So my amazing trip to all these places began on Friday when I took the bus to Bangalore. By the way, never take SHAMA SARDAR Travels to Bangalore. Its horrible. The drivers are totally drunk and very customer unfriendly. They let people sleep on the aisle for half the money and some of them would just walk away with your luggage. Lucky, my luggage was safe.
At around 9am on saturday, we (myself, Abhinav Shankar - my frisbee mate and his mom) left Bangalore on NH4 and took the road to Hassan via Nelamangala, which is NH48. On the way, we made a stop at Chennarayapatna (CR Patna). There is a Kamat Restaurant just after the town on the highway. Next to that is a Cafe Coffee Day as well. After about 3 hrs of driving, this place is perhaps the best place to make a halt.
Our next stop was
Belur - an important city of the Hoysala times. We spent about an hour there taking photos. If you have more time to spend, then best take a guide. We hit the road again to this place called Baalehonnur via Mudigere. We took a tea break here and then started again to Sringeri.
Sringeri is a temple town at the banks of the river Tunga. Adi Shankara selected this place to stay and teach his disciples. This place is of great importance for people who follow the Yajur Veda. We reached Sringeri around dinner time. There are very few hotels in Sringeri that provide accomodation. Most people stay with the Mutt's lodge. Very basic accomodation and just enough for one night. Advance booking is always appreciated. Now that a lot of people have taken to religion and belief in God, its better to play it safe. We showered, had food at Hotel Guruprasad and attended the Chandramouleeswarar Puja. The Puja was done by the Acharya himself. After that, we had a quick darshan of him and came back. Next day morning, we visited the Mutt again for a Paadha Puja (Feet Puja). They have a sandal made of silver worn by the Acharya, rather several copies, and the disciples do Puja for the same. Once that was done, we proceeded to Bhikshavandanam, where we get to meet the Acharya and seek his blessings. Remember, for all of this, you have to get tickets at the temple's desk at around 10am in the morning. Next stop was the Thorana Ganapathi (Its a Ganesha on a silver door frame. There is no temple, but its just on a door and frame.), where we did another special puja. Yes, you have to get tickets for this as well.
Next was photo time. We came back and took pictures of the temple and the surrounding areas of the Mutt. At the banks of the river Tunga, the devotees keep feeding the fishes. That's almost customary these days. The fishes were HUGE. Each one should have weighed like atleast 5kgs. Also, on the steps is the place where according to history, Adi Shankara noticed the cobra giving shelter to a frog. Then we had lunch at the Mutt. The Mutt provides free food to all devotees and let me tell you, the lunch is amazing. You should never miss it.
Post lunch, we left Sringeri and took the road towards
Horanadu. Horanadu is about 60kms from Sringeri. The road is scenic (you can spot many lakes and waterfalls) but very bad for your car. An SUV is a better choice. Annapurnaeshwari is the main deity at Horanadu. She is made completely out of gold and her smiling face gives you such a blissful feeling.
From Horanadu, we took the road to Kalasa and then drove straight to Chikmagalur. This town is an estate town, dominated by coffee growers. We stayed the sunday night at an awesome place called the Kadur Club. Next day, after English breakfast, we headed towards
Halebidu. The route was first to Belur and then 16kms to Halebidu. This city was also part of the Hoysala kingdom. Architecture is very similar to what we saw in Belur. Some of the important statues that we noted here was Krishna carrying Govardhana Giri and Ravana carrying Kailasa mountain.
Shravanabelagola was our next stop. We drove from Halebidu to Hassan and then stopped at the Kamat Hotel before CR Patna for lunch. We parked at the foothills and walked to the temple. A steep walk of about 650 steps leads you to the top for a view of one of the worlds largest monoliths. A view of the town surrounding this hill is brilliant.
From here, it was just back to Bangalore. We took the road to Kunigal and then to Nelamangala.
Dhanush is the everything in this movie. He fights, dances, jumps, runs, does all sorts of stunts in the movie. With his Bruce Lee figure, he takes a dig at punch dialogs and excels in comedy as well. We know for a fact that Dhanush himself did not complete his education before entering films, but he has to be appreciated for the great work he has done in this movie. The title of the movie by itself had raised expectation of the audience by a few notches. Dhanush has carried this movie quite well.
Villu opened this Pongal hoping to be a commercial success. This time, the Prabhu Deva - vijay combination has backfired. Pokkiri was phenomenal. After that one, this movie comes across as a major letdown for Vijay fans.
Prabhu Deva - the director. Some say that this movie is similar to Soldier in Hindi. The bobby deol movie. I dont remember that one. Whatever. But whats there to direct in this movie. Deva told on TV that this movie is like an MGR movie - wholesome entertainer. Well, definitely not. This movie is a pain in the ***. Was there anything called STORY in this whole movie? Bottomline is REVENGE, but the way it has been handled - extremely atrocious. Its usually the end of the first half where you can try all your direction gimmicks and possibly screw up. in the second half, you have to patch up and give a powerful comeback so that people walk out with a enthusiastic feeling about the movie. In this case, post intermission is complete trash - especially the flashback.
Aamir Khan has done a lot of hard work in this movie, but gets distinction only. You have to give it to Suriya for his outstanding performance in the tamil version. Khan looks very royal in the first bit. So its a bit difficult for a third tier model to visualise him as an aspiring model. Surya does that part well. He looks pro when he is a CEO and he appears very down to earth during his part with Asin.
Asin steals the show. She is the same Kalpana we saw a few years back but what an amazing performance. Bollywood lassies - beware! Miss Thottumkal has already established her position with class.
Simbhu does the role of a priest in the temple. What I dont like here is the way they have portrayed the priest community in the movie. They just make a lot of fun and its not good. I mean, I haven't seen a lot of movies that make fun of the christian nor the muslim community. In fact, I cant even think of one where they made excessive fun of these two communities. Even for that matter, a chettiar or a nadar or those deep down south ones. most movies take a dig at brahminism and this movie takes it to an unbearable level. So, Simbu's characterisation is quite nice. He has acted well, the typical styles follow. He has also worked well on the song sequences.
Not every actor gets to play a role, which is almost something like a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity. Suriya is the crux of this movie. The movie revolves around him and his relationship with his dad (another Suriya). I could clearly see that Suriya is getting better at every film as an actor. People say that he is following the foot-steps of Kamal Hassan. Quite true. As an actor, Suriya is giving everything he can to bring completeness to the director's vision. Suriya's escapades with love reminds you of Madhavan in Minnale. Suriya's deep low voice and reactions, background vocals in some situations give you a feeling of the Suriya we saw in Kaakha Kaakha.
Sameera Reddy - she is definitely going to go places in the industry. What an amazing character - full of life. I think she deserves a big applause for having done a wonderful job in the movie. She takes the movie to a different high and the 20-30 minutes of Sameera and Suriya on the screen keeps you in the best of spirits.
Harris Jeyaraj's music and background score is amazing. All songs are topping every chart in South India. A good part of the movie is based on music, since son Suriya plays the guitar. Right from wooing his girlfriend by strumming the guitar to entertaining his mom and dad with his music, there is music everywhere. "Adiyae Kolluthae" is a total highlight. Shot completely in Berkeley, this song is an energy booster.
Nayantara is the Professor at the college. The HOT PROFESSOR. Not just hot, but too hot to handle. Continuing after Billa and Satyam, she takes glamour to the next level. Nayan dons sexy outfits in the movie. Even the saris would make you go agape. As usual, there is not much scope for acting. More for singing duet songs in the Alps and some romance filled brushes with Ajith, just to set the ball rolling in the college.
Sringeri is a temple town at the banks of the river Tunga. Adi Shankara selected this place to stay and teach his disciples. This place is of great importance for people who follow the Yajur Veda. We reached Sringeri around dinner time. There are very few hotels in Sringeri that provide accomodation. Most people stay with the Mutt's lodge. Very basic accomodation and just enough for one night. Advance booking is always appreciated. Now that a lot of people have taken to religion and belief in God, its better to play it safe. We showered, had food at Hotel Guruprasad and attended the Chandramouleeswarar Puja. The Puja was done by the Acharya himself. After that, we had a quick darshan of him and came back. Next day morning, we visited the Mutt again for a Paadha Puja (Feet Puja). They have a sandal made of silver worn by the Acharya, rather several copies, and the disciples do Puja for the same. Once that was done, we proceeded to Bhikshavandanam, where we get to meet the Acharya and seek his blessings. Remember, for all of this, you have to get tickets at the temple's desk at around 10am in the morning. Next stop was the Thorana Ganapathi (Its a Ganesha on a silver door frame. There is no temple, but its just on a door and frame.), where we did another special puja. Yes, you have to get tickets for this as well.
Post lunch, we left Sringeri and took the road towards Horanadu. Horanadu is about 60kms from Sringeri. The road is scenic (you can spot many lakes and waterfalls) but very bad for your car. An SUV is a better choice. Annapurnaeshwari is the main deity at Horanadu. She is made completely out of gold and her smiling face gives you such a blissful feeling. 
Shravanabelagola was our next stop. We drove from Halebidu to Hassan and then stopped at the Kamat Hotel before CR Patna for lunch. We parked at the foothills and walked to the temple. A steep walk of about 650 steps leads you to the top for a view of one of the worlds largest monoliths. A view of the town surrounding this hill is brilliant. 