Weekend Getaway: 30. Arunachaleswarar Temple, Tiruvannamalai

Date: 6th Dec 2015

Visitors: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Chamraj, Poornima and Aditi.

Timings: 5:30 AM to 12:30 PM, 3:30 to 9:30 PM

Fee: General Free, Special entrance Rs 20 and Rs 250.

Route: Bengaluru - Krishnagiri - Tirupattur - Singarapetai - Chengam - Thiruvannamalai

Route Condition: Excellent till Krishnagiri, Average till Singarapetai, very bad till Thiruvannamalai.

Arunachaleswarar temple in Thiruvannamalai is one of the largest Shiva temple. It is well known for its karthigai deepam festival and thousands of devotees gather to witness the deepam on top of the hill. Like many other temples in Tamilnadu this temple also has huge gopurams on all four sides. The Rajagopuram which is on the east is 217 feet high with 11 stories. Painting work is undertaken in the temple and all the gopurams are covered with wooden sticks for painting purpose. We reached there around 9 AM. We had a good darshan in the temple. The temple is located at the base of annamalai hills. The weather was pleasant and the rain was playing hide and seek. The clouds were covering the mountain and could not get a good view of it. There are two interesting stories about the temple which can be read in wiki. One discomforting factor about the temple was that there are many people inside the temple asking for help and keep following you. Its good to help the needy but people keep chasing you and not leaving is not so good. Its the case is most religious places but seeing this first time inside the temple. It was not the case when we visited last time here.

Some pics from the visit.

Rajagopuram, the tallest in the temple. Annamalai hill in the background.

Some carvings on the walls at the entrance.

Temple for Lord Muruga inside the temple complex.

A big Nandhi.

The main shrine. Photography not allowed beyond this point. One can find lot of foreign visitors in this temple as most people come to Thiruvannamalai to visit Ramana Maharishi Ashram. The town is well know for the temple and then for this Ashram.

Pathalalingam, where its believed Ramana Maharishi meditated.

Few pillars inside the temple.

Another view of the Rajagopuram.

Since it was raining most of the time we could not visit few other nearby places. The temple is one of the must see attractions in Tamilnadu. Another must visit place is the Ramana Maharishi ashram near the temple. We visited there too but i did not take any pictures. The meditation hall inside the ashram was very peaceful and one can meditate in silence. Good thing about it is there is no strict rule on how to meditate. You can see people sitting in various poses and just meditating. Only rule is one needs to maintain silence and nothing else.

Weekend Getaway: 24. Mysore: Chamundi Hills

Date: 18th April 2015

Visitor: Arun

Goddesses: Chamundi or Durga.

Timings: 7:30 - 2:00, 3:30 - 6:00, 7:30 - 9:00

It was state Bandh in Karnataka that day and every other place was closed. Changed the plan a bit and decided to visit  the temple in evening.

The temple is located on top of the Chamundi hills.

A board said it was one of the eight most  sacred hills in south India. I tried to find what the other seven were but could not.

Let me know if you have the list :)

View of the temple Vimana (Gopuram) from rear.

Generally the temple gets crowded but today may be because of bandh it was less crowded.

View of the Kalasha on top of the Gopuram.

Seven layer gopuram with intricate carvings.

Shops on both sides on the way out.

View of the city from top of the hill.

Mysore race course seen from the hills.

Nandi (Bull) on the hills is the third largest in the world.

This hill is also home for another temple Mahabaleshvara. This is behind the main chamundi shrine.

Bell carvings around the nandi.

There is also a cave temple behind the Nandi but it was closed when i visited.

There is also steps to reach the top of the hill if one wish to walk.

Kids Attraction 3: Mysore Zoo

Date: 19th April 2015

Visitor: Arun

Fee: Entry Rs60 on holidays, Rs25 for camera

Timings: 8:30AM to 5:30PM. Closed on Tuesday.

Recommend to take battery operated vehicle for Rs125 if you have kids and elders.

On day 2 of my solo trip to Mysore went to the famous Mysore Zoo.

Though i am not fond of seeing animals in captive i visited here because this zoo was home to some spices which i may never see in wild (Giraffe, Zebra, migratory birds, etc...) :(.

The zoo was well maintained and most animals look healthy though they may not be happy.

Get the tickets outside the zoo and the camera tickets needs to be purchased after entering.

Zoo keepers put a label on plastic water bottles and allow inside.
You need to pay Rs10 here and collect it after showing the labeled bottle when you go out.

First section is the birds and you can see some beautiful birds very active.

Multicolored parrot.

Cute couple.

Next was the big cats section.
Tiger cooling off in artificial pool.

White tiger a variation of Bengal tiger.

Indian Gaur.

Hairless Chimp. Freaky.

White Rhino grazing.

Black bear.

The zebras, another cute creation.

King of the Jungle.

It will take around 2-3 hours to visit the whole Zoo.

I skipped the reptile section as i become very tired walking.


There is also a souvenir shop if you want to buy some t shirt, caps etc..








Best of the whole visit. The Giraffes. Couple of them were standing so still that i thought it was some clay model.


Kids sure will enjoy this place. One of the must visit in Mysore.

See other kids attractions below
Aero show
HAL Museum

Weekend Getaway: 22. Worlds largest monolithic stone statue at Shravanabelgola

Date: 5th April 2015

Visitors: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh and Aarush

Route and Road condition: Check Hosaholalu

Fee: Parking Rs20, Footwear room Rs3.


After visiting Lakshminarayana temple at Hosaholalu we went to Shravanbelgola.

It was around 2:30 PM and was hot. We decided to eat and then rest in the nearby park and climb after 4.

Asked the person collecting the parking fee about a good hotel to eat. He said there are many hotels but today there is some Jain function and they provide food in the mutt.

We decided to eat there, it was crowded but the line was moving fast. We had nice hot sambar and rasam rice with sweet and buttermilk.

When we finished lunch something wonderful happened.

The sun went hiding behind the clouds and weather turned pleasant. We started climbing immediately.

It was total of 600+ steps and climb was not difficult.

Kids resting in half way.

One is not allowed to wear footwear. Socks allowed. Even if you forget there are many people selling socks at the entrance. 


View of chandragiri hills and the white pond.

View of the town from half way.

Some writings on rock protected by glass panel.

View of lord Gommateshwara atop the hill.

The statue is largest monolithic stone statue. Build somewhere around 981AD.

Lot of interesting reads available on net about the history of Lord Bahubali.

He had meditate here in standing position and attained enlightenment. The ant hill and the creepers encircling his legs and arms.

Seeing the world with his open eyes.

View of the temple from top  of the hill.

Doorway with godesses Lakshmi sitting on a lotus.

Some small sculpture carved on the rocks.

Tyagada Kamba. A beautifully carved pillar.

Palanquin used to carry elderly people who cannot climb up.

Carried by 4 people.

A cute squirrel on a rock.

And just after we climbed down and started drive back to Bengaluru it started raining.

Lord Bahubali was very courteous on us :)