Lemon lamps at Banashankari Temple, Bangalore

"tamasOmaa jyOthirgamaya" goes a saying.

It means - "Lead me from Darkness to Light" / "from ignorance to knowledge"

Lighting a Lamp has always been considered sacred in India. Lamps or diyaas come in all shapes and sizes. Happened to see a different form of diyas at Sri Banashankari Temple, one of the popular temples of Bangalore. Here, the lamps are made out of Lemon by devotees and offered to Goddess Banashankari. The lemon is cut into two pieces. The pulp is then removed, inverted, filled with oil and then, lit !

Sandals of biLigiri ranganaatha swamy [ಬಿಳಿಗಿರಿ ರಂಗನಾಥ ಸ್ವಾಮಿ] !

Happened to visit K.Gudi (kyaatha-dEvavara guDi; ಕ್ಯಾತ ದೇವರ ಗುಡಿ) and BR Hills [ಬಿಳಿ ಗಿರಿ ರಂಗನ ಬೆಟ್ಟ] on 1st & 2nd of Sep 07.

I was fascinated by a pair of sandals at biLi-giri ranganaatha swaamy temple. This temple is atop BR Hills.

Legend has it that Lord biLi-giri ranganaatha uses a pair of outsized sandals to roam the adjoining forests. The sandals measure more than 2 feet ! As a coincidence, sandals wear out over a period of time ! Villagers then replace them with new ones.
Isn't that interesting?

Route from Bangalore:
Bangalore -> Kanakapura -> maLavaLLi -> koLLegala -> YeLLandur -> BR Hills -> K GuDi {-> Chamarajanagar -> Mysore}

Be prepared for a bumby ride in a stretch between Kanakapura and maLavaLLi.
Alternately, you could travel via Mysore Road (40 kms of extra journey) and save atleast 1 hour.
Bangalore -> kengEri -> biDadi -> Ramanagara -> ChannapaTna -> Maddur -> (deviation from Mysore Road) -> maLavaLLi -> koLLegala -> YeLLandur -> BR Hills.