Caryn's Travels & Adventures: Road Trip to Kolar Gold Field....

Last Sunday, I was pretty bored... with nothing plan for. My driver Selvar has been asking me to visit KGF (short for Kolar Gold Field). What so special about KGF?

Well, first of all.. it is his hometown and where he always said... "my daddy works in the gold mine". And, then secondly he will say..."Beautiful temple, madam. Many many small temples in the temple... many many hundreds, thousands small temples."

Hmmm... that I got to see. Known of its beautiful and some declared as world heritage sites, I am always impressed and keen to visit the temples and churches in India.

During Christmas day, my bummie and I celebrated in Goa and we visited some beautiful places in Goa.

The most memorable one to me is the Basilica of Bom Jesus.

Built in 16th century at Old Goa, the former capital of the Portuguese at a distance of 10 kms. east of Panaji, it is the most popular and famous of all churches in Goa. This church is connected on the southern end with the Professed House built by Jesuits in 1585 but was partially damaged in fire in 1663 and was rebuilt in 1783. The church is called 'Bom Jesus' meaning 'Good Jesus' or 'Infant Jesus' to whom it is dedicated.

The mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier, kept in a silver casket, are enshrined here. This church dedicated to Infant Jesus is now a World Heritage Monument. (For more details on our trip to Goa - visit my bummie's blog)

Back in Bangalore, we visited the Kemp Fort temple which is behind the Kemp Fort Mall. I always passed by the Kemp Fort shopping centre and thought it was very eye-catching to have a shopping centre designed in this way. Little did I know that there is a temple behind it! A very famous temple indeed. So we went through a small alley to go behind the shopping centre... and then... "Wow..." We were impressed.

Sitting in front of us is a majestic 65 foot open-air idol of Lord Shiva. Shiva is portrayed in the posture of Padmasan with the replica of the holy Ganga flowing from his topknot.

Behind the idol is the holy cave Yatra traditionally called the ' Amarnath Yatra'. Within the cave are twelve beautifully decorated Jyotir Lingas. There is the reverberation of "Om Namah Shivaya" mantra within the cave. The cave yatra is open to the public from 9 am to 9 pm. It attracts a large number of devotees. Puja (Offerings) services are offered free of charge for everyone.

There is a wishing pool where devotees can get their wishes fulfilled by lighting a candle, dropping a coin in the pool and by chanting ' Om Namah Shivaya' seven times." I did light a candle but only found this out after I google!

This beautiful temple is built by Ravi Melwani, a well-known business personality and owner of Kemp Fort. Ravi Melwani is also a staunch devotee of Shiva, was instrumental in the construction of this idol and temple.

Now what about the temple near KGF? The name of the temple is Koti Lingeshwara. It is located in a village called Kammasandra, about 6kms away from KGF. I was expecting Lord Shiva idol but it has been represented as Lingas. A quick check from wikipedia and I found out that "Shiva was and still is chiefly worshipped in the form of the linga, usually a short cylindrical pillar with rounded top, which is the survival of a cult older than Indian civilization itself...." There are more than 8 millions Lingas that have been installed in the temple since 1974. The biggest Linga is about 108 ft in height.

Lord Shiva (left) and the 108ft Linga (right)

Puja - offerings during prayers

On the way back, we stopped by another temple which Selvar claimed as the Eagle Temple.

Before we head back to Bangalore, Selvar invited me to his house. The moment we arrived, everyone came out to greet me; such a friendly family! The neighbours came out and peep at me, as I was the first foreigner to visit the house. Selvar's family lived in the KGF staff quarters. It was a small cosy house where every members of the family sleep together in the living room - convert to bedroom at night. I felt sad but towards the end after mingling with the family members, they are actually very happy and proud of this. And, it definitely bonds the family closer.