Come Fly to India

When you hear of Karnatanaka, you would say that the name is familiar. That is because IT or computers made Bangalore famous, and Bangalore (now Bengaluru) is in Karnataka. But there are also a lot of places to visit in karnataka, like Hampi, Badami, Pattadakal, Bidar Bijapur, Srirangapatna, Mysore.

The topic of our discussion today, Hampi is not quite far from Bangalore. The nearest town, Hospet, is about 350 KMs by road from Bangalore and is connected by rail from Bijapur, Hubli and Guntukul besides Bangalore. You can take a flight to Bangalore and from there take a train and soak the beauty of Rural Northen Karnataka along the way. If you want to see India, you need to travel by train.

Hampi was once the proud capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, and it was ravaged by the Bahmani Armies centuries back. The ruins have stood the tests of time and today remains proud as ever, beautiful and majestic. The Vijayanagara Kingdom prospered between 1336 and 1565 AD in the Southern part of India.

The Vittala temple complex remains tall, and is a major tourist destination, and so does the Royal marketplace where once was traded stuff that the western explorers dream of, a few centuries later, Spices, Silver, Gold, Jewellery.

Four Dynasties ruled this once rocky terrain and transformed into the beauty that we still talk about today. Hampi entered its golden era during the rule of Krishnadeva Raya (1509-1539), when Art and Architecture flourished under this Warrior Poet.

Hampi is today a UNESCO world heritage site, and the end of the Hampi happed when the bahmani Kingdoms of Bijapur, Bidar, Ahmednagar and Golconda defeated the Vijayanaga Empire in the battle if Talikota in 1565 AD. It is believed that the conquering army plundered the kingdom for 6 months leaving it to ruins for fear that the beauty of the kingdom might attract other Kings of that time to attack it.

We can still see the ruins of Temples, palaces, monuments and a criss cross of Aqueducts built during this era. There are also Swimming pools inside the palace campus, which indicates the quality of living the kings had..
Some of the legacy that you will get to experience:

Lotus Mahal:This was a summer palace for the queen shaped like a lotus flower from top, this is a two-story palace with beautiful arcways. It was air-cooled using advance ventilation technology.
Elephant Stables: A huge elephant stable, that housed 11 elephants.
Pushkarini Tank: These is where pilgrims took bath before entering the temples.
Mahanavami Dibba: A wooden structure/platform from which the royalty viewed Hampi.
Mustard Ganesh: A single stone statue of the lord Ganesha, also known as Sasivikalu Ganesha.

Noblemen’s Palace: A recent excavation which was used for aristocrats and high-ranking officials.

This is a must visit if you are in Bangalore, or for that matter India.
For more information visit the official karnataka tourism site.

Here is the Hampi Map.

Time has an excellent article on Mumbai’s Slums.

The state government of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai (formerly Bombay) is the capital, wants to raze dozens of slums like Dharavi for redevelopment and new infrastructure as part of its multibillion-dollar plan to turn the city into a world-class financial center by 2015. No one doubts that India’s business capital needs a makeover. Bad roads and inefficient or nonexistent public transport make getting around Mumbai a nightmare; monsoon rains and clogged rivers and drains regularly submerge whole sections of the city. In areas wet and dry, however, property prices are higher than those in midtown Manhattan. But the redevelopment plans will displace up to half the 14 million to 18 million people in India’s largest city and challenge the idea that poor and rich can live side by side in a tumultuous democracy. Even the poorest in Mumbai agree that the city needs to change. But, they ask, at what cost?

Dharavi is a living slum, as big as a small city, and the slums are so special, and unique many people visit the place as a major tourist destinations, also called slum tourism. There are tourist operators and travel agents thats specially conducts slum tours in Dharavi.

Terrorist are targeting Goa, One of India’s best tourist destinations, which attracts thousands of Tourists Indian and Foreigners. The alert was sounded after a foiled terror attack plan.

An alert has been sounded in Goa and police have intensified checking to track possible terror plots in the tourist hot spot, Chief Minister Digamber Kamat said on Thursday.

The move follows the arrest of a suspected militant in Karnataka who had allegedly confessed about his plans to strike in Karnataka and Goa. The militant had reportedly said that he could not translate his terror plans into action as he failed to receive a consignment of 50 kgs of RDX explosive from Pakistan.

[via]

Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum, with a population of 1 million spread over 530 acres and contributes about 500 million to India GDP, became famous when some smart entrepreneurs started the concept of slum tourism. Now the latest tourists are none but visitors from premier business schools.

These dusty, dirty, often-stinking, narrow lanes, crowded with houses of tin or tarpaulin sheets, have suddenly become an international tourism hotspot and this time the state government is welcoming them with a grin. Because the visitors represent elite institutes like London School of Economics, Rockefeller Foundation, United Nations and Nagoya University, Japan, all trying to understand the method in the madness.[via]

Kenilworth Hotels operates the luxurious resort, The Kenilworth Beach Resort and Spa in Goa. It is repoeted that Kenilworth a five-star deluxe luxury hotel will be investing about 5.5 crores to add 16 luxury villas to its property. The villas should be ready by october if completed in schedule.

The The Kenilworth Beach Resort and Spa is located in Utorda near Majorda which is 20 minutes from Dabolim Airport and 15 minutes from the Margao Railway Station.

This is a 5 star property with an impressive business feature with some of its super specialist services and is equipped with the best of facilities.
The Kenilworth Beach Resort, Goa offers an expansive area of 14000 square feet near the pool and The 2500 Sq. Ft. Banquet Hall of the hotel will suit any business conference or the likes.

As with many five star resorts, The Kenilworth Beach Resort, Goa offers the array of facilities as:

Outdoor Jacuzzi
Steam, Sauna and Massage
Fitness Centre
Children’s Pool
Beach Volleyball
Swimming Pool with separate area for deep diving
Badminton
Internet Access
Video Games
Card Room
Library
Pool

All in All a good place to stay for your holidays.

Mysore is one place that you should visit if you happen to be in Bangalore. You can either drive down or take a bus from Majestic. It was, I guess, 6 years back when I first visited the place, taking that 3 hour bus drive from Mysore (it is a 140 Km stretch). A perfect weekend getaway.

As the name suggests it is a land of Palaces and the Mysore palace is a sight to watch.
Mysore palace is the most magnificient of all the palaces.
Designed by the English Architect, Henry Irwin, the Mysore Palace dominates the skyline of Mysore. A three storied structure in the Indo-Saracenic style built between 1897-1912, the palace has beautifully designed square towers at cardinal points, covered with domes. The architecture is a mix of Dravidian, Oriental and Roman. The Durbar Hall with its ornate ceiling and sculpted pillars and the Kalyanamantapa (Marriage Pavilion) with its glazed tiled flooring and stained glass, domed ceiling are worth noting. Intricately carved doors, the golden howdah ,paintings as well as the fabulous, jewel encrusted golden throne, the Gombe Thotti or the Doll’s Pavilion are amongst the palace’s other treasures. It was the doors that amazed me, and this palace was not even very old..

There are seven canons in front of the Gombe Thotti. These canons are used during the Dussehra. The Golden Throne is also displayed during the Dussehra, and 97000 bulb are used to light the palace during the festival. Plan your next holiday around the Dussehra.. (Dussehra is a very popular Hindu festival, which marks the defeat of Ravana by Lord Rama.) Dussehra usually falls during October/November.

The palace has chamber called Diwan-e-Khas used by the emperor for private audience and another chamber called the Diwan-e-Aam for public audience. Walking through the Palace is walking through a museum, and there were some palaces which said “Entry not allowed” and I felt so curious, I felt like breaking in.. Too bad, I couldn’t take any pictures since cameras weren’t allowed.

Chamundi Hills: The Chamundi hill is one must visit if you go to Mysore. We went to the Chamundeshwari temple on top of the hill.. My friends went in to pray, but I just stayed outside watching the temple which is dated back to the 11th century. The statue of Nandi marks the entry to the hills. Legend says that this colossal Nandi was a gift of Dodda Deva Raja. Over 25 ft long and 4.8 mt high (16ft high), adorned with ropes, chains, bells and jewels of stone, the bull with half shut eyes, which seem, in yogic fashion. And there is a larger than life statue (or perhaps it was smaller) of a Demon, the Mahishasura that was destroyed by Goddess Chamundi.
The hill is 3,489ft. above the sea levels and is 12 km from Mysore city. An energetic visitor will be well repaid by climbing up the 1000 steps, fashioned about 300 years ago. We went by car along the road.

On our way upto the temple, we could also see the The Lalitha Palace Hotel, a heritage hotel near the Chamundi Hills of Mysore. I think some Bollywood movies were shot here, I don’t remember which. The temple was a beauty like all other things in Mysore.

We then went to the St Philomena Church, where the movie Amar Akbar Anthony was shot. It felt really good, since it is one of my favorite movies, and It seemed like Amitabh Bachchan would walk out of the Church, singing.

This Roman Catholic Church was built in AD 1840 and was known as St. Joseph Chaver. The twin towers of the church stand majestically at 175 feet, the design is gothic and it is said to resemble the St. Patrick’s cathedral at New York and a church at Cologne. They had a dungeon like basement which was quite a scary thing.. The church is located about I km from Mysore Palace on the Bangalore highway. The then king of Mysore Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV laid the foundation for construction of the church in 1933.

We also visited the Brindavan garden and the dancing gardens. The dancing fountains in Las Vegas wouldn’t have been more beautiful. I also grew up watching Hindi Movies where my favorite stars danced in the Brindavan gardens and it was quite a nostalgia.

The Krishnaraja Sagar reservoir across the legendary Cauvery River is round 18km north-west of Mysore. The Brindavan Gardens are located just a level below the dam.

Often described as the best example of illuminated terrace gardens in the country, the idea was brainchild of Sir M.Visveshwaraiah and Sir Mirza M ismail, former Devans of Mysore.

The Kerala govt has approached the aviation ministry for permission to start an Airlines operation.

With a huge immigrant population in the Gulf, the Kerala Govt wants to start an international flight to the Gulf.

Looks like they don’t have the pre-requisites like the minimum operations of 20 aircrafts and to be in business for a minimum of 5 years, but they have been looking for an exception.

Why don’t they just lobby with the govt to allow more flight by the private operators?

TOI Reports that it might not be viable to operate two Airports in Goa, one the existing Dhabolim and the proposed one at Mopa.

The State Authorities had recently asked the ICAO to examine if the two could be used together. ICAO has submitted the report that it won’t be financially viable.