This weekend was our first full weekend spent outside Manipal. It was packed full of beautiful sites, great company, and wonderful experiences. It started with our drive to Someshwar Beach on the Arabian Sea. Along the way we experienced some of India’s finest driving. Met with a traffic jam across a bridge, rather than just wait it out, our driver swerved to the right and began down the bridge straight into oncoming traffic. This seemed to surprise no one, but brought a smile to my face as I thought aloud, only in India…
Once we reached the beach we were treated to incredible views of the Arabian Sea over lush green treetops. Because of the haze in the sky it was almost impossible to distinguish sky from sea. We hiked down a series of steps to the calm and deserted beach. Thousands of tiny crabs scurried away from us as we ran to soak our feet in the warmest ocean water I have ever felt. We wandered down the beach, splashing through the water, to a small vine-covered temple perched on the rocks just up from the sand. It was perfectly picturesque and serene.
After prying ourselves away from the beach we continued on to Kollur Mookambika Temple, a 1200 year old temple dedicated to the Hindu goddess Parvathi (also known as Sri Mookambika). This temple is one of the most legendary and sacred shrines for Hindus across India. Sri Mookambika is unique among the other Hindu gods and goddesses as she embodies the powers of Mahalaxmi, Mahasaraswathi and Mahakali combined into one as Adiparashakthi - Mookambika. She is essentially an embodiment of all divine powers, so she can be worshiped in any form. Because of this, it is thought that a visit to this temple is equivalent to praying at thousand temples. Once at the temple, we managed to squeeze through a tiny door opening into the inner temple complex, pushed by hundreds of people from either side, eager to offer their prayers to the goddess. Unable to take pictures in this part, we were able to fully immerse ourselves in the moment. We were able to meet with one of the priests who has been serving the deity for over 25 years. He led us in a prayer for health, happiness, success, education, etc. and explained the history and the power of this temple. Afterwards he led us to a room where we were able to join hundreds of people for a traditional banana leaf meal.
That evening we made our way to our home stay where we would stay the night. We were treated to what we thought would be sweet lassies, but ended up being some sort of buttermilk, spice, and herb concoction. I struggled to swallow several gulps to avoid being rude to our hosts, but Katie Jo really took one for the team, taking sips from our glasses when our hosts left the room. We spent the evening riding a barge back and forth a straight in the backwaters, watching the sun set along the horizon and then enjoying a camp fire back behind the home stay guest house.
The next morning we were woken up at 4:30am to begin our trek to Kodachdri Mountain for sunrise. A jeep hauled us up the most precarious road, full of twists and turns, over mounds and potholes, to the point we would begin our trek. It was still pitch black when we began walking and we struggled not to trip over anything as we scrambled up the steep path. We sat a clearing between two peaks, not knowing where sky met land, few stars twinkling above us, until a pink and orange glow began to light up the night sky. Within moments the glow lit up hazy hills below us, still cloaked in shadows. It felt like standing on top of the world. As the rest of the group began the second part of the climb to the top of the peak, I found it hard to pull myself away from the view. But I did, and by the time I glanced back, almost at the top, the most magnificent grapefruit colored sun had appeared in the sky. It was magical. At the top of the mountain stood a tiny stone shrine. It is said to stand where thousands of years ago Mookambika fought and killed the demon Mookasura. Because of this, it is an incredibly sacred site and is a popular destination for Hindu pilgrims.
After another precarious jeep drive down the mountain after our trek we returned to our home stay to enjoy more home cooked meals by our hosts and to await our driver's return from a festival in his home village. When he finally arrived we began our journey home, only stopping once to visit Hosanagra Goshala, a cow sanctuary, that houses and seeks to preserve all the original varieties of Indian cows - some of which are one among the few remaining of their kind. I never would have known there were so many different cow breeds. Overall it was an amazing weekend and I am excited for more upcoming adventures!
Once we reached the beach we were treated to incredible views of the Arabian Sea over lush green treetops. Because of the haze in the sky it was almost impossible to distinguish sky from sea. We hiked down a series of steps to the calm and deserted beach. Thousands of tiny crabs scurried away from us as we ran to soak our feet in the warmest ocean water I have ever felt. We wandered down the beach, splashing through the water, to a small vine-covered temple perched on the rocks just up from the sand. It was perfectly picturesque and serene.
After prying ourselves away from the beach we continued on to Kollur Mookambika Temple, a 1200 year old temple dedicated to the Hindu goddess Parvathi (also known as Sri Mookambika). This temple is one of the most legendary and sacred shrines for Hindus across India. Sri Mookambika is unique among the other Hindu gods and goddesses as she embodies the powers of Mahalaxmi, Mahasaraswathi and Mahakali combined into one as Adiparashakthi - Mookambika. She is essentially an embodiment of all divine powers, so she can be worshiped in any form. Because of this, it is thought that a visit to this temple is equivalent to praying at thousand temples. Once at the temple, we managed to squeeze through a tiny door opening into the inner temple complex, pushed by hundreds of people from either side, eager to offer their prayers to the goddess. Unable to take pictures in this part, we were able to fully immerse ourselves in the moment. We were able to meet with one of the priests who has been serving the deity for over 25 years. He led us in a prayer for health, happiness, success, education, etc. and explained the history and the power of this temple. Afterwards he led us to a room where we were able to join hundreds of people for a traditional banana leaf meal.
That evening we made our way to our home stay where we would stay the night. We were treated to what we thought would be sweet lassies, but ended up being some sort of buttermilk, spice, and herb concoction. I struggled to swallow several gulps to avoid being rude to our hosts, but Katie Jo really took one for the team, taking sips from our glasses when our hosts left the room. We spent the evening riding a barge back and forth a straight in the backwaters, watching the sun set along the horizon and then enjoying a camp fire back behind the home stay guest house.
The next morning we were woken up at 4:30am to begin our trek to Kodachdri Mountain for sunrise. A jeep hauled us up the most precarious road, full of twists and turns, over mounds and potholes, to the point we would begin our trek. It was still pitch black when we began walking and we struggled not to trip over anything as we scrambled up the steep path. We sat a clearing between two peaks, not knowing where sky met land, few stars twinkling above us, until a pink and orange glow began to light up the night sky. Within moments the glow lit up hazy hills below us, still cloaked in shadows. It felt like standing on top of the world. As the rest of the group began the second part of the climb to the top of the peak, I found it hard to pull myself away from the view. But I did, and by the time I glanced back, almost at the top, the most magnificent grapefruit colored sun had appeared in the sky. It was magical. At the top of the mountain stood a tiny stone shrine. It is said to stand where thousands of years ago Mookambika fought and killed the demon Mookasura. Because of this, it is an incredibly sacred site and is a popular destination for Hindu pilgrims.
After another precarious jeep drive down the mountain after our trek we returned to our home stay to enjoy more home cooked meals by our hosts and to await our driver's return from a festival in his home village. When he finally arrived we began our journey home, only stopping once to visit Hosanagra Goshala, a cow sanctuary, that houses and seeks to preserve all the original varieties of Indian cows - some of which are one among the few remaining of their kind. I never would have known there were so many different cow breeds. Overall it was an amazing weekend and I am excited for more upcoming adventures!