keesaragutta 2

Last week we again went to Keesaragutta with my parents by car.We started around 10.30 am.we reached the temple by 11.30 am.It was a pleasant morning,and the drive was wonderful.

keesaragutta

Keesaragutta is a hillock at the village of Keesara in Rangareddy District. It is famous for Ramalingeswara temple and has a lingam installed by Lord Hanuman. It is 40 kms from Begumpet and it is about 15 kms from ECIL X roads. From ECIL X road we can go by share auto or buses.

But if you go by bike really the journey will be wonderful and the road is also good.

We can see a number of Sivalingas all over the hillock. Keesaragutta is easily accessible by road from Hyderabad.

According to legend, Lord Ram was so enchanted with beautiful surrounds of the hill and asked Lord Hanuman to bring a "Sivalinga" from Varanasi.Hanuman was late in arriving with the Siva lingam and as the auspicious hour was nearing, Lord Siva himself appeared before Sri Ram and presented a Sivilingam for installation. Hence the lingam in the temple is called Swayambhu Linga. It is also called Ramalingeswara as lord Sri Ram had installed the lingam.

Hanuman returned with 101 lingams from Varanasi and felt badly that not having his lingam installed. Hence he threw them all over the area. Even today several lingams are found scattered all over the place outside the temple.

He also said that the hillock where the lingam was installed would bear his name kesarigiri i.e., Hanuman, the son of Kesari. Over a period of time, it has become corrupted and now it has been changed to Keesara and the hill as Keesaragutta. It is now an attraction for the Ramalingeswara and Lakshmi- narasimha also.

Temple timings 7a.m to 1p.m and 3p.m to 6p.m

srisailam

It gives me great pleasure to write about my Srisailam trip, which I visited last month with my family. In my office they declared a sudden holiday for Durgastami on Friday So I decided to go to any pilgrimage center. After deep discussion we planned to go to Srisailam which is about 220 KMs from the city of Hyderabad. The temple at Srisailam is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is considered as one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. It is the second JYOTHIRLINGAM in India.Siva is called Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy and goddess is Sri Bhramaramba Devi (one of the 18 sakthi peetas).

Within 1 hr we got ready and packed (for 2 days). My wife, my friend, and I started around 12.00 p.m. and we three took an auto to MG bus stand. To be frank I had been in Hyderabad for the past one and half years this is the first time I am going to MG bus stand.

There we enquired about the bus to Srisailam. They told us to go to 32^nd platform to catch the bus. We went there but one tragedy is that in all the buses, place names are written in Telugu. Seriously except speaking, I don’t know Telugu language. So we were busy in asking about the names (which place its going) to all the drivers who are all coming to that platform. After an hour or so we identified the place to book the tickets. I took some breathe and got ticket for 4’O clock bus. (Ticket is Rs.103). As we started early in the noon we had to wait in the Bus stand for almost 3 hours. We took lunch and had to wait in the rest room. At last we started and reached Srisailam around 11 p.m .We got nice accommodation.(Room rent starts from 200/-.Even Lot of Community rooms are available)

We got up early in the morning and we went for darshan (free darshan). We had beautiful darshan of Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy and goddess Sri Bhramaramba Devi. Mallikarjuna Swamy has Alaya sikharam with the Golden thrisula. Separate gopuram for goddess also (stone pillared temple). We could also see Rajarajeswari, Nava Siva’s, Mirror hall of Mallikarjuna Swamy, Lord Ram who worshiped Siva etc inside the temple.

As per the advice of my father-in-law who already visited this place, we took an auto for sight seeing. (Per head 30 Rs but they will allow nearly 9 or 10 person inside that auto. But we took separate auto. Single auto Rs.150/-only. Beware of excessive auto fares.)

First we went to Sakshi Ganapathi temple (2km). Very small temple dedicated to Lord Ganapathi. The specialty of this temple is that Lord Ganesh will record the visit of each and every devotee and inform to Lord Shiva. We could see a pen in his right hand. That’s why the name of the god is Sakshi(Proof) Ganapathi.

Then we went to Hatakeswaram temple. Lord Mallikarjuna appeared in a potter’s wheel in the shape of golden linga.

Next to this we have Sarada Devi peetam temple.

Then we went to Paladara Panchadara (4 km). Its nearly 150 steps down .The holy streams of Paladara Panchadara signify their origin from the forehead and the 5 aspect (panchamukas) of God Shiva .

Sri Adhisankaracharya penance and glorified Lord Mallikarjuna here. Sri Adhisankaracharya composed Sivanandalahari and Sowndarayalahari at this place.

Next place is Sikhareswaram (8 km). Comparing to all this is the important and fantastic temple. Lord Sri Ram viewed Lord Mallikarjuna from here and freed himself from the sin of Brahma Hatya. The specialty is we have to see Srisailam temple from the head of Nandi.

We got very nice Darshan and moved to Patala Ganga (2km).Then we saw the details about Patala Ganga in a board. There we have Winch and boating .

If anybody wants to go for boating we can go by winch. Otherwise we can go by steps also (nearly 600 steps).

Pilgrims took their bath in Patala Ganga and perform Abhisekam to Lord Mallikarjuna.

We covered all in one day itself. We missed the dam due to Time constraints. We went to our room to take rest.

Around 6 p.m we again went for Darshan. We spent that evening in a temple itself and around 9 p.m came out for dinner.

We had a sudden surprise waiting on the next day morning.That day in the temple they allowed the entire person to enter into Moolasthanam to do abhisekam for Lord Mallikarjuna .we can touch Lord Mallikarjuna swamy and got full blessings of Lord Mallikarjuna.

With that happy note we packed and reached Bus stand around 10.45 a.m which we already reserved the ticket at 11.00 a.m to Hyderabad.

It was a lovely and memorable experience we had in Srisailam.

Om Namashivaya

QuoteS

Never break four things in your life - Trust, Promise, Relation & Heart because when they break they don't make noise but pains a lot

--CHARLES

QuoteS

If someone feels that they had never made a mistake in their life, then it means they had never tried a new thing in their life...

--EINSTEIN

QuoteS

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself..

--LEO TOLSTOY

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I will not say I failed 1000 times, I will say that I discovered there are 1000 ways that can cause failure....

--THOMAS EDISON

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If we cannot love the person whom we see , how can we love god, whom we cannot see?

--MOTHER TERESA

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Don't compare yourself with anyone in this world.If you do so , you are insulting yourself

--ALEN STRIKE

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In a day , when you don't come across any problems- you can be sure that you are traveling in a wrong path

--SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

DAKSHINA CHITRA

Last Oct 2006 I was in chennai for an off from routine work. I and my brother-in-law wanted to spend a day, in a place where we had not been before. After some deep thought and discussions we planned to go to DakshinaChitra, a unique Heritage village situated at Muttukadu on the new Mamallapuram Coastal Road, 20 Km from Chennai (Landmark next to MGM Dizee World).

The best part in our plan is that we don’t know the exact place where it is situated but we started around 10.a.m and got down at Tiruvanmiyur around 11.30a.m. As we do not know the route we hired an auto (the worst case, even the auto driver do not know the place) and after some deep trouble we reached Dakshin chitra. The funniest part is that, it is located just a few metres from MGM Dizee world and you have got so many buses to this place. LIFE IS FUN IF U DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOUR FUTURE.BUT U WILL FEEL THE FUN ONLY WHEN THE FUTURE IS OVER (Like Us).

Entrance ticket is Rs.150. We started the day with the lunch first as we felt very hungry. (Outside food not allowed).Lunch is too good to have but on the costlier side.




The most impressive aspect of DakshinaChitra is the collection of South Indian typical houses. Not models, but real ones from the four South Indian States – Tamil Nadu , Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and, Not just one building from each region but dwellings of different communities.There are real alike 18th and 19th century houses where people lived at some point of time that they have been reconstructed at Dakshinachitra.


When we walk into Tamil Nadu section, we can able to see merchant’s house, agraharam street,farmer’s house etc .In that we can see Basket Maker's House,made of mud and cow dung. The entrance is typically decorated with Kolam .And then we move on to the Potter's House. The house depicts the actual lifestyle of the potters. A separate working area has been provided to demonstrate to visitors that how to make pots. Some of their works are sold at the Dakshinachitra crafts shop. Weaver's House is typical weaver's house from Kancheepuram. Weavers work in the large open area, with all the necessary equipment. They displayed various sarees like Chettinad, Coimbatore and Kancheepuram sarees.



The house has a wooden structure which is representative of houses in Kerala. There we can see typical kerala houses, and a lot of utensils and equipments with typical kerala style.



The most special part is that the place is full of green lands. It’s such a beautiful outing for a single day which can be spent with the family.


So if you want to spend a full day with your family or with your friends this is the right choice. But my advice is to be there at 10.00 am so that you can cover all the places.


If you are in group, then my first suggestion for u is to take a trip to this place.
Timing is 10.00 am - 6.00 pm.
Closed on Tuesdays.

Shirdi

I take divine privilege in writing about Sai Baba Mandir, Shirdi which we visited last month.Sai Baba's place Shirdi is a very sacred, powerful and important place of pilgrimage in India.

With the help of our friend in Hyderabad,We started from Hyderbad railway station and got down at Rotegoen (befor Manmad Railway station) which is 44 kms from Shirdi. This is said to be the nearest station from Hyderabad. From Rotegoen station it took one hour by bus to reach the divine place Shirdi. Even taxis are available from Manmad station.

Boarding and Lodging are easily available except on Thursdays, but to an extent on the costlier side. There are also Devasthanam rooms which are comparatively cheaper. Even the Breakfast,Lunch & dinner are also available at the temple premises.

Sai Baba's body has been entombed at the main temple.The morning Aarti (the early morning worship and prayer) is performed at 5.15 a.m,in the main temple .It happened that we got ticket for that and we went on to see all the Aarti.It is one of the happiest moments. During morning Aarti We can able to hear devotional songs of sai. Daily abhishek begins at 7.00a.m.



Then the noon aarti takes place exactly at 12 p.m. There is aarti again at 6.30 p.m. (sunset prayer) and the last aarti, (night prayer) takes place at 10 p.m. The place looked clean and bright and every where we could hear “Jai Sri Sachidananda Sadguru Sainath Maharaj ki Jai”.
We heard that, on every Thursday, there is a procession at night and five gunshots are fired at the time of the procession. Loudspeakers are arranged at the time of the aarti and on festival days. But we went there on friday and so we missed that chance.


There are also some observations in Shirdi.

There was an old Masjid named as Dwarka Mai by Sai Baba himself. He lived here all day and used to sit on a big stone, which is still preserved. The sacred dhuni (fire) kindled by Sai Baba is kept burning since then. A grinding stone, a bathing stone, etc which was used by Sai Baba is all maintained here.

Chavadi is a place where Sai Baba used to rest at this place.


Cameras and mobile phones are not allowed inside the temple. Don't forget to take Prasad after your darshan.The main prasadam is dhuni which is believed to have got medicinal values. We can also buy shawls and it will be placed in Sai baba’s feet, again these shawls are believed to have more values.


Places to visit near Shirdi…

Shani Singanapoor – Half an hour from Shirdi,a place where Lord saneeswara is the Diety there. An important information is that, in that small village the houses does not have doors and there has been no complaint of theft in that place. Lord saneeswara is on the top to protect this village.We can reach there by Jeep which would cost u somewhere around 50Rs per person.


Ajanta Ellora Caves - 2 hrs from Shirdi

Next is Nasik . In nasik u have got so many places to visit. Ram & Sita Cave.

Thriyumbegeswara temple(one of the twelve jothir lingams).We can also reach here by Jeep.
One full day can be spent for Thriyumbegeswara temple and Nasik. It is advisable that a group of six to eight people can join together and hire a jeep to visit these places.


It was a lovely experience being in Shirdi temple. I feel every hindu should take this trip atleast once in life time.

“Sri Sachidananda Sadguru Sainath Maharaj ki ‘Jai’ ”.

Six days - Tokyo Drift

I get a feeling theres gonna be a riot

I don�t read the newspapers because they all have�
ugly prints!!

Bring it ON!
Bring it ON!
Bring it on coz therez gon be shit tonight!

[DJ Shadow]
At the starting of the week
At summit talks you'll hear them speak
It's only Monday
Negotiations breaking down
See those leaders start to frown
It's sword and gun day

Tomorrow never comes until it's too late

(Come come come come come with it)(x2)

You could be sitting taking lunch
The news will hit you like a punch
It's only Tuesday (What time is it?)
You never thought we'd go to war
After all the things we saw
It's April Fools' day (What time is it?)

Tomorrow never comes until it's too late
Tomorrow never comes until it's too late

[Mos Def]
Tomorrow is another day
Today is another bomb
Tomorrow is another day
Today is another�bomb
Tomorrow is another day
Today is another bomb
Tomorrow is another day
Today is another
(bomb boom ba ba ba ba bomb ba ba ba ba
bomb ba ba ba ba ba)(x4)

(Slow it down�.)
SHOT!
Escalation
Devastation
Generation
Separation
Situation
Dissipation
Shot!
Another shot another shot the tender is to (Crush)
The heart is cold the gun is hot (Shot)
I'm not sure if they feeling that
I'm not sure if they wanna stop
The gun is cold the blood is hot (Shot)
(Sha Sha Sha Sha Sha Sha Shot)
The hearts are weak the guns are not

[DJ Shadow]
You hear a whistling overhead
Are you alive or are you dead?
It's only Thursday (What time is it?)
You feel the shaking on the ground
A million candles burn around
Is it your birthday? (What time is it?)

Tomorrow never comes until it's too late
(Get tomorr� on the phone�Tryin'a be smart�
Get tomorr� on the phone)
Tomorrow never comes until it's too late
(I need to see tomorr��Tryin'a reach tomorr�)
Think tomorrows come I think it's too late

[Mos Def]
ANOTHER DAY!!!!!!!

*Till the end*
bomb bomb ba ba ba ba bomb
ba ba ba ba bomb ba ba ba ba ba

(Tomorrow is another day)(x2)

Bring it ON!
Bring it ON!
Bring it on coz therez gon be shit tonight!

Dhola-ri-Dhani

Dhola-ri-Dhani --- An Rajasthani village located 13 kms away from Secunderabad.

Two weeks before my brother in law came here (to hyd) .So we planned to spend that sunday in different locations.Suddenly we heared about Dhola -ri-Dhani.We decided to visit this place.We got perfect map and locations also .So we started immediately .we decided to go there by bike.That day traffic was very less and and it made very Easy to drive.The road was ok.

Entrance ticket is 125rs without dinner.With dinner 250rs. We bought without dinner ticket because we don't want to take risk.Along with the ticket they gave Two free coupons.One is for Mehendi (for ladies)and another one is for head massage(only for gents).

We can see many Rajasthani dolls at the entrance. The entrance itself looked too orthodox rajasthani.Dhola-ri-Dhani welcomes everyone with a welcome drink(jal jeera).

First we went for the welcome drink.Really it was ok its Typical Rajasthani drink. Then We took camel-ride(i am not interested so my brother- in- law took it),which was pretty dangerous.

We can see lot of sets there.It is an ideal place for film shooting too.We can see perfect settings with beautiful locations for a good film.We enjoyed there and took many photos.

Lot of attractions are there like Boating, Camel/Horse ride, Puppet show,Rajasthani folk, music and dances along with Disco & Rain dance and beautifully laid out Swimming pool.

After everything we entered into head massage center .It took 10 min .That massage was really super and its worth also.woh it was super.

(after massage)

Then we saw some Rajasthani folk.Except us everybody enjoyed because for us language problem.Then we saw puppet show.All are ok.

The place is ok with a temple inside, music coming from all around. Finally we took some rest and we started with full happiness.

Visit Dhola -Ri -Dhani with ur family and friends.This will give you all the experience you can get when you are in Rajasthan .