Location: Jay's Residence.
Date: 20/7/2007.
Time: 11:30pm.
Member's Present: v1p3r, psycho, tadukuttan, agressive_anush, pawan, thewolf, grey, memo45_m, jay.
Scene: Two bottles of vodka, half a bottle whisky, some cool drinks, lots of laughter, pulling of legs, abuses and some car talk. Your's truely feasting on a peg of whisky. 50% done and I realize mom had said something about going out of town the Saturday morning. Watch says 4am. Its time I left.
11am, we are heading out of Bangalore. I am yet to be told the purpose of the trip and the destination. 5 members (Dad, Mom, Brother, Mom's friend & myself) embark on a trip to visit a few temples in Tamil Nadu. Tank up at Shell and off we are towards Hosur.
Destination: Kodumudi & Gunaseela. Parents were advised to visit the aforementioned temples. So off we go. But a look at what I spotted before leaving town.
Lunch at Saravana Bhavan, Hosur. Really smooth journey till Krishnagiri turn off. Speeds varied from 140-160kmph. With your's truely behind the wheel. Getting loads of running commentry from dad sitting behind. "Watch out, bus will turn" "Moron's can't look before crossing or what?'' "Go Slow" and the likes. Took the Salem route from the Krishnagiri turn off. Bad stretch of road from here, turned off towards Mettur. Beautiful roads all the way to Erode. No traffic nothing. Lush greenery all around. Smooth winding roads. 15kms from Mettur got stuck behind one of those trucks carrying the windmill blades for a km, really frustrating it is.
5kms from Mettur spotted this in my rear view. Brought back memories of a certain 200+kmph club.
At Mettur there was some beautiful sights to behold. Dam was full and the sight of the flowing river was awesome. We stopped by while savoring every minute. 30 mins later we were still gazing at the river, the thermal power plant, the bridges. The Elantra was being driven spiritedly. Gave me good company before I decided to cool my heels at Mettur.
You can see the Thermal Power Plant in the background (see the water evaporating). And the Cauvery river flowing in the background. Weirdly, this bridge was bouncing up and down like a bouncing ball. Least to say, it did put me off guard.
And soon it began to rain. Making the drive more pleasant and fun. Greenery just turned better. But pleasing as ever.
At 6pm we reached Erode. Must admit its one big city. The shopping street is huge with some very good shops that would put the ones at M.G.Road, Bangalore to shame. 1hr later mom came back with 10 sarees, don't this women love sarees? While I was resting in the car getting bitten by bee sized mosquitoes.
Then we headed off to Kodumudi. Route taken was Bangalore- Hosur - Mettur - Erode - Kodumudi. Time is now 10pm, distance covered is 290kms. Search the whole town for a good restaurant but to no avail. Searched for a good lodging to stay, but to no avail. Finally shacked up at a ordinary looking lodge. 100 bucks per person. 5 of us shared to 2 rooms. Dropped off the luggage and went to a small hut right in front of the lodge for dinner. Best Idly's I have had till date. Surprisingly, such small places make such delicious food. Went back to the rooms and slept. We had an early appointment with the almighty (the one standing inside the temple).
Wake up by 5am. Head to the river. Take bath in the river and head to the temple for Archana (form of pooja for those who don't know). River was overflowing, made it dangerous for those didn't know swimming to bathe. Your's truely being one among them. Took some time for pics:
Reached the temple to see this immaculately maintained W123. Took perm from the owner for putting up the pics. No need to blank out the plates. Congratulated him for maintaining this car so well.
For the eyes of our inhouse tire/rim dealer only.
After visiting the 10 or more temples here, one including a "BANNI tree" (tree which has thorns on one side & plain leaves on the other) we headed off to Gunaseela immediately. Route taken was Kodumudi - Nammakal - Musiri - Gunaseela. Reached there at 11:45am. Headed to Venkateshwara temple for a pooja @ 12. Pujari comes out with a bowl of water and starts splashing the water on everyones faces. The force with which he splashed the water with his hand was tremendous. We were all forced to shut our eyes tightly. Inspite of that it stung like a bee.
Then off to Trichi which was about 35kms from Gunaseela. Visited what could be a temple comparable to the TTD at Tirumala. This temple is even bigger, better but somehow didn't seem to have caught the eye of the right people to claim its fame. Infact, the temple is so big that we had to go around the temple in a car rather than the customery rounds around the idol by foot
. A must watch for all Lord.Venkateshawara worshippers. Sri Ranga temple is boasted to have one of the tallest "Gopura's" in the country.
Back to Gunaseela after some pathetic lunch at one of the restaurants. Apparently they served only "meals". Time for another photo shoot. Sadly, had to make do with a cam phone. Wish I had a DSLR.
To Continue..........