Edakkal Caves (11°37′28.81″N76°14′8.88″ECoordinates: 11°37′28.81″N76°14′8.88″E) are two natural caves at a remote location at Edakkal, 25 km from Kalpetta in theWayanad district of Kerala in India’s Western Ghats. They lie 1,200 metres above sea level on Ambukutty Mala, beside an ancient trade route connecting the high mountains of Mysore to the ports of the Malabar coast. Inside the caves are pictorial writings believed to date to at least 6,000 BC, from the Neolithic man, indicating the presence of a prehistoric civilization or settlement in this region. The Stone Age carvings of Edakkal are rare and are the only known examples from south India.(wiki)
The caves contain drawings that range over periods from as early as 5000 BC to 1000 BC. The youngest group of paintings have been in the news for a possible connection to the Indus Valley Civilization.
Historian M.R. Raghava Varier of the Kerala state archaeology department identified a sign “a man with jar cup” that is the most distinct motif of the Indus valley civilization.The finding, made in September 2009, indicates that the Harappan civilization was active in the region. The “a man with jar cup” symbol from Edakkal seems to be more similar to the Indus motif than those already known from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Mr. Varier said “The discovery of the symbols are akin to that of the Harappan civilisation having predominantly Dravidian culture and testimony to the fact that cultural diffusion could take place. It is wrong to presume that the Indus culture disappeared into thin air.” Iravatham Mahadevan, a scholar of Indus valley and Brahmi scripts said the findings were very significant called it a “major discovery”.
The small town has interesting locales, Raja’s Seat,Old Fort , where the Government offices are houses now, Nisargadama, a wild life sanctuary, 3 km off Madikeri on the Madikeri Mysore Highway ,Dubare Forest(48 km from Madikeri) Abbi Falls(9 km),Talacauvery(the origin of River Cauvery and Bhaga Mandala(4 km)
In Madikeri the Onkareswara temple is situated.
A small shrine, more influenced by Kerala Architecture( Bhaga Mandala also has the same pattern) is in the center of the town.
The temple has no separate Sannidhi for Ambal.
What is more interesting is the fact that parents of the bride and the bride groom, on the day of betrothal, declare the terms of marriage, accompanied
by their relatives(!) state openly the terms for the marriage including the Monetary ones, before Lord Onkareswara , have the blessings of Lord Shiva.
I understand that this the custom among the Kodava Community, who are ardent worshipers of Shiva.
The temple is very clean and has a beautiful tank.
It is open from 7 am 12 and between 4 and 8 pm.
It is just a km from Bus station , Madikere.
Madikere can be reached from Bangalore by Bus(267 km), Mysore 9210 km)
Ahobilam is located in Karnool district of Andhra Pradesh in the hills of the eastern ghats, about 400 KM northwest of Chennai.
The temple consists of nine shrines to Lord Nrisimha located around a 5 KM circle. In addition to the nine shrines, there is a temple for Prahaladavarada Varadhan in the foothills of the mountain. Due to security reasons and the difficulty in performing daily worship, many of the utsava vigrahasof the nine shrines are kept in this temple.
Garuda wished for a vision of Lord Nrisimha in the form of the Avathara. To fulfill his wish, the Lord settled in the hills around Ahobilam in the midst of dense forests in nine different forms. For this reason this hill came to be known as Garudadri, Garudachalam, and Garudasailam.
Ahobilam is the place where the Lord killed Hiranyakasipu and saved Prahalada. Mahalakshmi took avathar as Senjulakshmi among the Senju, tribal hunters of the hills, and married the Lord.
Sri Ahobila Muth, one of the most important Sri Vaishnava religious institutions in India, was established by Sri Athivan Satakopan at the instructions of Lord Lakshmi Nrisimha of Ahobilam. In fact, the utsava moorthy of the Malola Nrisimha temple, one of the nine shrines of Ahobilam, is the presiding deity of Sri Ahobila Mutham. Sri Malolan accompanies Srimad Azhagiya Singar, the spiritual and titular head of Sri Ahobila Mutham, on his travels.
Thirumangai Azhvaar has sung ten verses about this temple in Periya Thirumozhi.
It can be reached from Nandyl,Cuddappah or Kurnool Andhra Pradesh.
There is no railway link direct to Ahobilam.
One can reach by reaching any of the places mentioned here or through Dhone from where one reach Ahobilam through Baganpalle and Koilkuntla.
How To reach Ahobilam.
By Train from Chennai to Ahobilam Bombay mail leaves Chennai at about 9:55 p.m. and reaches Kadappa at about 3:15 a.m. You can take Bombay mail going to Chennai for the return journey. Chennai bound Bombay mail arrives Kadappa at 10:25 p.m. and leaves at 10:30. It reaches Chennai at about 5:40 a.m. Reservations may be made for round trip from Chennai to Kadappa and back. Quota for Kadappa is available in Bombay mail.
From Kadappa, Ahobilam is about 100 KM. If you can afford it you can hire a taxi for the day to go to Ahobilam and return. The approximate cost would be Rs. 1000 for the round trip. If you are a group you can hire a van for a day. In either of these two cases, you will be able to finish all the Dharshan and return to Kadappa at night in time to catch Bombay mail back to Chennai.
If you are in a position to hire a taxi, you can take a bus to Ahobilam. There may be direct bus to Ahobilam, but frequency may be limited. In stead, take a bus to Allagadda, and then from Allagadda you can take another bus to Ahobilam. If you have to travel bus you may have difficulty covering all the temples in one day.
By bus from Chennai to Ahobilam
There is an overnight bus from Madras to Nandiyal leaving at about 8:00 p.m. Nandiyal is a big town past Allagadda. Buy your ticket to Allagadda. The bus will reach Allagadda at about 6 a.m. Get down at Allagadda. From Allagadda, Ahobilam is about 30 KM. Town busses ply between Allagadda and Ahobilam every 45 minutes. The last bus leaves Ahobilam to Allagadda at 9:45 p.m. You may also hire a taxi from Allagadda. The same bus returns to Chennai. It leaves Allagadda at about 7:00 a.m. Check locally for exact time. By car from Chennai to Ahobilam
The drive from Chennai is through Renigunta, Kadappa, and Allagadda. It will take about 9 to 10 hours of hard driving. Avoid night driving if you can.
Traveling to Ahobilam from Hyderabad
The distance between Hyderabad and Ahobilam is about 380 KM. By train, take Thungabadra Express from Hyderabad (Kacheguda) to Kurnool. This train leaves Hyderabad (Kacheguda) at 7:00 p.m. and reaches Kurnool 10:30 p.m. From Karnool, Ahobilam is about 150 KM. You may hire a taxi or take a bus for this part of the journey. The approximate cost would be Rs. 1400 for the round trip. The return train arrives Kurnool at 1:15 a.m. and reaches Hyderabad at 5:20 a.m.
You may also take a bus from Hyderabad to Allagadda. From Allagadda, Ahobilam is about 30 KM. Town busses ply between Allagadda and Ahobilam every 45 minutes. The last bus leaves Ahobilam to Allagadda at 9:45 p.m. You may also hire a taxi from Allagadda.
Traveling to Ahobilam from Bangalore
From Bangalore, Ahobilam is about 350 K.m. The train timing is not very convenient from Bangalore. Prasant Express leaves Bangalore at 2:00 p.m. and reaches Nandiyal at about 11:50 p.m. From Nandiyal, Ahobilam is about 60 KM via Allagadda. The return train to Bangalore leaves Nandiyal at about 11:10 p.m. and reaches Bangalore at 10 a.m.
By road, the travel is via Madanapalli, Cuddapah, and Allagadda. The drive is about 7:30 hours.
Facilities for Stay at Ahobilam.
Sri Ahobila Mutt maintains a Guest House called Malola Guest House. There are a total of 14 rooms, 4 single rooms, 6 double rooms, and 4 triple rooms. Of these, two double rooms and two triple rooms are air conditioned. In addition, there are 10 dormitory type rooms.
Normally reservations are not undertaken by the Ahobila Mutt authorities.
But one can always try.
Mr. Badri Narayanan
PH:-08519-252045/252024
9490515284.
Food.
A privately run canteen is located adjacent to Malola Guest House. Vegetarian food is sold at this canteen.
In addition, Sri Ahobila Matam has established a trust called Annamacharya Nitya Annadanam Trust. The goal of this trust is to provide free food to devotees of Sri Lakshmi Nrisimha. Free prasadam is offered three time a day. Dadiyannam (Curd rice) is offered morning and evening. At noon time Tadiyaradhanam (full course meals) is offered.
The monthly expense for this exceeds Rs. 20,000. Contributions to the trust is welcome. Please contact the Malola Guest House manager at 8519-232045 for detail.
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ANY plane in the air at that exact moment, and display information about that plane, its type, speed, origin, destination, etc. Even private aircraft, and at times, even be in the cockpit observing the instrument panel, or look outside the flight window.
At any given moment, you can actually see in real time, literally every plane in the sky over any area of your choosing anywhere in the world.
Now you can see why an aircraft traffic controller is one very, very busy person.
The information will tell you who is flying the plane, and where they are going.
In the left hand column, there is a box called “planes.” The number in the box is the number of aircraft airborne. This view is what the traffic management people see for planning purposes at the various airports.
What type of plane, airbus A320,330,350, where it originated, and where is it going, what altitude, what speed, what company etc.
A few things you can do;
You can drag the map to change the area you want to view, then zoom in by tapping with your mouse.
On the map you will see all the planes in the air.
Click on an plane, and on the left screen you will get the flight information, airline, type, speed, altitude in real time, re-calculated every 10 seconds.
On some flights you can also click on the ‘view from the cockpit’…
More than the thrill and challenges of traveling and trekking , is the personal safety of a woman that is more important when one does not know who a Rapist is.
And usually the people whom you know are the culprits as a recent rent study points out that it is the close relatives, about 60 %, who are responsible for misusing woman and this is followed by people one befriends people out of nowhere.
This article takes this fact into consideration, instead of being foolhardy in the name of Feminism.
Wish women follow this, not only while traveling even in the city where they live.
It is true that crime does not come with a forewarning, and a criminal is lurking behind us at almost every step of our life. So, a woman is quite vulnerable to those myriad numbers of stalkers, voyeurs and rapists. Even the thought of traveling solo can be daunting for a lot of introvert girls. But believe us, women are indeed traveling alone these days. I have this friend (a beautiful spinster in her early 20s) who recently went backpacking to Bangalore and traveled alone in trains and in buses. And she later told me that she had a blast.
Woman Trekking alone.
Of course, solo traveling comes with a few risks. But as long as you have done your homework carefully, you are likely to end up on a winning note. Traveling alone can be a fun, especially if you are a carefree, fun-loving girl! But here are a few things you need to keep in mind, just in case:
Travel to safer destinations: Traveling to a destination which is isolated and vulnerable is unsafe even for a solo man! If you are a woman, you should ensure that the city or the country you are heading to is right up there on the popularity radar.
Take help of professionals: It is best to travel under some tour package so that you can be guided by your tour operator. It makes sense to have some helping hand by your side especially when you are flying to an offshore destination.
Keep a pepper spray in your bag: Safety is a relative thing, and a beautiful woman may fall under the evil eye of a stalker during the most unexpected of times. It is always good to tread along the safe line. Better keep a pepper spray ready so that, if need arises, you can get away from his perverse clutches. This is a precaution and you may not need it after all.
Learn to say no: At times, you may bump into a stranger (a male stranger) who may try to get friendly with you! There is no harm in forging friendships with a good bloke, but it would be naïve of you to accept unusual requests (like a homestay) from him (no matter, how charming he appears to your fluttering heart). It is good to refuse politely so that the person does not get offended. But just in case, he sticks on like a frightening creeper, you should be willing to bluntly say a big ‘NO’.
Stay at reputed hotels: A woman is at her vulnerable best after the sunset. You may be ruing the extra expenses, but it is always ideal to stay at a resort or a hotel which is reputed. Staying at a cheap inn or lodge can come with some cons. There may be insecurities of certain kinds (like that spy camera in your hotel room, etc )! A branded 3-star hotel would keep you safe and happy! Besides, with a tour package, you can always book a room cheaply.
Finally, you got to remember that one cannot, after all, stop eating just because he is scared of indigestion! Similarly, you cannot stop traveling just because you are intimidated of stalkers! Believe us, life is evanescent! Make the most of it, before you run out of it!
About Author:
Manya Singh is photographer and solo traveller by hobby, travel blogger by passion and lifestyle writer by profession. At present she is responsible for managing holiday packages at WeAreHolidays.
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