[hotstuff]

Originally Posted by pjay_in

Great photographs again, hotstuff. The temple, monastery, palace all look awesome.

Do they allow visitors inside the monastery? I mean, won't too many visitors kill the tranquility of the place? I want to visit the place, too!

- Yes @pjay_in, visitors are allowed inside throughout the day. But when the prayer / meditation sessions are going on, visitors are not allowed to walk till the idols / wander among the students.

Originally Posted by ravibhat

Thats good report, thanks for sharing and the information.
Ravi.

- Thanks Ravi.

Originally Posted by BomBatt

Neat travelogue and excellent pictures hotstuff.
You have a great sense of humour. Keep it up.
Isn't that a "Chinese restaurant" in the heart of Madikeri? Forgot the name.

- Thanks @BomBatt. It is a restaurant called 'Amantran' or something like that... close to the fort area.

Originally Posted by pulsar56

Excellent pictures again hotstuff.
As for the 'Grave Items' in the menu! No thanks!

- Thanks @pulsar56

Originally Posted by bijuks

Nice photos. This travelogue has added yet another route to my ToDo list.

- Bylakuppe is probably a 'must visit', as someone said, a 'mini Tibet' near Bangalore ?

Originally Posted by snaronikar

Nice report and pics hotstuff. Its really nice reading your travelogues. Did you take the road pics while moving in Santro (your 3rd pic)? Its too dangerous man...

- Thanks @snaronikar. About the pics from the moving car... I did not open the door, just put the camera on multishot & 2 sec timer mode and held it outside through the window. [I did make sure to see that there wasn't any vehicle behind me trying to overtake.]

Originally Posted by maddy42

Well the bhagamandala temple has just been renovated. Its the most sacred temple in the district alongside the Padi Iguthappa temple. You should have visited there too as its really tranquil..

- Yes, the temple looks like it was done up recently. Did not know about the 'Padi Iguthappa' temple, probably will visit next time I drive through the area...

Originally Posted by maddy42

... Search around this area as you will usually get yummy momos and other tibetian cuisines.

Coorg is the best during the rains.

- One more 'to-do' for a next visit to Byalakuppe, i.e. to try the local cuisine. And I agree with you on the 'Coorg is best during rains' comment...

Originally Posted by pjay_in

And I suppose 'stapad' means 'stuffed'!

- You get full marks !

[akroy]

HotStuff, finally I get to go through your travelogue and pics. Was thinking abt this since last 2 days but couldnt do it.

Absolute fantastic pics specially the night ones. The Coorg pics were like Deja vu to me. Also Hotel East End is my favourite food joint in madikeri.
Did you stay in that hotel? If yes, how was the ambience and price?

Abhi

[vnabhi]

Great pics, hotstuff! I've never heard of some of the places you visited, but they certainly look great. Thanks for improving my GK---both General Knowledge and Geographical Knowledge.
BTW, 'Pandi' means pig in Telugu---does it mean the same in Kannada?
As regards the 'Grave items' I guess they are best avoided, lest you get propelled into a grave

[hotstuff]

Originally Posted by akroy

...Also Hotel East End is my favourite food joint in madikeri.
Did you stay in that hotel? If yes, how was the ambience and price?
Abhi

- Thanks @akroy.

Yes, we stayed over at the Hotel East End. It is apparently one of the oldest hotels in Madikeri. Food and service is good and reasonably priced. We saw quite a few couples and families drop in for dinner, especially the older (retired) crowd. Room rates for a standard double room is Rs.810/- per day.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

...'Pandi' means pig in Telugu---does it mean the same in Kannada?
As regards the 'Grave items' I guess they are best avoided, lest you get propelled into a grave

- Thanks @vnabhi ! I appreciate your comments.

Even in the Coorgi dialect, 'Pandi' means Pig. 'Pandi curry' is a local delicacy in Madikeri / Coorg. [In Kannada, the 'P' is replaced with a 'H'... Pandi = Handi]

[VKJ]

Very informative and collective article with awesome photos. The mushroom looks like an honey comb! and the photo effect on the 3rd KRS snap is pro, you could have tried to add more hue to it!

[maddy42]

pandi in telgu is handi in kannada
Pandi curry is pork curry in coorg which is a speciality out here. Must be had with rice roti or kadambut or dumplings.

[kannan666]

Nice pics hotstuff ! Talakaveri seems to have changed a lot since the last time I was there in 2003. The entrance arch and quite a few of the other new constructions were not there when we visited and the climb to the top of Brahmagiri hill seems to have been made much easier now.

[hotstuff]

Originally Posted by VKJ

Very informative and collective article with awesome photos. The mushroom looks like an honey comb! and the photo effect on the 3rd KRS snap is pro, you could have tried to add more hue to it!

- Thanks @VKJ ! Not sure about the 'hue', the camera is usually set to 'auto' mode and it does its own things with the settings and stuff...The pic came out well since I used a garden lamp near the fountain as a camera stand. (since I did not have a tripod).

Originally Posted by kannan666

Nice pics hotstuff ! Talakaveri seems to have changed a lot since the last time I was there in 2003. The entrance arch and quite a few of the other new constructions were not there when we visited and the climb to the top of Brahmagiri hill seems to have been made much easier now.

- Thanks @kannan666, as @maddy42 has mentioned, the temple has apparently been renovated recently. Now there are around 350 steps on the path leading to the top of the hill.