Mathura

Agra - Fatehpur Sikri - Bharatpur - Mathura - Vrindavan

Mathura was calm and bustling at the same time, as expected. The birthplace of Lord Krishna is one of the oldest cities and hence narrow lanes were crowded when we hit the city on a Monday. We parked our car near Holi Gate and entered the realm. Our first destination was Dwarkadheesh Temple. It is on the bank of river Yamuna and draws hundreds of worshippers every morning. We sat there for some time and admired the old structure.

Dwarkadheesh Temple, Mathura

Vrindavan

Agra - Fatehpur Sikri - Bharatpur - Mathura - Vrindavan

Vrindavan is the city of temples. While Mathura is birth place of Lord Krishna, it is Vrindavan which has the mythological advantage of hosting the childhood of Vishnu avatar. We reached the city through Yamuna Expressway and quickly settled in a subsidized Jain dharamshala (a religious establishment). Since it was early noon, we decided to first visit something little far and chose Pagal Baba Temple.

Pagal Baba Temple, Vrindavan

Qutub Minar

Delhi boasts of hosting three of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites apart from a plethora of monuments and ruins of old. One of the three and probably the most visited is Qutub Minar. The entire complex is a tribute to pre-mughal architecture and attracts a wide array of visitors throughout the year.

Qutub Minar

Bangalore: Top 10 places to visit

Here's the list of top things to do in Bangalore.

1. Vidyarthi Bhavan: Near Basavangudi, at the heart of old Bangalore serves amazing crispy dosas with loads of ghee in it, for which people line up and wait for up to half an hour. Coffee here is strong and good, the essential. The shop opens at as early as 6.30 AM but is closed on Fridays.

Dosa @ Vidyarthi Bhawan

Rameswaram

• Train to Rameswaram itself is a unique experience. The holy town can be covered on foot although there is scarcity of good hotels.
• Visit and complete round of the main temple takes couple hours. People even take bath afterwards in the inner sanctum.
• The highlight is Dhanushkoti, a sword shaped island at the tip of which the mythical bridge was built by Lord Ram. Sri Lanka is merely 20 miles from here.

Trip: Bangalore > Kanyakumari > Kovalam > Trivandrum > Rameswaram > Bangalore

Rameswaram was long awaited and frankly it didn't disappoint us. In fact the trip that started from Kanyakumari to this pilgrimage via Kovalam had an almost perfect ending in Dhanushkoti. We arrived at this island by train early morning. Crossing Pamban bridge created enough excitement in fellow travellers that we woke up with the noise.

Main Entrance @ Rameswaram Pilgrimage