“ Varanasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.”– Mark Twain Varanasi – the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, holds immense significance for Hindus as one of the holiest cities in India. It is believed to be the …
Author Archives: Tejas Almelkar
Goa – One Never Regrets It !
“Where should we go for a vacation?” I pondered as I had a week-long break and aimed to make the most of it. I explored several destinations such as Pondicherry, Mahabalipuram, and even Varanasi. Varanasi topped my list, but the flight tickets were exorbitant. Due to the duopoly of Indigo and the Tata group, I …
Sringeri and Belur
Sringeri, the first Maṭha (Dakshinamnaya Sringeri Sharada Peetham), was established by Sri Adi Shankaracharya, the exponent of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy. Located on the banks of the Tunga river in the Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka, it attracts a large number of pilgrims. It is an ancient town that derives its name from Rishyashringa-giri, a nearby …
Badami Heritage City- 2023
There are various reasons why one chooses a particular destination for vacation. It is usually recommendation from friends, seeing travel shows or book related to that subject. In my case, I chose Badami as I heard about it during my Hampi trip and planned to visit it. Badami is an ancient city which was seat …
Kanyakumari and Varkala – March 2023
One of my cherished childhood memories is that of a South-India-package tour. For around 10 days, we visited various temples and tourist places in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Though I have limited memory of that trip, I remember the visit to Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari and the choppy boat ride. I was keen to …
The Allure of Goa – Nov 2022
“Where should be go for winter vacation” – that was a question I was pondering for a while. After shortlisting few options like Pondicherry, Kannur, Kodaikanal etc, I finalized my old favourite- Goa ! This time however, we planned to visit the southern most part of the state, bordering Karnataka. South Goa is not popular …
Trip to Madurai-Srirangam and Thanjavur
Madurai – one of the most famous sites for religious tourism in Southern India. The Meenakshi-Sundareshwarar Temple (also called Meenakshi Amman Temple) is popular throughout India and devotees aspire to visit this place once in their lifetime. Another famous temple in Tamil Nadu is the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam. I came to know about …
Gokarna and Murdeshwar 2022
Gokarna – a well-known name amongst two unlikely groups of people – the religious minded and the frequent travellers. Till about two decades ago, Gokarna was a very pious destination for devout Hindus referred to as Dakshin Kashi (Kashi of the South), but today it is modern beach destination – popular amongst young Indians and …
Glory of Vijaynagar empire – Hampi trip of September 2021
“ Like living beings, empires too go through cycles of life-death-and-rebirth “ Vijaynagar kingdom was at its zenith in the middle of 16th century. International travelers extolled its grandeur and compared it to Rome. Undoubtedly, one of the most magnificent cities of the era. And then disaster stuck. The five Muslim kingdoms (called Bahamani) united …
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From Cheeku Rabbit to Bhagwat Geeta – Part 2
In the first part of my blog,I detailed how I started reading Champak magazine at the age of five and moved on to other children’s books gradually. By the time I entered college, Agatha Christie and P G Wodehouse had become a staple diet of mine. In the final years of Engineering , I was …
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Temples of Karnataka 