Here's the Youtube Video from my Channel. Added some pics from my Wedding to give the context to viewers and also relatives and friends were asking to share some wedding pics :) so please Like, Share and Subscribe maadi: https://goo.gl/7B4JS4 Follow me on Insta: https://instagram.com/vinaybengaluru_
Mandaragiri also called as "Basadi Betta" is located in Madagondanahalli near Kyathsandra, Tumkur.
Popularly known as Basadi betta among the locals, it is one of the important pilgrim centers for Jainism in Karnataka. Its an ideal destination for photography.
There are 435 well carved steps to scale this small hillock which houses 4 ancient temples of which two are from 12th century and other two from 14th century. The highlight is the 81 feet tall Peacock feather shaped Guru Mandir and the tall Chandranatha Thirthankara statue, besides the Lake which is popularly called "Mydala Kere".
Basadi Betta is a significant pilgrimage centre for Jains.
Location(GMap): https://goo.gl/maps/T371XbxMFMagbbL59
Prequel: We were done with our wedding and our paternal Aunt(Atthe) wanted to go back to her village. Since there was Corona scare, we didn't want her to go by public transport. I decided to drop her to her village in car and also visit another Uncle's village on the way. My Wife was more than happy to join for this short trip. So that's how it turned out to be our first short Trip after Wedding.
So me, my wife and Aunt started from Bangalore early in the morning. We were headed to Sugganahalli to visit my Uncle and then move to Chikkayanapalya, my Aunt's village.
Route:Bangalore->Nelamangala->Solur->Kudur->Suganahalli
We stopped at our usual Breakfast point Hotel Sambrama and had a wholesome Breakfast.
As usual, I had Rice Bath :p Wifey and Aunt had Masale Dose I guess. I also ordered KharaBath and shared it with wifey. It was damn tasty.
Took out the camera and took some pics just for the memory :)
After Breakfast, it was a non-stop drive. I knew the Kudur route very well, as I've been to Suganahalli multiple times in Car and bike, for my Cousin's engagement, to give my Sister's wedding invite and to Bhairavadurga(trekking) which is nearby.
Route: Suganahalli->Honnudike->Chikkayanapalya
There is a Narasimha Swamy temple in Suganahalli which is quite famous.
The road which leads to my Uncle's village- "Budipalya" from Suganahalli Narasimha Swamy temple, was newly laid out and it was easy to reach the village. The last time I had been there, it was muddy and bumpy all the way.
My Uncle told me to head straight to their farm nearby and received us there. We parked the car there and met my Cousin and his son. My Cousin plucked some Coconuts from the trees and gave us fresh Coconut Water. Our stomachs were full by now :)
Whenever we visit a friend or relative's farm after a long journey and have coconut water there, we feel Superb. Just spending some time there walking or looking at the trees and pets makes us feel wonderful. It is the simple things in Life that give us the most pleasure.
Next time when i visit some farm, I would try to capture the ambience in my camera (only after enjoying the same for sometime).
My uncle also gave some Jackfruits and other things(lemons, guava etc) that they grew in their farm. Thereafter we wanted to head to my Aunt's village, but my cousin and Uncle forced us to visit their house as well. We washed our legs, hands with hot water before entering their house.
I must say, no geyser or Solar can match the warmth of hot water which is made by burning firewood (using ಅಂಡೆ ಒಲೆ).
My cousin and Uncle gave us a warm welcome, Athge(sis-in-law) got us hot milk and mangoes to eat. After having coconut water we were already full. But the milk tasted very good coz its not the milk that you get in packets in the cities. We had some chit-chat and I had almost forgotten that I've to hand them over the sweets that mom had given :)
Couldn't thank them enough for the hospitality. We bid them goodbye and headed to my Aunt's village. On the way, I bought some chocolates and chips for the kids.
I was visiting my Aunt's place after few years and we were received warmly. I thought now wherever we go they will receive us warmly since we are newly married couple :)
Later, I noticed that even when we would stop at some random place asking some strangers for the route or some directions, they would smile and talk to us nicely as if they know since a long time.
We were initially reluctant to enter their house as my cousin's kid was just one year old. But Aunty was like - "Oorig bandu, maneg bardale hogthira..". So here also we washed our hands, legs and face with hot water and then entered the house.
In the village some neighbors had gathered and they said they wanted to attend the wedding too. It was nice to meet them and talk to them. My atthe's daughter-in-law, I call her Aunty. I call everybody Aunty :p Sometimes I get confused with Atthe, Athge, Akka and Aunty. So Aunty gave us tea etc and forced us to have food. It seems she got to know in the morning that we are going there. So she had prepared some sweet etc. for us.
We were not at all hungry and were feeling full after having a heavy breakfast, coconut water etc. But still we could not refuse to have food at their place and we sat down for lunch, just so that they don't feel bad :) Aunty had made Bonda, kosambri etc. So enjoyed that.
After the ಮಡಿಲಕ್ಕಿ, we were about to leave, then I remembered that there were jackfruits and guava's uncle had given. So I got them from the dickey, but my Atthe refused, saying "neen thagond hog, halsin hannig en bara na illi..". I noticed my cousin's kid, though only one year old was very active and was making sounds and communicating easily with everyone. This is the advantage of growing up in villages where you are constantly in touch with other kids and people.
My Aunty and Atthe walked us off till the temple. There's a Venkateshwara temple in the village. Aunty said- "kaddi hacchi, eed gayi hodthbit hogappa..". I did as told and then we bid goodbye.
The drive back to Honnudike was superb. Its always a pleasure driving through country side and I was telling Amrutha- "see this is why I like to go for trips to enjoy the fresh air and spend some peaceful time, away from the city madness."
There are two routes to reach Bangalore from Honnudike.
1) Through Shivagange (shorter one)
2) Through Kudur-Solur (longer one)
I usually never take the same route back :p So we were going to take the Shivgange route which is shorter anyways. Shivgange is a very nice place. But we were in no mood to trek Shivgange after a heavy breakfast and lunch. So instead I thought why not visit DD Hills(Devarayanadurga) and Siddgange. So I put the map for DD hills to see if there's any shorter route to DD Hills other than through Kyathsandra and through Dobbaspet. To our luck, google showed us one new route which was the shortest. So I took that new route. DD Hills was 32kms(about 1 hour away).
After driving for about 10 mins, we reached the Tumkur Road underpass where I was supposed to take a turn, but I saw this hillock at a distance which looked like a good place. I thought this must be RamadevaraBetta, Kyathsandra(not to be confused with the Ramnagar one) which is another place on my list from a long time.
RamadevaraBetta has an interesting history behind it. It seems my GrandFather and my dad's sister(Atthe) used to visit RamadevaraBetta to get firewood itseems. And this is the hill where my dad's uncle(Thatha) and his gang hid themselves after toppling a Goods Train off its trails during the British era :p The British searched for my him and his gang many times in the village but couldn't catch them itseems. There were so notorious and rebellious. Everyone in that gang got arrested except my Thatha. Finally after couple of years, my Thatha was caught while he was having Breakfast in Hotel and he was put to Jail. But after Independence, the Rebels were all released and reawarded as freedom fighters :) My atthe tells me that they could see RamadevaraBetta from their village as well if they would get on top of one tree. There are many such stories related to this place.
Anyways, I thought lets go near the hill to take a closer look, so that next time I can come for a trek on Bike. To our surprise we saw this Arch which said- "Shri Kshetra Mandaragiri". I was like - "What?? Really!! I been wanting to visit that lake and Jain Temple in Mandaragiri since few years and now I'm in front of the same hill with my Wife on our first trip together".
"When you have a desire for something, it somehow materializes in the best way possible."
So Ramadevara Betta- "some other time.. Very Soon!! ;)"
Few meters from there, the hillock just disappeared and we were left wondering - "Are we going towards that hill we saw or not?". So we stopped at some house and enquired. One Aunty saw us, smiled and said yes it is Mandaragiri only. They asked- "Devsthanak bandra..". We said yes and asked if car can go till the hill. They said yes you can go till the top. We said- "Thanks Aunty" and left. The way that Aunty spoke to us was so nice, I was telling Amrutha- "Innon swalpa hoth mathadidre, mane olgade kardi ninge madlakki haakiroru :p"
As we reached the Basadi Betta, we were thrilled looking at the hill. Parked the car in front of the hill and we were gathering camera and stuff. Just then, we saw these two guys who were like- "Ooh hosdag madhwe agidare.." They asked us if we are from Bangalore and when was our marriage, was it the same day morning or what? :p
We spoke to them for some time, took some pics. The other guy was elder and he was shy to pose, but this little one was like- "Anna whatsapp, facebook elladrallu haaku". He even shared one guy's whatsapp no. and ask me to share the pics to that no.
This guy only told us- "Car will only go to the top, why do you want to climb?" We were like- "Thanks for the advice Sir.." Just what we needed.. They told take this right turn and then left turn it will lead you to the lake and from there you can drive upwards and reach the top. This is when we switched the camera on and started Recording!! - "Madhwe agidhivi, ide mandaragiri betta, car e hogatthe, iga hogthivi :p"
It was kinda offroad, so I was lil apprehensive as I saw all the vehicles parked and no other vehicle going in that direction. I had also seen some videos where the offroad seemed challenging even for Bikes. But we trusted these guys and drove ahead.
As we got near to the lake, there was a stretch where the offroad seemed tough even for a compact sedan and I didn't want to have any mis-adventure specially with my mrs. by the side. So parked the car nicely to the side leaving enough space for any other vehicles and the tractor which was being loaded with Slab stones(ಚಪ್ಪಡಿ ಕಲ್ಲು).
We saw another couple in car who came behind us and they also were apprehensive and stopped as we stopped. But then the wifey got down and she did the ground test and she was like - "agatthe banni.." and after quite some struggle they somehow managed to clear that stretch and reach the lake.
We walked till the lake and felt damn good looking at the lake and feeling the breeze. Its a very peaceful place, specially if you go in the morning or early evening. "Best for family outings. Just make sure you don't litter the place."
We took some selfies, video and I asked Amrutha to share her experience. It was her first time vlogging, facing the camera. But it came out well, all natural. No re-takes. Then we sat down on a Rock for some chit-chat. I was telling her- "Nodamma yenge.. first trip, Mandara inda Mandaragiri.. :)" Our house name is "Mandara".
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| Till the Lake, the offroad is okayish. Easily doable in car. After that though, it looked risky. Better to climb the steps to reach the temple. |
We saw the time and it was already around 3pm. So we walked back to the car and on the way back, near the pond we saw a Snake crossing our way. It looked like a Cobra. I've seen snakes crossing my paths many times particularly on the 'return journey'. "Naan adhak disturb madalla, adh nanig disturb madalla :p" kind of encounters.
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| My Beloved "Pocket Rocket" |
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| My trusted steed - "Ford Aspire" (sumne enadru caption hakbekalla..) |
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| Trademark Pose |
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| Peacock Feather(Pinchi) Shaped Guru Mandir |
Besides the hill and the lake, there's a Peacock feather shaped(Pinchi) Guru Mandir and Chandranatha Thirthankara statue which will catch your attention. But we couldn't go there as it was closed/restricted due to corona. So that's for another visit. Until our next post, "Tata bye bye.. take care".
YouTube: "Vinay Bengaluru"
