Sullurpeta & Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary

As Dec 17th 2010 was holiday for us we went to our home town Gudur for long weekend. From there we planned to visit Chengalamma temple in Sullurpeta. During the Bus joureny to Sullurpeta i just googled for any other places near-by to visit and decided to go Nelapattu if time permits.

Chengalamma Temple ...

Goddess Chengalamma Parameswari manifested herself in the village of Sullurpeta on the Kolkata-Chennai highway and the temple for her was built on the bank of the Kanlangi River. History tells us that chengalamma idol was found in the river by few boys who were swimming and they brought it to the current location during the fourth or fifth centuries. People also refer to her as the village goddess “Tenkali”. With the passage of time, she is being worshipped regularly by devotees as Chengalamma. Devotees turn up in large number to witness “Chengalamma Jatara” (fair).

The Village goddess who was called Tankali gained reputation as Sullurpeta Chengalamma Thalli and her idol in the temple faces the sea. Devotees from different parts of the State visit the place and fulfill their vows, referring the goddess as the mother who grants boons liberally. The naturally-formed image of the goddess adorning the hanging roots (vooda) of the banyan tree is really an awe-inspiring spectacle.

We visited the temple around 11 am performed pujas and spend some time over there. Then we checked between Pulicat and Nelapattu to visit. As per discussion with some Auto drivers we decided to go Nelapattu as there were many birds available during that time.

After Lunch, we started journey to Doravari satram(on the NH5) from where we need to travel to Nelapattu. We hired an Auto from Doravari satram for the round trip and the drop at Naidu pet.

Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary ...

Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary is popular for the largest habitats for pelicans in Southeast Asia, It is home to many other native as well as migratory birds. Some of the readily seen birds of the Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary are Babblers, Pelicans, Flamingos, Open Billed Stork, Coot, Night Heron and Waders. Apart from housing some of the rarest species of the avian population, the Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary is home to many mammals like jackals, slender loris and reptiles like monitor lizard, tortoises and snakes. There are some huts and view points along the Sanctuary to view the birds peacefully.

Naturalists here say many of the gorgeous birds here carry on the roosting and breeding activities and they even count and list number of birds they sighted in the sanctuary every day.

The uniqueness of the sanctuary lies in the additional features that are offered. The environmental education centre, small museum, the library offers information for those who are interested in the subject. Tourists can spend some time in the library reading about the different species of birds and animals. The Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary also offers an auditorium which is well equipped with audio-visual systems for seminar and discussions. Based on no. of tourists available, they play some documentaries in this auditorium. See some photos of  Nelapattu here -

You could even spot some Deer in this sanctuary.The ideal time to visit Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary is between October and March as the weather then is extremely pleasant which gives greater opportunity to the visitors to enjoy the sight of birds and animals in their natural habitat. Good stay and food facilities are available in Naidu peta or Sulluru peta.

Alludu numchi Phone vacchimdhi...

Great Bombay Circus on Jan1st 2011

This Jan1st we visited Great Bombay Circus in Bangalore. This is back in Bangalore after 38 years at the Palace Grounds opposite the TV Tower in J.C. Nagar. They have 3 shows daily @1 pm, 4 pm and 7 pm and available till 22nd Jan 2011. Ticket costs range from 40/- to 250/-

We booked 250/- tickets in advance and went to the place by 4pm. As it was New Year and week end, there was too much crowd around 2000 to 3000 people...

The show started around 4.15 with Russian Rope Balance performance. After that all artists and performing animals come on stage. That was awesome. We saw elephants, camels, horses etc. Then the performances Chinese roller act, cube pyramid juggling, Russian Palotna acrobatics, American limping board, Russian spider ring act, vertical swinging acrobatics, Russian devil clown act, high-wheel cycle skipping act and pocket cycle, Russian clown skipping act and elephant cricket etc are started one after other. In between the Magicians and jokers acts and plays were giving good humor and laughs

 

Cycle acts by male and female performers including group performances on single wheel, performance in pocket cycle and performance in High wheel cycle are good. Elephant cricket was awesome… there were some boundaries and catches too in this cricket. Dog show, Parrot show and camel show was too good. Some parrots were cycling, group of dogs were rolling a pipe kind of thing etc. Fire artists have given their good performances. And acrobatics were too good. There was a performance too throw ball in a net on top of the long rod thru steps attached to the rod using legs. This was very well done, when she missed the throw once when she was almost on the way, there was a huge response from the entire crowd. And there were some motor bike performances too.

Check some snaps of the performances.