Bijapur: A Quaint Old City

Last weekend we took a road trip to Bijapur - an ancient city that still seems to hold on fast to its historic relics and yet where modernisation is fast catching up. One might wonder why Bijapur, when the sun specially scorches down in all its fury, while better counterparts such as Ooty, Thekkady & Munnar are available. Well, let me hope that it suffices to say that we had our reasons.

We took the sleeper a/c coach from VRL which seemed a little claustrophobic at the begining but turned out to be quite comfortable once we got used to it.

Here are a few places we got to visit -


Torvi Narasimha Swamy Temple - It was here that Kumara Valmiki is said to have composed the famous Thoravi Ramayana in Kannada. The deity idol is placed way down below in a cave and though the pathway has been tiled & modified it yet gives one a queer feeling.
We were fortunate as it was supposed to be the week of Narasimha Mahotsav. Since our visit was on a Saturday we offered coconut, sugarcubes and oil as was customary at the temple and also partook the mahaprasad.



Gopal Krishna Park

Located near the Alamatti dam this is a Rock Garden (not like the Chandigarh one) with life like models depicting Lord Krishna's leela's.

There is also a model of the village that was in existence there before the dam construction began. The village replica with all those mud paths, water tank and the old run-down school makes it look almost real.


















A Scenic Park near the Alamatti Dam

















The mighty old Gol Gumbaz



Yelagur Anjaneya Temple