Bylakuppe and Elephant bathing?!

Would never have thought that I could see a part of Tibet in Karnataka! But it does exist! Bylakuppe is home to two of the many Tibetan settlements in India, established by Lugsum Samdupling (in 1961) and Dickyi Larsoe (in 1969).  It is located to the west of the Mysore district in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin town Kushalanagara is about 6 kilometers from Bylakuppe.

Bylakuppe is the 3000 acres of land that was leased out by the Indian Government to the fleeing Tibetans in 1961 and they are here to stay! It is the largest Tibetan community in exile with about 40,000 people in five settlements containing monasteries, kindergarten to higher level secondary schools, health care clinics, a hospital and a traditional Tibetan medical facility.

The most visited temple here is Namdroling (The Golden Temple)

Three beautiful larger than life gold plated statues look down at visitors above the altar.

The walls are adorned with colourful paintings depicting gods and demons from Tibetan Buddhist mythology.

The one thing that one must witness is the prayer of the monks. The harmony of their chants is enchanting.

The exterior of the new Zangdokpalri temple looks majestic with a majestic rainbow arch.

We are so used to being told not to photograph the idols in temples, that the ready willingness of the monks to let the idols in their temples being photographed is such a pleasant and welcome surprise.

If you wish to taste Tibetan food you can do that too! There are restaurants in there where you can indulge your adventuorous tastebuds.

All this was amazing alright but then due to shortage of time we missed going to Dubare Elephant camp that was just 40kms away. However this wonderful video by Godrej Cinthol has given a glimpse of what we 

missed. An elephant bath! So if you are ever going anywhere near Madikeri, do not forget to go to Dubare and bathe and be bathed by an elephant! Sure feels to be Alive is Awesome! Once you get back to your room use the real cool Cinthol soap to feel refreshed after the bathing with the elephants experience!

Cliff Jumping in Hampi?

Whenever the word Hampi is uttered I travel back to my trip to Hampi and the ruins of the Vijayanagara Kingdom appear before my eyes.

The impressive VijayaVitthala temple complex with its numerous halls for various functions like marriage, 

religious rituals and the massive kitchen therein. The carvings on those walls, pillars and ceilings are awe 

inspiring.

Reference Wikipedia The name is derived from Pampa, which is the old name of the Tungabhadra River on whose banks the city is built. . The name "Hampi" is an anglicized version of the Kannada Hampe (derived from Pampa). Over the years, it has also been referred to as Vijayanagara and Virupakshapura (from Virupaksha, the patron deity of the Vijayanagara rulers).

Be as it may, after witnessing the Alive is awesome ad of Cinthol soaps, where they talk about adventure bathing, I started doing some earnest research on the topic with special reference to Hampi as I plan to visit there again next month. And voila! I discovered that I could possibly indulge in Cliff jumping into the chilly waters of the lake. What I intend to do is do a minimum of 2 jumps. The first one to acclimatize and then soap myself with the aromatic Cinthol soap and jump in again and rid of the soap by the time I surface!

It will be something like the Deep Cave Bath in the Cinthol video.

Sure sounds awesome! Do try it too and let us know what you felt about it!