Nandi hills with Appa Amma

Had a wonderful time with Appa and Amma on their anniversary day.Had gone to Nandi hills and was really amazed as to how well they have maintained it. Had a picnic lunch and then went to the Bhoganandeeshwara temple at the base,its a 9th century temple constructed under regimes of Banas and Rashtrakutas and then maintained by Cholas,Chalukyas and Vijayanagar empire. Its an incredible temple,sadly we went there in the night time and the light was not good for photography.Plan to re-visit it during daytime sometime soon just for photographing the place.

Had a wonderful time with Appa/Amma.I have realized that the older I grow the more better I understand their relationship and my relationship with them.Now being myself married for an year and a half I appreciate their 34 years of togetherness so much better and it is indeed very special. Their bantering's like small kids/their affection for each other/their dependency on each other/the way they understand each other/the way they cant stand each other and at the same time cannot be away from each other/how their entire world and thoughts and fights revolve around each other,each would be lost without the other.

I am very lucky to be back in India and spending all this time with them physically and getting to know them better,more as friends now. Love you the most Appa and Amma.

Tried capturing a few photos from this day trip.

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History buff Amma admiring Tipu Sultan summer palace,willing to bet that she has teleported her self into that era within her mind.

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Another shot of her admiring things in her own silent way.

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Monkeys wreaking havoc and making hay off an open window in a car.

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The famous Tippu drop,the story every kid is fascinated with. Overheard a dad sayingto his 7-8 year old son - 'People who made big mistakes were pushed off here by Tippu as punishment',son asks very innocently -'If they made small mistakes then what punishment would they get?', Dad - 'Check with your mom'. I chuckled,dad heard me and gave me a grin. Life!

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Stopped at a vineyard near nandi.

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Jasmine admiring the grapes.

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Million dollar smiles! On top of Nandi hills.

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Were lashed with very heavy rains on the way back,a record of sorts for the year is what I read in the newspaper today.

Infy 10 K

Ran the Infy 10 K today. Personal best of 54 min 30 seconds. Me and my team mate Birbal posing with our finisher's certificate. The first place guy finished the race in 39 mins.Yikes!And the world record is 26 mins 44 sec.Double Yikes!

Ramtek

Ramtek, literally meaning 'Ram's vow' ,we visited this wonderful Ram temple on a day trip from Nagpur. Its about 70 kms from Nagpur and like thousands of temples on hills in India,this is another temple on a hill with the town of Ramtek at its base. A look up on wikipedia gives the following facts, Ramtek has got Historic temple of lord Rama. It is believed that Ramtek was the place where Rama, the Hindu god, rested while he was in exile. Legend has it that the aashram of great Hindu sage Agastya was situated close to Ramtek. While the sages performed religious rites, the demons used to disrupt their activities and slayed a great number of holy men. Lord Rama was distressed to hear about this, and took a vow to relieve the world from the demons. 'Tek' means vow in local language, hence the word Ramtek comes from 'Vow of Ram'. Thus it is believed locally that whoever takes a vow at Ramtek is blessed by the gods for its fulfillment. The 'padukas' of Lord Ram are believed to have been worshipped here for centuries The present temple is believed to have been built by the King of Nagpur Raghuji Bhonsale,after his victory over fort of Deogarh in Chindwara. This place is also famous for its relation with Great poet Kalidasa. Kalidasa has written Meghdootum in hills of Ramtek The place is more popular for Kalidasa writing Meghdooth here and there is a Kalidasa smarak built here. Also,the fun part are the 'Rama doothas' who have appropriately taken residence in this temple - black faced Langur's. They are a rowdy lot and are notorious at snatching things from people,but when shouted at and instructed to take things in a disciplined way they surprisingly listen,sit on their haunches and decently take the 'channa' from your hands. If Kalidasa really stayed here and wrote his meghadoot then that puts this place atleast at 1500 years old as Kalidasa was from the 4-5th century Ad. But wiki mentions that the latest temple was built by Raghuji Bhonsale who died in 1755 which puts the current temple at atleast at 300 years. But it is a very nice place,calm and serene.

Bagali

My country is such an amazing place and there is so much to discover and there is so much history in every town and village. During dussera we visited a place called Bagali enroute to Hampi which is about 50 Kms from Harihar.This is a hidden historical gem. Thanks to Ramachandra mama for pointing this place out. This place is so obscure and the village is so small I would have never thought there was such a beautiful temple dating back a 1000 years. The temple is called Kallesvara swamy temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.It was constructed during the reign of the western chalukyan king Ahavamalla in 987 AD and constructed by Duggimayya.The main diety is known as Kalideva. There is a sabha mantapa with 54 ornate pillars. Its a very beautiful temple.There are some erotic sculptures which is a testament to the open mindedness of our ancient people and gives some insight to the sexual practices a thousand years ago.