My OperaTrip to Kunjergiri
Monday, August 28, 2006 7:45:50 AM
Located about 5 kilometers from Katpadi, Kunjalgiri is host to a temple that is nestled on the top of a small hill.
Varun and I decided to go there because we had nothing better to do on Saturday, especially since classes for the day had been cancelled in preparation for Ganesh Chaturti. We had been thinking of going there in the past month and today was the perfect day to go there.
The sky was overcast in the morning but it started to clear up at around 11. I met up with Varun at the Udupi service stand and we took a bus to my aunts place in Udyavara where I reside. Once there we just chilled out for a little while and decided on a plan of action for the day. I got changed and then after saying our goodbyes we were at the bus stop in front of my house waiting for a bus to Katpadi.
This was our first time in Katpadi, even though it is only a 5 minute bus ride away from Udyavara and my aunt's house. We got off at the main bus stand and picked up some chips (Kurkure) and had a soda. The shop keepers was pretty helpful with their directions on how to get to the temple.
We got on a rickshaw since we had just missed the bus to Kunjalgiri. The next bus would take an hour to come by to the stop. The ride on the rick took us about 10 minutes and we got there in no time. I never knew that Katpadi was so huge and was pleasantly suprised by the good condition of all the roads that connected the entire township.
Our rick dropped us off at the steps that lead up to the temple. The steps didn't look too bad so we decided to get up there as soon as possible. We must have climbed about 20 steps before I decided that we needed to count the steps as we went up. Varun followed me down the steps grudgingly and started climbing up again while counting loudly enough to irritate me.
The steps are not carved out of the mountain, they are slabs that have been placed to make the climb easier. I guess that I am not in good shape because we had to take breaks at intervals of 50 steps. The break were really good though.. we just sat down on one of the steps and looked around and admired the beauty of the entire region. The entire region was densely populated with lush greenery, the small houses were hardly noticeable as we climbed higher and higher and gave a feeling of being in the midst of a huge forest. As we reached the 200th step we were greeted by monkeys!!! I have an insane love for monkeys.. I don't know why.. I find them to be extremely cute and cool. I took a few pics of one as he walked around the steps and of another group that just stared at us from their seats up in the trees.
We finally reached the last step which was the 250th one according to Varun.. but I think that it was the 253rd one. Neither of us was ready to take the climb again to see which one was right.
The temple was pretty plain and there really isn't much to write about it. There was only a family of 6 at the temple and about 3 or 4 helpers and priests there. I guess this temple doesn't get too many visitors because of the climb that one needs to take to get there. The view from the top was absolutely great. We were surrounded by greenery from all sides and it was just really cool to be up there. The air was really fresh and Varun and I just sat at the top step of the temple and looked around. The monkeys were still around and gave us ample entertainment with their acrobatic antics.
After spending some time talking and taking pictures we decided to start our descent. We got down in no time and decided that we would walk until we came by an empty auto rickshaw. We had barely walked a few feet when I saw a route that was leading away from the tar road that would lead us to the main Katpadi stop. I decided to go down the route that went off the main road and Varun followed after complaining that I would be responsible if he was bitten by snakes. We followed the mud route to a small hill from which we could see the main road and the temple that we had just come down from. The hill was teeming with life, there were tadpoles swimming around in the water that had filled up in the crevices of the rocks from the rains, there were beautiful purple flowers that were growing from the rocks too.
We made our way through the many rocks in our way and reached a few houses. This is where the small route ended and we were stranded!! We could see the main road from where we were, the only thing that was in our way was a small plot of land. We decided to risk being called trespassers and ran across the plot of land to reach the main road. When we made it across without raising any alarms we congratulated ourselves and started walking down the road.. only to see that everyone from the house adjacent to the plot were staring at us from their windows.
The walk back to the main stop was just starting to get boring when a rick came by and stopped in front of us. We got on and took it all the way to the bus stop. Once there we took an express bus back to Udupi and had our lunch there at about 3 in the evening.
I had a lot of fun on this short trip. There wasn't much to do once we had finished climbing the stairs to the temple, but the view was worth it. Hopefully we can find another place to go to sometime next week... until then I will try and get through tommorow (Sunday).
Varun and I decided to go there because we had nothing better to do on Saturday, especially since classes for the day had been cancelled in preparation for Ganesh Chaturti. We had been thinking of going there in the past month and today was the perfect day to go there.
The sky was overcast in the morning but it started to clear up at around 11. I met up with Varun at the Udupi service stand and we took a bus to my aunts place in Udyavara where I reside. Once there we just chilled out for a little while and decided on a plan of action for the day. I got changed and then after saying our goodbyes we were at the bus stop in front of my house waiting for a bus to Katpadi.
This was our first time in Katpadi, even though it is only a 5 minute bus ride away from Udyavara and my aunt's house. We got off at the main bus stand and picked up some chips (Kurkure) and had a soda. The shop keepers was pretty helpful with their directions on how to get to the temple.
We got on a rickshaw since we had just missed the bus to Kunjalgiri. The next bus would take an hour to come by to the stop. The ride on the rick took us about 10 minutes and we got there in no time. I never knew that Katpadi was so huge and was pleasantly suprised by the good condition of all the roads that connected the entire township.
Our rick dropped us off at the steps that lead up to the temple. The steps didn't look too bad so we decided to get up there as soon as possible. We must have climbed about 20 steps before I decided that we needed to count the steps as we went up. Varun followed me down the steps grudgingly and started climbing up again while counting loudly enough to irritate me.
The steps are not carved out of the mountain, they are slabs that have been placed to make the climb easier. I guess that I am not in good shape because we had to take breaks at intervals of 50 steps. The break were really good though.. we just sat down on one of the steps and looked around and admired the beauty of the entire region. The entire region was densely populated with lush greenery, the small houses were hardly noticeable as we climbed higher and higher and gave a feeling of being in the midst of a huge forest. As we reached the 200th step we were greeted by monkeys!!! I have an insane love for monkeys.. I don't know why.. I find them to be extremely cute and cool. I took a few pics of one as he walked around the steps and of another group that just stared at us from their seats up in the trees.
We finally reached the last step which was the 250th one according to Varun.. but I think that it was the 253rd one. Neither of us was ready to take the climb again to see which one was right.
The temple was pretty plain and there really isn't much to write about it. There was only a family of 6 at the temple and about 3 or 4 helpers and priests there. I guess this temple doesn't get too many visitors because of the climb that one needs to take to get there. The view from the top was absolutely great. We were surrounded by greenery from all sides and it was just really cool to be up there. The air was really fresh and Varun and I just sat at the top step of the temple and looked around. The monkeys were still around and gave us ample entertainment with their acrobatic antics.
After spending some time talking and taking pictures we decided to start our descent. We got down in no time and decided that we would walk until we came by an empty auto rickshaw. We had barely walked a few feet when I saw a route that was leading away from the tar road that would lead us to the main Katpadi stop. I decided to go down the route that went off the main road and Varun followed after complaining that I would be responsible if he was bitten by snakes. We followed the mud route to a small hill from which we could see the main road and the temple that we had just come down from. The hill was teeming with life, there were tadpoles swimming around in the water that had filled up in the crevices of the rocks from the rains, there were beautiful purple flowers that were growing from the rocks too.
We made our way through the many rocks in our way and reached a few houses. This is where the small route ended and we were stranded!! We could see the main road from where we were, the only thing that was in our way was a small plot of land. We decided to risk being called trespassers and ran across the plot of land to reach the main road. When we made it across without raising any alarms we congratulated ourselves and started walking down the road.. only to see that everyone from the house adjacent to the plot were staring at us from their windows.
The walk back to the main stop was just starting to get boring when a rick came by and stopped in front of us. We got on and took it all the way to the bus stop. Once there we took an express bus back to Udupi and had our lunch there at about 3 in the evening.
I had a lot of fun on this short trip. There wasn't much to do once we had finished climbing the stairs to the temple, but the view was worth it. Hopefully we can find another place to go to sometime next week... until then I will try and get through tommorow (Sunday).
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