Bangalore Diaries

  An impulsive decision to attend a concert taken 3 months back turned out to be one of the finest evenings of my life. My experience with Sri Mahesh Kale had been limited to repeated playing of Kaanaada Raja Pandaricha on YouTube and some bhajans thereafter. I am definitely someone who has followed his work for long or in detail. However, every single time I listened to his renditions, I could feel something stirring in my soul. When my colleague shared about his concert, I didn’t think twice and booked the tickets.  Pandarapur is a place which is quite special in my life. One of the many tirtha kshetras I have been longing to visit, but haven’t done so thus far. With passing years and life experiences, this has become an eternal wait and has been one of my regrets for a long time. My experience with Vithoba has been limited to my visits to the temple in Ulsoor. 
Ashada, a month of intense devotion brought together an opportunity to blend both of these into a confluence of ...

“Tena Vina Trunamapi Na Chalati” - Without his will, even a blade of grass can’t move . This phrase couldn’t be more truer than what I have endured in last 3 days. The best laid plans went completely haywire for reasons beyond one’s control and ultimately, one is left to accept and appreciate divine will. However, the mind is racing with unanswered questions and hopefully, I am able to find some answers and closure sometime soon. Amidst all these challenges, I had a one day trip to Madurai and visited some of the most divine temples in the region. I have already visited some of them in the past, but found some new unknown gems along the way. We stayed in Gopuram Grand hotel which is bang opposite the west tower of the Meenakshi Amman temple. This was by far the best decision of this trip and definitely one of the better ones of my life. I highly recommend this hotel not just for the location, but for the excellent service and awesome food.  
Disclaimer: This is not a paid promotio...

  This book was a spur of the moment pick in a conference where I had the Soubhagya of sharing the stage with Vid. Veena Bannanje avaru. When I sit down to pen down the review, I am at a loss of words to describe the book. Is it an experience journey? Is it a journey? Is it an evolution of an individual? Is it the shedding of skin to be reborn? Or is it a collection of Miracles? At best, I can describe this as a human tale which may sprout many a question in the minds of the reader. This is an “as-is” told account by Veena Bannanje, a scholar and Vidwan in her own right. Being born in an illustrious family as the daughter of the very revered and respected Vid. Bannanje Govindaacharya avaru, she was having an exciting life until her encounter with Satyakama. A mystic, a philosopher, a guide, a father figure, Satyakama becomes the catalyst of Veena Bannanje’s evolution from a teacher to a sadhaka. The experiences narrated could be confounding to common mind, but as reiterated in the ...

 Narasimha swamy has been a constant influence in my life recently, specially after I lost my Appa. I wear a Tulasi mala with Narasimha Swamy pendant everyday. Last year, Dec 2025, I visited Kashi, Prayaga and Ayodhya once more to cover the temples I missed during Mahakumbh.  In Prayaga, I went for the Triveni Sangma dip (with my Tulasi mala of course). The boatman who was helping to lower me onto the platform said “Kya Achcha Narasimha swamy hai”. After the customary 3 dips, when I emerged out, I saw that the pendant was gone. The Tulasi mala was around me, open at both ends. This saddened me a lot and I felt a loss even though this happened at the Triveni Sangama. This used to play on my mind and I was unsure about why this came to pass. Around a month back, at 10:30 pm I got a very bad urge to find a replacement. Just searching for 2 mins, I found an EXACT match to what I used to wear. There is absolutely NO difference between what I used to wear and newly one that I found ...

After Makara Sankranthi, in Kerala, a festive vibe erupts in the form of Purams or annual temple festivals. It is also interesting to note that this is not limited to the Hindu temples, but also quite a few churches that celebrate their Pirannal or birthdays. Driving through the side-roads is an experience to celebrate the vibrant decorations, the DJ powered music (this too exists), Chenda Melam & of course, panchavaadhyam.  This time of the year also happens to be the time of Bharani or Puram of Bhagwathis, one of which is close to my paternal ancestral home. When the date was decided to be January 26, I planned to make the most of the opportunity by travelling early and trying to discover and understand the antiquity of some of these kshetrams. As a new found self-motivated objective, I wish to travel and discover these Divya Deshams and Padal Petra Sthalams across the country or beyond. As part of this endeavour, I zeroed in a few kshetras that are relatively near-by to my a...

One entire day soaked in the richness of our ancestors and the divinity and antiquity of some of the holiest places in the neighbourhood was just what I required on a Saturday. Originally planned for Wednesday, some unforeseen exigencies meant that the plan was pushed to Saturday. What a day it was !!!  Route Map The overall route-map for the trip is as below: We started from Bengaluru around 6.15 and reached Hoskote in decent time. After Hoskote, we faced severe fog which hampered visibility and meant that we had to travel at 10 kmph. The first destination of DoddaShivara meant that we took the newly constructed highway, which was a dream to drive on.  DoddaShivara A beautiful kshetra nestled amidst vast lands of a village, DoddaShivara is the abode for Gangadhareshwara Swami as well as some Veeragallus (Hero Stones) hosted in the vicinity of the temple. In fact, I learnt about this place from a post from my good friend, Sri Swaminathan Natarajan , who is actively contributi...