Kukke Subramanya Temple in Karnataka

This place is around 2 hours from Mangalore and had to leave early in the morning. Reached there on time and captured this early in the morning. Image shows the entrance of Kukke Subramanya Hindu temple, one of the very famous and richest temple in southern India. To the left of the entrance is the chariot. Right behind the temple is the very famous trekking spot - Kumara Parvata. It takes a bit less than a day to climb all the way up. This place is know for poisonous snakes as is common to find once you enter the forest behind. This place is in the rain forest region of Dakshina Kannada and is known for heavy rain. Not an ideal time to visit this place during rainy season. 

Camera: Canon Powershot SX 100 IS

Location: Kukke Temple, Subramanya, Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, India

Sringeri - The 8th Century Monastery

Captured this photo when I had been to Sringeri. One of the oldest 8th century monastery. The old building that you see is the Sringeri Sharadha Peetha or Sringeri Matta. It's a must visit place if you have plans to travel to south India. Right next to this ancient Matta is the river Tunga and on the other side is the Sharada temple. This place is around 100+ kms from Mangalore and is around 300+ kms from Bangalore.

Camera: Nikon D600, Nikon 14-24mm lens
Camera Settings: 19mm, 1/250, f/8, ISO 100
Location: Sringeri, Karnataka, India

Note: Photography inside the temple isn't allowed.

On the way to Sringeri

Captured this picture on the way from Mangalore to Sringeri just after the rain forest and western ghats. I was standing on a hanging bridge with crystal clear water in the foreground and reflection of sunlight. In the middle left is the state highway and middle left and to the right is the fresh bright green rain forest. In the background is the western ghats with bright blue clean sky. It was just too perfect, really peaceful place. Local people use this hanging bridge to walk and cross the small river below. The depth of the river isn't too much and it was crystal clear. You could easily see the colorful rocks and fish below. 

Camera: Nikon D600 Lens: 14-24 mm FX Nikon
Camera Settings: 14mm, 1/250 sec, f/8, ISO 110
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Location: Mangalore - Srigeri Highway, 60km before Sringeri after Western Ghats.

Surathkal Light house late in the evening

Even though I work in Bangalore as of this writing, I visit Surathkal (my home town) atleast once in every 1 or 2 months. I have seen people visiting this place in the evening as there is famous temple and a light house. But after sunset at around 7-8 pm you will hardly find anyone there. Even though I spent most of time time here in this place, I did not ever stay back after 7pm. Recently, I have been to this place with my Nikon D600 camera and a tripod along with Nikon lens. It was too perfect for me with clear sky and for me to experiment with low light photography. I had to wait for almost an hour to capture this with no one around, just the beam of light from light house. Also, I'm lucky enough to capture shooting star in the same image. I had captured this at around a distance of 500-750 meters from light house. Below is the image and camera settings that I have used to capture this low light photo of night sky along with the light house.

Camera: Nikon D600

Lens: Nikon 50mm FX prime lens 1.4D

Camera Settings: Exposure 30 secs, f/5, 50mm, IS0 800, No flash, Used Tripod.

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Happy Kid from Russia

Captured this photo of a young little shy girl who had come with her parents to stay at Sangam Beach. Spoke her dad came to know that they are from Russia, and had come to India to stay in the beach hut which they love the most. Captured this kid's photo when she had come out of their hut with her mother. Asked her about her friends and she pointed to the little kitten. People from all round the world come here, learn Yoga and spend their vacation in the beach huts here.

Camera: Nikon D600. Lens: 50 mm prime. Settings: 1/100, IS0 400, f/5
Location: Sangam Beach, KA, India (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DiOPQSQXC0)

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Gokarna City Festival

I have been to Gokarna in the recent past during my Kumta to Gokarna beach trekking which was for 2 days and covered a distance of 30 kms by walk and boat. Covered multiple places including Om beach, Paradise beach and Halfmoon beach. Lot of tourists come to this place every year. We went to Gokarna Mahabaleshwara Shiva temple late in the evening and after visiting the temple we had our dinner there. It was festival time - Deepotsava. It was really nice to see each and every one come out of their house put rangoli in front of their house. Check out this video. It was more like festival of lights and this is performed on the day of full moon. At 9pm in the evening the grand celebration begins inside the temple premises. This place had equal number of locals and foreign tourists who had come to Gokarna to stay on long term. Just liked the local tradition and cultured that were being followed in this region of Gokarna located at North West Karnataka in India, makes this a must visit place.

Camera: Nikon D600 

Location: Gokarna, Karnataka, India

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Little Langoor making too much noise

Post by Ravi's Photography.

Location: Opp. Badami Caves, Badami, KA, India
Camera: Nikon D600

This shot of little Langoor making too much noise was captured near the temple on the other side of Badami Caves early in the morning. This temple is not visible from entrance, but is visible from the opposite hill where you will find caves.

Laughing Buddha

The celestial Buddha named Hotei (in Japanese) or Budai is best known as the jolly Laughing Buddha. His large protruding stomach and jolly smile have given him the commondesignation "Laughing Buddha" in Chinese. In the west he is popularly known as "Fat Buddha." His name means "Cloth Sack," and comes from the bag that he carries. In China, he is known as the Loving or Friendly One. Laughing Buddha statues depict a stout, smiling or laughing bald man in robes with a largely exposed pot belly stomach, which symbolizes happiness, good luck, and plenitude and is often depicted as having the appearance of an amply proportioned bald man wearing a robe and wearing or otherwise carrying prayer beads. Laughing Buddha appears throughout Chinese culture as a representation of contentment. His image graces many temples, restaurants, amulets, and businesses. He carries his few possessions in a cloth sack, being poor but content. According to legend, if one rubs the Laughing Buddha's great belly, it brings forth wealth, good luck, and prosperity.

South India Tourism - Pandya Nagari

Karkala is a town and also the headquarters of Karkala Taluk in Udupi district of Karnataka, India. The first name of this town was "Pandya Nagari" during the Jain regime but afterwards it was changed to "Karikallu" because of black stones. Black granite is abundant in this area, and is in wide use in the local architecture. The statue Gomateshwara (Lord Bahubali) is located about 1 km from the center of the town and is 42 ft. high, believed to have been built around 1432 AD. Yearly celebrations are in the month of February called "Rathotsava" and once in 12 years "Mahamastakabhisheka", sacred bathing of the statue with saffron paste, milk and water and sprinkled with sandal wood powder, turmeric, and vermilion is celebrated. This statue of Gomateshwara in karkala is the 2nd highest next to the Gomateshwara statue, located at Shravanabelagola. Karkala has a number of natural and historical landmarks including the Ramasamudra Lake.

There are 18 basadis of antiquity including Mahaveera Basadi, Chandranathaswamy Basadi, Adinathaswamy Basadi, Ananthanatha Basadi, Guru Basadi and Padmavathi Basadi.

South India Tourism - Surathkal

Surathkal is on the shore of Arabian sea and boasts of having beautiful beaches. There is a beach in front of the Sadashiva Temple.The beach is known for its clean surrounding and its lighthouse.

Surathkal is famous for the some of the age old very famous educational institutes/colleges like NITK, Govindadasa college and many other schools. Surathkal was once a Grama panchayat, then town panchayat, municipality now merged with Mangalore city corporation.

According to legend, the name Surathkal is derived from "shiratakal" meaning "headstone" in Tulu (local language). When Lord Ganapathi kept a shiva linga belonging to Ravana on ground, Ravana tried to pull the linga from the ground but could not. The place where the linga is supposed tohave been is now known as Gokarna. Due to the force exerted by Ravana, some pieces were scattered. One such piece from the head of the linga is said to have fallen in present day Surathkal. The famous Sadashiva temple is said to be built around that piece of linga. Men in the coastal line go for fishing, as early as 4am in the morning and will be back home by 12pm. Women go to market to sell those fishes (Most common types of fish that they sell include the famous "Banguday", "Bootai"). People here speak Tulu (Majority), kannada or konkani and are proud to be called as "tulu nadu da jokulu".

Kodachadri Trekking

I had been to Kodachadri with my friends on a team outing when I worked for IBM. We reached Kollur late in the evening and spend overnight at one of the hotels in Kollur City. We started our day by visiting Sri Mookambika Temple of Kollur. Kodachadri lies in the Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary at Kollur in Karnataka, India. The mountain is 1343m tall and is the highest peak in the Shimoga district of Karnataka. Arashinagundi falls and Hidlumane falls are two famous waterfalls inside the forests of Kodachadri valley. The highest point among these hills offers a majestic view of sunset. During sunset the Arabian sea can be viewed from the sunset point. There is also a sunrise point from where a breathtaking view of rising sun is made possible. The Lingamakki reservoir is also visible from the peak.

There is a temple dedicated to Sri Mokkambika Devi at the top. Chitramoola is another beautiful location which according to the legend was the place where Shankaracharya met Mookambika Devi. Ganapathi Cave is another attraction near the Peak. Kodachadri is a trekkers paradise with adventurous trekking routes through the waterfalls to the peak. Well, if you are lazy to go all the way for trekking then you can go by local jeep though some other route. I would suggest every one to take routes through the waterfalls to the peak. It’s a must visit place. Leave a comment and do share this post if you are planning to visit or have already traveled to Kodachadri.

Belur

Belur, built in the year 1117 A.D. was the early capital of the Hoysala Empire. Belur is located in Hassan district, Karnataka, India. The main attraction in Belur is the Chennakesava temple complex which contains the Chennakesava Temple (meaning handsome Vishnu) as the centre piece, surrounded by the Kappe Chennigraya temple. The temple is one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture; it was built by king Vishnuvardhana in commemoration of his victory over the Cholas at Talakad in 1117 A.D.Legend has it that it took 103 years to complete and Vishnuvardhana's grandson Veera Ballala II completed the task. The facade of the temple is filled with intricate sculptures and friezes with no portion left blank. The intricate workmanship includes elephants, lions, horses, episodes from the Indian mythological epics, and sensuous dancers (Shilabalikas). Inside the temple are a number of ornate pillars. Darpana Sundari (Lady with the mirror) carved on walls of Belur Temple is one of major attractions in the complex. This temple is being proposed as UNESCO world heritage sites.