Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar

Two days 380kms (Konark, Puri, Chilika Lake, Lingraj Temple, Dhauli, Udayagiri caves, Khandagiri caves and Nandankanan zoological park)

This trip was possible due to Khelo India University games 2020 held in Bhubaneswar, It's a good initiative by the Indian government to promote the sports at college level. We were 4 people from Karnataka to be part of  Khelo India games, duration of event was 10 days, we were lucky to watch ISL football league at Kalinga Stadium, this stadium has multi sports infrastructure hope its maintained well for the sporting events in future.

As we were done with the games we stayed back for two more days to explore Bhubaneswar and nearby places joined by my wife for the last two days this time she had safe trip in car, last trip with her on bullet was a disaster due to break failure thanks to Enfield Service center, luckily it was minor injuries after this we hadn't planned any trips on bike last year. We took accommodation in Nilaya residency, Infocity, I personally would suggest not to stay there as their service is not up to the mark in handling guests and their belongings I understand as it was newly constructed hotel we were the first occupants to the hotel, many people clothes got mixed up in laundry some didn't get them back too.

Day1 (Chandrabagha beach, Konark, Puri and Chilika Lake)

We were worried about fog as the previous day fog was dense till 8am, still we planned for 4am start with a rented car, fog was just getting dense on some patches on highway the visibility was less than 5ft, our first destination was Chandrabhaga beach for sunrise, we were able to be reach the destination 15min before ETA the sunrise view point was crowded so we went further inside near fishermen area where we could see them doing there morning chores, these people don't take swach bharat seriously, after the photography session we headed to the pond as an local taxi driver had said the sacred pond at Chandrabhaga beach has some healing powers, the first ray of sun falling on the pond and reflecting on human body would cure some disease, but looking at the current condition of pond, people will be hospitalized for sure if they touch the water or go near it.

Sun temple (Konark),

Near the parking lot there is a cap stall, we picked a hat from there, later near the stalls of the temple the same hat was much cheaper than what we had brought. We took a guide with us at Sun temple they have group packages from tourism department, it's a dead temple at present there are restoration works going on south and west side, the temple is filled from inside to support the structure. Temple is built from stone in the form of a giant ornamented chariot dedicated to Sun god, it has 24 elaborately carved stone wheels which are nearly 12 feet in diameter tells time of the day and are pulled by a set of seven horses, the various types carvings from dragon head, life cycle of human, erotic poses, animals etc are must see by a person, restrooms are well maintained by Indian oil Corporation which charges a fee of Rs5 for all. After breakfast we headed to Puri.

Jagannath Temple Puri,

GPS shows the route to temple, but the traffic except two wheeler are stopped 1 km before in radius, Its well managed the parking lots are away from the temple this doesn't create any traffic chaos near the temple area, fit people can walk others can take rickshaw to reach the temple, mobile phones and wallets are not allowed inside the temple, there are free and paid lockers available in surroundings. Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Lord Subhdra are a trio of deities worshiped at the temple. The temple contains statues of these three Gods carved from sacred neem wood. There are many temples around the complex one needs to be careful to not get too close to purohits there, they will demand money from you as kanike (donation), after darshan we headed to Puri Lake its bustling with activities even in noon at extreme temperatures, it's better to have lunch in Puri as there are no restaurants seen till Chilika lake.

Chilika Lake ( Dolphin Sighting)

It was around 4.30pm we reached Chilika lake boating area had a quick late lunch, there are many private operators along with government operator who do boating in the lake. We felt it was like a domesticated dolphin as there was only one and could see the fin, it was an expensive ride for Rs1750 of no use, private operators take you to an island where the open corals live in front of you and sell the pearls. it was late around 7pm nobody were there when we reached the shore, we headed to our room in Bhubaneswar.

Day 2 ( Lingaraja Temple, Dhauli, Khandagiri, Udaygiricaves and Nandankanan zoological park)

Lingaraja Temple

As it got late last night we started late around 8am after breakfast at roadside truck, we headed to Lingaraja temple, here too mobile phones and wallets are not allowed, the pond at the entrance of temple was under cleansing process, the temples here consists of three domes in single line facing east with many small temples around the complex. architecture of these temples are mesmerizing as these are done during 13th century AD. Non Hindus are not allowed, they have platform towards north side of the temple, they can see the architecture of the temple, one can get an amazing panorama picture of the temple.

Dhauli,

It's a small Hillock, you can see Lord Buddha in 4 different posture the main attraction is the sleeping posture. At the entrance of the hill you can see Ashoka pillar and rock cut elephant carving, Its believed kalinga war was fought and King Ashoka too  got enlightened about the ill effects of war as the Daya river turned blood red. From Dhauli we headed to Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves

Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves,

There is no entry fee for Khandagiri caves, cave nos are small compared to Udayagiri caves, there is Lord hanuman shrine on top of the hill, we can see magnificent view of Udayagiri caves from here except Ranighumpa two storied cave structure. Udayagiri caves Entry fee of Rs25 for Indians and Rs300 for foreigners. As you enter if you take the right side path you can see the Ranighumpa two storied cave with carvings and orange in colour, there are many more picturesque points in this hill.  

Nandankanan Zoological park,

The zoo closes at 6.30pm we were able to reach the zoo by 5:30pm as it was Sunday the crowd was huge, we all were excited about White Tiger, Bear, Lion and herbivore Safari in For Rs 30 per head. We couldn't do full visit of the zoo, we headed straight for Safari point, it was long line we stood close to 30min till our turn all praying to spot an wild animal while in bus, our hopes diminished as soon as we entered the safari area it was closed habitat with separate enclosures, they were let from their captives. It wasn't like natural spotting of wild animals it turned out to be domesticated safari, later we headed to room then to airport.

Airport Saga,

We couldn't find any restaurants as were getting late we just headed to airport without dinner, we hunted for the best stomach filling option in two floors, we shortlisted on last stocks of 4 egg sandwich and 1 veg sandwich,  as we placed ordered and waited two aunties were wondering what were we talking about, we said whether one sandwich will fill our stomach they smiled, once the sandwich was out from oven its size had shrunk a lot than the one kept in display before heating. This one for sure wont fill our stomach and we didn't have extra cash to order another, as they weren't accepting cards at airport due to some technical issues.

Team,

Sharath C -Photographer and driver

Jeevan -Director for photo spots

Varun N-Car DJ

Prinitha E

Santhosh V

Dam'n Ride 640km

Dam'n Ride  640km

A long weekend coming to an end on a lazy Sunday had no plans of going out of city as it would be rush hour during return as many people would be returning to city. Somehow this curious Bhavani Sagar dam which i missed during my Coimbature ride 3yrs back made me take the bike out, as well has had other personal reasons too which didn't go as planned due to the under construction of roads.

Around 8.30am took the beast out for the long ride on the beasts favorite route via Kankapura,

Mavalli and Sathymangalam which is full of greens and curves, to beast and my dismay taking the route after a long time, it was a nightmare as the trees were being cut for road widening with as many speed breakers as in Bangalore Mysore highway. Developing of the road also reduced the speed and took 2 extra hrs to reach the destination. Till Chamrajanagar the roads were under repair.

Chikkahole dam enroute one can see the mighty structure on right side with well maintained garden which can be seen from road side, it has no access to public. it's a small reservoir with good depth near the tank bund.

Suvarnamathy dam, within 5km from Chikkahole dam its easily spotted on the left side of the road during a curve,  which can be accessible to people, can get near water if entering next to KPTCL surrounded by mini forest on one side due to the wet land. one can spot peacocks from here.

Sathyamangalam forest route, it's a new rule of night traffic ban being implemented recently in this  with sweltering heat in noon even in the ghat section, the beast had many challenges to overcome in terms of road and heavy movement of lorries in this route. as we entered Tamil Nadu check post we were flagged down, after eye scanning from top to down they let us without me having to turn off the ignition, I still wonder how is that possible in Tamil Nadu, was it due to my go pro on helmet or an senior citizen sitting on the back removing the helmet first in spite seeing the clip for several times I still haven't figured out how they let us pass without checking further about bike documents. Last time I entered early morning and missed the scenery due to thick fog, where as this time during summer and in noon it was completely opposite, hot even in the ghats, with clear picture of mountains and heavy lorries climbing up hill in u turns. as we were descending from the ghats the weather getting warmer in noon, took a small break near Mariyaman temple which was crowded as it was Sunday.
route same as Bandipur route 21:00hrs to 6:00hrs,

Bhavani Sagar Dam,

The GPS with bhavani Sagar dam location took us to the back waters of the dam where as Ooty is just 60km from there, but the route with the majestic mountains at the backdrop and banana plantations narrow road, with some offroading ride to get near water was fun and getting baked in sun with the riding gear on It was Around 15:30hrs we reached instead of 13:30hrs . For people to visit the dam use GPS location as Bhavani Sagar children's park or Pungar , this will take you to the dam gates.

Mettur Dam, during return took Thoppur Krishnagiri route, as the sun was setting down its the beast favorite to chase the sunset, covering as much as distance possible in day light. The Mettur thermal power plant is spread over a huge area overlooking the Mettur dam, with huge structures. Mettur dam having 16 sluice gates, the thermal power plant and Dam are gigantic structures over looking each other. its a must visit road to see man made new marvels in south India.

Return the first Toll was Dharmapuri which had vechile pile up for almost 2km the cars had even blocked the two wheelers route, I knew the return will be a hell ride as it was last day of long weekend and many people returning home. Even the Krishnagiri, Bangalore toll had pile up off 2km without any lane discipline. on top of this the icing was the white topping work happening in Bangalore adding to chaos even at 23:00hrs an never ending night mare happening in Bangalore for a long time.

Sunset chase Dandiganahalli Dam

 Its appx 85km from Bangalore via Chikaballapur good 2hrs ride, beautiful spot for half a day trip, this place suitable for all types of people who wish to spend time with nature, its easily accessible by young and old people too. Its clean without much of human intervention.  If lucky ,one can spot Peacock too.

It was pleasant weather that made me just get in the gear and hit the road around 4pm,there should be an start for everything its my first late start ride after work.The two lane highway till Chikaballapur then a deviation towards left takes you inside Chikaballapur town, you go through market you can buy fresh fruits as there are no shops near Dandiganahalli Dam. 17km from Chikaballapur through a small ghat patch were the road widening work is on,  in slow swing, it might take another two or more years to finish the entire work on this stretch, last 6km goes through village, I would request fellow travelers to ride slowly as the road is very narrow lots of kids and small animals keep crossing or playing on the road, most of the stretch is of mud road in the village, an a very narrow uphill leads you straight into the dam surrounded three sides by small mountains. Rest you guys need to experience it.

Please don't litter the place its one of cleanest spots untouched by plastic waste.

Bike TB 500
Rider Santhosh Venkataram
 

Bangalore-Pune-Mahabaleshwar-Lonavala-Bangalore. 2339km

 Bangalore-Pune-Mahabaleshwar-Lonavala-Bangalore

Last 6 new years had been riding to Chennai for Chennai Open the only ATP tour event in India. This year the tournament is moved to Pune so it was appx 900km ride this time, joined by an pillion one way Akram first timer for an long distance ride, RE bikes are an hell experience for pillion, for an rider its all the luxury in the world till it breaks down in ghat region, my thunderbird which weighs 3 times the weight of me, hasn't troubled  me like this. It withstood my 2339km ride covering the below mentioned places.

Bangalore to Pune via Kolhapur,

It was an late start around 5am still we were able to avoid fog on the outskirts, but it was getting colder as were moving away from city. Our first stop was near Davangere for breakfast as Benne Dosa is popular in Davangere but for our bad luck we couldn't find any hotels on the highway offering Benne dosa, we had idly vada the popular south Indian breakfast dish, nearing Belgaum Akram was feeling very uncomfortable sitting on pillion seat, there were too many short breaks from then on as he was not used to do long rides, We took an long break for lunch in Kolhapur as Mehul was waiting for us in Kolhapur, we left Kolhapur around 4.30pm as per the original itinerary we were supposed to be visiting Mahabaleshwar and reach Pune but due to delay we headed straight to Pune, Akram was in rider seat till dark and I took over from there as it was an weekend  there were many vehicles exiting Pune making three way traffic and blocking the road from all possible directions, for a second I thought I was in Bangalore famous for its traffic jams,  last 10km on highway took more than an hour for us to reach our venue.

New year Dagadusheth Ganesh Temple, Shaniwarwada, Pataleshwar temple

New year blessings from Dagaduseth Ganapathi, very popular temple in Pune, idol can be seen from road side itself, Lord Ganesha is insured for Rs 10million and carrying 40kilos of gold on the idol, source wikipedia.

Shaniwarwada  and Pataleshwar  within a kilometer from Dagaduseth temple is also an tourist spot  inside Pune city The temple is cut from a rock, is dedicated to god Shiva. The sanctum- a cube-shaped room about 3–4 metres on each side - houses a Linga statue- the symbol of Shiva and there are two smaller cells on each side. In front of the cave is a circular Nandi Mandapa, its umbrella shaped canopy supported by massive square pillars. This mandapa is one of the peculiar structures of Pataleshwar. The cave is located at a lower level than the present level of the road and the cave complex. There is an exquisitely carved circular Nandi shrine on the left side of the entrance cave. The main cave is rectangular on plan and has a pillared porch. There are three sanctums in the cave temple and the central one houses Lord Shivalinga.

Mahabaleshwar via Bhatgar dam , Ambade ghat road, Panchagani

There are two roads to reach Mabaleshwar from pune, the route via Pune Surur Wai is faster to reach, but the people who love ghats  and nature can take deviation near Kapurhol will connect  Bhor road, its connects Bhatghar dam too, Bhatgar dam was covered by fog as we were riding early morning it's a huge water body built during British era still stands strong , as it was during winter one side of the ambade ghat were completely dry and brown in color, other side was lush green that's the difference you see in the western ghat belt covering four different states have four different types of green as we reached the Ambade, Mahabaleshwar was 59km from there, longer route but totally enjoyed it.

Mahabaleshwar, as per the local priest there tells the Linga is underground and only the head is seen in the form of Rudraksha (sacred seed used by Hindus). Submerged Linga is around 5ft in diameter, can be viewed from close range no photography allowed. Panchaganga temple where the five rivers Koyna, Veena, savitri, Gayatri and Krishna meet together and come out of Kunda and falls in small water tank.If you ever get a chance to visit Mabaleshwar or panchgini strawberry is very famous and tastes good too, you have to try it.

Lonavala,

Bhushi dam, as it was winter the water level was low, it was a good walk around the dam with sunrise view, before reaching there you will be crossing Lonavala lake in which Tata power is maintaining the lake and an cricket pitch inside the lake area.

Lohagad Fort and Visapur Fort

Well maintained steep roads enroute during monsoon people can see many waterfalls by the road side, situated 3000+ft above sea level one will be spending close to 45min to reach the top of the fort depends on individuals fitness too, ambushed by the black mountains one can hardly tell an fort is visible there, Few kilometers before Lohagad fort towards left side an mud road leads to visapur fort , the pathway to base is being developed, it also located almost 3000+ft like twin towers this too can be called as twin forts where it situated on the opposite hills, in dense green vegetation, got to know the British took cannons to Visapur fort to attack Lohagad fort to plunder its treasure saved by maraths. Later both the forts were taken over by British, if you are lucky you could sight an leopard as the region falls in Sahyadri range.

Karala Caves and Baja Caves,

Karla Caves , are a complex of ancient rock cut caves at Karli near Lonavala. The shrines were developed over the period – from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. The oldest of the cave shrines is believed to date back to 160 BC, the interior roof is being attached with wooden planks in arch shape, and big stupa situated at the end, it too has an wooden reverse pyramid kida architecture, and the carvings on the rocks will leave you wondering without technology  how those people had cut the rocks and carved it also, the saints rooms are also cut from rocks with single cot rooms whre as the cot is also cut from the rock.  less than 5km on opposite side of Karala caves lies the Baja caves, this too has similar carvings as Karala caves with wooden arches and many stupas placed outside with different designs on the top, this looks bigger than Karla caves,  here one can find the Lord Shiva cut rock and double room cots of saints and windows too cut from the same rock.

Return Via Mahalaxmi temple Kolhapur,

As one of my colleague Veeresh wanted to reach Belgaum urgently so he hoped onto my bike, but  this has a iron bum he never complained about his back during the return ride where we had just one stop at Mahalaxmi temple in Kolhapur, the temple doesn't allow an bags inside there are many lockers rooms around temple left my bags and helmet in the locker and headed for darshan it has two separate que for men and women and one good thing about this temple is that there is no special darshan line, everybody is treated equally, from there our next stop was in Belguam for lunch around 2.30pm after dropping Veeresh in Dharwad It was an solo ride home by 9.30 was home for dinner.

Riders,

Santhosh Venkataram

Syed Akram

Veeresh

Short ride Lalit.

Bike Thunderbird 500