ADHVAGATI

The 133Km drive from Raipur Airport to a  village called Chhapri in Kabirdham district  (earlier : Kawardha) is pleasant enough as , for the most part , the road runs through lush wooded regions. For kilometers together , no human settlement is seen. 41% of Chhattisgarh is , reportedly,  forestland .  This part of Chhattisgarh State , bordering Madhya Pradesh, lies within the Maikal  Hillrange , a part of  The Satpuras which , along with The Vindhyas , slashes the geography of the subcontinent into The Indo Gangetic Plain and The Deccan Plateau.  Chhapri turns out to be a sight for sore urban eyes . A small , quiet  Village nestling 325Meters above sea level , twenty kilometers away from the City of Kawardha. Though noon , it is cool and breezy , the occasional strong gusts  aerosol-ing the heady perfume of Saptaparni flowers all over the premises of the Resort , which is to be base for two days.  The Resort is Native to the core. Adobe ...

  UTTIRAMERUR , near Kanchipuram , is a busy small town now , with all features of a typical Tamilnadu mofussil layout- full of  shops, dust, loud voices, floral and frying aromas , white heat , sweaty brows , ox carts, forests of  Dish Antennae, flex-posters announcing weddings/ deaths and  kuthupaattu beats throbbing from public transport vehicles as well as multicolored little shrines....in short, full of life.   It might very well have been just as lively a millenium ago too. For starters, it was a good enough sized settlement for Pallava Nandivarman II to have built  a three tiered shrine to Vishnu in His three poses - standing , seated and reclining. Just like the grand one in Kanchipuram. The SundaraVarada Perumal Temple spread across two acres has undergone additions and alterations in succeeding centuries , making it a magnificent monument . Not content with the three main Vishnu alters , there are additional alters to Vishnu  giving anu...

   Cham-Champa-Charmed !    One of the first things we see upon entering “The Valley of Divinity and Art” is a small low signboard that says “Bomb Crater” . A few steps away from it lies a rubble of reddish brown bricks   overgrown   with weeds. It is vaguely unsettling. But our Guide , a cheerful man, merely shrugs and points ahead enthusiastically : “Here we are ! In the heart of ancient Champapura !” Champa ! The mystical name of a forgotten empire ! Was it really named for the Champaka flower ? Or was it just the sanskritised name used in Indian writing of the time ? For record, not one Champaka tree was seen anywhere in the region, for all the four days we were there .  Most people would have first encountered the name Champa /Cham    at   Angkor,   in Cambodia . The men   in conical headgear fighting the armies of Jayavarman on the wall panels of The Bayon   are pointed out as The Chams , people of Champa . Whi...

Once upon a time - in 1173 CE to be exact - a certain Bucchiraja's wife Bachala Devi gave  birth to a son . Cause for  HAPPYness and celebration , of course.   For some reason, some people go slightly over the top in showing their HAPPYness and  gratitude to God . Distribution of sweets or feeding the public or presenting a gold crown to the God would not have done in this case , for he was Bucchiraja , Lord of Accounts and Public Benefactor , of Brahmana lineage , serving under Hoysala King Narasimha I . And the birth of his son coincided with the coronation of the next king , Veera Ballala II . So, not content with merely naming the infant Narasimha , Bucchraja " HAPPY in everything "  (exact words in the Inscription) , acquired lands and gardens for Iswara at Koravangala , 'presenting at the feet of Ballala Deva 200Gadyanas and land to pay for daily services, offerings , burning of perpetual lamp and purification ceremonies of the God, giving them to D...

  Dharmapuri was always on peripheral vision , as one of the names that popped up on highway signboards during occasional journeys to Grandmother's natal village in Musiri District. Never a pit stop . But the name was  invariably commented upon : Dharmapuri : a City upholding Dharma......why, how, by whom ? Never found out !  Dharmapuri entered The Bucket List of Must See Destinations only when interest in Nolamba Architecture fizzed up a few years ago among like-minded friends. Dharmapuri had one treasure hailed as a cornucopia of refined Southerrn Nolambavadi Sculptural Art : Kamakshamma Temple , built in 9 CE , when Thagadur , ie ancient Dharmapuri, was an important junction on a busy trade route of Nolambavadi -32000 .  Nolamba-Pallava King Mahendra had also developed the settlement of Mahendramangalam, within Thagadur region , which is today  called Adiyamankottai . What is today called Dharmapuri , was Thagadur in Sangham Era - both the District and the ...

  It isn't the most salubrious time of the year or day  to go wandering along a fishing village on  East Coast Road .  10 AM on a bright September day.  We hurry past ASI's blue signboard warning visitors against damaging the Protected Monument . But there is no sign board announcing the name of the monument itself : DUTCH FORT , SADRAS It is silent as a graveyard as we linger by the portal  to admire the  handsome white washed tower  (belfry?) crowning it . Looks like it has been replastered and painted only recently. The brick walls on either side , though unplastered, are undamaged . Some periwinkle shrubs in full bloom add a touch of cheery contrast.  Two heavy iron cannons flank the entrance, one bearing the distinct V mark on its weather-beaten surface. V from the logo of  VOC -  Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie ( The Dutch East India Company), the World's first Joint Stock Company , a trail blazing trading enterprise that h...

  AGRAHARA BACCHALLI : is an obscure little town in KR-Pete Taluk , Mandya District with a very small  Hoysala Temple of 12th Century  dedicated to  Shiva named Hunaseshwara . The gramadevata ( Village Guardian ) is Bacchalamma Devi , for whom  the hamlet is named. As it was an Agrahara during Hoysala times , created by grant of the King, it would have been a prosperous place once.  Today, though not impoverished , it looks humble but  quite self satisfied with its fields, large tank and groves. Its two streets are clean ; people friendly and welcoming.  The temple is not difficult to find in that tiny settlement . Recently renovated, it looks tidy and cheerful with shiny new icons in the subsidiary alters. The front pavilion with the signature  Hoysala pillars , ceiling medallion , Garbhagriha and the  tower are original structures. A short circumambulation will cover the entire edifice.  The USP or STARS of the place are the uniq...