[sameer sultan]

Enjoyed your post and photos. Brave of you to take your 1 year old daughter on such a long journey. I also took my 1 year old daughter from Chennai to Goa and back about 2000kms last August. But it was not pleasent for me as she was cranky in the car.

Keep updating photos and posts. Looking forward to reading them.

[gajadonga]

Good pictures.The temple in Murdeshwar was good.Good to hear that from road from Ankola to Udupi is good.

[sbraj]

Hats off to the courage. Traveling this much with a 1 year old baby.

Originally Posted by MX6

Islands in Sowparnika. Very idyllic spot. Been there sometime in 1997 last. The climax scenes of Kannada movie Panchama veda was shot there. One of my close friends even played an extra in that movie.

Attachment 278744

Marvelous. Is this place near Kollur? How does one reach here, from Kollur/Kundapura?

[LongDrive lover]

MX6. I am deeply glued to your travelogue. Yes, it was a brave trip. I am looking forward to route details on that route. What to say about those magnificent pics! Keep them coming friend.

[MX6]

@Longdrivelover, @Gajadonga: Thanks for your kind words.
@sbraj: Maravanthe is 50 kms from udupi and 10 kms from kundapura. It's bang on NH17. There are still islands in sowparnika that doesn't have electricity, telephone facilities. It transports you to a bygone era. There's one village on the other side of sowparnika near maravanthe. It is home to a famous Prakash and a more famous Deepika. Yes, the village name is Padukone.
@sameer: A lot of planning went in this. I started sensitizing my baby for long drives in a car seat from when she was 5 months old. We started from 150 kms and went all the way to 400 kms a day. I also planned in such a way that I do a bulk of driving when she's asleep. Helps a lot. planned breaks co-inciding with her feeding time helped her unwind and tire. Above all, my wife kept her engaged with books and toys. If situation goes completely out of hand she watches her fav Jungle book or an old Tamil classic "Thillana Mohanambal" that quietens her for the next hour. You may want to try find what keeps your kid occupied and recreate the environment during your drives. Also the in car bottle warmer is a big blessing as we could always give her warm milk.
@Elantra: The story takes lot's of turns as I trace village life and unexpected visitors. Thanks for your active interest. Keep watching this space.
@Aargee: Thanks for your words of inspiration and your support in visiting this thread time and again!

Over to Udupi which was gearing up for Paryaya. A new addition to their temple was the Navaratna Theru (the temple car studded with 9 precious stones varieties). Here's photos of Udupi.

[MX6]

The Charm of udupi is that it blends the old world remarkably with the modern. Steeped in tradition is the epicentre of Udupi, the Madhwa teertha and it's 100 metre radius. Move 5 kms to east, you hit the international educational town of Manipal. 5 kms west you hit the fishing village of malpe opening out to idyllic beaches. Legend has it that a special consignment from Gujarat was held up due to a storm off Malpe centuries back, to be retrieved by the pontiff of Dwaitha who set up the Madhwa matha, known better as Madhwacharya. The consignment were idols of Krishna and Balarama. Balarama is found now in Vadabandeshwara near Malpe and Krishna is housed in the Krishna matha.
The night was colourful and I ventured off home to catch up with the daily car festival where Krishna goes around the car street in his new Navaratna Theru (Temple car studded with the 9 precious gems).
The photos will speak the rest.

Tradition oozes right from the Rangoli


Old homes have cats!


Madhwa theertha. The epicentre of Dwaita philosophy


Kanaka Gopura. Built over the Kanakana Kindi. The lord turned to see Kanakadasa.


Family in front of the main entrance to the Krishna Matha


Car Street ready for the procession of Krishna


Here come the Thattirayas


Makeway for Krishna bellows the temple elephant


Here starts the procession


Camphor burning bright, as Krishna waits


Krishna rides the Navaratna Theru in all it's granduer


Fireworks mark His arrival


As the Acharyas march leading the Lord


Re-iterates that Faith is universal. One of the many european followers.


Festivities augurs good sales



A close up of the temple car


Another day done. Krishna took a ride around showering his blessings. I retire to my home. It's important eve. The next day marked the Star birthday of my little one.

[MX6]

Here's a video of the Navaratna Ratha of Udupi in all it's grandeur. Krishna rides majestic!

YouTube - IMGP3145.AVI

[MX6]

Oh yes, I did meet one fellow BHPian in Udupi who rolled down upon seeing my T-BHP stickers and asked my handle. His was something like AK something. My memory is poor. This was on 26th ot 27th of dec. This happened right outside Woodlands hotel in Udupi. If the person I saw reads this, please identify yourself!

[amit_3306]

Excellent travelogue and pics.. I would like to know hoe Ikon behaved oevrall. I own a Ikon and looking to do the trip to managalore in near future.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by amit_3306

Excellent travelogue and pics.. I would like to know hoe Ikon behaved oevrall. I own a Ikon and looking to do the trip to managalore in near future.

The Ikon was flawless. It gave me an impressive mileage of close to 15 kmpl the whole trip. I had brand new tyres before I embarked on this trip. Got the car checked inside out. My mechanic did a comprehensive check and service (I don't go to Ford A**) and got it to top condition. I use just regular petrol (Bharat) with system G. 80% of roads were excellent and I was light footed except between karur and Tirunelveli. It was just amazing.

BTW, thanks for your motivating comments!

[Gansan]

@MX6
This travelogue is shaping up fantastically, I am glued to it now! Hats off to you for planning the drive in such meticulous detail.

[funda2max]

Oh, What a great trip!! You were in udupi during pariyaya festival, colorful and marvelous. Waiting to read more.

[trrk]

Hi,

Off topic:

Originally Posted by MX6

an old Tamil classic "Thillana Mohanambal" that quietens her for the next hour.

Does the dance parts hold her attention? If so, get her to study dancing!

By the way, the heroine Padmini is from my place, one third of the famous Travancore sisters - Lalitha, Padmini, Ragini.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by trrk

Hi,

Off topic:



Does the dance parts hold her attention? If so, get her to study dancing!

By the way, the heroine Padmini is from my place, one third of the famous Travancore sisters - Lalitha, Padmini, Ragini.

One of the most famous families from Alapuzha! Ragini's husband used to live in TVM, been there to her house. Shobana is their neice.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by Gansan

@MX6
This travelogue is shaping up fantastically, I am glued to it now! Hats off to you for planning the drive in such meticulous detail.

Thanks for your kind words Gansan. The planning started very early. Still I missed out on many things which I'd put up as the travelogue unfolds. HVK's advice and Blogs helped me with all the planning. This wouldn't have been possible without HVK!

Originally Posted by hvkumar

One of the most famous families from Alapuzha! Ragini's husband used to live in TVM, been there to her house. Shobana is their neice.

Though it's OT, I'm damn happy to see HVK's comment on my travelogue. It's like what they say in Tamil "Vashishtar Vaayal Brahmarishi" (translates to being conferred Brahmarishi status from Vashishta himself - Vishwamitra's tale) Once again sir. All this was possible due to your experience being shared!

Originally Posted by trrk

Hi,

Off topic:



Does the dance parts hold her attention? If so, get her to study dancing!

By the way, the heroine Padmini is from my place, one third of the famous Travancore sisters - Lalitha, Padmini, Ragini.

She's rooted to classical music and dance. That's the way I'm bringing her up. She's been listening to 24 x 7 classical music since she her Abhimanyu days (6 months before birth)! We don't have tv connection at home. She watches old classics on tv. Every day there's a re-run of Thillana mohanambal. My 7 year old neice is a fanatic. We've not told my neice yet that Padmini is no more. I had World space radio at home hooked to my home theater that gave 24 x 7 classical music. It's a sad thing that there's no more worldspace radio in India. Company shut shop.

Originally Posted by funda2max

Oh, What a great trip!! You were in udupi during pariyaya festival, colorful and marvelous. Waiting to read more.

Thanks Funda2max. I was there in Udupi during the run up to Paryaya. I left Udupi on 30th. Keep looking at the travelogue to see more.

Once again, thanks all for leaving words of encouragement!
HVK. You made my day.