Dakshin Mahayatra

Three days of extreme pampering from relatives and friends in Hyderabad had revived our energies for travel once again. So it was with a firmer grip on the steering wheel and a steelier click to our seat belts that we entered our car, set our gps, revved the engine and waved goodbye to our hosts at 9.30 am. We were embarking on a 350 km trip today to Kaleshwaram, with a stop or two on the way. Since we were leaving post-breakfast (and a more delectable dish of pao bhaji we had not tasted for aeons), there would be no breakfast break. After circumnavigating to the eastern part of town along the Outer Ring Road (120 kmph, forsooth!), we scooted along NH163 to Warangal, and then switched to NH353C to Kaleshwaram. NH163 is a lovely expressway, and galloping above 100 is the norm. Post Warangal, it was a single carriage, good but slower, and overtaking was always an effort. Cotton plants dotted the fields once again, like white candyfloss, and the spread of farmlands with varie...

A long drive today after a few days of short driving - 420 km to the edge of Hyderabad. We reverted to our old routine of leaving by 7.00 am after a cuppa. The early morning chill was very welcome and it suddenly reminded us that winter was almost upon us. Temples at Aihole (8.00 am) We were driving out past Aihole once again, and since we missed out on a couple of temples during yesterday's visit, we decided to stop by and complete our coverage. Such dedication, no? The Ravana Phadi was once again a rock-cut temple like the Badami ones, though the cave was much smaller in size, and not...er...cavernous. There were some beautiful carvings of the forms of Shiva and Parvati inside the temple. In fact this is the oldest of the Aihole temples, being 6th century Chalukya. No idea how Ravana came into the picture, though. Shri Hucchimalli temple was another Shiva temple, like in the complex we saw yester...

We were based in Badami today, and planned to visit the temples at Pattadakallu and Aihole and return to Badami to spend the night. The day's travel would be around 70 km, which is like a day's commute in Delhi. For anyone wanting to visit this belt of temples, one can stay either in Badami or in Aihole and commute the rest. Given our travel plan, we should have stayed Night 1 at Badami and Night 2 at Aihole, and then carried on to Hyderabad. Ah well, the imperfections of road trip planning... Both Badami and Aihole have KSTDC Mayura hotels, which are passable. Badami is a bigger town and has other options, but Aihole might not have alternatives. Before we launch into the temple narrative, it is worth mentioning that while driving on the roads here, we noticed two phenomena. One, miles and miles of millet fields. We saw grains spread out over one side of the road, probably being dried, causing a serious traffic hazard. Cows are walking over them, and the occasional ...