Honnavar

 On our way to Mangalore from Mumbai we stumbled upon a beautiful river side homestay in Honnavar. It was the only such homestay on the banks of the river Sharavathi. They had simple pretty cottages with bare necessities, no luxuries, home cooked food and their own tiny jetty to take visitors for a river cruise to see the sunset, sunrise and the beautiful birds that lived there.

The owner, guide and resident photographer Ganesh Hegde met us at the turn off from the highway on his motorcycle and guided us to the homestay. The last five hundred metres was a bit of off-roading adding to the adventure.

We reached there in the afternoon just in time for a sumptuous home cooked meal. A typical south Indian vegetarian meal.

We rested for a while and in the evening, we were treated to a beautiful sunset cruise in a motorised

👆Photo credit: Ganesh Hegde

boat and saw the river being criss crossed by a lot of boats transporting locals from the mainland to the nearby islands. Spotted flocks of cormorants and egrets either flying or resting. 

Ganesh kept up his running commentary all the time and pointing out good spots to take photographs. Was a beautiful memorable cruise and we returned to our cottage feeling very happy.

Spent the late evening dining by the riverside and watching the reflection of the moon dance on the river. A sight to behold.

Had a restful sleep, no dreams at least none that I can remember and woke up early next morning for the sunrise cruise.

We saw and adored the sunrise from outside our cottage and soon after got called by the boatman who had silently rowed in to pick us up. Ganesh joined us and soon we were up and away but silently in a row boat. 

He took us to an island where we spent some time admiring the flora and fauna, and sunlight streaming through the palm fronds. An ethereal experience.

During this cruise we noticed a lot of pre wedding shoots going on in various boats across the river. Apparently, a favourite destination for event photographers.

Returned to our cottage for a heavy breakfast and checked out from the homestay to get on the highway to Mangalore but not before Ganesh guided us to the ‘hanging bridge’ across the river, 

a conservation of mangroves site and finally a temple at the top of a nearby hill from where we could get a bird’s eye view of the forest all around.

This indeed was one of the most refreshingly interesting stopovers in Karnataka.

Jai Hari Vitthala - A road trip to Pandharpur

At a distance of about 400kms from Mumbai lies the quiet town of Pandharpur which bursts to life during Ashadhi Ekadashi when about a million pilgrims converge at the Vithoba temple for the annual festival. These pilgrims come walking in processions from as far as Dehu (250kms) which is the native place of Tukaram, Alandi (100kms) the native place of Dyaneshwar, the two renowned devotees of Vitthala (Vithoba). This pilgrimage is called the Vari and the pilgrims are called Varkaris. They take about 21 days to reach Pandharpur from their respective shrines carrying the Padukas (footwear) of the Saint in a Palkhi (palanquin). The chant of Jai Hari Vitthala will reverberate all through the route and all along the route, the villagers will look after the pilgrims by offering them place to stay and food to eat.

Somehow, due to various reasons, I have never been able to visit Pandharpur during the festival despite having wanted to participate in the procession at least for a couple of days. As a consolation, decided to drive down to Pandharpur a month before the festivities and get a feel of the place. The drive was beautiful meandering through sugarcane plantations and roads bordered with Banyan trees

and Mayflower trees (Gulmohar) in full bloom. Took us about 7 hours to reach Pandharpur from Mumbai with mandatory rest breaks and safe driving.

Pandharpur still has not been crassly commercialised but half way there. There are very few hotels with airconditioned rooms (needed as the temperatures soar to 40+Celsius in summer) that one can book online. Managed to book one though it did not have a restaurant and you have to go to a restaurant about 10 minutes walk from the hotel. Was surprised to see an ice cream parlour there and obviously was ‘the meeting place’ for the young and happening kids around town.

Hired an autorickshaw to reach the temple from our hotel at the standard rate of Rs.50/- one way, no meter. 

The walkway to the temple was flanked by shops selling offerings to Vithoba and Rukmini (Vithoba’s wife) who have separate temples next to each other.

There are 2 ways for ‘darshan’ – ‘Mukh darshan’ (see the idol’s face from a distance of about 10 feet) and ‘Matha tek’ darshan (touch the idol’s feet with one’s head) and yes it is more popular. We preferred the Mukh darshan, as we would be done with it in 20 minutes, while the other one would take a couple of hours. No cameras allowed inside and no mobile photography too. You can keep your cameras in the lockers operated by private individuals in the periphery for a mere Rs.20/-.

After the mukh darshan we went to the Chandrabhaga river that is just a couple of minutes walk away from the temple. There are plenty of temples along the way and the main one is Pundalik’s temple. 

Pundalik is supposed to have been responsible for getting Vithoba to Pandharpur and is also the founder of the Varkari sect. For more detailed info about Pundalik click here and the story of Vithoba coming to meet Pundalik is here.

Incidentally most of the ‘Dabbawalas’ in Mumbai belong to the Varkari community.

On the banks of the river there are enterprising young men who have modelled the replicas of Vithoba and Rukmini and you can get yourself photographed with the idols for a small price.

Then there are the boatmen who approach you to take you for a ride in the river, again, for a modest 

price. As he rowed he pointed out to a construction activity on the other bank and pointed out that as the upcoming ISKCON temple. It is expected to be completed in a year or two and once done, one can expect religious tourism all year round and the arrival of well heeled tourists demanding all the luxuries, and this peaceful town also, might go the Shirdi way, where now there are luxury hotels and an airport too.

While in Pandharpur do visit the Railway station. It is built like a temple and looks beautiful.

At the end of the day when we are done with our visit, we return with beautiful memories of a lovely pilgrim town that is relatively clean, physically and metaphorically too. I sincerely hope it remains this way.

Here is a short video of our road trip to Pandharpur.

Alive is awesome - in Kolad!

The ferocious October heat of Mumbai wants me to go back to Kolad and jump in the Kundalika river as to be Alive is Awesome Bathing experience.

River rafting is a round the year activity in Kolad and is just a couple of hours away from Mumbai. At specific times the water is released from the Bhira dam and the flow of the water is to be seen to be believed.

You can book a river rafting ride with any of the many adventure outfits that operate out there. Once done, you will be picked up at the appointed time and taken to the point from where your rafting begins. A briefing is given on the dos and don’ts while river rafting. All are given an oar and told how to use it.

Having woken up late, had not taken a bath that morning and all the way to the rafting launch point I was reminded of it. The instructor however told all my tormentors that I had done the right thing as he would show us what an Alive is Awesome Bathing experience!

Hahaha, I sure was happy to hear that as that shut the mouths of all the smart alecks who had their boring baths in the Hotel showers. I mean, come on standing under the shower daily can get to be so repetitive and boring. Especially when you are on the verge of going river rafting, a jump into the river would be so much more invigorating and refreshing. It would actually bring you alive! The weather was hot and humid and we were sweating just standing there listening to the instructions. I was just waiting for the action to begin.

By the time the instructions were over we could hear a siren that went off signalling the opening of the 

floodgates! It was the birds that led the charge of the water brigade! And soon the water came gushing and had our adrenaline rushing. I rushed to the edge to check the temperature of the flowing water and phew... it was cold!

Now I looked forward to the refreshing experience of bathing in the chilly Kundalika river!

We were alloted places in the raft and we boarded accordingly and off we went with the fast and furious Kundalika river! Soon we saw other rafts joining in the fun and games. I was eagerly waiting to jump into the river for my bath but had to wait for the instructor’s signal to do so. We all had the mandatory life jackets; hence there were no worries of drowning.  

The raft was sailing smooth in the fast flowing water and suddenly there came a dip and whoosh... the raft dipped and came up again with the wave. We had a couple of more dips and then the raft steadied and then the moment I was waiting for arrived! The instructor shouted Jump! And i jumped, oar and all. Brrrrrr..... was the water chilly..

I threw the oar back into the raft and swam, floated around for a while, dipped my head under the cold river water and man was it refreshing! Wow!

‘Come on up, come on up’ shouted the instructor and had to get back into the raft.

It was surely the most refreshingly awesome bath i ever had. As the Cinthol ad says it was ‘Alive is Awesome Bathing experience’!

You can watch the awesome bathing experience on video too!

Kolad - Adventure and rejuvenation

If you live in Mumbai and any time you feel like going river rafting, or maybe just for some time to have a tete a tete with nature, just hop on to your bike/car and head for Kolad which is around 140kms away!

Yes, the river Kundalika out there is fed by various dams at specific times when the dams let out excess water into the river and then the fun begins. One fine Saturday morning, we did just that, though we did not have river rafting in our agenda.

We just wanted to chill on the banks of Sutarwadi lake where this wonderful resort ‘Pooja Farms’ is. The drive took us about three hours and once there, checked into a lovely airconditioned cottage. Spent the afternoon checking out the place and soaking in the atmosphere to unwind all the urban stress. Soon it was time to watch the sky set on fire by the setting sun.It was wonderful watching the sun go down.

Had an early dinner and feeling totally relaxed retired early for the day. We were told that the river rafting begins around ten in the morning and if we wished to catch the action we would have to head over to the neighbouring village and take the assistance of the local boys to guide us to the vantage point from where we could watch the adventurers river rafting. Woke up early in the morning to catch the sunrise and the early birds. Was not disappointed.

After a hearty breakfast we set out for the trek to the vantage point from where we could capture the

sights of the Kundalika river before and after the water is released from the dam and also capture the excitement of the river rafters as they raft by.

We met some enthusiastic youngsters in the village who willingly, for a small monetary consideration, guided us to the spot. The river was more like a stream when we saw it first. The boys told us how high it would rise once the water from the dam was released and showed us where we could rest till then and set up our shooting positions.

We had to wait for a couple of hours and then we saw the birds flying past in panic which told us of the

oncoming rush of water. The gurgling of the stream soon turned into a roar of flowing water. And then we

saw the rafters screaming with pleasure as they raised their oars in acknowledgement. The beauty of this river is that you can go rafting all year round as every morning the dams release water and the river swells just enough for some exciting river rafting. Back to the resort for some lunch after which we rested for a while and returned back to Mumbai feeling rejuvenated and ready to face the urban chaos!

Click here for more details on the various activities one can indulge in Kolad and also how to reach there.