Chitoor Trip

Place : Chitoor, Madanapalli
People : Mega and Gopi
Date : 16,17 Jun 2006
Transport: Govt Buses

Another day and Another marriage to attend. This time it is my oors Kesavan going down the line.



And what do we do after a marriage?. We stay back and look around the place. So this time it is Chitoor and nearby places.

Chitoor is a very hot town in AP very much near to Chennai. The town itself is surrounded by hills.

Chitoor Railway Station



Kanipakam Temple , Kanipakam

Kanipakam is a very famous Vinayaka Shrine near to Chitoor.



After this we shift our base to Madanapalli which is another town famous for producing the great philosopher and thinker "J.Krishnamurthy" to the world. But sadly not many in this town know of his name.

Mogileswarar Temple , Mogili

Mogili is situated at a distance of 30 km from Chittoor and 10 km from Palamaner on the Chennai - Bangalore highway. It is one of the sacred places in Chittoor District on account of the existence of the Mogileeswara Temple. Shiva is worshipped here under the title of Abbreswara, the Sanskrit form of Mogileeswara or Iswara of the Skies.

Thats what the AP tourism site says about Mogili. This is a little temple right on NH205. The temple may be small but the deity is deemed to be very powerful. :-)



Gangamma Temple , Boyakonda or Boyikonda

All over Chittor District we can see many temples raised for women who were later worshipped as Gods. The ones I know are Devamma , Gangamma and Redemma temples and maybe much more are present.

Gangamma Temple is one among them and is on top of a hill named as Boyakonda. The locals call it as Boyikonda. It is a good trek up the hills and the top gives a nice view of the plains below and the surrounding hills.

Path to the temple



The temple



Shops on the way to the temple



Scary statues on the way to top



Sompalli or Sompalayam :

How To reach: Take the Bus to Kadiri which goes via Mulakalacheruvu from Madanapalli and get down at Mulakalacheruvu. From there you can go to sompalli by bus or auto or jeep. Many share Autos and jeep go to Sompalayam but be ready for the ride of yourlifetime if you choose the latter two. The Chenna Kesava temple is on the main road but is hidden and cannot be seen from the road.

Kovulur Devamma Temple, Sompalayam :

This is a small temple with some interesting sculptures.

Front view



What is this ?



Kannapa Nayanar



The Lion Bird



View from the backside



Chenna Kesava Swamy Temple , Somapalli or Somapalayam :

This temple is the find of the tour. It is a great temple with good sculptures , good carved pillars , and Mural paintings. It has been built by the Vijayanagar Kings.

According to local tradition a shepherd was responsible for the construction of this temple during Vijayanagar period.

ASI Board



Front View of the Temple



Dwajasthamba :



Front View of Bottom of DwajaSthamba



Rear View of Bottom of Dwajasthamba



Garuda in Dwajasthamba

Like in all Vishnu Temples, Garuda is present outside the temple facing the god.



Dancer in Dwajasthamba



Uyyala or Oonjal Mandapam :

Front View



Arch



Man



Mandapam



Gopuram



Another Mandapam



Front view of the way to Moolavar



Kalyana Mandapam :

Front view



Carved Pillars :



Pillar with Designs



Pillar with Sculptures with Arch



Pillar with sculptures without Arch



Lady



Krishna



Vishnu in Sitting Posture



Men holding the Pillars on their shoulders



This figure looks dwarfish with beard and Kamandalam. He must be Agasthiyar.



A Short video of the Mandapam:

If you would like to see a short video of the Mandapam just click on play.



or access it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSV9ejVvpfg

Front view of the Main Mandapam :



Mural Paintings

The Chenna Kesava Swamy temple has got good Mural paintings also.

Marriage Procession



Rama killing asura with Arrow with Vishvamitra at the back.



Me on top of elephant.



Scultpures in Main Mandapam:

What is this ?



Horsley Hills

Horsley Hills is called as the "Ooty of Andhra". But it is so small that even calling it as "Yercaud of Andhra" would be wrong. The hill station is just 1KM and we can go around it by walk in 1 hour. But a good and cool place to enjoy solitude. There is hardly any crowd here.

Welcome Board



Enugu Mallamma Temple

Before Horsley decided to make this as his stay during summer months , this hill has been called as the Enugu Mallamma Hills from the temple which is present on top of it.



View from Horsley Hills



The Lone Tree



Oldest Eucalptus Tree in AP

This is touted to be the Oldest Eucalptus tree in the whole of AP , planted by Horsley himself .



P.S : Thanks to Gopi for bringing the camera and to Vamsi for drawing me a map of Chitoor.

Cheers
Megarajan

Digging the Deccan ....

Digging the Deccan - Hyderabad Trip

Places : Hyderabad , Waarangal
People : Mega , Muthu , Parames , Senthil ,Kalyan , Thiyagu.


We were having plans to attend my friend Harish's Marriage plans in Hyderabad. And thereby visit all the places in and around Hyderabad.
The marriage was on Thursday , and we had Thur , Fri , Sat , Sun and Mon at our disposal. So it was going to be a long tour , infact the longest I have undertook till now.
We had plans to visit Waarangal and Hyderabad.



One of the main rituals in Indian Marriages is seeing Arundhati and Swarish accomplished that with great ease,Sorry Swarish , I could not resist posting this photo :-)



Places :

Waarangal

1. Kotagallu , Ghanpur
2. Ramappa Temple
3. Ramappa Cheruvu
4. Waarangal Fort
5. Waarangal Swayambhuva temple
6. Waarangal Thousand Pillar temple
7. Thousand Pillar Temple
8. Devi Temple , HanomKonda

Hyderabad

1. Char Minar
2. Salar Jung Museum
3. Hussain Sagar Lake
4. Birla Mandir
5. Chowmahalla Palace
6. Golconda Fort
7. Qutub Shahi Tombs

Waarangal :

Waarangal for me was a exotic sounding name. Waarangal is a place which finds mention in Marco Polos travel diaries.
When trying to know more about it , I came to know that the original name of Waarangal is "Oru gallu" and it had been the capital of the Kakatiya rulers.
If you had never heard of the Kakatiya , it is time you heard about them.

Kakatiyas were Hindu rulers who ruled over large parts of present day Andhra pradesh with Waarangal as their capital. They also seemed to have gained a good name for themselves
while they ruled since you can see and hear the name "Kakatiya" many times if you had been to interior Andhra.


Ghanpur Temple :

I had huge expectations for the temples at Ghanpur. It was projected to be a place, with no human beings in sight, where you can enjoy your solitude.
Sadly Ghanpur is not a so famous destination . We had to persist with the taxi driver to take us there. And there also it wasnt easy to find the temples.
The temples were at the end of the village , but not in the main road. There was a small mud road which led to the temples.
But once we neared the temple it was as if we entered heaven. There were a set of dilapidated stone sculptures with no human being in sight. Not even one. The whole area
was covered by palmyra trees . We were the only ones in the place. We were awestruck by the locality. It was a different world in itself.
The temples at Ghanpur gave us the pleasure of discovering a new place. We felt as if we were the first to discover the place. There was no sight of human activity there.
No compound wall to protect the temple , No security , No human being , and not even the plastic left over by people you will find in many places.
It seemed we were among the small, elite no of people who had set foot on the place.

In front of the temple :



Main Temple :





Side View :



Entrance to the garbagriham :











Peacock or duck ?





BAck Side :

















Group of Temples:






Smaller Temple:













If you would like to understand the meaning of "TOTAL DAMAGE" , you can very well land up at kotagallu. Though the village name is Ghanpur , the group of temples in ghanpur are locally known as "kotagallu" or Mountain of Stones .

Ramappa Temple :

When I first heard of Ramappa Temple, it was touted be the only temple in India which is known by the person who sculpted it rather than the presiding deity.
Think of the architectural feats he must have done to achieve that distinction.

Though the Ramappa temple signifies one main temple , there are actually 2 temples constructed by Ramappa. Both are Shiva temples in the Palampet village.

Description



Gopuram :











Back Side View :









Pillar Sculptures:




















Elephant Sculptures :









Lady Sculptures :













Man fighting a lion:



Dancers and Singers:







Small Temple :

This is a small temple inside the compound of the Ramappa temple. In this all the pillars are good and most of them are about to fall.
See for yourself.














See also :

http://www.indiayogi.com/content/temples/palampet.asp

Ramappa Cheruvu :

Ramappa apart from constructing a temple , also constructed a big dam or a lake for irrigation purpose which is still being used.








Thousand Pillar Temple :

This is the most famous temple in Waarangal and occupies the first position in all of the tourists places in Waarangal. Though it is named the Thousand pillar temple
the number of pillars is 300.

Description :



Front view of Thousand Pillar Mandapam :

When first we heard the name , we imagined how a Thousand pillars might be. But sadly here we were not able to get a closer look as it was under renovation .



Front view of the Temple:



Back view of the temple:



See Also : http://www.indiayogi.com/content/temples/thousandpillared.asp

Waarangal Fort :


Description of Waarangal Fort :



Temple :



Top View of Temple :




Waarangal Temple :

When we thinking where is the temple , all we could see was pieces of independent scupltures lying here and there . This is what remains of the temple which stood here.



I have put the photos of whatever we would be able to see. Everything sculpture is now separate. You have to construct the temple in your imagination .

The temple itself was guarded on the four sides by piece known as Hamsa Thorana . There are four on each side.



Ganesha Statue :



Nandhi:



Lingam:



Fiercesome yaali :



Dancers and Singers :



The fact that the following sculpture appears inside a perfect rectangle makes me think that this could have been the flag for Kakatiyas. I am not sure though.




Devi Temple , Hanom Konda

This Devi temple is also similar to the one I had seen earlier in Vijayawada .


See Also : http://www.indiayogi.com/content/temples/bhadrakali.asp

Hyderabad :

Char Minar :

Description of Char Minar :



Char Minar :



Minaret :



Decorations :





City from Char Minar :



Masjid Near Char Minar



Chowmahalla Palace :

Outside the Chowmahalla Palace :



View from the Entrance



Inside Palace :



Richly Decorated Walls:



Canons inside Palace :



Front View of the Durbar



Top view of the durbar



Place from where the ladies observe the happenings.



Chandeliers



Ceiling Decorations:



Salar Jung Museuem :

Salar Jung was a Hyderabad Nizam who had a penchant for collection art items.The Salar Jung museuem is touted to be the largest art collection by a single person in the world. The collection has been now taken over by the government and is now maintained in the salar Jung museum.



Facade of SalarJung Museum :



Veiled Rebecca Statue:

The Veiled Rebecca Statue is one of the most prized possessions of Salar jung Museum. It was made by the Italian sculptor Benzoni.
This one does not need any artistic inclination to understand its elegance. Anyone who can see it will be able to appreciate how the sculptor has brought out a thin veil of stone over the face. One of the must see items in the Museum .



Birla Mandir :

The Birla Mandir is a Hindu temple built by the Birla Foundation on a small hillock overlooking the Hussain Saagar lake. The temple itself is built
entirely on white marble procured from Rajasthan and by artists from Rajasthan.The temple is beautiful and has a nice view of the Hussain Saagar lake.



Hussain Saagar Lake :

The Hussain Saagar Lake is the one which separates Hyderabad from Secunderabad , the Old City from the New City .
Chandrababu Naidu put in place a Buddha Statue in the middle of the lake which can be accessed by boat.



Description of Buddha Statue :



Besides the Buddha :



Golconda Fort :

Description :



Entrance to the fort:





The Arson gallery where all the ammunitions were kept.



The mosque where Aurangazeb prayed when he stayed here.



Baramatis Palace.



View of the Qutub shahi Tombs from Golconda.



A Hindu temple on top of Golconda



Way down :



Anthapuram :



Top :




Qutub Shahi Tombs :

These are burial tombs for many of the Muslim rulers who ruled over Nizam.













After seeing all these places , it was time to return to places with brick and cement. :-)

There ends our tour of Hyderabad and Waarangal . I hope you had a nice read.

Cheers
Megarajan

Thanks to all my friends who took the photos and gave permission to use them.
Special thanks and a word of praise for Muthu , who took some of the best photos in this.