Kondivite Caves

AM was wowed by the fact that there are a set of caves right in the middle of Mumbai city and is not encroached. We has been there few backs to know that the entry is closed beyond 5 pm. But we took our lazy bums and reached at 5 30 pm. Bad luck. This new year first thing we wanted to do is to reach places on time and research a bit about them too.

First thing we saw that amused me was a pound of dogs chasing a poor little hen. The smarty pants hen flew and perched on to a small ledge on a steep downward slope. Hence the doggies were not able to reach it. 

The caves seemed to be homes of these Buddhist monks but it definitely has an hierarchy in them. few like servant quarters and few are posh 3bhk, as I can put in recent terms. After going through the 5 caves in SE, we started climbing the rock to get above the caves. Ofcourse we didnt follow the path like these crazy kids.

One was very happy that I clicked their pics.

We were about to leave then AM realized there were supposed to be few caves in the NE. So we did go back try to find it out in the path laid. But few guys were using the path beyond the caves as make shift pee zone. I had to come back. At the entrance we enquired about other caves, we were told that there is another gate. We went out to search to know that the information was wrong.

But knowing Mumbai, the place where the caves end were converted into garage and cow shed. We took a short cut through it to get to the NE caves. The steps carved in the 7th century still helped us as much as those monks to get to the caves. These caves were not any different from the SE caves just that it gave us a sense of achievement that we actually took efforts to search for the entrance. 

Kudala Sangama

As the name suggests this is the place where rivers meet. River Krishna and MalaPrabha meet here. Til I reached I was under the assumption even Ghati Prabha river meets here but that is not the case. Either ways very auspicious as per Hindu beliefs and later I found out that this is my best friend's kula dev. Present in Bagalkot district and is about 110 kms from Bijapur. ( Why is this imp, well I travelled from Bijapur to Kudala Sangama ) We took a KSTRC bus from Bijapur at 1 pm and reached about in 3 hours, including Lunch at a Dhaba. Pretty good food in Typical North Karnataka style. As my Mother In Law pointed out, if you dont eat the food in these places, you will not get the feel of the place. Reached Sangama Cross and took a bus further to Kudala Sangama.


Some excerpts from Wiki to save you to open another link:



Lord Basava the great prophet and social reformer was born in Bagewadi (Basavana Bagewadi), a small village in Bijapur District, in North Karnataka, also called Ingaleshwara Bagewadi. Agrahara was an important place in town. The house of Madiraja the chief of the township was situated here. Basaveshwara was born to Madiraja and Madambike on third day of Vyshakha month of Anandanama year in Rohini star, according to the Hindu calendar. (The year coincides with 1134 A.D.) Basavanna was a great saint; he is considered Guru by some and some believe in him as an incarnation of Nandi, Lord Shiva's greatest devotee. A true visionary of his time and a revolutionary who started a new religion, Lingayatism (also known asVeershaivism), which literally means 'The brave followers of Shiva'. Basavanna's ultimate aim was to make this fundamental right available to each and everyone. Basavanna, keeping welfare as the ultimate aim, expedited programmes to take religion to the people by preaching and writing religious literature in Kannada. His samadhi is at Kudalasangama.


It is believed that in the 12th century Jathaveda Muni Sarangamath had set up an education centre here and Basaveshvara, Channabasavanna and Akkanagamma were students. Basaveshvara spent his boyhood here and, after his return from Kalyana, he is said to have became one with the God at this place. The vachanas composed by him are dedicated to the presiding deity here, Sangamanatha.



I didnt know this and always thought Nandi and Basava are the same. See travel increases your GK :) Proof no 4571




We reached the place, left our luggage at a shop where we bought Pooja items for 20 / 30 bucks. Walked further to the river banks towards the temple and took a dip in the river. It took us 3 dips to get used to the chillness in the water, then we didnt feel like coming out at all. Then went for a boat ride. This river flows further to SriSaila which is one of the Jyothirlinga.




Now that we were dry, proceeded to temple. Surprising part was the temple has 2 nandi. We got to know that Each one is dedicated to one river and the corresponding Ishwara.




There is a Ganesha temple and then is the best part. What we thought was the viewing gallery. We proceeded towards it, to find out a set of stairs lead downward.







On going down, one realizes that there is a shiva linga that is being fed with water from the sangam. We prayed and went up the stairs again, this is diff from the stairs that led us down.




One can take bus from Kudala Sangama to Bagalkot or till Sangam cross and take buses that ply on the highway. We reached Bagalkot late but the Train was also late by more than one and half hour. Thanks to labnol and enquiry.indianrail.gov.in, i was able to trace the train. This reduced our wait time and also we were able to see more places in such a hectic trip.


On reaching Bagalkot, tried to buy dinner but being vegetarian there was no option. The only Udupi restaurant we saw was also closed for renovation. But we found a Bakery if we walked ahead to a place where the road split into 2. This place had one of the best Veg Puff I have eaten. Patries were not upto the mark but Plum cakes were pretty good.
Well I Travel to explore and eat, so with that I sign off till the next trip.

Trip Plan: Badami, Aihole, Pattadakal, Bijapur, Almatti, Kudala Sangama

This was AR and AM's first trip with family. The whole tour was planned after lot of permutation and combination. Well I prefer trips that are lucid where depending on each member's interest we can change the plans accordingly.

The idea was to leave from Bangalore on Friday evening by train, reach Badami in the morning. Visit Badami, Aihole, Pattadakkal till evening. Take a train to Bijapur and reach by dinner time. Rest!!! Morning start with local sight seeing in Bijapur. Leave for Kudala Sangama. Take train from Almatti to Bangalore in the evening to conclude the trip.

This was our first cut trip plan. If you are in real short of time then cover all places, but if you are someone who wants to travel in leisure, then leave out Bijapur, Kudala Sangama and Almatti Dam. This could be another weekend plan. Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal can easily take 2 days, esp if you are interested in historic architecture.

Spoiler Alert: This trip plan changed quite a bit as trip progressed but on the high side - it turned out to be a budget trip compared to what was planned.

The way we actually executed the trip:

Train Details:

Took Gol Gumbaz express for the to and fro as it starts on Friday evening at around 7 and reaches Bangalore on Monday morning 8 am.

In our case, as we included Bijapur, also booked Hubli Solapur express for the saturday evening 5 30 which reaches Bijapur for dinner at 8 30.

Local Sightseeing:

Phatphati or Tuktuk works perfect. These are optimal budgetory options for people upto 8 people. Else go for a Trax. 

At Badami we paid Rs 800 for Badami, Aihole and Patadakkal to be covered in a day. At Bijapur, we paid Rs 350 - 500 depending on no of places you want to cover in Bijapur. These drivers are pretty well versed with the place and do tell many importance or location. Tell them your requirement and they can plan the local sightseeing for you.

Guide:

At Badami, Pattadakal and Aihole do employ a guide. Else you will just be seeing the caves or ancient temples from photogrphy perspective. If you are there in Badami circuit, i assume you would be interested in the history behind these visuals. 

At Badami we paid Rs 400 ( Dec - Jan being the tourist season of all and on a weekend) You also get guides who can explain in Kannada ( Local Language), Marathi, Hindi and English. It is possible that there is a premium for other than local language but it all boil down to how much you can bargain. Trust me even if you dont bargain much, once you are done with the tour you will feel enriched. 

At Pattadakal, we paid about Rs 350. Highlight was the stories behind all carvings.There was shortage of guides here as there were thousands of school children who had come for picnic/educational tours. In our case, we spent too much time in these 2 places to cover Aihole which has 110+ temple complex and just covered the main complex - Durga temple.

I dont want to keep each blog too long. Hence would split the posts into Trip Planning and importance of each locations.