The Tiger’s Cave – The first structure that we visited enroute to Mahabalipuram.This mandapam contains a shrine dedicated to the goddess Durga. There are large figures in front of the caves.

As you walk further into the campus, you stumble upon this piece of structure. A temple, a nandi and a rock with engravings on it.

Then came Arjuna’s penance. This magnificient structure was  carved in the mid 17th century. Measuring approximately 30meters in length  and 15meters in height, it is the most popular of all structures in Mahabalipuram. Arjuna’s Penance is a story from the Mahabharata of how Arjuna, one of the Pandava brothers, performed severe austerities in order to obtain Shiva’s weapon.

To the left of Arjuna’s Penance is where we find Krishna’s Mantap. It depicts the incident when Lord Krishna lifted the Govardana Giri mountain offering shelter to the people and cattle of the village against torrential rains.  This is a 12 column cave temple.

As you make your way towards the interiors, along the ocean sits the magnificent Shore Temple. The temple earned its  name because it overlooks the Bay of Bengal. It is one of the oldest structural stone temple in South India. One of the key monuments at Mahabalipuram, this is now protected by the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Spend  a relaxed weekend unwinding and relaxing at  Club Mahindra Big Beach Resort in Pondicherry. Wake up to the sound of the ocean, and enjoy the laid back atmosphere for a perfect weekend getaway. When planning your weekend, remember it is the right time to visit Mahabalipuram now. The Dance festival happens in the months of January – February. There are quite a few historic places worth a visit in and around Pondicherry, and Mahabalipuram is one of them. it is in fact one of the many attractions between Chennai and Pondicherry, along the East Coast Road.

Despite Goa being touted as a destination of choice that draws German charter flights like a Goan to his feni, the airport in Goa remains rather unassuming with no aerobridges or tunnels. You have a choice of prepaid taxis to take you to your destination, ours being Panjim. The buses are sparsely crowded with folks who are going about their work with baskets and since we do a lot of “push-push-shove-shove-squeeze-through-to-the-exit” in Mumbai, we decide to treat ourselves to a taxi and pretend we are on a five star vacation.

Goa to me was a bunch of cities interspersed in a wealth of small villages dotted with greenery. The big difference this time was there are no well defined village boundaries any more. Some of the older Mangalore-tiled houses with intricate trellises and bowers of greenery, leaning over imposing entrances have given way to cement-concrete monstrosities. Some unavoidable industrial areas have come up, but they still try and blend in with the surroundings, moderating their external display. Goa is still lush with mangroves, trees, and several mango, cashew and coconut trees crown it. You notice “houses nestled amongst trees” as opposed to trees decorating the house.

There are several watchdog organisations today that ensure that newly planted trees exceed trees brought down during any construction activity. One is delighted to see inland waterways, and mangroves. While driving inland in the hills, pineapples bought from locals certainly tasted much sweeter. Old women hawkers on the streets and markets of Panjim sell raw cashews and Goa’s local mangoes.

Earlier, as you entered the main village area, you would see a large football field, a church and temple, where you read announcements of impending matches with a visiting village team from elsewhere; folks landed up to cheer their team, to be followed by a goodwill feni session, and a hearty meal.

Roads in Goa are wonderful with most being two lane highways. I don’t recall seeing a single speed limit sign during my entire stay. Everyone drives as fast as they want, our taxi driver did an hour drive in 35 minutes flat without a single pothole jostle.

Goan tourism tries to do a commendable job running various tours. One cannot help but smile, when on explaining the importance of Aguada fort, where there is a jail, the tour guide proudly mentions that two very prominent criminals managed to escape from there. There is even a bust of one of the criminals, in the fancy restaurant where he was finally arrested.

The old quarter of Panjim, now treated as a heritage area has these amazing “gulleys”, (small pathways), where houses with intricate carvings and trellises, and a blue delft like plate fitted into the wall outside announces the name of the owners. Dark blue and brick red appear to be the favourite colours of buildings along with white. These areas are dotted with homely restaurants serving typical Goan food, and many are rather highly recommended.

We were treated to a lunch in one of these by our Goan friend towards the end of our trip. Fish Curry and rice being the staple, this place excels in serving various varieties of fish. The non vegetarians amongst us ate with single minded devotion to the plate in front oblivious to everything.

And then there is the Ferry. Despite the Panjim Mandovi river bridge spanning across Panjim and Betim, most people still like to travel across the river by Ferry. And so you see tons of two wheelers emerging, as if from the river, when the Ferry docks at Panjim or Betim. The heady combination of sea, fish and diesel fumes offers the right incentive for a chilled beer or a feni, wherever you plan to go next.

On our last day in Panjim we were looking for a place that sells a typical Goan sweet. Our Goan friend served this to us over tea at her riverfront living room in Betim. A deadly combination of gram flour (channa flour), coconut, and local jaggery (probably toddy based) this melt-in-your-mouth stuff has not been given the publicity it deserves.

And finally as we head  back to the airport, it is time to relax, take a nap and release the tensions.

Rediscover , relax and rejuvenate yourself in Club Mahindra’s  Goa property in Varca Beach

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath

Our first view of Devbagh was in the dark. After several stops enroute to Karwar, we got stalled by a traffic jam near the port where iron ores to be exported gets dumped by lorries. The road at some stretches seemed red. We were staying at the Jungle Lodges property at Devbagh and we quickly called the manager at the resort to inform him of our delay.A boat was waiting for us in the dark as we made our way to the jetty,which looked like a dilapidated boat house . We sailed across the sea in the night and reached the island.

The moonlight was a muse to none other than Tagore who was inspired by Karwar to pen his Prakritir Pratishodh. A beach here still remains in his memory. It is said that the 22 year old Tagore stayed with his brother , Satyendranath Tagore, who was the district judge in Karwar. The confluence of the rivers and the moonlight night when he went rowing solo promoted him to write his ode to Karwar. The quote I read somewhere says – “The sea beach of Karwar is certainly a fit place in which to realise that beauty of nature is not a mirage of imagination, but reflects the joy of the infinite and thus draws us to lose ourselves into it.”

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath

I was told that the name Karwar itself is a misnomer.It was originally “Kadwad” and one theory is the British mispronounced the “d” and replaced with a “r”. Kadwad is actually a village where the English had a factory which opened out to the sea .Besides monuments from the colonial era, this ancient beach town flaunts several attractions such as the Sadashivgad Hill Fort with a Durga temple, the one-of-its kind octagonal church and the 300 year old Venkataramana temple .

While the British made this their headquarters , Karwar has been claimed by several Europeans such as the Portuguese, French , Dutch. But the influence that remains here till today is that of the Arabians , who have had trade with the localities even before the European invasion. There is an ancient port where commodities were exported and the port is called “Baithkhol” which in Arabic means bay of safety.

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath

We strolled around Devbagh — the name literally means the garden of gods. Several tiny islands ring the Devbagh island — Kurumgad, Oyster-rock, Anjudeep, Sadashivgad and Sanyasi. A tale rings around all these islands. The Sanyasi island for instance owes its name to a sage who sought refuge here . The Devgad Island or the Oyster Rock has one of the oldest lighthouses atop .

The Anjudeep or Anjudiv island is the largest of the five islands and it is now home to the navy. The island has some remains of the bygone Portuguese era, some old houses and ruins of a church .

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath

The Kurumgad island in the shape of the tortoise was ruled by several dynasties like the Vijayanagar and Sonda. The 18th century fort here that lies in ruins here speaks of the battle fought by Basalinga Nayak of Sonda dynasty against the British

The island is also renowned for its Narasimha temple atop the hill. According to a legend, Lord Narasimha made his way through a long creek leading to a cave near the temple. Geologists, however, certify that an earthquake formed this interesting rock formation over 300 million years ago .

A hazy blue covers my eye lids as the waves frolic around my feet. The foam merges with the sand . I leave my footprints on the sands of time and look straight into the blue and white waters, wondering about the timelessness of the moment…

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath