June 27, 2009
Tirupati Balaji
Tirupati-Balaji is a sacred town and is famous for the shrine of Lord Venkateshwara, which is visited by a large number of pilgrimages from far corners of India. The breathtakingly beautiful setting of this holy town makes it another lure for the tourists who want to experience a spiritual tinge on their tour of Tirupati-Balaji. There are many tourist attractions in Tirupati-Balaji among which the notable ones are:
Sri Venkateswara Temple:
It is the most prominent landmark in the entire town and the presiding deity is said to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu himself. The temple is located on the southern bank of Swami Pushkarni. The temple is a wonderful example of Dravidian architecture featuring gold plated Cupola and called as “Ananda Nilayam”. The Gopuram of the temple is dexterously carved out and attracts a significant number of tourists who come here to seek the blessings of the deity.
Sri Kapileswaraswami Temple:
It is located three kms to the north, at the foot of the Tirumala Hill and is devoted to Lord Shiva. This is one of the most remarkable among the tourist attractions in Tirupati-Balaji and has a gorgeous setting. There is also a sacred waterfall called Kapila Teertham located beside the temple that adds to its beauty quotient.
Will add more pics and data in some time.
Sri Venkateswara Temple:
It is the most prominent landmark in the entire town and the presiding deity is said to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu himself. The temple is located on the southern bank of Swami Pushkarni. The temple is a wonderful example of Dravidian architecture featuring gold plated Cupola and called as “Ananda Nilayam”. The Gopuram of the temple is dexterously carved out and attracts a significant number of tourists who come here to seek the blessings of the deity.
Sri Kapileswaraswami Temple:
It is located three kms to the north, at the foot of the Tirumala Hill and is devoted to Lord Shiva. This is one of the most remarkable among the tourist attractions in Tirupati-Balaji and has a gorgeous setting. There is also a sacred waterfall called Kapila Teertham located beside the temple that adds to its beauty quotient.
Will add more pics and data in some time.
Kanchipuram - Tamil Nadu
"City of 1000 temples", "Golden City of Temples". Kanchipuram has many names to its credit and is one of the oldest city in South India. It underwent many name changes, in ancient times it was called Kachi, Kachiampathi and Kanjivaram in different periods. This city of temple is ruled by many dynasty from Pallavas, Cholas, Vijaynagara & Mughals to British. Few temples are incarnated during Pallavas dynasty (3th-9th centuries) period and later extended or added during Cholas & VIjayanagara Dynasty. The city is revered as one of the seven sacred city in India and is in 2nd place next to Varanasi. The remains of Budhist stupas reminiscence the presence of Buddhism religion at that time. Jainism is also prevalent here. The majority of spoken language here is Tamil and Telugu. You might know the art of Shoulin Temple is preached by an Indian Buddhist Monk, the same monk was hailed from this city only.
Its 75km from Chennai and is well connected by Buses and Train. Regular buses ply from Chennai as well as local train
Vishakhapatnam
Popularly known as Vizag is one of the most popular tourist destination of Andhra Pradesh. The port city of Vizag has something to offer for every tourist, whether he is a nature lover, a pilgrim, an adventure sports lover or someone who merely wants to relax and rejuvenate. Sprawling golden beaches, splendid monuments, ancient temples, a natural harbour are some of the snapshots that has made Vizag so popular among tourist fraternity. Visakhapatnam is a city of cultural & religious diversity which truly depicts the essence of “Incredible India”.
For Sight seeing you have,
Kailashgiri – This small and charming hillock facing the sea front is at an altitude of 130 m within the city. The hillock owes its name to the magnificent open air statue of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Kailashgiri has been developed as a major tourist attraction by VUDA. The park developed at the hill top offers breathtaking and enchanting view of the sea, beaches, lush green forests and the bustling city.
Ropeway that takes people from the foot to the top of the hill and back is an added attraction to this wonderful place. One more new attraction is the toy train operating atop of this hill top park.
Ramkrishna Beach – The beach is commonly called RK Beach and is one of the best and most popular tourist spot of Vizag. This long beach though not ideal for swimming has a landscape beyond comparison. Apart from being a favourite and nice spot to spend time relaxing on the softy sand the place is also ideal to enjoy the sunset and sunrise amidst the tranquil waters.
I will cover araku valley, a popular hill station in India in my next blog.
For Sight seeing you have,
Kailashgiri – This small and charming hillock facing the sea front is at an altitude of 130 m within the city. The hillock owes its name to the magnificent open air statue of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Kailashgiri has been developed as a major tourist attraction by VUDA. The park developed at the hill top offers breathtaking and enchanting view of the sea, beaches, lush green forests and the bustling city.
Ropeway that takes people from the foot to the top of the hill and back is an added attraction to this wonderful place. One more new attraction is the toy train operating atop of this hill top park.
Ramkrishna Beach – The beach is commonly called RK Beach and is one of the best and most popular tourist spot of Vizag. This long beach though not ideal for swimming has a landscape beyond comparison. Apart from being a favourite and nice spot to spend time relaxing on the softy sand the place is also ideal to enjoy the sunset and sunrise amidst the tranquil waters.
I will cover araku valley, a popular hill station in India in my next blog.
Aurovile and Pondicherry !!!!
If you go to Auroville for a prolonged period (anything above two days) there are a couple of recommended steps to take:
1) Book your accommodation well in advance. There are quite a few guest houses in Auroville, but there are also a huge number of tourists. At the moment, there are around 1800 people living in Auroville, but in high season at least the same number of tourists will be staying there. Consequently, it can be hard to find somewhere to stay. We had booked a cottage in Atithi Griha guest house, which happens to be the official Auroville guesthouse . It is relatively cheap, compared to other guest houses in Auroville, at around Rs. 700, and it is an excellent place for meeting other people; be it other tourists or Aurovillian newcomers who are waiting for permanent accommodation.
2) Go to the Visitor's Centre to get a map. Without a map you are destined to get lost; even with a map any adventurousness will see you lost at some point.
3) Go to the Guest Service (on top of Solar Kitchen in E3 in the map above) and get a guest account. Auroville is, in theory, a moneyless community making the "purchase" of food etc. complicated without a guest account. Unfortunately, you are only likely to get an account if you are planning to stay for at least two weeks. The account can be recharged with real money at the Town Hall (in E3 in the map above).
4) Rent a moped or another two wheeled motorised vehicle. We did, being environmentally conscious, do the right thing, which is to rent a pedal bike. However, we soon were alerted to the fact that distances in Auroville are huge; getting from one end to the other is a 10 kilometre ride. Add to this that the bikes that are for rent are prehistoric (one gear and saddle sticks that are way too short for any male of average height) and that the road quality is exceptionally poor, and you have a recipe for constant pain in every fibre of your body. The reason for the poor roads is a degree of delusion amongst the leaders of Auroville (yes, there are leaders in this place even though it pretends to uphold distinguished principles of democracy etc.). Auroville was created because the Mother had a vision. Her closest ally, the French architect Roger Anger, had his own visions which included a particular road layout. Unfortunately, this road layout was never created and roads developed organically. After all, people need roads in order to be able to travel from A to B. As these roads weren't in accordance with "the Plan" the authorities haven't been willing to maintain and repair them. So, today, almost forty years after the creation of Auroville, people have to travel on gravel roads full of holes and bumps. In the Monsoon the roads are, more or less, unusable because the gravel turns into a thick clay like sludge. Rumour has it that any real improvement of the Auroville infrastructure (read: the application of tarmac) won't happen until the old Mother lovers have died off. The photo below should give an indication of the road quality.
We were able to rent a moped for less than Rs. 100 a day from Atithi Griha, but there are plenty of places advertising their moped rental services on message boards around Auroville.
5) Find one or more eating places. For the first two weeks, where we stayed at Atithi Griha, which included breakfast and dinner, we didn't have to use the other eating places in Auroville. For the last two weeks, where we stayed at Needam Guest House, which has a small kitchen attached to every room, we were able to cook most of our meals. However, we found three places where reasonable food can be had. First, there is the Solar Kitchen (in E3) where you can get a comprehensive daily lunch (booking recommended). Second, there is a small café next to Pour Tous supermarket (in H5) which serves thalis at lunch time. Finally, the café at Repos Beach (in I5) has quite a few good dishes and sandwiches. In addition it is blessed with a view of the Bay of Bengal.The main problem will actually be to find dinner. Ideally, you should stay in a guest house that either includes dinner or has a kitchen attached, because, as we will return to, it is not recommended to go out at night in Auroville; unbelievably, taking into account that this is meant to be a haven where people of all nationalities can live together in peaceful cooperation, there are significant problems in the relationship between Auroville and local Tamils living outside Auroville. This has resulted in a number of alleged rapes and even murder. There have been suggestions to make Auroville into an American style gated community, but that idea has luckily been shot down by the sensible people of Auroville. If you are willing to travel on the hopeless roads in the pitch black darkness of night amongst mosquitoes and other potential dangers, it is possible to find dinner at Solar Kitchen, Repos or at the Visitor's Centre.
So, why exactly would anyone want to go to Auroville? We'll look at that in the next post.
1) Book your accommodation well in advance. There are quite a few guest houses in Auroville, but there are also a huge number of tourists. At the moment, there are around 1800 people living in Auroville, but in high season at least the same number of tourists will be staying there. Consequently, it can be hard to find somewhere to stay. We had booked a cottage in Atithi Griha guest house, which happens to be the official Auroville guesthouse . It is relatively cheap, compared to other guest houses in Auroville, at around Rs. 700, and it is an excellent place for meeting other people; be it other tourists or Aurovillian newcomers who are waiting for permanent accommodation.
2) Go to the Visitor's Centre to get a map. Without a map you are destined to get lost; even with a map any adventurousness will see you lost at some point.
3) Go to the Guest Service (on top of Solar Kitchen in E3 in the map above) and get a guest account. Auroville is, in theory, a moneyless community making the "purchase" of food etc. complicated without a guest account. Unfortunately, you are only likely to get an account if you are planning to stay for at least two weeks. The account can be recharged with real money at the Town Hall (in E3 in the map above).
4) Rent a moped or another two wheeled motorised vehicle. We did, being environmentally conscious, do the right thing, which is to rent a pedal bike. However, we soon were alerted to the fact that distances in Auroville are huge; getting from one end to the other is a 10 kilometre ride. Add to this that the bikes that are for rent are prehistoric (one gear and saddle sticks that are way too short for any male of average height) and that the road quality is exceptionally poor, and you have a recipe for constant pain in every fibre of your body. The reason for the poor roads is a degree of delusion amongst the leaders of Auroville (yes, there are leaders in this place even though it pretends to uphold distinguished principles of democracy etc.). Auroville was created because the Mother had a vision. Her closest ally, the French architect Roger Anger, had his own visions which included a particular road layout. Unfortunately, this road layout was never created and roads developed organically. After all, people need roads in order to be able to travel from A to B. As these roads weren't in accordance with "the Plan" the authorities haven't been willing to maintain and repair them. So, today, almost forty years after the creation of Auroville, people have to travel on gravel roads full of holes and bumps. In the Monsoon the roads are, more or less, unusable because the gravel turns into a thick clay like sludge. Rumour has it that any real improvement of the Auroville infrastructure (read: the application of tarmac) won't happen until the old Mother lovers have died off. The photo below should give an indication of the road quality.
We were able to rent a moped for less than Rs. 100 a day from Atithi Griha, but there are plenty of places advertising their moped rental services on message boards around Auroville.
5) Find one or more eating places. For the first two weeks, where we stayed at Atithi Griha, which included breakfast and dinner, we didn't have to use the other eating places in Auroville. For the last two weeks, where we stayed at Needam Guest House, which has a small kitchen attached to every room, we were able to cook most of our meals. However, we found three places where reasonable food can be had. First, there is the Solar Kitchen (in E3) where you can get a comprehensive daily lunch (booking recommended). Second, there is a small café next to Pour Tous supermarket (in H5) which serves thalis at lunch time. Finally, the café at Repos Beach (in I5) has quite a few good dishes and sandwiches. In addition it is blessed with a view of the Bay of Bengal.The main problem will actually be to find dinner. Ideally, you should stay in a guest house that either includes dinner or has a kitchen attached, because, as we will return to, it is not recommended to go out at night in Auroville; unbelievably, taking into account that this is meant to be a haven where people of all nationalities can live together in peaceful cooperation, there are significant problems in the relationship between Auroville and local Tamils living outside Auroville. This has resulted in a number of alleged rapes and even murder. There have been suggestions to make Auroville into an American style gated community, but that idea has luckily been shot down by the sensible people of Auroville. If you are willing to travel on the hopeless roads in the pitch black darkness of night amongst mosquitoes and other potential dangers, it is possible to find dinner at Solar Kitchen, Repos or at the Visitor's Centre.
So, why exactly would anyone want to go to Auroville? We'll look at that in the next post.
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