the journey continues…

Jomlu teertha is a small water fall created by River Seethanadi. It is around 35km from Udupi and 10km from Hebri. Teertha means holy water in kannada.
Water falls from a small height and you can take a nice bath.
Ideal picnic spot and a weekend gateway from Udupi.There are buses to hebri from Udupi and from there you need to take a private vehicle.No food is available on the spot and you definitely need to carry some food.We spent a whole day there took bath,had lunch and did fishing also .
My dad had an interesting conversation with the local guy there ..
Dad – why very less crowd nowadays ?
Local guy – Not many come here because of Naxalites.
Dad – Oh is it ?
Local guy – Yes they are everywhere. Usually they don’t do anything to local people but they target tourists for money etc.
Dad – Yeah, if they started troubling the locals, they wouldn’t be able to exist here at all !!! [ little sarcastic ]

falls

fishing

Hanumangundi falls is one among the few falls that I always liked.Water falls from a height of 100 ft
and is situated amidst the deep forest.I have visited this falls during my college days.Those days there were no steps to reach the base and we used to do real trekking.Now the forest department has constructed nice steps, and you need to scale down around 300 steps to reach the base. Hanumangundi falls is well maintained by the forest department and you need to pay an entrance fee of 30 Rs per head.
No food is available on the spot.
If you are going with family should be careful with small children as most of the steps are steep and slippery.Water accumulates in a small pond in front of the falls where you should never try to swim/dive as its very dangerous.

Hanumanagundi Falls

Recently we had been to coorg and chikmagalur. Both the time we stayed in homestays. Somehow I felt homestays are better choices compared to Hotels as they would be having homely atmosphere and you can have home food which you will miss always .
So in Coorg we stayed in a home stay called Palace Estate.Its a pretty nice place in between the woods maintained by a Coorg family. The place is very remote and is entirely sorrounded by greenary and there is no network also.So if you want to spend a weekend without any traffic noise,mobile calls this is the best place to go !!!

HomeStay

Balcony

Have a cup of coffee in the morning , take a walk amidst the coffee plantation,have a shower in the private falls [ which was awesome ] and relax.They also gave a nice breakfast,lunch and dinner mostly prepared in coorgi style.
10 mins from the homestay there is a palace called Nalkanad Summer Palace where you can see some of the old paintings. This palace was built by a Kodagu King named Lingaraja and now it has been protected by ASI.

Palace

Waterfalls

“Thadiyandamole” which is the highest peak in Coorg is 6km from here and is a very good spot for trekking.Top of the hill provides a scenic view.
Padi Igutappa Temple which is a very auspicious temple for Coorgis is 7 km from here.

My Favt dew drops

Woodys

They have a website of their own where you can find more details
www.palaceestate.co.in.
Make sure you book in advance before going there.

Few weeks later we visited chikmagalur,there also we stayed in a homestay called Woodways.
This homestay is also remote and sorrounded by coffee plantations.You can take a coffee tour,do trekking,
bird watching etc.This place fills with you so much positive energy and makes you feel fresh.
You can stay here for a weekend and visit places like Kemmanugundi,Bababudangiri,Mullayyanagiri etc. which are near by. Pics are below

homestay

front view

coffee with cam

Dal Makhani is easy to make and it goes good with rotis as well as rice.Usually in restaurants they add cream to it.I avoid the cream as it would make the dish heavy.Rajma is good for health
so I usually make it once in a week.

Ingredients:

Urad dal – 1 cup
Rajma – 1/4 cup

Oil
Hing – a pinch
Jeera – 2 spoons
Onions – finely chopped ( 2)
Tomatoes – chopped (2)
Cumin powder – 2 tbsp
Garam masala powder -2 tbsp
Salt
Butter/Cream – 1 tbsp for taste

DalMakhani

How to make?
Soak urad and rajma overnight and cook it in pressure cooker for 10 whistles.
I mash this mixture slightly with a blender.

Now take oil in a separate kadai.
Add geera,hing ,onions and tomatoes and fry all.
Add boiled dal to this.Add garam masala powder,cumin powder to this mixture and boil.
Add butter at the end for taste.

Kallur Mahalakshmi Temple which is in Manvi Taluk is around 20 kms from Raichur.Kallur is also called as second Kollaphur where Goddess Mahalakshmi dwells.The temple has statues of both Lord Venkateshwara and Mahalakshmi.The temple has a great prominence as both Srinivsa and Lakshmi ( husband and wife) are situated together in this place.We know that Lord Srinivasa is located in Tirupati and Mahalkshmi in Kollaphur.This is the only place where you can see both of them together.

The temple is very auspisious for marriage.They have a procedure here to pray for that.You need to tie a coconut in the temple praying for marriage and after the marriage you should visit the temple. Priest also said that if you call/mail him if will pray and tie the coconut on behalf of you.After your wish is fulfilled you can visit the temple.

Gopuram

anjaneya

There is a link for the temple in the wikimapia : http://wikimapia.org/12207668/Kallur-Stop
Address and contact number of the temple:
ಅರ್ಚಕರು
ಶ್ರೀ ಮಹಾಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ದೇವಸ್ತಾನ
ಕಲ್ಲೂರು
ಮಾನ್ವಿ ತಾಲೂಕು 584118
ರಾಯಚೂರು ಜಿಲ್ಲೆ
ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ
(Sri Mahalakshmi Temple,Kalluru,Manvi Taluk,Raichur District,Karnataka PIN-584118)
Ph:08538-262001,09480218833
You can also contact the archakas of the temple …
Devarajachar Archak on 9481546901

Priest also gave me a piece of paper containing the shlokas/mantras which are helpful for marriage and getting child.I am sharing it below.The procedure is everyday after taking bath you should chant them with belief and faith in goddess Mahalakshmi.

(For marriage)
Kathyayini mahamaye maha yoginyadhishwari |
Nanda gopa sutam devi pathim may kurute namaha||

ಕಾಥ್ಯಾಯಿನಿ ಮಹಾಮಾಯೆ ಮಹಾ ಯೋಗಿನ್ಯಧೀಶ್ವರಿ |
ನಂದಗೋಪ ಸುತಮ್ ದೇವಿ ಪತಿಮ್ ಮೆ ಕುರುತೆ ನಮಹ: ||

(For child)
Devaki Suta Govindam Deva Deva Jagatpate |
Dehime tanayam krishna Twamaham Sharanam Gata ||

ದೇವಕಿ ಸುತ ಗೋವಿಂದಂ ದೇವ ದೇವ ಜಗತ್ಪತೆ |
ದೇಹಿಮೆ ತನಯಂ ಕೃಷ್ಣ ತ್ವಮಹಂ ಶರಣಂ ಗತ ||

Thanks to Mr.Ashok (contact_ashok@hotmail.com) who has recently visited the temple and gave me updated phone numbers and other details of the temple.

1. The Archakas’ post is rotated on annual basis amongst their families and this is called ‘Paryaya’.
2. Devotees can offer Naivedyam pooja or just have ‘Darshana’. Those (males) who offer Naivedyam pooja will have to wear ‘veshti’ (traditional white cloth similar to ‘lungi’ but not ‘lungi’) during lunch which is served like ‘prasadam’. It is preferable for women to wear sarees. This is to be noted imporantly by those devotees who wish to offer ‘Naivedyam’ pooja.
3. There is no fixed charges for Naivedyam pooja. It is upto people’s wish to give any amount of ‘dakshina’, which is an honorarium given to Archakas for their Archaka (service). Definitely Goddess Sri Mahalakshmi will be pleased if we serve those who serve Her.
4. There is no provision to get a lodge/stay facility in Kallur. The nearest place would be Raichur.
Devotees who come from far off places can go to Raichur and come to the Temple after having bath, food etc.
5. Devotees who wish to offer Naivedyam pooja should reach the Temple by 10:00 AM. It would be good if they speak to the Paryaya Archaka on phone before they plan their journey. This will help them to know the conditions regarding travel, weather etc.

Below are the Kallur Mahalakshmi stotrams :
(click on the images to get larger and clear view)