Kyathadevara Gudi or K Gudi Trip

Kyathadevara Gudi or K Gudi Trip was an exciting one. Spending the night in the forest is amazing. It was the month of July in 2011. On July 22, 2011 seven of us left Bangalore early in the morning. After passing via Mysore, the last 50 km stretch to K Gudi was horrible as the road was in bad shape and we were driving uphill!

K Gudi Wilderness Camp : It was past noon when we reached K Gudi and we had spotted the first animal in the forest already, an elephant. No no, it was not a wild elephant but a tamed one tied to a tree! K Gudi wilderness camp is at a perfect location in B R Hills (in Kannada Biligiri Rangana Betta) overlooking the landscape down! Why the name K Gudi - there is a small temple Kyathadevara Gudi built by Maharaja of Mysore! Soon after getting refreshed and having our lunch, we roamed around the K Gudi camp.

Tamed elephants, K Gudi

Deers, Elephants and Animals on the board! Apart from the elephants which you can find in the camp all the time, you also find spotted deers roaming freely in the area. Not afraid of human settlements in the area, watching deers up close is such an amazing experience. At the Jungle Lodges and Resorts office, in a white board names of the animals spotted on safari during last few days will be listed. We found just 2 days back, a tiger was spotted and needless to say, we were excited!

Barking Deer

Safari and Wild Elephants : At about 3 30 pm, we went on a safari into the forest. This was my first safari and thrilling it was. Just before entering the forest we could spot Soliga tribe colonies. Moving further ahead, we could spot herd of barking deers. Then, a herd of spotted deers. This was an usual sight in our journey for an hour or so. It was getting frustrated and at the same time, we were nearing a pond where another jeep carrying tourists had been parked. Something special to be sighted for sure.

Spotted deers in K Gudi

We went quiet sensing the situation. Now at the other end of the pond, some black thing moving - was it a rock or an animal? Revelation was a minute away - the black shape grew bigger as it neared the pond! Alas - a wild elephant! No, no - not just one. Three of them, one being a baby elephant. First reaction from our camp was - ugly elephants! Yes - they were ugly with a big belly. Not at all like the ones in Mysore Dasara procession. Back to the action - now the three were getting down to water. Next scene - they splashing water. Pouring water was done by one up above also - it was raining! We watched the scene for about half an hour or so. Once the elephants disappeared in the greens, we started our vehicles.

Wild elephant, K Gudi

Morning Safari : The next day we went on a safari in the morning at about 6 am. This time, with misty surroundings, it was getting even more difficult to spot the wild animals. Did we spot any? Of course - not the special ones - only barking and spotted deers.

Machan, K Gudi

Waiting at the machan : After having breakfast, we went on trekking in the forest. Well, there was a guide (from the Soliga tribe) to show us the right routes. We went to machan located near a big pond, waiting for wild animals which could come to quench their thirst! As luck would have it, none of the animals were interested in drinking water there!

Pond near the machan, K Gudi

Camp fire and Scorpion : That day night, a camp fire was set up and we seven gathered around. It was an awesome setting middle of the forest and that too in high altitudes. One incident is memorable here. As we were around the camp fire for warmth, some other creatures found it warming too! One of us said to me that some small creature is moving here(kuch keeda hai idhar). I spotted and it was a scorpion and I shouted - scorpion, scorpion. Every one jumped from their chairs except for the guy who informed me of the keeda leaving everybody wondering why. Then somebody screamed - abe bichchu hai. Now it was his turn to get scared and jump out of the chair!

Scorpion which came to the campfire

Trails and Walks : Trails leading to the Jungle lodges huts form nice walkways here. Rocks scattered in the surroundings provided ample space for our discussions or rather chit chats. Next day we were on our way back to Bangalore only to stop to admire the beauty of B R hills.

Kyathadevara Gudi(K Gudi Temple)

B R Hills

Jungle Lodges & Resorts huts, K Gudi

Wild elephants, K Gudi

A Village Called Heggodu

Heggodu is a small village 10 kms away from Sagara  in Shivamogga district in Karnataka. It is known for its cultural activities through organization called Ninasam - which stands for Nilakanteshwara Natyaseva Samgha. It conducts a culture course every year in the month of October. For details on the same, please click here.

Here are some of the photos from the Ninasam, Heggodu and Culture workshop held in October 2011.

Shivarama Karantha Rangamandira, Heggodu

Slide.com is shutting down on March 6, 2012

Slide.com the photo sharing website is shutting down on March 6, 2012. I started using slide.com for my blog for sharing the photos 5 years ago in 2007. Google acquired slide.com on August 6, 2010 for $182 million. But an year later, on August 26, 2011 Google announced that it is shutting down slide.com.

How to check your PF balance online?

Steps to check your Provident Fund(PF) balance online.

• Go to http://www.epfindia.com/MembBal.html
• Click on the link - Click here to know the balance - at the end of the page.
• In the next link, select the PF office state from the drop down menu
• Once you select the state, select your EPFO office. This will take you to the next page.
• This page 'Member Balance Information' has provision for the entry of your PF account number, your name (as it appears on EPF slip) and your mobile number
• Instructions for entering the PF number :
• Assume you Your PF Number is KN/XXXXX/YYYYY (i.e from Karnataka)
• Then  in Employee PF Account Number field (which has 5 boxes with first 2 filled), enter XXXXX in the third box and leave the fourth box empty
• In the 5th box enter YYYYY
• Enter your name as it appears in your old PF slips
• Enter your mobile number
• Check the I Agree check box and click Submit button
• After a while you get a SMS on your mobile mentioning your PF balance. There will be 2 parts in it - EE amount and ER amount - EE is the amount contributed by the Employee and ER is the amount contributed by the Employer.

Learn Tulu Online : Part 8 - Online Tulu Language Resources

Thought of providing my readers with resources regarding Tulu language available online. Hope you will able to make good use of them.

Tulu Dictionary : Following link on www.tuluworld.org provides you to look for meanings for Tulu words. Key in transliterated tulu word in English in the search box to find the meaning. What more; if you are unsure of the word, the tool gives suggestions on the probable word too! Meanings are provided in English as well as in Kannada.

Tulu Grammar Book : This link from openlibrary.org opens up a Tulu grammar book for you. Written by Rev J Brigel and published by C Stolz (of Basel Mission Book and Tract Depository) in 1872, this wonderfully researched book is very useful for those who are serious about knowing about the ancient language. It also has audio feature, which is of great help but sometimes you may not get exact pronunciation as Tuluvas speak.

Tulu Studies : This is a blog with research findings in Tulu culture, words, place names. Very useful if you are into culture studies.

Trip to Melukote Temples, Rayagopura

Back from KRS backwaters we were at Mysore at about 3 pm that day. We had our lunch at the popular Dasaprakash hotel in Mysore. We also noticed that it is popular among foreign tourists too as we found many foreigners at the tables there. Lunch we must say was good.

Temple pond in Melukote

Melukote : Our next stop was Melukote about 50 kms from Mysore. It took us about an hour or so to reach Melukote. The temple town which is a center for Srivaishnava sect is famous for 2 temples - Yoganarasimha Swamy Temple at the hilltop and Cheluvanarayana Swamy temple. When you enter Melukote first thing you will notice is the large temple pond or pushkarini or kalyani. Numerous Kannada films were shot in this location. Remember the Nadheem Dheem Thana song from Gaalipata?

Yoganarasimha Swamy Temple, Melukote

Yoganarasimha Swamy Temple : After parking our four wheeler near the pond, we went uphill to see the Yoganarasimha Swamy Temple. Narasimha is one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu. From the hilltop you get a beautiful bird's view of the Melukote town. People were waiting for the doors of the temple to be open for the evening pooja. We waited too, though rest three in our group were reluctant to wait. The temple premises is full of notorious monkeys. So, beware of them! Meanwhile, I purchased a CD of Kannada folk songs inside the temple premises. But later I realized that it was almost double the prize as shopkeeper had pasted a different price sticker. I was surprised that in a religious place like Melukote, people do such fraud!

Raya Gopura, Melukote

Raya Gopura : As we did not have much time in the day and it was getting dark, we could not visit the Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple (but got a glimpse of it on our way) and went straightly to Raya Gopura which is famous with the film folks. If you remember the barso re song from Hindi movie - Guru, it was shot here. It is an incomplete temple structure with four rising pillars. 

House of Pu Ti Narasimhachar

House of Pu Ti Narasimhachar : In Melukote, you will also find the house of great Kannada poet - Pu Ti Narasimhachar. It was beyond the visiting hours of the house. So, we missed chance visit the memories of Pu Ti Na.

Suset at Yoganarasimha Swamy Temple, Melukote

Rayagopura, Melukote

Raya Gopura, Melukote