The long stretch of road to our destination was lined with Gulmohar trees on both sides. Since it was the cheerful month of May, the Gulmohars were in full bloom and the fallen bright red petals formed a carpet on the road which was indeed a sight to behold. The moment I had the first glimpse of the scarlet road is still etched into my memory like yesterday.
It was quite a surprise when my cousin Pranav asked me if I’d like to go with him to Hassan in Karnataka where he was doing his PG. And never missing an opportunity to go on a trip, my brother and I hopped in his car with a few sets of cloths knowing nothing about what awaited us. We started our journey from Kochi and planned to go through the Bandipur Reserve which would take us about eleven hours to get to Hassan. But unfortunately the Bandipur gates closed by the time we got there and had to take the long way, which extended the journey by an hour at the least. But we did not feel the weariness as the roads were pretty traffic-less and smooth. As we were crossing through the Brahmagiri Wildlife reserve, we were lucky to spot a herd of wild elephants. By 2 am, we reached our cousin’s apartment in Hassan and soon crashed for the day.
I woke up early the next day and took in the surreal view of the town from our balcony. After a tour of his University and a hearty breakfast of idli, chutney and masala tea from a local street shop, we set-off to Belur, an ancient town in Karnataka. Belur which was earlier known as Velapura was the capital of the famous Hoysala Empire during the 11th century. The very best of the art and architecture of the Hoysala dynasty can be witnessed in Belur. Our first stop, the Chinnakesava Temple which is about 40 km from Hassan, is considered the epitome of the legacy left behind by the Hoysala kings. The intricate carvings and craftsmanship narrated stories from Ramayana, Mahabharatha and the upanishads. A friend who accompanied us there knew a great deal about the history, architecture and mythology associated with the Hoysala temples and I got to hear a lot of interesting stories from her. About 22 kms from Belur sits another signature of the Hoysala architecture in Halebidu, the Hoysaleswara Temple. The temple was dedicated to Lord Shiva and has twin shrines Hoysaleswara and Santhaleswara for the King and Queen of Hoysala. We spent the evening there on the steps of the temple amongst the only reminders of the glorious past of an age-old empire. We soon returned to Hassan and had homely cooked meals from a friend’s house whose mother served us local delicacies made with love.
On our second day, we packed our own food (skilfully prepared by Pranav’s roommate) and set the GPS location to Chikmagalur which is about 60 kms from Hassan. The long stretch of road to our destination was lined with Gulmohar trees on both sides. Since it was the cheerful month of May, the Gulmohars were in full bloom and the fallen bright red petals formed a carpet on the road which was indeed a sight to behold. The moment I had the first glimpse of the scarlet road is still etched into my memory like yesterday. We had our lunch under this red canopy of flowers and reached Chikmagalur by evening. We made our way to Manikyadhara falls which had a heavenly cascade of clear water falling from the rocks. The place was thickly packed with tourists and was too crowded for my taste. We had thought of going to Coorg after this, but dropped the plan as we all had already visited the place. We decided to stay away from popular tourist spots for the rest of the day and found solace on the quiet hills of Mullayanagiri. We found a temple on the top of a hill which was void of visitors and decided to spent the evening there as the view from the cliff was heavenly. As the sun was starting to set down the hills, cold wind brushed past us and as we watched, a cloud of mist covered us and slowly glided down the hill. Time seemed to stand still as we sat soaking in the tranquillity of the whole setting. That was the most treasured memory of the whole trip.
Sure enough I woke up with a cold and fever the next day. Determined not to let that hinder my expedition, we set our trip to Shravanabelgola, a renowned Jain pilgrimage destination in South India. The Gomatheswara Temple which hosts a 58 feet tall statue of Bahubali is a popular tourist spot in the town. It was the time of the great Mahamastakabhisheka festival which takes place every 12 years which we were lucky to witness. The statue stands on top of the Vindhyagiri hill and the trek up the stone steps at noon was a herculean task. Our next stop was Shettihalli. By the side of the Hemavati dam stands the ruins of the old French Shettihalli church which was built in the 1860s. This hauntingly beautiful structure submerges partially or wholly under water during the monsoons. Since we visited in May, the ground was pretty dry and we took our time exploring the building and clicking snaps. We walked to a nearby bridge on the dam and tried our luck at fishing. Turned out it wasn’t our luckiest day. But a few locals who had come to harvest the groundnut planted there, offered us handfuls of freshly plucked groundnuts, which we gladly took home. We walked along the streets almost every night of our stay and it was pleasant to sip hot tea on the cold nights watching the busy life of Hassan drifting past my eyes.
The last day of our stay was devoted to Mysore. We packed our stuff, bid goodbye to Pranav’s friends at the University and drove to Mysore. There we visited the usual tourist destinations like the zoo and the famous Mysore Palace. We had fun recreating the photos we took as a baby in front of the Palace. We ended the day with a tasty biriyani from a Malayali restaurant there. At last the time came when we had to wave our goodbyes to Mysore and its magnificence. With a load of blissful memories of travel and friendship to cherish forever, we bid adieu to our cousin and his friends promising to go on yet another venture the next opportunity we got.
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