Favorite Color

 

Let me start by asking a simple question. What is your favorite color?

Then let us know of all the colors that exists in the world, why would you choose it. The reasoning behind it.

If you ask me that question, it would have me shoot blanks. I am not sure why but that how it has been for the longest period of time that a simple question like that would put me in a spot. Sometimes I blurt out any color for the sake of it. Not that everyone is intrigued in knowing what my favorite color is.

This question did made me go into the rabbit hole. Some may reasonate it with some memories attached to it. For others it might be something that cannot be explained but there is. Isn't it strange when asked to put that likeness into words we sometimes fail to explain them.

We also have exceptional people who would go a further and add further shades to their color. For e.g., they like pink but its baby pink color. A few years back, I did not knew if this color existed.

The same logic can be applied to a various favorite questions that can be asked to a person but the answer can be deduced on the basis of reasoning. For e.g., favorite movie, animal, memories or song but the reason for liking a color stands out unless its not associated with a memory or an item that means a lot to you.

I might be wrong in my synopsis on this but this thought has been with me for ages now and I could never really put a finger on it.

I am sure science might have a way to explain this but at an individual human level it feels so personal when we start defining to ourselves on what we like to be our favorite color or other items..

Any thoughts to share on it, would love to hear.

Hoysala - The Return Journey

 

This trip of mine was going to be a three day affair. However I put in a rest day too just in case if the traveling takes a toll on me. I can chill on the rest day and then leave for the home the next day.

On the third day itself, I had the realization that there is no need for a rest day. Given the town was small and there was not much to do at my end. I decided to leave the next day. That also meant losing money on the rest day as the hotel stated they cannot refund but I had to try.

What I did not encounter how a bike wash was going to cause trouble on my way back to home. As one is aware on my third day I had got my bike washed. I came back to the hotel and relaxed a bit. I decided to go out again to see the Hoysala emblem on the yagachi bridge.

My bike refused to start and I wondered what happened. Somehow I made it start and went to see the emblem which is also known as Sala. I cam back to the hotel and I decided to again check on it. The bike again wont start. Its good that I have bike which comes with a kick start and that did the trick.

Taking no chances I decided to approach a local mechanic. The local mechanic tried to understand the issue and then told me to come back tomorrow. I said to him that I am leaving tomorrow and he said no worries I open my shop by 8 am. I will have a look at it then. Since there were not many bike repair shops in the way that I came across, I decided to take my chances.

I wanted to leave early but given the situation could not do anything about it. I turned up at the mechanic shop and the shop was closed. I still waited and he came. He was not able to find the problem and decided to cut the wiring cover and then sealed it with tape as the bike started. Again no explanation given or could be understood what went wrong. Since it seem fixed as I checked on it by turning the bike on and off again. I went ahead with my journey.

The journey was smooth as I headed toward Belgavi as my overnight stop for the day. A few hours on the ride, I decided to take a break in between to have some water. Was having a good time on the roads. The bike refused to start, no matter how much I tried it just wont. I tried the kickstart and voila it was bought back to life. I decided to check on the lights and they wont turn on. This was not a good sign given that the delay that happened it was going to be a long day ahead.

I decided to find a mechanic on the way to fix this issue. I did come across one repair shop on the side of the road. Since it was noon around lunch time, they asked me to wait till they come back after having lunch. There I was contemplating my choices. As I was near to a bigger town, I decided to check if there was any bike service center near by and lucky there was one. I hopped on my bike and decided to pay a visit to it who would have better tools and understanding on what is going on.

I reached the service center taking a detour from my route. Normally a service center is filled up with customers and bikes lined up for servicing. This one was different. There was no one around. I was the only one to become their customer at that time. 

There was only one mechanic, I told them of the issue and he opened up the head to look into it. Had an interesting conversation with him given that he could speak Hindi. The problem was still unknown but at the same time got the headlight bulb changed too. I did not realize the light had burned out and I had poor visibility during the night ride. It took a while but the problem seemed to be resolved. 

I was back on my way to Belgavi, having lost time and did not looked like I was going to reach early. The night made its way and so did the rain as it drizzled. Thankfully it was not raining heavily and I continued with my journey. I was supposed to stay in the same hotel but I did not get any room because it was fully booked. Imagine a hotel in Belagavi is out of rooms for a one night stay. 

I had to book another one but I also had to visit this hotel as they had my id card with them which they forgot to hand over the last time. The distance between my place of stay and the hotel was around 10-15 mins and I was in no mood to walk or ride back. There were hardly any autos available, I checked at the receiption and I was quoted 150 Rs. for both ways which felt too steep for such a short distance. I decided to take my bike and go there reluctantly. Got my id card and had dinner over there in a restaurant and left. 

It was late in the night and I had the next day ahead of me. 

One of the things I realized that sometimes the return journey at times take a toll on me as in the distance that I had to cover especially the last day returning back to home. It did not helped that one of my arm's started hurting my back badly that I had to stop a few times for it to get better. 

I was able to make my way to home safely. 

A road trip always comes up with its own surprises and experiences and that is what makes them great memories.

Links:

Hoysala Temples
Hoysala Temples - The Journey Begins
Hoysala Temples - First Day
Hoysala Temples - Second Day
Hoysala Temples - Third Day

Hoysala Temples - Third Day

 

 

I was going to visit the famed Chennakesava Temple today in daylight. The temple was at a walkable distance from my hotel. I had already visited the place yesterday in the night during one of my walking strolls.

The day started late due to delay on the breakfast front.  The town of Belur is a quiet one and the place where I resided was near to a market place. In terms of exploring the town there was not much to do. I used to stroll the roads of this town and come back empty handed. It was like any other town in India which was finding its footing in the urban India.

As one reaches the steps of the temple, its lays protected behind the walls tall enough to make it disappear on the outside.  As one enters the temple complex they are greeted by the tall golden pillar that stands in front of the temple.

The Chennakesava Temple is a 12th century temple and was planned by King Vishnuvardhana and took over three generations or 103 years to complete. The temple was repeatedly plundered and damaged but repeatedly repaired and built over the years. One look at the temple complex and its indistinguishable that it was damaged.

Instead of entering the main temple, I decided to see the other places within the complex. On the left side one would find the deepa sthambha that stood tall. To the south is the Kappe Chennigaraya temple. The name is said to be drawn from a tale that once a frog (also known as Kappe in Kannada) was found on its navel. The other temples found in this complex are Saumyanaki Temple, Ranganayaki (Andal) Temple & Viranarayan Temple.

A pillared corridor surrounding the main temple houses numerous smaller shrines, with several single & double shrines. There is also a water tank on the right side of the main entrance of the temple complex which is not visible as a wall boundary has been built around it.

On the entrance of the temple, one is greeted by the Hoysala symbol. This temple is not very different in terms of its architecture but the highlight of this temple would be Madanika. Its said to be around  more than 80 such idols in various poses in the temple complex. The artwork inside this temple is immersive, even the ceiling has its tale to tell.

One cannot get enough of this place with its soapstone carvings. They are one of the finest sculpting that I have come across.

As I exited, I decided to get some kind of souvenir in terms of fridge magnets but sadly they do not have that many options, I still found one of my liking and bought it. Nearby there were women selling all kinds of carvings in stone. As I checked I found one turtle and a Shiv ling idol and got them. Buying them almost resulted into a fight from another women selling her wares who got upset when I did not bought it from here. Surprising part was they all had the UPI scanner available with them to make payment. Talk about digital India.

Belur is also known for its coffee similar to Chikmagalur and got some for the home.  

From there, I decided to visit the Ancient Hoysala Shri Pathaleshwara Temple which was nearby but it was locked. 

My next stop was to visit the Yagachi Dam and the Yagachi Water Sports which was around 5 kms from the hotel. Hopped on my ride and went to the dam first. The experience was ok and there was nothing much to do over there. I moved on to the water sports place and I believe with the right kind of people around this could be fun. As for me, there was nothing much to do, I enjoyed the view and left back to my place.

Since I had the rest of the day off, I decided to get my bike washed and that I think caused problems for during my return to Mumbai. Stay tuned, all will be revealed in the next post. 

Links:

Hoysala Temples
Hoysala Temples - The Journey Begins
Hoysala Temples - First Day
Hoysala Temples - Second Day
Hoysala Temples - Third Day
Hoysala - The Return Journey