated on 25,000 hectares of land in Munnar with an annual yield of 50,000 metric tonnes.And everywhere you turn you find tea plantations..Its amazing lush of greenary. But again if you have already seen Ooty and Madikeri, you would not feel that 'WoW'. But still this green lap gives pleasant feeling.. We took some snaps and left to our next destination..

Tata tea estates

Dont forget to buy fresh carrots

Elephant Safari

Driver next took us to Elephant safari, we paid for Safari and waited for our ride.. I thought Mahout will come along with us. But he told he will walk along with Elephant and guide.. I was little scared, as this was my first  time Elephant ride, and top to it, it wasn't  even road, but it was uneven jungle path.. I told Ramesh to sit front as i was scared, Elephant entered the small forest area, i was very scared that i would fall when elephant walks in small path ways, but it was walking comfortably in those small path ways. We gave our camera to mahout to take pics....After  5mins i was ok, and enjoyed  Watching the beauty of the jungle sitting on the elephant....Finally we gave fruit basket to elephant  and left to next place....

Haathi ki sawaari

All set to go for ride

Middle of forest

Pose with elephant

Blessings from elephant

Elephants ornaments

Devikulam lake

Devikulam is a small hill station about 16 km from Munnar in Idduki District.The literal meaning of 'Devikulam' is 'the lake or pond of Devi'. The lake is known as Sita Devi lake. The legend goes that the goddess Sita Devi took bath in the waters of the lake and hence the lake got its name.It is believed that the waters posses curative powers. Many tourists come here for taking a bath in the sacred lake. We just sprinkled water,and walked along the lake, Horse riding is available here. Horse dint look all that clean, so we decided to skip it...

Lake

Horse riding

Near by forest area

Mattupetty dam

This dam has been built to conserve water for hydroelectricity. This is the vital source of power to Munnar.  We have seen many dams, but this dam is amazing, with high power of water flow from dam...There are many small shops and street vendors around the bridge dont forget to try munnar carrot. Its very tasty...We walked along the bridge, it was evening, and flow of water from dam was making it more chill..It was a pleasant climate for evening walk...We then returned to room. And ordered for food. We asked them to get  it to room, dint feel like walking till restaurant, also  rooms are  apart and was very dark...

See the rush of the water

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MUNNAR

Our 2nd wedding Anniversary was coming up.  We decided to go Munnar in Kerala.

Kaivalyam retreat - Room where we stayed..

We booked  tickets through K.S.R.T.C , there is a direct bus from Bangalore to Munnar. Munnar is around 14hrs journey from Bangalore.   We took 8;30pm bus and  reached Munnar by 10;30am.. We took a auto and reached the hotel..

"Kaivalyam retreat" is a amazing resort , surrounded with  spice plantation. Once we  book room in Kaivalyam retreat office, they will arrange for a jeep, to take us to room. Rooms are in a Valley slop and only jeeps can go down.. After 5mins we reached room, which is in between the spice plantation.. This gives a feel of  house in a jungle..We told those hotel boys, we will just freshen up and set out for  sight seeing. He told he can arrange a cab in 30mins..We checked in and freshned up, by then cab came. We started around 12;00pm..

Forest area/Plantation opposite to our room

DAY 1 : MUNNAR


DAY 2 : MUNNAR




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PONDICHERRY - CIS INFRA TEAM OUTING, (MINDTREE)

Every one needs  vacation to relax and enhance bonding. Taking a day away from the routine hustle and bustle helps rejuvenate oneself. This practice, if employed at the corporate level, enlightens the employees to spend quality time with colleagues.

 As a part of Annual Vacation, we went to pondichery which was organized by Mrs Rekha. Thanks to Mr Sudhir (Our CIO of CIS Infra Team, MindTree)for approving this trip..

Finally the most awaited day arrived! Around 10:30am, We all started off in a  bus arranged from A3 Office (Near Silk Board). We had great time playing dumb-charades,Antyakshari on the way. We stopped by, to have Lunch, and reached Pondy by  early  Evening..

The Zest Big Beach resort, Puducherry spans across 24 acres with a spectacular beach front. Zest is a Luxury Resort with a serene and an eco-friendly ambience.The resort was very well equipped with Swimming pools, Restaurants,Play Area and several other leisure activities.

As we enter Zest, we were pleased to see a small decorative pool filled with leaves and petals.The reception is good and the guys gave us a welcome drink. We were escorted to the room by a helper.We were delighted seeing the room and its ambience.We girls freshned up and took a stroll near the Zest private beach.. We spent great time  watching sunset near the Beach. We then left to have Dinner. After dinner , we  went to bed early, planning to go near beach for sunrise  early in the morning.....

Next day, we got up early, and went near beach. We  have seen sunrise many time, but watching sunrise near Beach is a different experience..Around 6:45 am, we could see the sun rays penetrating through the clouds and soon after that we could see the sun coming out. It was a great scene. We enjoyed the sunrise, took some snaps and returned back.

 

We then went to our rooms to freshen up and came to main Lobby to have breakfast. Breakfast was amazing starting from south indian breakfasts to Western breakfasts. We enjoyed our  Breakfast and went to Beach. We 4 (myself, Rekha,Rekha,Rekha. No i did not type Rekha thrice by mistake. We have 3 Rekhas in our Team, Rekha Cubes :))  had great time playing in Beach. Enjoyed  standing against the waves, which used to throw us near Shores...Only when some of boys from our team came there, we realized that we had spent 3 hrs in Beach :)..

We then left to our rooms, had a shower and returned to Lobby for Lunch. Again it was Great buffet lunch, with lot of varieties in Veg & Non-Veg. It was relaxed,excellent lunch, with our chit-chat added to it..

After lunch we joined other team members in some games...We had great fun playing DodgeBall,VolleyBall and Air Hockey till  tea  time..

Around 7:30 pm, everybody tapped there feet dancing to tunes played by R.J. After an delicious dinner, we went to bed..Next morning, we again went to beach, to spend some  time  in the beach, before we leave to Blore.. We had great breakfast and checked out rooms, and started to blore around 12:00. On the way stopped in Kanchipuram for Lunch. And reached our houses by 8:30pm.Overall we had great fun-filled vacation. And i should add we all got to know each other better, and  made new friends in the other teams..

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DAY 2 : MYSORE

We reached Nanjungud, took a room there for night.. Next day morning, we got ready and went to Temple.. 

Destination 1: Nanjangud

Nanjangud is also known as "Dakshina Kashi" or "Varanasi/Prayag of South". Main deity of this temple is  Srikanteshwara.. Nanju in kannada means poison; the name Nanjundeshwara means the "God who Drank the Poison". Its quite a big temple..  Temple is located near River Kapila.. Lot of devotees, take bath in this river and have darshan of this lord..  We had darshan and left to next place..

Nanjangud temple

A big Idol of shiva at entrance of temple

Destination 2: Himavad Gopalaswamy temple

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta, is a hill (betta in Kannada) located in the Chamarajanagar district of the state of Karnataka, at a height of 1454 m. It is said the hills  covers fog  round the year and thus named Himavad(Hima is snow/ice in Kannada) and the temple of Venugopalaswamy (Lord Krishna) thus called  Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta. It is a very small temple with small Idol of Lord Venu gopala.. 

Either side of the hill is a dense forest, and purohit said wild life, especially elephants come upto temple also.. We saw  elephant dung on stairs and realised it was a fact. We had darshan of lord and came out.. It was excellent scenic view from the top of hill/temple... We  saw some elephants far away in the wild.. We came down and waited for a while, and we could see wild elephants and baby elephants close by.. Took some pics and head to next destination..

Stairs to temple

Scenic view from hill/temple

Destination 3: Vontikoppal  temple

Main deity of Vontikoppal temple is Sri Lakshmi Venkatramana Swamy temple.. The temple is located in place called Vontikoppal in mysore, thats why its also called Vontikoppal Sri Lakshmi Venkatramana Swamy temple.

Vontikoppal  temple

Vontikoppal  temple

Destination 4: KRS - Brindavan garden

KRS or Krishna Raja Sagara is a dam as well as lake, built across Caveri river. The dam inhouses beautiful garden called Brindavan garden.. Dam was built by a famous engineer  Sir M Visvesvaraya.. The reservoir is the main source of drinking water for all of mysore and Bangalore..

 I have visited KRS before umpteen number of times. Its a great place to spend as a picnic.. But this time it was very hot, and we dint feel like spending much time, just took some pics and left to our next destination.

Small fountains in KRS

Small fountains in KRS

Small fountains in KRS

Destination 5: Balmuri Falls

Balmuri falls is a water falls outskirst of mysore, and a favourite picnic spot.. Balmuri is technically not a water falls, but  river cauvery flows on a river bed, and there is a check dam built for irrigation purpose, when dam is filled, it flows in a long cascade making it a beautiful view.

Lots of movies are shot in this place, and people enjoy playing in water and there are lots of stall selling fish and other snacks.. We had lots of fun playing in water for around 2hours, ate some snack from nearby stall and left to bangalore, as this was our last destination...

Balmuri falls

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