bangalore-chennai-kalahasti-bangalore

when a friend's family asked if I'd like to join them for a 3-day trip to chennai, to attend a wedding, I jumped at the offer. long hours on the road, great food at the wedding, the familiar chennai heat/dust/autos sans (fare)meters/buses sans window-glasses et al were the expected goodies... what came as a total surprise was the lush greenery around kalahasti in andhra pradesh with pockets of man-made water reservoirs and cultivated land as far as eye could see.

 

the trip to the Kalahasti temple was quite eventful. the temple complex is a huge one with multiple entries/exits. the idols are impressive and the roof in most places was either exquistely carved or painted in eye-catching colours.

day3 was spent picking produce at their farm - lady's-finger, radish, ridge gourd, bottle gourd and lemon - stopping to splash at a stream and driving homewards.