Searching for ancient temples, I was guided to the 800 year old Sri Mannar Rajagopala Swamy temple in Vizianagaram.

Newly constructed Gopuram and Gaja (elephants) at the entrance.

Through the years, the temple land was encroached upon and the temple became neglected.
What was once a famous temple had lesser devotees going due to encroached area and dirty surroundings. 4 years ago, the local devotees and temple committee with help of Endowment department started the renovation of this divyakshetram.
The beauty of the renovation is that it has enhanced the feel of the temple.
This temple is believed to have been built under the guidance of Sri Ramanujacharya.

Entering the prakaram, we can see the dwajastambham. On top of the temple we can see Varaha Swamy and maa on one side and Narsimha Deva and maa on the other side. In center is Madhava and a cow. The top part could be part of the renovation.

Entrance to the temple. It is a complete stone structure.

To one side of the entrance is the murti of a beautiful Madanagopala and the other side is Vishnu Deva with Lakshmi maa on his Seshatalpa. These two are recent additions, but enhancing the atmosphere of the temple beautifully.

Entering the dwaram, we step into the Aasthaana Mandapam with 40 pillars. The pillars have slight sculpture on top & recently made paintings depicting Ramayana are all around on the walls.
Attached to this mandapam are 2 mini temples holding Jagannath Balabhadra Subhadra and one for Lakshmi maa.

Dwarapalas on either side of the door.

Newly constructed Prakara mandapam with beautiful images of Krishna Bhagvan. Loved those benches too, which would allow devotees to sit for sometime in the prakaram in peace.

The vimana and walls are beautifully sculpted with various sculpture, ornamental designs, Kirti mukhas and Gaja simhas.
Notice the vaanaras(monkeys) in the picture, as if they are about to jump down.

This sculpture was entirely covered with many coats of whitewash/paint.
Actual patha gudi(old temple) is 1000 yrs old and was at Venugopalapuram in outskirts of Vizianagaram. It was struck by lightning and the temple was abandoned. This temple was built after that, 800 years ago, with much more elaborate architechture.

Entering, we can see the lovely pillared room, which leads to the antarala & garbhagriha.
On left side of dwaram is Chakra and Vishwaksena. On right side is Shanku and Hanumanji.
Work on top part of the otherwise smooth round pillars.

The garbagriha has the murtis of Rajagopala (Krishna) and Rukmini & Satyabhama. On either side of antarala are mini temples for Sri Andal (Sri Goda Devi) & another for Sri Ramanujacharya.
Truly divine.

In the 40 pillared mandapam, in one corner, the main Murti of Patha gudi (old temple) is kept. It is an ekasila (made from a single stone) murti of Madhava with Rukmini and Satyabhama.
Thankfully this Murti had not been abandoned.

The rituals in this temple are performed under Pancha Raatra Agama, one of the Vaishnava traditions. Annual kalyanotsavam is performed for 5 days beginning Phalguna Suddha Ekadashi.

So happy that I saw another ancient temple which I didn’t know about previously. Another successful day.

Santa Barbara is a coastal city which lies between the Pacific Ocean and Santa Ynez mountains. It is a lovely city, with a Spanish look, not the typical bustling cities. It is quaint and visitors are bound to like it.

Heard about the County Courthouse of Santa Barbara and went to see it. It is located at 1100 Anacapa Street, in downtown Santa Barbara. The Spanish Colonial Revival style building was completed in 1929 and was designated as a National Historic landmark complex in 2005.

Main entrance and clock tower.

Glazed tiled floor in the corridor

The Mural room

Beautiful work in the interior

View of Santa Barbara from the top.

Way to the Sunken Garden behind the building

Sculpture

This is a beautiful complex with lovely artistic interiors and deserves all appreciation. I enjoyed seeing the Santa Barbara County Courthouse.

On a May evening, 3 years ago, I got down at Santa Barbara train station and was charmed. I had travelled from San Jose by Amtrak and enjoyed the ride. The seats were comfortable and had some lovely views on the way.

The train station also had the Greyhound bus station beside it. I found the station quaint and lovely. Relaxed for the night and went to see the UCSB campus next day.

UCSB, University of California Santa Barbara, was the second University I wanted to see. Spread over a huge area of land, more than 700 acres, it is a sprawling campus right beside the Pacific Ocean. The campus is not enclosed within a boundary wall. It has East, West and North Campus. It surrounds Isla Vista, which is a community where mostly students stay, with necessary shops and eateries which caters to the community. I found Isla Vista very convenient for the students and enjoyed seeing student life there. UCSB is a Public Research University.

Model of the University which is in the University library.

The Storke Tower is a landmark of UCSB. It is a Clock and bell tower.

Campus point

Way to the beach

The famous Lagoon and the Pacific beyond it.

Though I didn’t see the entire campus, enjoyed what I saw. It is about 10 miles from Santa Barbara and completely a student community. The students travel extensively on bicycles and the campus supports an extensive biking system.

Right in center of Vizianagaram, lies a beautiful ancient temple. Ignored and neglected, this temple went into a sorry state, but was restored and brought back to glory in past couple of years. The temple considered to be a replica of Puri Jagannath temple, was constructed according to rules of Pancha Ratra Agama Sastras. Along with Jagannath, Balabhadra & Subhadra, there are smaller temples for Venugopal Swamy and another for Mahalakshmi ma in the temple.

Jagannatha Swamy temple with 4 carved pillars in the entrance mandapam and carvings on top of the mandapam

Ratha for the Rathayatra

Devotees and locals formed the Sri Jagannath Seva Samithi to improve the condition of the temple. Once they took steps to clean the temple, they were shocked to see the sculpture hidden behind thick tough coatings of paint or whitewash. They contacted ASI and endowment department to preserve the sculpture. The Samithi collected 40 lakhs and Endowment department gave 12 lakhs. Then the face lift was given to the temple.

The huge Dwajastambham, notice the faces on the dwajastambham. Capturing it fully was a little difficult, its so tall.

Entrance Mandapam has four pillars beautifully sculpted. At two ends are Gaja Yalis and middle 2 are either Simhagaja or Simha yali.  The Gaja Yali, the back of the head it is carved like a simha or you can say it looks like the Kirti mukha.

Simha Gaja with Vishnu Bhagvan on his Seshatalpa carved on top.

This is a complete stone temple without use of iron etc.

Ramanujacharya, stone vighraha. The pillars and cover for him are recent addition, though he is centuries old.

Hanumanji, again in a similar addition.

Venugopal Swamy and Lakshmi ma are in two separate mini temples in same temple.

Coming in we see the 2 big Dwarapalas. In great condition. When this temple was started 800 years ago, during shankusthapana, they found these two Dwarapalas, suggesting an older temple lost in time.

Jagannath Swamy, Balabhadra & Subhadra. Though I don’t take pictures of garbagriha, these murtis are taken on the Rath Yatra. Hence archaka said I could take pictures.
Bottom half are the alwars.
Mound of Chandan in the picture is how we see Varaha Narasimha Swamy of Simhachalam. Similarly on Chandan Yatra day, they remove Chandan of this idol too. Fascinating.

There is a fascinating story for this temple too. It is believed that this temple was built during the time of Cholas (I’m assuming Kulottunga Cholas) The king wanted to build a temple similar to Puri here. When every 12 years, idols are changed in Puri, King asked them to give him those idols. But he was refused. Those days the idols used to be immersed in the sea every 12 years. On the night of immersion the king kept divers ready and retrieved the idols. They were brought here and prana prathista was done. The same idols are there till now. Every year before the rath yatra, the idols are taken from the Garbagriha, painted if needed and Prana pratishta is done every year. That the wooden idols have survived for many centuries is a miracle.

Pillared mandapam around the compound with beautiful sculpture.

Brahma, Saraswati on Hamsa.              I think Shiva Parvati on Gaja.

Temple is under endowment department who takes income from huge lands of temple. Except for archaka salary and power bills, not much is given to temple. For any small occasions, the locals contribute and celebrate.

Museums have always held a fascination for me. Seeing history before you, the various articles of various periods of time and learning pieces of history is so interesting. Egypt and its ancient history is fascinating. So when Egypt and a museum come together it becomes a bonus.

The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis
The Rosicrucian Order, AMORC is known internationally by its traditional and authentic title, the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, from which is derived the acronym “AMORC.” The Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis is the Latin form of the organization’s name, which literally translates into the Ancient Mystical Order of the Rose Cross.There is no religious connotation associated with this symbol; the Rose Cross symbol predates Christianity.

The cross symbolically represents the human body and the rose represents the individual’s unfolding consciousness.

Together, the rose and cross represent the experiences and challenges of a thoughtful life well lived. Thus, by our name and symbol we represent the ancient fraternity of Rosicrucians, perpetuating the true traditions of Rosicrucian movements from centuries past to the present day.
The Rosicrucian movement, of which the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, is the most prominent modern representative, has its roots in the mystery traditions, philosophy, and myths of ancient Egypt dating back to approximately 1500 BCE In antiquity the word “mystery” referred to a special gnosis, a secret wisdom. Thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt select bodies or schools were formed to explore the mysteries of life and learn the secrets of this hidden wisdom. (Information taken from the website)

The entrance of the museum.

Various artifacts

Side of the building beside the grounds.

The artifacts are lovely. Though some are reproductions of the original, you are bound to enjoy the visit. It is like stepping into a part of ancient Egypt.

Anyone with similar interests will enjoy this lovely museum.

Three years ago, I visited the United States of America for the first time. It took me a lot of years to manage my finances to make the trip happen. Once I decided to go, I had planned out my schedule, giving importance to tourist destinations. I wanted to enjoy all the sights, as a first timer. I focussed on the east and west coasts where I could combine visits to family and friends along with tourism.

In May 2016, landed at San Jose airport. California had been under drought for many years and hence I wondered how it would be. Before landing, the first sight of California was green hills. My best friend came to pick me up, as I was keeping her house as my base in between my travels. On the way saw many parts of dried vegetation on hills putting in focus, the water shortage at that time.

Meeting your best friend and going to her home is such a pleasure. Landed in the afternoon, reached her place, had lunch and was spending time with her, when sleep hit. Out of the 24 hour journey I had slept for only 2 hours and the day before the journey also I had slept for 2 hours only. Told my friends daughter to wake me in 2 hours and slept off. Exactly 2 hours later, as soon as she called me, I woke up, refreshed.

Though I didn’t suffer from jet lag, relaxed the next day. My friend suggested that I start my sightseeing with a place of worship. We are very Indian in that aspect, believing that everything will go well from thereon. She took me to the Gurudwara of San Jose. It was the first time that I had gone to a Gurudwara. Previously I had been to churches and Cathedrals, but never to a Gurudwar. The San Jose Gurudwara is big, it is the largest Gurudwara in North America and a very peaceful place. Sat in meditation for some time and then had langar (the meal that is served at the Gurudwara for all visitors).

View of San Jose from the Gurudwara

The day after, in the morning, we went to the farmers market in San Jose. A place where the farmers sell their fresh produce directly to the consumers. What I liked about in the market is the different fruits that were available. I had not heard the names of some of them, nor had I seen them before. Tasting them and getting to know them was fun.

Approaching Stanford University

A couple of days later, went to see Stanford University.

Stanford Memorial Church

When I had planned my trip, I planned to see 4 universities, so Stanford was my first university. It was an overcast day yet I had a great visit. It is such a sprawling campus. The lawn in front of the University is so big. Numbers of visitors to see the University is also huge. The Stanford Memorial Church is famous among visitors, so went in and admired it.

The day weather at that time was pleasant and nights were slightly cold.

One of the famous tourist spots of San Francisco, is the Japanese Tea garden in the Golden Gate Park.

Originally created as a “Japanese Village” exhibit for the 1894 California Midwinter International Fair, displaying a Japanese Garden, the site was originally 1 acre. After the completion of the fair, Japanese landscape architect Makoto Hagiwara and superintendent John McLaren reached a gentleman’s agreement, allowing Mr. Hagiwara to create and maintain a permanent Japanese style garden as a gift for posterity. He became the care taker of the property and expanded it from 1 acre to 5 acres, using his personal wealth and time. He had constructed his residence in the garden and spent lots of loving care to develop the garden into a showpiece displaying the flora of Japan. After him, his daughter, Takano Hagiwara and her family took care of this property. With the advent of World War 2, there was a rise in anti Japanese sentiment and the family were removed from the family’s home and sentenced to an internment camp. The home of Mr Hagiwara was demolished and even after the war, the family was not allowed to return to the Tea Garden.

The Japanese Tea Garden is beautifully landscaped, has beautiful trees, quaint ponds with colourful fish, pagodas, bridges and a Buddha statue.

Once we enter the gate of the Garden, we enter into a different world. Soothing, beautiful and mesmerising. for a minute, you can block out your fellow tourists in your mind and imagine Japanese ladies in kimonos walking blissfully along the paths. That is the imagery this lovely place evokes.

The Tea house in between the Garden has been there from the beginning, from the Mid-winter Fair of 1894, but has been rebuilt a few times.

Anybody wanting peace and tranquility can visit this beautiful place and absorb the atmosphere there.

Padmanabham is a mandal of Visakhapatnam district, which is situated 45 Km from Visakhapatnam city. Padmanabham has earned itself a place in history with the Battle of Padmanabham between Chinna Vijayarama Raju of the Gajapati dynasty of Vizianagaram and the British Colonel Pendergast sent by the British Governor of Madras.
By 1768, the tribal areas such as Parlakimidi, Ganjam, Mohiri, Gunsuru, and Pratapagiri were ruled by 20 Zamindars. They owned 34 forts and maintained approximately 35,000 armed troops. Many of these zamindars revolted against the British East India Company. Some of the castles were located in the hills of the manyam. Therefore, the defeated rebel Zamindars were retreated into the Hill fortress

After the death of Ananda Gajapatiraju, Vijayarama Raju became Raja of the Vizianagaram Zamindari. After he took over the reign, British attempted to increase payment of peskas from Vizianagara Zamindar and to reduce the strength of his army and ordered to pay his dues of 8,50,000 peskas. Although Raja proved that he had no dues, the British had captured Vizianagara on 2 August 1793. British ordered that Vijayarama Raju must go to exile Masulipatnam with the pension of Rs 1200 per month. However, Vijayarama Raju refused this orders and he went to Padmanabham located between the Bheemunipatnam and Vizianagaram. The Battle Of Padmanabham was fought on July 10th, 1794. The British troops defeated Vizianagaram army and Chinna Vijayarama Raju died due to bullet injury in the battle, along with 800 of his soldiers, as he was ill equipped against the sophisticated weaponry of the British.

Padmanabham has two very old temples.

The first temple is a 600 year old Anantha Padmanabhaswamy temple located on a hill. You can see the white temple on top with the steps leading to it.
Over the years though I went past it many times, hadn’t gone to the temple as I had to climb 1300 steps which was daunting.
Recently a road has been made for vehicles to go to the top. Though it hasn’t become a pucca road as yet, it allows vehicles to go up, so we went.

It is believed that the Pandavas came here during vanvaas. When they prayed to Lord Krishna to appear to them, Krishna said that he would manifest in a barely visible form & then manifested as a svayambhu on this hill. Bhagvan appeared as Shanku, Chakra and Namam on this stone and hence was worshipped by them. After that, over the years, this appearance was covered by an ant hill which became home for snakes. When the snakes were worshipped, even Bhagvan was worshipped involuntarily. 600 years ago, the Raja of Vizianagaram, the Royal family of the Pusapati rulers (of whom our ex aviation minister is the present head now) dreamed of a snake and of Bhagvan telling him that he was manifested on a hill and was now covered with a snake pit & to build temple there. The king came and on the instruction of Bhagvan, built a temple here to worship Ananta Padmanabhaswamy.
According to the pujari everyday a snake comes to the temple in the morning.

Anantha Padmanabha Swamy temple

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Dwajastambham in front.

It is a small temple but very peaceful.        Stone pillars in the interior.

Beautiful views from the temple.

The second is Madhava Swamy temple which is near the foot of the hill.

The entrance and the Ratha to carry Deva during the festivals. The entrance has Dwarapalas painted in red on either side.

The dwajastambham in the outer prakaram

Vishnu and Krishna sculpted on either side of the entrance to the inner prakaram.

This temple was built around 500 years ago.
Entrance to outer prakaram, pic taken from inside.

Madhava Swamy temple and the interior.
Madhava Swamy is different here. He is 4 armed. Top 2 hands hold the Shanka & Chakra. Lower left hand is in abhaya mudra while right hand holds a gadha. He is flanked by Sridevi & Bhudevi. Garuda is at his feet.

Alwars in a room inside.
There is also an enclosure for Lakshmi maa.

Mandapam all around the inner prakaram. This is a picture is taken from the top of the entrance of the outer prakaram of Madhava Swamy temple.

With this finished having darshan in two old temples.

In the month of February 2019, I had taken a trip to Mayapur, the headquarters of ISKCON, along with Mataji, Prabhuji and devotees.

Mayapur is a city located on the banks of the river Ganga, 130 km from Kolkata. It is the main island of the nine islands of the Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Nabadwip. Mayapur is believed to be the birth place of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is said to be an avataar of Bhagvan Krishna who was born to propagate the core of Hinduism. ISKCON receives these teachings through the preceptorial line known as the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya sampradaya. This well established traditional line descends through the respected teacher Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (AD 1486–1534). Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also known as Gauranga, along with his brother Nityananda also known as Nitai, were born to spread the teachings of Bhagavat Gita and Bhagavad Purana to people in this Kaliyuga. They along with their associates were called the Pancha tattva.

Pancha Tattva at Chandrodaya Mandir

After getting down from the train at 4 am, we took a bus to Mayapur. Normally a journey which takes 3.5 hours was delayed due to an traffic jam caused by an accident and we reached Mayapur at 12 o clock. After freshening up we went to take lunch. All food taken in Mayapur is called Prasaad, as the food is first offered to Krishna Bhagvan and then it is served.

We were put up at Gita Bhavan. After relaxing for some time, we went to visit the House of Bhakti Vinoda Thakur. We took a boat across the Ganga river and went to the other side to Bhakti Vinoda Thakurs place.

Svananda Sukhada Kunja

Bhakti Vinoda Thakur

Goura – Gadadhar Deities of Bhaktivinod Thakur.

There Mataji and Prabhuji told us the story of how Lord Chaitanya appeared to Bhakti Vinoba Thakur in his dream and asked him to go to Navadwip. After reaching Navadwip he searched for the birth place and by divine intervention realised that Mayapur was the place of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s birth. Bhakti Vinoda Thakura was the father of BhaktiSiddanta Sarasvati Thakura who was the guru of Srila Prabhupad. His house is named Svananda-sukhada-kunja where along with his residence, the bhajan kutir with the deities of SRI GAURANGA MAHAPRABHU & SRI SRI GADADHARA PANDITA are present.

After this we went to Chandrodaya Mandir, which holds the deities of Narsimha Deva, Pancha Tattva and Krishna Bhagvan with Radha and gopis. The atmosphere was amazing.

After the darshan went to the small abode beside Chandrodaya Mandir, where Srila Prabhupad spent his time with his teachings to all his followers.
Then we had prasadam and retired for the night.

The next day morning we went for the mangal aarti. First the doors of Narsimha Dev open. As soon as aarti is over there, aarti for Panch Tattva takes place and then the main aarti of Krishna bhagvan. The curtain opens and ‘Govindam, adi purusham’ a song sung by Yamuna maataji and produced by George Harrison is played. Everybody starts singing along and the aarti is so beautiful, I had goosebumps. The atmosphere of bhakti is all pervading.

Then we went to the Goshala. The place where all the cows are lovingly nurtured. We bought some desi ghee and other products from the shop over there and came back. At 7.30am, the next mangal aarti takes place and so we went there for the darshan again and enjoyed the aarti.

Then after relaxing for some time, went to Srila Prabhupada’s Pushpa samadhi mandir, wherein the life story of Srila Prabhupad is depicted. Then we went to a small theatre like a mini planetarium. Saw a 20 minute show which shows us about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Mayapur. It was a nice show. Retired for the night.

On the 3rd day we went to see the Vedic planetarium and new Chandrodaya Mandir which is huge and under construction. It’s expected date of opening is on Gaura Purnima 2022. I would surely like to come again once the Temple Of Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) is finished and opens.

With that, we completed the trip and started back to Kolkata to catch our train home.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare.