Murudeswara - A visit to Lord Shiva's abode

Murudeswara, Karnataka has been one of the most searched places on my search engine history and held the number one spot on my bucket list for must see places in South India. The colossal, larger than life Shiva statue along with the Arabian Sea allures a perfect background for this visual wonder.

My love for Lord Shiva has been going steady since my childhood. His power, magnanimity, and machismo graced by his peaceful poise and charm have always drawn me towards him. I have always believed that Lord Shiva would derive a fair judgment to any crisis.

Part 1: The trip to Murudeswara:

We were two days into our Gokarna trip when we decided that Murudeswara should also be on our itinerary. I showed less enthusiasm externally, but little did the others know, I fluttered rigorously deep down as I did not want to jinx my first visit to Lord Shiva's abode.

We hired a taxi from Gokarna to Murudeswara in the morning. Either side of the roads was picturesque with paddy fields, plantations, and at times even beaches.

The first ten minutes of reaching Murudeswara were quiet and serene. I couldn't help but shed a few tears, being unable to sink-in the overwhelming feeling of realizing that is all actually happening.

We were guided to remove our footwear and enter the temple from the main Gopura. The tall Gopura has excellent detailing and symmetry and I was excited that I managed to get a selfie with the entire height of the Gopura in one frame. The temple was crowded but everybody was moving around in a disciplined manner. The idols shimmered in the sunlight and were glossy gold. The heavy bells outside each deity made sure that no God could sleep in peace at Murudeswara. We were lucky to hear a temple orchestra playing percussions and drums. I could step up and sway to the rhythm of the music.

The aroma of food served in the common dining hall was so distracting and so was the ghee laddoo sold there as Prasad. I patiently waited for my turn to buy the Ghee laddoo with an overpowering flavour of Karpura and incense.

After relaxing in the temple surroundings for a bit we walked up the road leading to the illustrious Shiva statue. By then the sun was up and shining but the breeze from the ocean kept our spirits high.

The whole path was very touristy with small shops selling cold drinks, fried snacks, biscuits and ice cream. There was also enough security directing us to where to go next and relatively clean public toilets. When I say touristy, unfortunately, one has to realize this means a degree of eve-teasing and uninvited camera clicks as well.

Up the hill and a flight of stairs, we could get a closer look at the Shiva statue smiling away peacefully. Now it was getting difficult to fit the statue in the frame. There was also a small temple uphill and also a small museum depicting the story of Murudeshwar and its relevance. Dynamic life-size statues were built and an as we walked from frame to frame, a voice over in Hindi elaborating the story was being played.

The joy and contentment of ticking one thing off your bucket list is beyond what I can explain. I strongly recommend you to visit this beautiful place. It does justice to everything that you have seen in the pictures.

Part 2: The story of Murudeswara:

Raavan, the king of Lanka was a true devotee of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was impressed by Raavan’s devotion as he offered his prayers tirelessly. As a result Raavan was given a boon. He asked for the "Atmalinga" which would give longevity to his lifespan. Raavan was granted the boon but was instructed by Lord Shiva not to place the Atmalinga on the ground till he reached Lanka.

Narada anticipated that Raavan would misuse his powers and wanted to stop him from taking the Atmalinga back to Lanka. Narada approaches Lord Ganesha for help, who with the help of Lord Vishnu created an illusion of dusk knowing that Raavan would stop to offer his evening prayers. As expected Raavan, who was convinced that it was dusk, wanted to finish his prayers. That’s when Lord Ganesha approached him disguised as a Brahmin offered to hold the Atmalinga for him till he finished the prayers and also call out Raavan’s name three times before placing it down.

When Raavan finished his prayers, Lord Vishnu withdrew the illusion of dusk. Realizing that he has been tricked, he was angered and tried uprooting and destroying the Atmalinga. Bits and pieces of the Atmalinga fell on various villages forming different places of religious importance.

Murudeshwara is one such place!

We couldn't help but drool over how handsome and crude Raavan was with tough-guy attitude, body hair, power and of course his well-built muscular body. Though we confessed this only on our drive back home.

Part 3: Things you should know

Facts:

•          The Gopura has 20 storeys and the Shiva statue is 123ft tall making it the second-tallest Shiva statue in the world.

•          Funded by Businessman Dr. R N Shetty and estimated to have spent INR 50 million on it.

•          Not a great place to stay but excellent for a one day trip

•          This a place that you best dress-up for modestly

How to get there:

•          The temple is about 80 km by road from Gokarna. It's an easy addition to the itinerary of a Gokarna trip

•          Buses and taxis frequent this route

•          Bangalore to Murudeshwara is a 500 km trip

Food and beverage:

•          The place has lots of good local vegetarian and non-vegetarian restaurants in the nearest town at a walkable distance from the temple.

•          The Mangalore thali with tawa-fried fish was excellent is highly recommended.

•          Do try the curry and ragi porridge as well.

Anchengo Fort

Being a traveller is like a chip embedded in your skin. Nothing can stop you from wanting to travel. As a kid, I had the opportunity to travel with my own family and cousins to many parts of India, which could be one of the many reasons why I always look for a possibility to travel. Moving back to Kerala is not one of my favourite decisions but I still started revisiting local sites and tourist spots to see it from a fresh far-reaching perspective.

My friends had asked me to join them for a one day drive to Varkala from Trivandrum, where we could go spend some time at the cliff enjoying the view accompanied by good food and beer.

I decided to squeeze in an Anchenjo fort visit en route.

Anchenjo, short form for “Anchuthengu” which means 5 coconut trees, is an abandoned fort which strongly reflects the Dutch/Portuguese and British influence in Kerala back in the 1700’s.

Unlike the picture of a typical fort that would come to our mind, this is more of an enclosed land mostly used as a signalling point for ships, building ships, storing ammunitions and so on. The tall walls are made of laterite and have stairs to access the top the fort. It is square in shape with two bastions land-locked and two facing the sea.

Anchenjo fort is also said to be one of the first set-ups of the East India company in Kerala. The reason why the fort was built was to break the monopoly of the Dutch in Pepper and Coir trade in Kerala.

The Rani of Attingal gave permission to the British to build the fort near Varkala and she was well pleased by expensive and exclusive gifts offered to her. But the chief men and the feudal lords demanded that anything given to the queen may be passed on only through them, which the British did not agree to and there was a rebellion against the East India company by the locals.

You can enjoy the breath-taking  view of the unexplored azure beach bordered by coconut trees from the top of the fort. Also soaring high stands the magnificent lighthouse painted black and white, which was used mainly to signal ships hailing from England.

It is probably a bad idea to go there on a summer day as there is no shade or place to cool off. The garden is not maintained so well nor is the security friendly. Even though the timings say 10am to 6pm the day we went they closed the fort for lunch forcing us to rush through the exploration.

The lighthouse opens only between 3pm tp 5 pm but if you have already been to the one at Trivandrum then this is no big wonder.

There is no entry fee

Carry lots of Sunscreen, Binoculars, Scarves.

No eateries nearby. Carry food and water.

Parking not available.

Photography is allowed.

Best to club it with a visit to Varkala. Not worth a visit only to Anchengo Fort. But even if a small part of you likes history then add this to your list of old landmarks to visit.

Pack up!

                               Carrying a “things to do” diary is one of my habits which I am very proud of. It keeps you organised and helps you prioritize your duties and chores. A very similar practise is making check lists before travelling. I save the list as a digital note and refer to to it as and when there is a trip coming up. I often share it with my friends who hate packing before travel, you know, the ones who always knock on your door for tissues and hair brush as they conveniently forget theirs.

I strongly believe in the travel ‘light’ concept. It is quite contrary to the concept of “women take the world in their suitcase”. Sometimes heavy baggage can come at a price, and not just literally. You may not always be able to charm a security officer at the airport to give you a hand with your luggage or imagine trying to handle a broken wheel of your heavy suitcase all by yourself.

Clothes:

 

These take up to 60 percent of your suitcase. Depending on the number of days, you may consider taking at least one ensemble each day and add a few extra tops which can be repeated with your bottom wear. On a holiday one hardly spends time at the hotel so you may carry night clothes for every second day that you are away.

Neat folding and optimum utilization of space also play an important role in packing.

Tips:

-    If you choose dresses over tops and denims you’ll carrying one piece of clothing for one day instead of two.

-    Choose tops which can be repeated with bottom wear(a denim/skirt) with a scarf or a jacket.

-    You could also repeat your dresses with a jacket or overcoat.

-    Undergarments should be carried in excess as you’ll most likely not be doing laundry on holiday. Even if you are willing, it’s definitely not a pleasant sight hanging underwear above the bathtub or hanger rods and shower curtains.

-    Neatly pack undergarments in lingerie bags (Imagine the embarrassment when a pink bra pops right out as soon as your bag is being opened!)

Accessories:

Accessorize well. I have read somewhere that accessories to clothing is what punctuation is to a sentence.

Carry earrings, neck pieces, trinkets - In a small box saving it from tangling, dents and shock of being thrown around at airports. Hair bands, clips, pins and other hair accessories can be clubbed with this. When it comes to belts, always carry a neutral color or something to go with your shoes.

Make-up:

A compact, blush on, applicator brushes, eyeliner, eye shadow palette, mascara, lip liner and lip stick. A couple of shades of lip sticks can be dropped in to the kit. Ensure that this is in a “compact” pouch/kit.

Toiletries:

Shampoo, Conditioner, Toothpaste, Brush, Body lotion, Face wash, Face Creams, Body Wash, Combs and Hair Brushes are what you need. You may pour out smaller quantities of the mentioned liquids into little bottles to reduce the weight.

Note: Most of the hotels have samplers hence do not carry large bottles of body washes and shampoos unless your hair doesn’t respond well to a new shampoo.

Footwear:

Women can never carry enough footwear.

While airline and baggage restrictions will never align with the array of footwear you want to carry on your trip; a comfortable pair of everyday shoes or moccasins, one pair of flip-flops and one fancy set of stilettos for that inevitable fancy dinner are all you really need.

Electronics:

Phone -  Mostly used as a camera, so remember to keep the memory of the phone empty for the thousands of pictures to be taken!

Electric adaptor - Do a ground check on which one you’ll use at the country you’re visiting.

Power bank - These are simply a must considering smartphone batteries nowadays.

SLR -  If you still want to click good pictures.

Chargers - For your phone, for batteries if you use recharge batteries for your camera.

Extra memory - USB drives, memory cards for your SLR.

iPad or other tablet - Loaded with movies if you do not get sleep in hotel rooms. Also assuming that the flights may not have inflight entertainment.

Note: Do not carry hair-dryers as they are available in almost all hotels but you could consider taking a curling iron or straightener.

Handbag:

Choose the handbag for the trip wisely. It will house your most important things like your passport and wallet. Carry a medium to large sized tote.

Things that should be packed into the handbag:

-    A pen+notepad - I usually keep my details and important addresses in this notepad. I also use it as reference for my details instead of looking at the passport each time to fill out immigration forms.

-    Hand sanitizer.

-    Chewing gums unless there is a ban in the country you are visiting.

-    Wet tissues, tissue papers must always have a place.

Note: Do not carry liquids in your handbag, if they leak, it can get really messy.

Everything Else:

Various situations may arise like drawstring of your pants deciding not to co-operate, sole of your shoes licking your toes, half eaten chocolate boxes which did not survive your temptations, bad hair day. The answer to those situations is this “everything else” section.

-    Fasteners are things I have seen people run around looking for during their holidays - slides, safety pins, small tubes of glue, cellophane tapes.

-    Ear buds are such things too. If you get back from the swimming session it is a must to have ear buds. I carry my own even if the hotel provides it. I am obsessively worried if the hotel staff poked his nose with it and felt their tongue just out of frustration of a bad day at work.

-    Garbage bags - Always carry extra garbage bags to bring wet swim wear, towels. Also you may require if you want to dispose trash while you are outside sightseeing.

  

Precautions:

-    For avid readers, carry the thinnest of books and ensure it is light reading. It should elevate your mood.

-    Ensure all bookings are confirmed with print-outs in place.

-    First aid kit apart from your day to day routine medicines for diabetes, blood pressure or thyroid(if any) do carry medicines for cold, cough, stomach upset, indigestion, gastritis, band aids, muscle relaxants, bandages, cotton, disinfectant like ‘Dettol’(non-spill bottle).

-    Carry spectacles and sunglasses in a protective case.

-    Locks for your suitcases and hand carriages are mandatory.

-    Invest in a good luggage tag rather than depending on fluorescent pink ribbons to identify your luggage on the conveyor belt.

Enjoy and Happy Travelling!

A Maldivian Dream

Probably the most underrated destination of the world - Maldives.

So less is said about it in comparison to the islands of Thailand, Seychelles and Mauritius. But my friends, I tell you this is nothing short of paradise. Ironically we stayed at Paradise Island Resort 20 minutes away by speedboat from Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.

Day One

International Airport, Speedboat Ride and Arrival at Paradise Island:

The Ibrahim Nasir International Airport is also called Hulhule and is situated on the North Atoll.

A ring shaped island or cluster of corals are more often referred to as an ‘atoll’. Paradise island resort was also called Lankanfinolhu.

Speedboats 

The visa is on arrival and free of cost for SAARC countries. Officers at the immigration were the most pleasing here than in any other country, I’ve traveled to. As we exit the airport you can see an array of counters with resort names. Tourists are expected to proceed to their respective counter as per their booking and the airport staff guide you to a speedboat.

Our baggage is taken care of and a huge leap sucks you into the airy speedboat. We find comfortable seating on the deck of the boat. The sun is scorching and penetrating the skin but the breeze forces a smile on your face. The color of water changes from sky blue to turquoise to deep blue. On our way to the resort we get a glimpse of the Male city, some smaller boats, other inhabited islands and people parasailing around us.

Crystal clear waters at Maldives

A bridge connects the docking area to the reception. We walk to the reception as our baggage is transferred by them to the lobby. We are given cold towels and a most needed welcome drink. The island is so beautiful that you start taking pictures of it till you get exhausted in a few minutes of trying to capture the beauty.

I wish I could capture everything my eyes saw.

Our Room and Day 1 at Paradise Island:

I was initially very disappointed that we had opted for the Beach view bungalow over the water villa as we needed two rooms at easy access and also the humongous price difference, however I fell in love with it instantaneously. It had an entry and exit. Entry was through a guided pathway with trees and creepers on one side walking you into the spacious room.

Pathway to rooms

It had a bathroom so big I could easily hear my own echo. There was an open air shower in a square room with ceiling opening to the skies, chirping of birds, few birdie visitors peeping in while you enjoy your shower. If you are more of a luxurious private person then a tub with shower curtain is also available. The room has a huge glass window overlooking the sea and heavy drapes which can be pulled to the side whenever you what to see the sun and waters.

Step out to chairs and a small private area where you can read and have a cup of coffee. Few more steps outside there are private sun bathing chairs.  And then again another few steps then you can bathe and snorkel in the pleasantly cold water

s.We ordered in a lunch of noodles and Nasi Goreng and had a lovely, much deserved afternoon nap.

By evening when the sun decided to cool off so I decided to snorkel in the waters outside my bungalow. Good quality snorkeling equipment was the best investment I’ve made this year. I waddled almost 500 meters into the sea to see the various wonders of the sea life.

Friendly baby blue fishes, the indifferent big flat ones with yellow tail, a school of synchronized swimmers in stripes and to my luck a lion fish who made my swim worthwhile by spreading its fins.

Crabs and crustaceans are not scared at all, they are always curious. They have bright eyes and look at you in awe.

The corals are everywhere and there in no landing space in the ocean. If you do then you scrape your skin against these corals. This is the most satisfying pain that you can get. As the sun sets we take a shower and walk around on the corpse white sands with crushed corals. You will be tempted to rub a few smooth shells on your face and a few rough corals on your palms.

This was heaven.

Dinner was elaborate. The walk to the ‘Bageeecha' restaurant helped us work up an appetite and there was an array of foods from salads to Indian, Italian, Maldivian, Chinese and European cuisine, water can be bought at 3.45 dollars after taxes and tastes the best. (I guess it is psychological to value something which is not easily available!)

Post dinner we walk back and decide to do some star gazing. The moon is up and shining and while we watch the stars in the night sky, the moon light gave us a view of the entire island. The water villas line into the sea with dim lighting. It’s not very breezy and it's humid, heavy and silent. You are conscious of every breath and you are the only person on the entire beach side gazing at the stars and listening to the winds and ocean.

A small drizzle and we are tucked up in the luxury of a comfortable bedding and next thing you know is dawn breaking.

Day Two

I wake up as early as 5.30 am for a walk by the shore and later to meditate under the rising sun. It is quite tricky. On one hand you are trying to concentrate, on the other the sun tries to bake your skin. Keeping my eyes tightly closed I can feel the freshness of the morning cleansing my soul.

Breakfast is baffling with a confused spread of croissants, breads, cold cuts, Indian, Chinese Japanese and European cuisines. We roam around clicking pictures of the island and find a hiding spot from the Sun under the short coconut trees. I decide to take a half way walk around the island walk on my own. The water life is definitely a wonder with cute conchs with life and color of the ocean changes from shallow to deep.

Water sports is probably the only physical activity available on the island with colorful catamarans breaking the monotony of different hues of blue. Today I decide to snorkel on a different part of the island. The better part of doing this in the blazing sun is to get a darker skin tone and go back to our country where skin whitening products sell more than anything else.

I gather confidence to wear a bikini (not yet the first preferred swim wear in India) and dive into the sea bed. Friendly fishes, angry puffed up puffer fish, and hey wait a minute who is the unwelcome visitor an arm distance. It's a baby shark. With immense flexibility it decided to not come in my way. If only I could explain how it feels to be snorkeling away in the clear water. It is a liberating feeling as your body feels light floating away (without life jackets of course), the magnifying lens of your eye guard magnifying the tiniest of fishes swimming by.

I feel drained out and exhausted still gleaming with the cheer of having swam with a shark. I soak myself in a tub of cold water and foam to realise that I have nearly burnt my skin to itchy patches of sun burn. Any regrets? Nothing at all.

I sleep as the sun takes revenge on the earth. By evening I regain my energy and is  hydrated with electrolyte drinks and lie on the beach reading a book. Evening is when everybody gathers on the bridge for shark feeding, I was expecting baby sharks but these were teenagers soon to be adults. They are agile and fighting for food being thrown into the ocean. A spotlight improves the view. You can see a lot of marlin fish trying to get hold of the leftovers. After the feeding is done for the day the sharks still roam under the floating restaurant, but this is the same place where we were snorkeling this morning. I still don't understand that they come only for their food by evening and vanish during the day.

We head for dinner and go for sting ray feeding by the sea shore. Sting ray is a docile underwater being till you stamp on its tail or try to grab them. You are allowed to feed it and they roam around for some more food. Surprisingly the sharks and sting rays come up to the shore for food. They didn’t seem scared, didn't seem friendly either.

Day 3

Knowing that this is the last day of the trip I decide to make the most of the day light for prefect pictures. The sea is as beautiful as ever and the skies giving competition. I wake up as early as 5.20 am and walk to the other side of water villas to capture the sunrise. The clouds make way and skies clear up for the magnificent sun. It takes it time to rise up and shine.

The sky changes color from grey to orange to peach to clear blue. After sunrise the atmosphere is rather humid and all the walking is making me sweat. It’s thanks to the occasional breeze and waves touching your feet that cools you out. I take the long bridge with water villas on either side, I walk straight to come face to face with the sun. On either side you can see coral reefs and various aquatic fishes some solo and some in schools.

Walkway with Water Villas on either side

Post the elaborate breakfast I sleep for a while and also watch a movie on my iPad. After lunch I walked (with my umbrella, fearing being set ablaze by the sun) to a point where the seas join above a sand bed. You can feel the strong currents in the water but I still did manage to click a picture there.

Once the tide was higher than it was in the morning I snorkeled to the other end of the sea to the reef line. The feeling is amazing as you breathe through your mouth to complete content, blocking water away from the eyes and nose.

The reef area is now in front of me. Corals shine like led lights, yellow stripes fishes give me a curious look, a green fish rubbed against my skin repeatedly, a schools of black babies look for food. I now swim above the reef with the entire sea life under me. As I push the water forward I feel a score of pain. I scrape my knee on one of the corals and bleed. The redness of blood diluting in sea water infuses a fear in me if I would attract a few sharks or eels.

I swim back to the shore in total dismay that I had to end the swim and proceed to shark feeding.

Shark feeding:

The end of the bridge leads to the restaurant. The restaurant is perched up on pillars from the ocean. By 6 pm you start spotting baby to large sharks swimming around waiting for their daily portion of fish. 10 kilos of tuna is fed to the sharks every evening.

The tourists also start coming together standing near the railings. The spotlight focuses on the ocean bed and the chef from the restaurant comes with a tray of fish. They jump and slide over each other to get a bite of the fish. It's clearly a survival of the fittest amongst the Sharks. If you keep focusing on one shark out of the 25-30 of them you cannot say that all of them get a bite of the fishes. Then they come back at the same time the next day to try their luck.

I guess today is full moon day.

The dim lighting doesn't seem all that dim today.

After dinner we head to sting ray feeding.
Unlike the Sharks these are just about 5 of them and one being a shy baby.

The adults like to be petted and are quite friendly, one by one we can walk to the shore get your share of fish in your hand and slowly entice the fish to come to you. Getting close to the tail could be fatal.

Day 4 

Today we are checking out in a while there is still one side of the island unexplored. We walk from the beach villa to the right till we reach a dead end. There are short trees, rough sands, water with strong currents, the topography is different from the other part of the island. We walk to end of it click a few pictures and come back and check out to the airport by Speedboat again.

Map of the Island

Outside the room

Friendly life on the Island

Shallow waters meeting the deep from where the sharks come in

Restaurant near Shark Feeding area

Low tide

Evenings

Maldives is one country where there is least possibility for a tourist to experience its Capital city Male and Currency Maldivian Rufiyaa. As beautiful as this country is it is best recommended that you give its crowded city a miss.

The biggest decision before visiting Maldives will be to decide which island to stay on as there are about 1000 islands which are part of 26 Atolls in Maldives. Very rarely do you meet a Local or hear them speak their local language but if you have your dollar and you speak English then you are qualified for  a Maldivian Tour

How to get there: Spice Jet, Air India and Maldivian Airlines connects you to the city from where you can take a speed boat or Sea Plane to the resorts. For Indians, it is recommeded that you take a flight from Trivandrum or Kochi for cheapest and closest options.

What to do while you are there:

Day tours like dolphin watching, Snorkelling, Scuba diving on the reefs, Fishing, water sports  and Island Hopping can be organised on Package basis.

Food: Local Maldivian cuisine is Rice and Tuna in abundance. Resorts serve all cuisines possible but do alot a day for Local Male Cuisine.Taro and Cassava is also boiled and served with spicy Curry. Coconut based Puddings and Gravy's are also an important element in their Local cuisine.

Dressing: The temperature is Moderately hot to hot and allows you to wear crisp cottons and linens. In the resort you are allowed to wear swim wear and bikinis in the waters but it is advised to dress conservatively in the City with your shoulder and ankles covered. Don't even bother packing your heels. there is no place on the island where you can skip walking on the sands.

Special Note: Alcohol, Water, Dining and Water Sports activity is very expensive on the islands.
Carry Slippers, Snorkel Equipment and Swimwear.
High SPF Suncreen and after care lotions are a must.
Keep yourself highly hydrated.

Maldives is definitely a must visit haven for family and honey mooners equally. It gives you time to introspect and unwind and sometimes also make you wish for a castaway life on a far off island.