[Dr.AD]

Solo Drive, but Where?

It is not that I have been missing out on my drives and road trips. On the contrary, I was fortunate enough to get opportunities to do several back to back weekend drives over last few months. Almost all of these drives were with friends and family. I have a close group of driving friends and I really enjoy driving with them. Each of these recent weekend drives was memorable and we had great times (for example, this drive).

However, as much as I enjoyed these drives, I had not done any good solo drive in a long time. And I was somewhat missing my solo drives. I love solo drives, long solo drives! . A solo drive is still the purest form of driving experience in my book. Just you and your car, out on the open roads, you talk to your car and your car talks to you, you talk to yourself and find some quality alone time for introspection while still enjoying the lovely drive on the open roads - this is the purest joy of driving!

It is even more fun to drive solo to a new city or to a new place that you have never been to. Being alone in a new city helps to sharpen the experiences you get there. When you travel solo, your mind notices so many subtle things and small nuances of the new place that you would easily miss when you are in a group. Traveling solo is the best way to explore a new city. When I drive solo, I have always found myself exploring new places, finding new destinations, and driving to places I have never been to (on the other hand, group drives are often about going to tried and trusted places and armed with the knowledge of many reviews, recommendations and recces.)

With these thoughts, I started thinking of a solo drive over a weekend. My wife was busy most part of this weekend, and she was not available for a weekend drive. That gave me even more reason to plan a solo drive this weekend.

Next question was about where to drive to. Most of my recent drives have been to the hills, jungles, nature resorts, wildlife/bird sanctuaries, and coastal drives. This time, I wanted to try something else. I wanted to explore a different kind of landscape, different kind of destination, and different kind of roads.

One destination that was on my mind for some time now was Bijapur in Karnataka. The official name of this historic city is now Vijayapura. However most people there, even the locals, just use Bijapur or Vijapur in the day-to-day language. Back when I was in school, our history text books had lot of material on Adil Shahi Dynasty of Bijapur. I have been reading about Bijapur since then. By the way, in all my history books and all my school texts, which were in Marathi, this city was referred to as "Vijapur". Therefore, in my own thoughts, I still use the name Vijapur (and not Bijapur) when I think of this city. Given these multiple names in use, to keep things simple here, please allow me to just use the most commonly used name of Bijapur, with due respect to the official name of Viajayapura.

Although I have been reading about Bijapur in my history books since childhood, and been hearing about this city since then, I had never visited this city yet. I wanted to fix or clear that "error" (just like one clears the faulty DTC codes) and this solo drive was a perfect opportunity to do that.

Given that the road from Bangalore to Bijapur is now a super-fast four-lane highway (this is one of the best highways in terms of road surface and the quality of infrastructure), and offers a different kind of driving experience than my recent hilly drives and jungle drives and coastal drives, the case for driving to Bijapur became even stronger.

The historic city of Bijapur is famous for many monuments from the 17th century. The most famous among those are three mausoleums from three generations of Adil Shahi Dynasty - Gol Gumbaz, Ibrahim Roza and Bara Kaman. These three mausoleums are masterpieces of Indo-Islamic Architecture. All three were built in the 17th century, and even today, they are in a very good shape and are fantastic locations to explore the details of the architecture and of course, for photography.

Thus, with all these reasons being compelling enough, I decided to do a solo weekend drive to Bijapur and explore the historic monuments and architecture there.

Solo Drive with a Twist (or a Detour)

Although this was a solo drive (my wife as well as my driving buddies were anyway busy this weekend), at literally the 11th hour (almost 11pm on the previous night), I got some company for the morning session of this drive. My wife, and our family friends robimahanta and his better half decided to join me only for some time on the Saturday morning. They were free on Saturday morning, but not for the rest of the weekend. Then, at that 11th hour, we quickly hatched a plan of a small detour and a breakfast drive on Saturday morning where we all would drive together. And then they would return to Bangalore and I would continue my solo drive to Bijapur. Everyone agreed to this plan instantly, and the plan got set.

The detour we choose was a short drive to Devarayanadurga. This is small hill with a simple but charming twisty road that takes you up to some view points. There is a beautiful temple on the top, and a few very neatly constructed steps take you to that temple. A perfect location for an early morning drive. This was only a small detour from my route to Bijapur, and thus, was a perfect destination for our morning drive.

With that plan, robimahanta and his better half joined me in their BMW M340i for that morning drive up to Devarayanadurga. I was driving my BMW 320d, with my better half riding shotgun with me only for that morning drive.

Morning at Devarayanadurga

We reached Devarayanadurga around 7:30am. The morning sun was just out, the air was fresh and clean, the temperature was quite pleasant, and we had some nice view points all around. We had a great time!

The two cars somewhere on the road to Devarayanadurga:



Exploring some random but scenic locations (and this one turned out to be a dead-end; literally):



My car somewhere on that road, enjoying the morning sun:



robimahanta's M340i:



The two cars enjoying views from a corner:



Parked at the parking lot below the temple:



Near a small water body:



A view of the small road that takes you up to this place:



Finally, a parting shot of the vistas seen from one of the view points:


After spending some enjoyable time in that fresh early morning air at Devarayanadurga, we came back to the highway for our breakfast. After a sumptuous breakfast, the other three people in our group went back to Bangalore, and I continued my solo drive to Bijapur. My wife got a ride in the M340i on the way back, and she was quite thrilled about that. My wife has now turned into (almost) a petrolhead after living with me for so many years, and she even teased me that she got an "upgrade" to a much better car for her return journey.

Drive to Bijapur

After bidding goodbye to rest of the gang, I continued my solo journey towards Bijapur.

Tumkur to Chitradurga was the usual six-lane highway that I know quite well now (this is my usual road to most destinations north of Bangalore), and I traversed that in what felt like almost no time. It is a lovely road with great tarmac. By the time the rest of the gang reached back home, I was on Chitradurga bypass. That is a brand new piece of tarmac, and is one of the best roads in the country!

From Chitradurga bypass, I took an exit and joined my other favorite road, the "Hampi Expressway", or NH50.

The tarmac of Hampi Expressway (NH50), and perfect driving conditions with clear skies and thin traffic:



An hour or so later, I was passing by the Tungabhadra dam at Hospet:



Tungabhadra Dam:


Hospet to Bijapur section is again a smooth four-lane highway, with thin traffic. This is again a great road to drive on. These roads are smooth like a runway, and offer some of the best opportunities to enjoy a fast sedan! The only fly in the ointment on the Hospet-Bijapur section is the frequent speed-breakers on this highway. Most of them are well marked, but some of them do catch you by surprise. A minor irritant but irritant for sure. However, keeping aside that minor thing, this is still a great road and I thoroughly enjoyed driving my car there.

A straight, runway like stretch on the Hospet-Bijapur section:


After about 5 hours of driving time from Tumkur, I checked into my hotel at Bijapur.

Stay at Bijapur: Bijapur does not have any big name hotel chains or any luxury hotels or resorts. There are a few 3-star hotels, and then the rest are very basic budget accommodations. I stayed at the Fern Residency, Bijapur. This is a typical 3-star hotel, and is probably the best option for stay in Bijapur. This hotel has no luxuries and fancy amenities, but nevertheless, it was quite clean and comfortable. A simple, inexpensive, clean, comfortable hotel with good parking and good food (But simple and basic again. As an example, the breakfast buffet spread was quite small. But whatever they had there was fresh and tasty.), and all basic facilities but no luxuries. The hotel staff was very courteous, helpful and prompt in their service. Overall, I liked this hotel and would stay here again if I visit Bijapur again.

My room at Fern Residency, which was simple, but was clean and comfortable:


After checking into the hotel and freshening up, I stepped out for my main agenda - exploring the historic monuments. I will cover these in the next posts.

By the way, before we move on to discuss the monuments and architecture, a quick comment on Bijapur weather: Bijapur is usually quite hot. When I went there, it was the onset of summer and the weather was already pretty warm, although was still not too hot. But in peak summers, it can be unbearably hot here. The best times to explore the city is mornings and evenings, and it is best to stay indoors during the peak daytime hours.

[Dr.AD]

Ibrahim Roza and Bara Kaman

I spent that evening exploring the architecture at Ibrahim Roza and Bara Kaman. Evening light is the best time to see the beauty of these places and also for photography. I made it there just in time for the perfect lighting conditions.

The first place I visited that was Ibrahim Roza. This is the mausoleum of Ibrahim Adil Shah II, and was built in 1627. This is a beautiful structure built within a vast area and walled gardens. There are two main, square buildings, one being the tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah II (and his family), and the other being a mosque opposite to this tomb. This is a classic example of Indio-Islamic architecture, designed by the Persian architect, Malik Sandal.

The front view of Ibrahim Roza, from the entrance:


I love these well designed front views of such structures. In the above pictures, it all looks like one cohesive, symmetric building. In reality, there are three different building there. The two main buildings are seen on the left and right, which are inside the walled area with that central entrance building.

A view while entering through the central entrance:



The main building, which has the tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah II:







Examples of the beautiful architecture inside the two main buildings:



















Bara Kaman:

After spending some time at Ibrahim Roza, I visited Bara Kaman. Bara Kaman, which literally means Twelve Arches, is an unfinished mausoleum of Ali Adil Shah II. This was built in 1672, but not completed. The construction was left incomplete due to some reason. According to Wikipedia, "Rumour has it that the construction of the mausoleum was stopped because once completed its shadow would touch the Gol Gumbaz". (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bara_Kaman)

The architect of this was Malik Sandal, the same Persian architect who designed Ibrahim Roza too. The main theme of the design is twelve big stone arches that decor the structure containing the tomb of Ali Adil Shah II. Some of the arches are fallen down now, while the remains of some of the arches are still intact. The intact arches still look great today, and this site is one of the nice examples of a unique architectural style and creativity of the 17th century architecture. By the way, cement was not used in the construction of these arches. The arches are made of stoned joined together using iron rings.

The Arches at Bara Kaman:







The tomb of Ali Adil Shah II in Bara Kaman:



A parting shot of the arches as seen against the evening sun:


Travel tips: The best time to visit these structures is either early morning, or evening, when the temperatures are moderate and the sunlight is mild and pleasant. The rest of the day, it is way too hot in Bijapur, and the harsh sunlight will make it very difficult to appreciate the details of the architecture. Both these monuments close at 6pm. However, the security guards start denying entries if you go too close to the closing time, and they start chasing people out well before the actual closing time of 6pm. I was chased out of Bara Kaman by the security guards by 5:40pm. I was the last person to exit at 5:40pm and they closed the gate as soon as I left. Thus, you need to plan your visit such that you get ample time in the evening light but still finish your visit by around 5:30pm.

There is a proper and spacious parking area at Ibrahim Roza. However, I did not see any parking space at Bara Kaman. Bara Kaman is located in a busy city area with a chaotic and crowded street leading to the site. In general, parking could be a big challenge there. To simplify things, I just used local auto-rickshaw from my hotel to visit these two sites. That way I did not have to waste time searching for parking etc.

[Dr.AD]

Gol Gumbaz

Undoubtedly, the most famous "attraction" in Bijapur is the Gol Gumbaz. Gol Gumbaz, which roughly translates to a "Circular Dome", is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil Shah. The construction of Gol Gumbaz started in 1626, and was completed in 1656. It took thirty years to build this massive and very impressive building.

There are several "specialties" about Gol Gumbaz. The main structure is a massive cube of the size of 156ft on each side. This main cube forms a huge single open space, and is capped by a huge dome which is 144ft in diameter! The dome is one of the largest domes constructed anywhere in the world before the modern era. You have to really see this in person to appreciate the sheer size of this structure. According to Wikipedia, "With an area of 1,700 m^2 (18,000 sq ft), the mausoleum has one of the biggest single chamber spaces in the world." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gol_Gumbaz). And of course, true to the architectural style of that era, there are elaborate carvings and beautiful structural decorations on all sides of the main structure.

I decided to visit Gol Gumbaz early morning on my Day 2 in Bijapur. This structure is open from 6am to 6pm (although the museum inside the campus opens only at 9am). Gol Gumbaz is a popular tourist attraction and it gets really crowded during the day. Therefore, it is best to visit this as early as possible and spend a couple of hours before the crowds start pouring in.

I went there at 6:30am, and spent two hours in exploring the massive structure and appreciating the architectural nuances here, in total peace and solitude, before the crowds started pouring in after 8:30am. From 6:30am to around 7:30am, I was almost all alone there, and only a few people started trickling in from 7:30am to 8:30am. Gol Gumbaz is surrounded by a well maintained and landscaped gardens, and although the main structure was empty at 6:30am, there were plenty of morning joggers and exercise seekers in the gardens. The gardens had a good amount of crowd even at that early hour.

The front view (and the first view) of Gol Gumbaz as one approaches it from the main entry gate:


The above view is quite impressive and also well known (a common view shown in most travel articles and sites). However, there is an interesting optical illusion there! I first thought this whole building I see in the front is one building with a dome on the top. However, only upon going closer, I realized that the front building is a separate building with a flat roof, and the dome visible from this angle is the dome of the Gol Gumbaz, which is a totally different structure behind the front building. The two building are so well aligned in the width and height, as well as in their positions, that when seen from the front, the dome of the back building appears perfectly over the structure of the front building, and the whole view appears like one single building. A nice optical illusion for sure.

Only upon walking closer, I realized this front building is a separate building:


This building above now houses a museum. This museum opens only at 9am, and thus, I missed visiting this.

After taking a walkway around the museum building, you get this view of the Gol Gumbaz behind:



This is the main structure of Gol Gumbaz, and looks really massive and imposing from the front:


As you can see in the above picture, the cubicle main building has an octagonal shaped tower in each corner. Each of these four towers are seven stories tall, and there is an internal stairway to climb up the tower. These stairways open to the roof on the top, and also offer aerial views of the surroundings from the octagonal viewing galleries located in each of the seven floors.

The staircases through the corner towers also open into an inside facing gallery on the top of the dome. This is the famous "Whispering Gallery", where even the smallest of sound can be heard on the other side of the mausoleum due to the acoustics of the space. Again, it is best to visit this gallery before it gets crowded with people.

Another building in the complex, located next to Gol Gumbaz, is the mosque for the King (according to one local guide who chatted with me there):



By the time I reached Gol Gumbaz, it was the perfect time to see the sunrise on the horizon. I got sunrise views like these:



Inside the main chamber of Gol Gumbaz, is this tomb of Mohammed Adil Shah (and his family):



Another view of the tomb, with morning rays falling on the pedestal of the tomb (these are in reality the cenotaph slabs. The actual graves are a few feet below the ground at the same location):


Now it was time for me to climb up the narrow, dark staircases through the corner tower, and reach the top terrace and the whispering gallery. These stairs, built using large stones, are quite steep and uneven. The height and alignment of each step is uneven, and the landing area is quite narrow. Unless one if physically fit enough, it can be a challenge to climb up using these steps. And one has to climb a total of 108 such steps (I did not count, but this number was again given by the local guide) to reach the top of the 7th floor. It can indeed be a strenuous task. Luckily, each of the seven floors have viewing galleries which offer fresh air and great views all around. One can take a quick rest in these balconies if required. I climbed these floors while enjoying the views from each balcony on the way. Therefore, I did not feel tired at all and was quite fresh even when I reached the top of the 7th floor!

These are the narrow and steep steps you have to climb to reach the top gallery:



I saw this sunrise through the windows of the corner tower, as I started my ascend through the towers:



One of the four corner towers, as seen from another corner tower, while climbing my way up (notice the perfect alignment of windows in the other tower with the window I am looking at it from):



After reaching the top, I was out on the terrace, and got close views of the outside embellishments on the dome and the minarets on the top:



A closer look at one of the many minarets on the top:



I kept on getting interesting views of the sun well past the actual sunrise, like this one, from behind the gaps in the minarets:


When I reached the top terrace, it was a surreal, almost a magical feeling. The sun was just out. The whole terrace and the structures were lit by the golden sunlight. The air was fresh and crisp! There was a strong and pleasant breeze. The ambient temperature at that morning hour was just perfect. I had this architectural masterpiece to observe from such close quarters and appreciate the beauty of it. And the best part - I was all alone! I had goosebumps on me, standing there all alone, and thinking of the history and recollecting the texts from my childhood history books. This was the moment that I will cherish forever. Such small moments make some weekend trips invaluable and unforgettable.

Although I was all alone (which by the way was not strictly true by now; a few people had started to trickle in; but still the building is so big that they quickly got lost somewhere and I felt I was alone again.), I had company of birds! The terrace and the surrounding minarets had plenty of birds flying around and sitting on the high points. There were may parrots (or parakeets to be more accurate) flying around and making sweet sounds. The whole terrace was abuzz with the sounds of parrots.

A parrot enjoying the vantage point atop one of the minarets, at one of the top points of Gol Gumbaz:



A close-up of that parrot who appeared totally mesmerized by the views he got from what must have felt like the top of the world:


The terrace offered great views of the surrounding buildings and city areas from that height.

The front building (which now is a museum) as seen from the top of Gol Gumbaz:



And the King's mosque (again according to that guide) seen from the top:



Views of the city as seen from the top:


After enjoying the views from the outside, I stepped in the Whispering Gallery. Luckily, again there was no crowd, but there were a couple of other people inside there who had trickled in by now. They were speaking at the far end, and it was a magical experience to hear their voices loud and clear, coming from the wall right behind me. Their voices were rebounding from the wall behind me almost as if there were speakers installed in the wall. The gallery is huge and dark, and I could not see those people at the far end of the gallery. That made it even more mystical to listen to these invisible people speaking and their voices magically coming to me from the walls behind me, loud and clear. The Whispering Gallery is literally a viewing gallery along the internal sides of the top dome, and from that gallery you can see straight down at the vast open chamber of the 150ft tall hall. You can see the tombs in the middle of the chamber quite clearly from there without any obstruction. It was almost scary to look down from that height at this huge vast chamber below. If you have a fear of heights, then this view is not for you. I did not take any photos at that gallery because I thought it was impossible to capture that vastness and that imposing feeling of space in a photograph. I spent some time there and came out without even trying to take any pictures.

While descending down (the stairs to go down are through another tower than the one through which I climbed up; thus the stairs are "one way" stairs), again you get such views from the balconies of in-between floors:



I could not resist clicking photos of the joyful parrots playing around on the sidewalls of the top floors (they seemed to enjoy the high views):


After I came down and came out of the main building, I spent some time walking around the surrounding gardens. The gardens there were full of peacocks and parrots. They were playing around cheerfully there, and it was a treat to just stand there and watch these birds playing around there, and listen to their sounds.

A peacock walking around in the garden:



This particular tree outside the mosque seemed like a favorite place of parrots; this tree was full with parrots. And the small structure next to it had peacocks hanging out on it. This was a great place to observe these birds:



Peacocks and parrots playing together:



"Three Parrots" enjoying the morning hour:



These two peacocks suddenly got excited after hearing some sound and started making their own sounds:



And finally, a parting picture with the parrots flying around on the backdrop of the historic minarets:


Travel Tips: There is a designated and spacious parking area near the entry of Gol Gumbaz. I drove my car there and found parking facilities and other facilities such as ticketing and entry to be excellent. The most important point to note again is to be there when there is no crowd. The magical experience I had was mainly because I was almost all alone there. The experience would not be even half as good if the place is filled with noisy crowd, which happens after 9am on weekends (I already saw hordes of noisy tourists pouring in the place when I was exiting it at around 8:40am).

Return Drive: After spending the morning at Gol Gumbaz, and enjoying the surreal experiences there, I drove back to Bangalore that afternoon. The return drive was again an uneventful and a straightforward journey, at brisk speeds. The roads are fantastic and it is a joy to enjoy a sedan on those roads. The car again behaved beautifully. I will post my comments on the car and the driving experience in my ownership thread, so as not to take the focus of this travelogue away from the historic monuments in Bijapur.

Overall, I had a wonderful weekend. I loved driving my BMW on some of the best roads in the country (just to be clear, best in terms of high performance driving, not in terms of scenic beauty and cornering joys; for that we have our usual countryside roads that we often drive on), and enjoyed every minute I spent exploring the historic sites in Bijapur. I enjoyed taking photographs too. And the solo drive experience was as refreshing and as memorable as always.

Well, that is all folks. Thank you very much for reading!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

After spending the morning at Gol Gumbaz, and enjoying the surreal experiences there, I drove back to Bangalore that afternoon.

Bijapur is my home town, have spent a majority of my life outside this place . Had done this trip a few years back. Your thread brought back a lot of memories of my drive and visiting the lanes where I had spent some part of my childhood.

I see you missed visiting 2 important places:
1. Uppali Buruz: This place has the biggest cannon I have ever seen. Legend says the cannon was so heavy that they broke down the cannons in circular rings or bangles and carried it to the top of the structure and fused it. The build of the cannon is a marvel in itself.

2. Tazbavdi: The biggest open well, the source of water is again a big mystery. I am told these days the site is under neglect. I learnt swimming in this well.

[comfortablynumb]

Lovely travelogue!

I had visited Bijapur in the late 80's, when I was in school, and have fond memories of that trip.

The Gol Gumbaz is indeed an awe inducing monument, and you have done full justice to its grandeur with your narration and photos.

The cannon that ghodlur is referring to in his post above is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malik-E-Maidan

[aniket13]

Scintillating Travelogue! The way you portrayed the history, beauty, and significance of the place - this one is going straight into my itinerary for 2022. Although I'm a bit hesitant about traveling this time of the year and usually keep my outings (and holidays) reserved for the post-monsoon period.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Bijapur is my home town, have spent a majority of my life outside this place . Had done this trip a few years back. Your thread brought back a lot of memories of my drive and visiting the lanes where I had spent some part of my childhood.

I see you missed visiting 2 important places:
1. Uppali Buruz: This place has the biggest cannon I have ever seen. Legend says the cannon was so heavy that they broke down the cannons in circular rings or bangles and carried it to the top of the structure and fused it. The build of the cannon is a marvel in itself.
Attachment 2283138
2. Tazbavdi: The biggest open well, the source of water is again a big mystery. I am told these days the site is under neglect. I learnt swimming in this well.

Thank you for sharing. Taj Bawdi seems interesting, although from a few Google images it surely looks abandoned/neglected as you mentioned.

[Ace F355]

Nice little travelogue there, both BMWs look mesmerizing in those pics and make me crave for a 330i or similar wonderful sedan for myself.

On a side note, the old monuments and parrots are a common combo. Just a few weeks back, we took our toddler to a nearby monument (Shaikh Chilli's Tomb in Kurukshetra) and found a lot of parrots there. Hope you don't mind me sharing a few pics...

[am1m]

Fantastic, crisp travelogue with great pointers! The Gol Gumbaz is something I've been meaning to visit forever too, but never got around to doing it. This information will help.

Also, small clarification- the green parrot-like birds are Rose-Ringed Parakeets.

[dijkstra]

Wonderfully put down. Long time since I could read a travelogue from start to finish. Your storytelling and beautifully taken photos kept me hooked. Thank you.

[vinya_jag]

Thanks Dr. For this travelogue. Brought back memories from our 2008 trip here. It was in my Friend's Alto. I had bought mine, just then, but we took his instead. It was probably the first long drives for me, when I drove the Chitradurga - Hospete stretch.
It was a couple of years after college, and we had very little exposure to places outside our boundaries, the usual Mysore, Bengloor, Hasan stuff.
We had started very early, around 3:30AM, and we only had heard about the Chitradurga roads, that they were nice. It was amazing to see such beautifully lit roads, 3 lanes, all gleaming with the Alto headlamp's reflection. It was around 7, when we stopped at the Chitradurga cross, for a quick tea, and I took over the driving position. My friend opened his sheet of paper, where he had written down the route map. He said, another 3 hours from here to Hospete, and another 200Kms from there. It blew my mind then, who was never used to drive more than 200Kms in one stretch, this time, going on a drive for that long. But the road ahead was again something I had never experienced, sun rising to our right, along those hills, and constantly over my right shoulder on a chilly Bellary Morning.

The Cuisine was also something I was experiencing for the first time, the Jowar rotti meals in Koodalasangama, or the Sheera Uppittu (Kesri bhaat) in a Bagalkot restaurant were educative and sumptuous too.

Bijapur itself was Pristine. Ibrahim Roza was my immediate favourite. GolGumbaz was huge, beyond my imagination. And the primary school Kannada text book was opening right in front of my eyes.

Will stop here, couldn't hold back from typing away those memories.....

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

I see you missed visiting 2 important places:

Thanks for this information. I missed visiting these places. I wanted to see the cannon, but just did not have time in this short weekend trip. Maybe next time.

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

The Gol Gumbaz is indeed an awe inducing monument, and you have done full justice to its grandeur with your narration and photos.

Thank you very much. Yes, Gol Gumbaz is indeed an awe inducing monument. I now feel I should have visited it long back. This place is definitely worth a visit.

Originally Posted by aniket13

Scintillating Travelogue! The way you portrayed the history, beauty, and significance of the place - this one is going straight into my itinerary for 2022.

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Nice little travelogue there, both BMWs look mesmerizing in those pics and make me crave for a 330i or similar wonderful sedan for myself.

Thank you very much. I am a big fan of your "Lal Ghoda" threads, and have followed all your off-roading stories. A BMW 330i will be a perfect companion along with your Lal Ghoda. That would be one dream garage :-)

On a side note, the old monuments and parrots are a common combo. Just a few weeks back, we took our toddler to a nearby monument (Shaikh Chilli's Tomb in Kurukshetra) and found a lot of parrots there. Hope you don't mind me sharing a few pics...

Yes, somehow parrots seem to love these old monuments. I think they have a grate taste for the perfect locations :-) These old monuments are so enchanting and the freedom to fly around there must be so amazing. I can imagine how lucky those parrots are who are flying around freely in these magical old buildings.

Thank you for sharing those pictures. That monument looks amazing.

Originally Posted by am1m

Fantastic, crisp travelogue with great pointers! The Gol Gumbaz is something I've been meaning to visit forever too, but never got around to doing it. This information will help.

Thank you very much.

Also, small clarification- the green parrot-like birds are Rose-Ringed Parakeets.

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, true. These were parakeets (as I mentioned at one place in my report) and not parrots, but somehow I have that old habit of just using the word parrot. But you are right that these are parakeets.

Originally Posted by dijkstra

Wonderfully put down. Long time since I could read a travelogue from start to finish. Your storytelling and beautifully taken photos kept me hooked. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by vinya_jag

Thanks Dr. For this travelogue. Brought back memories from our 2008 trip here. It was in my Friend's Alto. I had bought mine, just then, but we took his instead. It was probably the first long drives for me, when I drove the Chitradurga - Hospete stretch.
...

Thank you very much! And thanks for sharing that story. A great story indeed. I remember driving Pune-Bangalore a few times in 2007-2008 time frame, and I can totally relate to the road conditions mentioned. These memories of old road trips are priceless!

[sukhbirST]

Thanks for sharing the lovely trip with beautiful photographs. Appreciate the closeup and angles used to click photographs of a high quality. Somehow Bijapur plays a distant cousin to Hampi and so, one misses it out, though it is not far. Agree with your views about thinking of the history and recollecting the texts from childhood history books.

[Mad Max]

Fantastic travelogue as usual, Dr. Looks like your interest in photography has picked up quite well - loved the pictures. Happy motoring!

[ampere]

Well your solos are absolutely killing it! Already you seem to have exhausted options nearby!

Devarayanadurga is a beautiful location for a morning drive. Once the sun rises you will see a lot many driving down. The best time if you want to snap is the sunrise. Its really amazing you see the rays hitting the hill or you being at the top and looking into the first rays of the sun. And that small water body: You should see that place in winter when the sun hits!

Fern is a nice chain of hotels. Its nice to know they have one in Bijapur. Even I used them in many places and they were really good value for money.