TravelingBeats

Location: Located in Arasinakunte village on Bangalore – Tumkur highway near Nelamangala town.

Address: Vishwa Shanthi Ashram, Arasinakunte, Nelamangala Taluk, Bangalore- 562123

Distance: 25 km

Journey time: 1 hr or little more depending on traffic

How to reach there: Bus BMTC bus from Majestic or private vehicle.

Route: Bangalore – Rajkumar road – Rajajinagar – Yeshwantpur – Tumkur road – Arshinakunte

Where to stay: No facility

Where to eat: You can try roadside dhabas.

Language spoken: Kannada. Hindi or English is understood.

Vishwa Shanti Ashram is a intentionally kept secret on the Bangalore tourism circuit. Spread over 15 acres of land, Vishwa Shanti Ashram was established by Sant Keshavadas in 1982.

Sant Keshavadas was born on 22/07/1934 in the small village of Bhadragiri, Karnataka, India to a Hindu Vaishnava family. He was educated with a BA degree from Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in 1956 and a Law degree from Udupi Law College in 1958. He has many disciples in the US, Trinidad, Nepal and South India.

Once you enter the premises, you will be able to see the tall (36 ft) statue of Vijaya Vittala, another form of Lord Vishnu. On the right hand side you will require to open your shoes (Rs 2 per pair of shoes). Side by is Gayatri devi and temples navagraha. On the right hand side is the temple of Santoshi mata. You can see a nicely designed Tusli plant pot there. To go inside further, you will need to pay an entrance fee of Rs 10 per head. Camera charge Rs 20.

Here, on the right hand side you can see 7 women depicting 7 rivers flowing from the mountain. On the left hand is the Bhagavad Gita Mandir. The architecture of the temple is Lord Krishna advising Arjuna on a chariot during the battle of Kurukshetra. Inside the temple is the Vishwaroopa idol, a form of Lord Vishnu. Inside the temple all verses of Bhagavad Gita is written on black granite plate in Hindi, English and kannada. Below is a devi temple. One can offer archana or puja here. This temple was inagurated in 1990.

To view more pictures, visit Travelingbeats Photo Gallery.

Official website: http://www.vishwashantiashram.org/

Filed under : Bangalore, Karnataka, Religious Place

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Yesterday (sunday) me and one of my friend went on a weekend getaway to Tumkur. It is the neighboring district of Bangalore. I was little late and reached Majestic by around 10.15 am. We left for Tumkur on a KSRTC bus by 10.30 am. This is late if you are going there for sightseeing. It took two hours to reach Tumkur. Tumkur town looks ok with lots of shops. The road to Tumkur is good so the journey was smooth too. The route goes via Nelamangala. A large part of the highway between Bangalore and Tumkur is a toll road maintained by JAS toll road company Ltd.

After reaching Tumkur bus stand we inquired about the bus to Devrayanadurga. The latest bus was at 12.30 pm and the next one was at 4.30 pm. However, the bus did not arrived till then. I was feeling quite hungry and food took place as first priority. I thought food should be cheap compare to Bangalore and we decided to have non veg food. Then started the search for a good non veg restaurant. Tumkur do not have many restaurants but it does have a few to cater to the large number of student community there.

For veg or non – veg visit:

1. Bluemoon family Restaurant
CSI jyothi Complex,
BH road, Tumkur – 1
(near Hotel Nanjandeshwar)
Ph: 0816 – 3292609
Cell: 9740773265, 9341701636

We had chicken byriyani (Rs 40) and a fish fry (Rs 20). The restaurant is clean and seating arrangement is ok. Their pricing is average. Bluemoon also offer free home delivery for order over Rs 200.

For veg food (north Indian) visit:

1. The Hut
2nd cross, M.G.Road
Tumkur Pin: 572101
Phone: 2275023, 401101

After food we need an internet cafe to look for the destinations of Tumkur. After searching little bit and asking people, we reached Surf and Chat internet cafe. Surfing is Rs 15/hr and Rs 5 is minimum.

Address:
Surf and Chat internet cafe
opp. Madhura Bakery, M.G road
Tumkur – 1

Noted down the destinations and looked most of them were outside the city. Nearby were Siddaganga Mutt (5 km) and Namada Chilume (around 8 km). The guy at the internet cafe told that we should go there in the morning by 10.30 – 11 am and going then (1.30 pm) may not be safe as it is a forest area. So we abandoned the plan to visit to Namada Chilume. We decided that we will see Siddaganga Mutt and Kote Anjaneya statue and will return back to Bangalore.

Kote Anjaneya Statue

We started looking out for an auto. As an tourist or outsider you will have to bargain your heart out or you will be charged more. For Siddaganga mutt the auto driver asked Rs 100. I started with Rs 50 and said the final quote of Rs 70. If he shows Kote Anjaneya statue, I will give Rs 80, which he agreed. Then we went to see Kote Anjaneya statue which is a giant Hanuman statue at one side of intersection circle of roads. Then we went to Siddaganga temple. The Mutt was established by Sree Gosala Siddeshwara Swamiji in 15th century A.D. The temple runs more 130 educations institution including free education for poor.

Address:
Sree Siddaganga Mutt
Tumkur – 572104
Karnataka, India
Phone : +91 816 2282211, 2285122, 2285133
Fax : +91 816 2282511

Website: http://www.siddagangamutt.org/

At Siddaganga mutt you will climb a number of steps to reach the temple of Siddalingeshwara ( another name of lord Shiva) on top of the hill. Also, nearby is a cave where legend says a old man was thirsty and Siddeswara swamiji hit with his leg on the ground and water came out. You can see a hole filled with water there. You can get good view of Tumkur town from the top. Also, if you would like you can trek to the other side of the hill. There are many monkeys, so you should be little careful if you are carrying fruits, puja stuffs etc. Inside the mutt premises there is a park, many hostels etc. After the mutt there is a railway gate, following which the road goes to the highway. You can stand here and board a bus for Bangalore. However, if you are looking for good seat then you should go to the Tumkur bus stand. While coming back the bus just took little over an hour. We were back in Bangalore before 5 pm.

Check my earlier article on Tumkur, to know all about Tumkur.

Filed under : Karnataka, Religious Place, Weekend Getaways

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