Our wanderings and perceptions

 Chandragiri Fort, Museum and Mahal Yet another Sunday, not wanting to while away we decided to make a drive all the way to Chandragiri near Tirupati. It took us little less than 4 hours including a breakfast stop to reach there. We started around 6 AM, had breakfast at Sholavaram and headed straight to Chandragiri. It is in the Tirupati district. This was the fort and mahal of the Vijayanagar empire. Currently under the Archaeological Survey of India, we allowed only to some part of the fort and mahal while other areas remain locked. They take an entrance fee of Rs. 30 per head. First is the fort, now converted to a museum housing the latest excavation artifacts. The fort inside looks like a British time structure. The Gopuram is of the  Vijayanagar period. Few kilometers before the fort we get a path that is narrowed by huge walls on both sides, making us feel like entering into a maze. We can see some temples on the way, just bearing marks of existence. Archaeological Surve...

 Panduranga Temple On a Sunday morning we drove from Chennai to Panduranga Temple near Vandavasi, beyond Chengalpet. We started at 7 in the morning, had break near Perungalathur and reached Thenangur by 10 AM. It was a three hours drive but the roads were good. Just when we had to switch from NH to SH for less than 3 kms the road was bad, but for that it was a smooth travel. The temple is tucked away in a small village of Thennangur. But owing to its popularity we get to see quiet a number of cars outsides. Temple and its surroundings are peaceful. The temple has typical southern Indian gopuram but once you cross the entrance the famous Puri Jagannanth or Odissa style gopuram stands beautiful in light saffron colour. To reach the inner sanctum, we go through a mandapam whether you see pictures of various incarnations of Panduranga and statutes related to Krishna. Near the inner sanctum the roof and walls are colourfully decorated. Ladies and Gents are informed to sit on either side...

 Our second at Thiruchendur started with a tea and Kaaravadai again. Left the hotel to take some beach water on your head followed by the Nazhi kinaru water. The Nazhi kinaru here is a well with good water though being few steps away from the beach. It is believed that Lord Murugar created this well for his troops to drink water during the battle Soorapadhman by the help of his Vel. Today being Monday, the pilgrims crowd had drastically dropped compared to yesterday. Still the free darshan had a big queue so we opted for the special darshan. Today through special darshan we could worship the Lord in Raja-alankaram and come out with 10-15 minutes. Pongal prasadam was given near the exit. With that it was time for breakfast. We had a quick breakfast at Hotel Mani Iyer - pongal and dosa for Rs.120. Valli Caves We walked back to the temple complex again, took detour to the Valli caves. On the beach side of the temple a small corridor takes you to the Valli caves. Rs.1 is collected for ...

 After having visited 4 of the 6 abodes of Lord Muruga we planned to take on a trip to the fifth one in July. As soon as the month was born we got our tickets booked to Thiruchendur. Train tickets were not available due to short notice so got to do with bus. Its our maiden tryst with AC Sleeper Coach. So all excited, we started our trip in the night of 2nd July. With the current sky rocketing prices of fuels, no auto rickshaw was ready to ferry us to the bus boarding point for a normal rate. After walking for almost we 2 kilometers we finally paid a heft amount to reach the YBM travels bus boarding location. First time availing the booking through Redbus, it has coordination process. There were reminders sent, messages sent on bus information, delay in bus arrival and confirmation on boarding too. Bus reached our place 30 minutes late and there was enough traffic to slow down till we crossed the city limits. YBM travels Bus was themed in blue. Our seats were in the upper deck so go...