A new year brings with it new hopes and wishes. My only wish this year, however, is to travel and explore as many new places as I can. My new year's day, too, began with a short day trip to a nearby hamlet known as Anthargange, located in Kolar, Karnataka. One of my college friends, her husband, and I spent the day road-tripping to this lesser-known yet pretty place.
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| The "Kashi of the South" |
We began our journey from Bangalore at around 7 in the morning, which meant the roads were mostly empty. Being the 1st of January, however, the roads that day were scattered with revellers from the previous night, driving or walking back home. The streets were still lit and exuded a warm, festive feel.
We drove through the Bangalore-Tirupati highway and stopped at a South Indian joint to have breakfast. A few dosas and sandwiches later, we hopped back into the car and enjoyed the soothing ride to our destination.
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| The Scenic Route Leading to Kolar |
The road was smooth and intermittently flanked by rocky hills. This made for a scenic ride, and we took maximum advantage by clicking photos and filming our ride.
We reached our destination within 2 hours. It was roughly around 80 km from Bangalore.
Our first destination was the Sri Kashi Vishweshwara temple, which is also known as the "Kashi of the South." It is perched on a hill that is accessible by stairs. A 5-minute climb, interrupted briefly by the monkey families that stay at the site, took us to the temple.
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| The Hike Leading to the Temple |
The temple offers good photo-ops (the view from the top) and has a sacred tank in the middle. It is also the base of a pretty scenic trek up the rocky hills, leading to the famous Anthargange caves. We tried to trek up the hill but decided to get back to the temple after covering a bit of it, as we were not in the mood for adventure. We did, however, see a group of enthusiastic youngsters trek up the hill towards the cave.
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| Sri Kashi Vishweshwara Temple |
We decided to click some photos of the pretty landscape around us and then head back. We had heard of the Kolar CCD and its beautiful location, and we decided to drive towards it. The CCD outlet did not disappoint us. It was set against the backdrop of a rocky hill and had seats with a pretty view of the surrounding area.
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| The Kolar CCD |
After a few more sandwiches and a long session of chit-chat about our respective travel experiences, we headed back to town.
On the way back, we visited the Ramakrishna Matha in Basvangudi. The place is decked with gardens and has a large meditation area. It was a soul-soothing experience.
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| The Liberty Bell, Ramakrishna Matha, Bangalore |
Thus, the first day of the year was a laid-back yet enjoyable day, spent exploring new places in and around Bangalore. Here's hoping that I am able to continue my exploration throughout 2019.
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