A Legacy Called Chettinad
We are at Kanadukathan, 80 Kilometres from Trichy, off NH 536 in Tamil Nadu. This nondescript town with a tongue twister for a name has been designated the Chettinad Heritage Village, showcasing the Chettina…
2010 — Today
The complete archive.
Every journey, essay and glimpse, gathered in one place.
47 stories
The many visual delights of Udupi - Published in Deccan Herald on July 10th 2024
For years, Udupi has been the base for our trips to the temples of South Canara. Uncluttered and peaceful, this little town has always wrapped us in a comforting blanket of hot food after jostling temple cro…
Birthday bumps to a lovable menace! Published in Deccan Herald on March 9th, 2024
This is where it all began. I am standing in Carmel Valley, outside the picturesque cottage in which Hank and Alice Ketcham’s son Dennis was supposed to be asleep but was taking his bedroom apart, making it…
The Ever After Garden
The Ever After Garden Every year, for the last four years, the Ever After Garden blooms in the Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, London for a month and is open to the public from 3.00 pm every evening to 9.00 pm. T…
Edinburgh's Camera Obscura and World of Illusions
Edinburgh's Camera Obscura is in a very obscure corner, alright. Stashed away in a nondescript building, just outside the Edinburgh Castle, right at the end of the iconic Royal Mile, is a small entrance on t…
Udupi 2.0 and Other Malnad Musings
Published in Deccan Herald on 11th July 2024 For years, Udupi has been the base for our trips to the temples of South Canara. Uncluttered and peaceful, this little town has always wrapped us in a comforting…
Fatehpur Sikri - Move Over Taj Mahal !
“Why would you skip the Taj Mahal and visit a comparatively lesser-known monument!” ”Visit the Agra fort at least!” I had given the Taj Mahal a miss and chosen to spend a day at Fatehpur Sikri and not many u…
Lata Mangeshkar- Maa Saraswathi to Generations of Indians
On Basant Panchami, the day on which Indians pay obeisance to Goddess Saraswathi - the Goddess of Knowledge, Intellect, Arts, Music and Dance, my mobile flashed the news that Lata Mangeshkar, idolized by mil…
The 'Wackily Serious' Puzzling World - New Zealand
It was the next morning, on the way to the far-off glacier town of Franz Josef, well after we left Queenstown, New Zealand, that I discovered that my credit card was missing. After hitting panic stations and…
Chand Baori - Poetry in Stone
There is a sleepy little village called Abhaneri, 95 kilometres away from Jaipur on the Jaipur Delhi Highway. Somewhere around the 8th Century, a Rajput King is said to have built Chand Baori a 100 feet deep…
Bal Mithai - The taste of the Hills. Published in Sunday Herald March 2022
Publication link: https://www.deccanherald.com/sunday-herald/sunday-herald-melange/bal-mithai-a-taste-of-the-hills-1087420.html "Taste karo! Bal Mithai! This is the pride of Garhwal!" he said pointing to a r…
A wee dram of the Scottish Highlands
The line between a tourist and a traveller is a slim one. We were travellers who landed in London en route to Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands. The London boxes - the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, The T…
The Land of High Passes - Published in Intrepid Times, April 2020
Publication link : https://intrepidtimes.com/2020/04/the-land-of-high-passes/ Dangerous weather on India’s highest plateau forces a traveler to choose between safety and adventure. I gave up telling people m…
The Smoking Earth of New Zealand
New Zealand lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a belt of intense seismic activity that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. This is the cause for the high level of geo thermal activity in New Zealand resulting in ear…
Quick Reads - Chi Lin Nunnery and Gardens, Hong Kong
Not a single nail! Once upon a time, when Hong Kong was without protests and the Covid -19, I happened to stumble upon a gem. Right in the middle of the city, surrounded by the sky hugging buildings, I found…
Glimpses - The Perfect Road Trip to the Scottish Highlands
We start at Edinburgh with the Scotts Monument, a tribute to one of Edinburgh's most famous sons, Sir Walter Scott - writer, poet, playwright and historical novelist. A compelling presence in the centre of t…
Quick Reads - The City Palace, Jaipur
The City palace, Jaipur often gets overlooked by tourists because it is the Amber Fort that is publicized as the show stopper and attracts hordes of tourists . Since it is the residence of the current member…
A Handy Travel Guide to Hong Kong - Published in the Deccan Herald on 6th October, 2018
The Hong Kong Diaries There are some nice things about Hong Kong that get lost in the rhetoric of the tourist brochures. Like the landing at Hong Kong airport on Chek Lap Kok Island that was reclaimed from t…
Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer - Rajasthan in a nutshell
Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer - Rajasthan in a nutshell Rajasthan has been on the international tourist's map since the days of yore with its exotic maharajas and their palaces (many converted into hotels),…
New Zealand - An Experience of a Lifetime; Published in ParentWorld, September 2017 Edition
Nainital - Quite an Eyeful; Published in the Deccan Herald on 17th September 2017
It hit me as we drove to the hill station, and even harder when we saw the lake, that we should have set aside two more days for Nainital. Tucked away in the foothills of the Himalayas at a height of 6,358 f…
When seen anew - Jaipur. Published in 'Sunday Herald, Deccan Herald' on 11th December, 2016
Why Jaipur? It’s hot, crowded and repetitive. Everybody has been to Jaipur and Jaipur has been to every city with its bed sheets, handlooms, puppets and mirror-embroidered bags. We were in Jaipur to confirm…
Where Waters Run Deep - The Hindu, 20th November, 2016
Where Waters Run Deep - The Hindu, 20th November, 2016 It all began with an in-flight magazine. As I idly flipped through its pages, I was struck by a photo of a dramatic multi-tiered stone structure spirall…
The Mookambika Temple at Kollur
The great thing about Bangalore is its proximity to significant destinations, from stunningly beautiful weekend getaways to important religious shrines. So, if there is a beautiful Coorg and Wyanad on the on…
Ladakh's Unconventional Attractions - Published in Education World July 2014
ONE OF THE THREE districts of India’s way-up-north state of Jammu & Kashmir (pop. 12.5 million) and administered by the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Council, Ladakh is one of India’s most unlikely tourism hotspots…
Off the Beaten Track in Tamil Nadu - Published in the March 2014 issue of the Education World Magazine
Off the Beaten Track in Tamil Nadu The only state in India to host the Western and Eastern Ghats culminating in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu boasts five Unesco World Heritage sites and a southern tip plunging in…
Feel of the country in Yercaud - Published in the Sunday Herald on 19th January 2014
Feel of The Country in Yercaud It is very difficult to believe that a mere twenty two kilometres from chaotic, noisy and lively Salem, at a height of 4970 feet, lies Yercaud , a quaint hill station in the mi…
In Love With Ladakh - Published in all Metro editions of The Hindu
In love with Ladakh - Published in metro editions of The Hindu from 23rd May 2013 Neither altitude sickness nor snow-storms can keep us away It’s taken me two years and five Chinese tents inside the LaC to w…
Fit for a Queen - Queenstown Published in the Deccan Herald , Sunday Herald on 18th December 2012
Queenstown – A Town Fit for a Queen! It was windy, rainy and cold as we stepped on to the tarmac at Queenstown airport – quite a dampener, literally and figuratively! Queenstown is positioned as the adventur…
Shiva in his Element, Published in The Times of India-Speaking Tree on 3rd November 2012
At the Panchabhuta Sthalas, Shiva is worshipped as fire, water, space, wind and earth to remind us that we should live in harmony with nature, says BHAGYALAKSHMI KRISHNAMURTHY Every time I visit a Shiva temp…
Smoke On The Water- Published in The Hindu-Metroplus Editions on December 3rd 2012
Rotorua - Inside New Zealand’s Geothermal World “Roto what”? This was the common response when people heard that Rotorua figured majorly in our New Zealand itinerary. What also added spice to Rotorua was the…
All at Sea
All at Sea The cruise liner lurched into Phuket port. I roused myself from the inertia that was, clearly, becoming the most enjoyable part of this cruise. It was only the lure of Phuket, white water rafting…
Why Not Wayanad
Why not Wayanad! Wayanad, in Kerala, is an ideal weekend getaway from Bangalore. It is beautiful, quiet and as yet, relatively less ravaged by commercial tourism. Derived from the Malayalam words Wayal (padd…
My weekly visit to the Temple
My weekly visit to the Temple I am getting ready to leave for the Shiva temple; the one I have been visiting every Monday, for the last four years! Padmavathi, my daughter has just left, rather grumpily, on…
Srirangam - The Life and Times of a Temple Town in India
Srirangam –The Life and Times of a Temple Town in India. At the stroke of dawn, Alamelu Sarangapani has a quick cup of coffee, finishes her morning ablutions and makes her way to the Ranganatha Swamy Temple…
Indian Street Food - The "What and How" of the Khau Gallis of India.
It is not for the faint hearted. What I mean to say is that Indian street food needs guts- literally and figuratively! The courageous, however, will be amply rewarded by some utterly new tastes. India is tru…
Where God is in the details - Published on December 10, 2010 in The Deccan Herald Bangalore.
Travel Where God is in the details Bhagyalakshmi Krishnamurthy Bhagyalakshmi Krishnamurthy visits heritage spots Belur and Halebid, and is smitten by the beautiful temples and the intricate carvings inside t…
Srirangam Gateway to Heaven Published in The Times Of India National Edition; Date: Dec 17, 2010; Section: Editorial; Page: 22
To devotees, particularly Vaishnavites, the Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam near Trichy in Tamil Nadu is their sacred gateway to heaven. Among the 108 temples in south India that are of utmost importance…
Rameswaram- featured in India's Top 42 Weekend Getaways published by Chillibreeze and India Today
Rameswaram - Looking Beyond The Ramayana The 106 year Pamban Bridge connecting Rameswaram to the rest of India Rameswaram –Looking Beyond the Ramayana The cry was for an unusual weekend getaway from Bangalor…
Mumbai- Published in Kalnirnay International Edition
Mumbai. Quite Simply, Mumbai. Voila, here’s a city that needs no introduction. Call it by any name, Bombay, Mumbai, Bambai; its essence remains just the same, a city that compels a response. You can either h…
Hyderabad - Published in the Kalnirnay International Edition
Hyderabad – Musings on the City by the Musi River Eleven years ago, I stepped out into the early morning mist of Hyderabad for the first time, a naturalized dyed-in the-wool Mumbaikar, supercilious and patro…
Gangotri Via Mussoorie- Published in the Deccan Herald(Sunday Herald) on Feb 1st 2009
Gangotri via Mussoorie – a journey to our roots. Ever since my son discovered that his favourite Bond, Ruskin Bond, stayed in Mussoorie, he decided that he had to meet him. This coincided with my daughter se…
The Rohtang Pass via Manali
The Rohtang Pass Via Manali- Published in the Deccan Herald (Sunday Herald) on the 27th of July 2008 The Rohtang Pass via Manali. Rohtang literally means ‘pile of corpses’. But more of that later, for you ha…
The Censorless Wonder published in www.indiaparenting.com
The Censorless Wonder By Bhagyalakshmi My eleven-year-old daughter is very uncomfortable these days. She used to enjoy surfing television, but these days she is very wary of this very harmless pursuit. Once…
About
In her two and a half decade career as a freelance journalist, Bhagyalakshmi Krishnamurthy has written for a host of front line publications in India and abroad. Apart from many travel articles, she has publ…
Pankaj Advani- Published in New Woman in March 2004
Pankaj Advani – Striking the Right Cue When Shree Advani allowed his little brother Pankaj, to tag along with him for a game of pool, little did he realize that he was sowing the seeds of the makings of a ch…
