Kaivara

Kaivara is a small town of historical and mythological importance in Chikkaballapur district and is about 60-65 kms from Bangalore. I first heard about this place when my cousin who is studying medicine had to go there for a medical camp for a few days. She sounded very enthusiastic about the place and the ashram where she had stayed. Then I read about this place on wiki and we decided to go there one afternoon on a weekend.

We started from Bangalore around 1.30 PM and reached Kaivara around 3. Since we had not yet had lunch we decided to head to the next bigger town Chintamani. One of the shopkeepers in Chintamani directed us to Hotel Shanti Sagar (a small place) where we had one of the best Masala Dosas :p Free with the masala dosa was a discourse by the owner of the hotel on how to get the batter just right for a masala dosa with a special variety of rice :)

With our stomachs full we headed back to Kaivara. This town is known primarily because of the saint popularly called Kaivara Thatayya! He was a poet and a great devotee of Lord Amara Narayanaswamy (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu). The main attractions of Kaivara are the Amaranarayana Temple and the Narayanappa Mutt dedicated to Thatayya which are located next to each other. Another nice place in Kaivara is  the Yoganarasimha Swamy temple on the small hillock called ‘Vaikunta’

This is a picture of the “vimana” of the Amaranarayana temple.

The Narayanappa Mutt is itself exquisite white in color!

There is a hillock opposite the temple where Bhima is supposed to have killed Bakasura. An arch has been constructed with the idols of the Pandavas at the entrance of the road leading to the hill.

We headed to the next destination which was the Yoganarasimha Swamy temple. This houses the cave where Thatayya meditated as well.

There is a beautiful yoga and meditation hall which has been constructed newly here.

On our way out of the temple, we saw a few aggressive monkeys baring their teeth at each other!

Ah! Another thing…. I nearly forgot. You get lovely views of the surroundings from the Yoganarasimha Swamy temple courtyard.

There are so many more other attractions in and around Kaivara that we could not take in during this trip. The Ambaji Durga cave temple which is around 7km from Kaivara, the Aranyarama temple, the Bheemeswara temple. And unfortunately, we missed having the local delicacy – the Masala Chakli – which as I have heard from my cousin, who has had the fortune of staying a few days in Kaivara, is a delight in itself to be experienced!! All these clearly demand of us that we go back again. When we do that, you will hear again from me on this place :)

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Omkar Hills, Bangalore

There are many places in and around Bangalore of which not many are aware. This post is about one such place in south Bangalore near Raja Rajeshwari Nagar called Omkar hills. This place is said to be the highest point in Bangalore.

I had read up about this place and decided to go there on a weekend.This was 2 years ago. It was hard to find out the route to this place as there was no map/directions! We tried to approach this place from Rajarajeshwari Nagar. Alas any road that we took was leading to a dead end. With the frustration level mounting, we almost gave up and decided to drive back home. This was not to be so :) We found an easy route thanks to some gentleman!

When driving on Mysore Road from Bangalore,take the left at Uttarahalli Main Road,drive past the BGS Apollo hospital and then take the right next to JSS College. This road goes to the top of Omkar Hills. You will find a detailed map and link to Google maps at the bottom of this post.

Omkar Hills has a temple and Ashram which was founded by Shri Shivapuri Mahaswamiji. More details can be seen here.

One of the main attractions of this place is the huge clock tower built by HMT at the entrance which is claimed to be the second biggest in the world. It is also said to be bigger than the Big Ben. The clock was supposed to chime the sound of a conch being blown followed by the om sound five times at the striking of every hour.  Sadly the clock has stopped working now.

The swamiji’s samadhi is also housed – opposite the clock in a little enclosure. There are a beautiful set of steps leading up. These steps are laden with beautiful flowering trees and plants. When you look up those steps you sort of feel that they are leading you to the edge of the earth into another world!

Upon climbing a few steps one can see an old banyan tree surrounded by statues representating various faiths/religions. Ramanujacharya, Shankaracharya, Madhwacharya, Jesus, Koran, Buddha, Mahaveera and the Guru Granth Sahib as far as I recollect.

The view of the city outskirts from the top is nice. A new temple was being constructed in the premises opposite to the banyan tree.

And finally leaving you with one final look of the whole place!

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