Isha Ganapathy

 Soon after the trip to Nalknad palace, we were off to the Igguthappa temple. Paadi Iguthappa Temple is a famous temple in Kakkabe that was built in 1810 by Linga Rajendra. The temple became a prominent place of worship during Linga Rajendra's reign. Dewan Apparanda Bopu renovated the temple after Chikka Veerarajendra, the son of Linga Rajendra, deposed by the British.  We were not allowed to capture pictures and videos inside the temple. We had our lunch in the temple. The head of the temple explained us about the significance and history of the place.   We went to temple where they explained to us the story of Shri Igguthappa.The temple is dedicated to Lord Subramanya, also known as Iguthappa by the Kodavas. Lord Iguthappa is an important deity for the people of Kodagu, especially Kodavas. He is known as their Lord of rains and crops. The temple resembles Kerala style of architecture. Situated on a hillock, this temple has a long stretch of steep stairs that connect t...

 Finally the day had arrived! We were on our way to the Nalknad palace. It was a lovely day and every single one of us was excited. The palace was built between the years 1792 and 1794 AD. This palace was the last refuge of the last of the Haleri kings of Kodagu, Chikka Veerarajendra before he was deposed by the British. As soon as we reached the palace, a huge door awaited for us.  The entrance to the palace has two large doors with pointed cones placed on them.  The door was made of metal which prevented elephants from entering the place There was a small mantap where the king’s sister’s marriage took place. It was a beautiful mantap, with beautiful carvings. The tour guide gave us a handful of information about the history of the palace. It has a secret path through which they could go to the fort in Madikeri. Basically, it was a huge house. Inside the palace, we were stunned to see all the carvings and the paintings. Later on, we entered inside a small room where we c...

 A visit to KVK, Gonikoppal While all the other departments were planning to go to the Forestry college, we decided to go to some other place and hence ended up visiting the Krishi Vignyana Kendra, Gonikoppal and the KVK farm. We collected information about mushroom culture. They were growing oyster mushrooms. Each of us had a chance to interact with the guide. It was avery informative trip. We saw the machines used in mushroom cultivation. Soon after, we were given information about soil testing and about how important it is to get the soil tested before we plant anything. We moved to the KVK farm in Athur. We were explained about the weather forecasting device which was located at the place. It is the only weather forecast device in entire Kodagu. We then visited the piggery, goatery, poultry and walked about the plants, the farm food and feed grown organically in the farm and obviously captured pictures everywhere we went. We listened to a detailed explanation of the depletion o...