[unni.ak]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

A little kid came to us and asked if we wanted to go to Melkote, since a bus was waiting but we declined.

So that was what he was asking! Need to improve my Kannada language skills. And if I remember right, Melkote was not very far from there, 30 odd kms??

[abhinav.s]

Ben, nicely written travelogue! The photos are very good too.. Waiting for the rest now!

PS - The Ikon seems to be pristine and the shots of the car are awesome!

[arun1100]

Did you visit this place I have circled? Its called the "Sand beach area". Supposedly good for moon light dinner and late night parties.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by unni.ak

So that was what he was asking! Need to improve my Kannada language skills. And if I remember right, Melkote was not very far from there, 30 odd kms??

Yup, pretty close. Anything worth seeing there?

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Ben, nicely written travelogue! The photos are very good too.. Waiting for the rest now!

PS - The Ikon seems to be pristine and the shots of the car are awesome!

Abhinav, thanks a lot for the nice comments. Do keep visiting, the rest of the writeup and pics should be up soon.

As for the car, i had just washed and waxed it the day before the trip. Health-wise, it wasn't in its prime, since the ignition coil was weak, and thereby there were jerks upon accelerating at higher RPMs. All good now.

Originally Posted by arun1100

Did you visit this place I have circled? Its called the "Sand beach area". Supposedly good for moon light dinner and late night parties.

No, we didn't visit the sand beach area, although we surely would have had we known. Like i mentioned earlier, we hardly knew much about the place when we thought of visiting Thonnur.

The first time i mentioned 'Pandavapura/Thonnur' to my wife and also to Unni, the reaction i got was "Where's that?!".

[Roameo]

I visited Melkote and Thonnur lake a couple of weeks ago. Ideal place for a day drive from Bangalore. The 3600 acre lake is stunning. I was surprised to find about 40 odd cars and close to 100 people on the banks. Probably because it was a sunday. Frankly a bit sad to learn that it is going to be developed into a tourist spot. It is better left untouched.

Added this travelogue to this thread

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post1689332

[shishir_bn]

@Arun, even I have not seen sand beach area. I have heard that it is great(I came to know about this after I left mysore and came to bangalore for a living).

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by Roameo

I visited Melkote and Thonnur lake a couple of weeks ago. Ideal place for a day drive from Bangalore. The 3600 acre lake is stunning. I was surprised to find about 40 odd cars and close to 100 people on the banks. Probably because it was a sunday. Frankly a bit sad to learn that it is going to be developed into a tourist spot. It is better left untouched.

Added this travelogue to this thread

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post1689332

I'm surprised you mentioned there were so many cars visiting the place! Even sdp_1975 who suggested this place to me mentioned the same, but then he had visited the place around the New Year's day, which could explain the crowd. However, he did mention most of the people looked to be from the surrounding areas, and not the typical Bangalore crowd.

Thanks for linking this travelogue to the cool drives thread. I had also planned on the same.

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

@Arun, even I have not seen sand beach area. I have heard that it is great(I came to know about this after I left mysore and came to bangalore for a living).

Shishir, Tonnur isnt all that far, the way you make it seem. :d
All it takes is a day to get there, enjoy yourself, rekindle some memories in the process (as is your case), and then get back.

[unni.ak]

We missed the Sand Beach Area. There is always a next time but . Wife has already told she wants to go once they (not wives!, baby and wife) are back in B'lore.

@Benny, it is good that you are putting up a travelogue. I'm sure a lot of people will get inspired to make a visit, before it gets all touristy. Like I mentioned earlier, even people from B'lore are unaware of this location.

[benbsb29]

Declared as protected monuments by the ASI, these temples surely draw your attention towards them. The massive area of the whole monument as well as the pillars with carvings on them speak a lot about the history they portray. Here is some information which i had sourced from the Net :

Tonnur is also a place of artistic beauty because it has temples that date back to the time of the Hoysalas. There are four temples, either constructed or renovated during the Hoysala rule. The Lakshminarayana temple, popularly known as Nambi Narayana, is the largest and the oldest. The main shrine, vestibule and the hall appear to have been built in the early stages. A finely carved idol of Narayana, about two metres in height, holding in four hands the shanka, padma, gada and chakra, stands on a Garuda pedestal.

In the Krishna temple, the idol of Krishna is seated in the sanctum with four hands having the usual attributes of Vishnu. His two consorts, Rukmini and Satyabhama, stand on either side of Krishna. There is a beautiful stone swing in front of the temple, which is used during certain special festivities.

Link

Here are some pics we had clicked.









Restoration work on some of the damaged parts of the structures were visible, and its nice to know that these pillars of history are taken care of, and not allowed to perish without telling their tale.







Offerings done, we visited the temple on the other side of the road, where we also spotted the chariot which is used during religious processions.



Unni and the others went in to visit the deities, while i lingered outside, taking in the splendor of these creations.

Following this, we decided to head to the next destination on our list .. Sangam which is the confluence of rivers. It is located near Srirangapatna. It was time to bid farewell to Pandavapura and Tonnur.

[unni.ak]

The sanctum sanctorum of both the temples are a sight to behold. The main idols are not the usual small ones, but 5-6feet high ones. The architecture needs to be seen to believed and one wonders how they managed to build such huge complexes during that era.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by unni.ak

The architecture needs to be seen to believed and one wonders how they managed to build such huge complexes during that era.

They even provisioned for outlets to drain water off the roofs, which was quite thoughtful of them! Its a pity the civic authorities of the modern era don't think of such a requirement when designing roads, etc.

[benbsb29]

We retraced our way back to the Mysore highway from Tonnur and took a right turn once we hit the highway. Stopped at a roadside tea shop for tea and then proceeded. The left turn off the Mysore highway to Sangam was clearly marked in English as part of the tourism signs and it wasn't hard to miss it.

As we went along, we passed Tipu's summer palace, as well as tomb and made a note to visit these places on our way back.

We reached Sangam and the place was teeming with devotees. The place was rather unclean and had an uninviting look about it. Coracle rides are offered but seeing the total lack of attention to safety, and also our inability to swim, Unni and myself decided against it. Wifey was disappointed but the majority won, and so it was abandoned.

Shops selling wooden toys, purses etc lined the way from the parking towards the stairs descending towards the Sangam. Wifey bought some stuff for herself as well as the maid.

Owing to the general unkempt nature of the place, i didn't click any pics here.



We stopped by Tipu's tomb on the way back called the Gumbaz. Mughal architecture adorned the tomb and the mosque where the cenotaphs of Tipu Sultan, his father Hyder Ali, wife Fakr-Un-Nisa as well as numerous other relatives and soldiers are enshrined.







The main shrine has the cenotaphs of Hyder Ali, Tipu and Fakr-Un-Nisa and the chamber is painted in the colors of the tiger, as associated with the warrior Tipu. No pics were however allowed of this chamber.









The garden and lawn around the structure is typical of Islamic architecture, and is really well-maintained.

[unni.ak]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Coracle rides are offered but seeing the total lack of attention to safety, and also our inability to swim, Unni and myself decided against it. Wifey was disappointed but the majority won, and so it was abandoned.

No way I was getting into one of them!! It looked down right dangerous.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

The garden and lawn around the structure is typical of Islamic architecture, and is really well-maintained.

For a change, people were allowed on to the lawn and it was one of the most well kept lawns I've seen. We could see people having a mini-picnic on the lawns.

[benbsb29]

We soon made our way to the next place we had shortlisted, which was Tipu's summer palace. It was nearly closing time, and we were among the last few who were given tickets to go in.

Step past the entrance, and you are once again greeted with a well-maintained lawn and garden. In the distance you see the structure which used to be the summer palace called 'Dariya Daulat Bagh'.

Built in 1784 AD, the 'Dariya Daulat Bagh' which means 'the wealth of the sea' was Tipu's summer palace. All walls and ceilings of the entire palace are painted depicting the victories of Hyder Ali and Tipu over the British, the Nizam of Hyderabad arriving at the battlefield, and the darbar scenes of Tipu's contemporaries.



The palace serves as a museum showing Tipu's sons, his weapons, paintings of battles fought, etc. Some of the paintings on the walls have started fading owing to them being touched by vsitors.

We were asked to rush, and as a result couldnt go through much of the text written alongside the articles, which was a bit of a disappointment.

We were the last of the tourists to leave the place and we made our way back onto the ever-busy Mysore-Bangalore highway jostling for space among the many cars fighting to get to Bangalore one before the other.

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Vote of Thanks:

To summarize, it was a day well-spent and a decent one day's getaway from the confines of Bangalore and visit history where it was formed. Keep your expectations realistic and you will surely come back pleased with what Tonnur and its surroundings have to offer.

Hope you enjoyed the writeup and pics, and thanks a lot for your time.

[itsmyalto]

Hi Ben,

We are planning for a drive to this serene place early next month. Thanks for your insightful travelogue and inspiring photographs.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

.....Followed the same road and futher ahead we found a place where we could get the car down close to the banks of the lake for some pics. The process involved a fair bit of offroading but we decided to proceed only after carefully evaluating and ensuring there would be no damage to the car.

Could you please let me know if there are any "landmarks" that you remember or textually create some for me to get close to the waters? Can an Alto do it?

Also from the photos below, doesnt look like the waters are "playable" neither have you mentioned about it. One colleague of ours is water crazy , so would have a tough time controlling him if the place is dangerous or not playable. Your take on this?

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Attachment 267329