Doddamane, Agumbe

An old structure which flaunts its rustic looks. The architecture of the house is what we call in local dialect as "Thotti mane" with large central square area which is open to the sky bordering it is a corridor covered with sloped tiled roof. The huge black pillars at the corners have been now supported with metal railing as the structure is very old. There are I don't know how many rooms, every corner we ventured opened into a huge  room. A typical wooden ladder to climb up the attic. It typically looks like your granny's place which you visited during your holidays.

 

We weren't too tired so after a quick round of fresh up, we sat in the portico enjoying the evening breeze watching people walk home. It was dark by now and we were hungry. Not because the stomachs were empty but because the glimpse of the afternoon menu what they served, invariably forced us to serve a early dinner. An endless number of items filled the banyan leaf. Starting from the pickle till the masala butter milk, every thing served was so so so delicious. For the first time in my life I left nothing except the leaf. We obviously ate more that necessary. With a heavy stomach, least we wanted to rest. The marooned roads of the Agumbe invited us take a stroll. The dark roads and the blank sky without a single star, made the surrounding look completely dark except for the lights of the vehicles passing by once in a while. We sat on the road relaxing.

We returned home to occupy our rooms and saw the preparations for the next day's festivals were on. Freshly prepared Hollige (a sweet prepared in South India) were kept in a wide plate with a thin cloth filmed over. Raja could not resist and Sumanth too showed interest. Before they could chalk out a plan to grab one, I had to shoo them away. The windows of our rooms next to the bed had a clear view of the table on which the sweet was kept and Raja kept a eye on that for a long time. The hollige must have haunted him the whole night.

 Photo courtesy : Google images

Because of the Hollige, our next day plan got delayed. We were supposed to visit Kundadri hills for sunrise but we were happy watching it right from the windows of Doddamane. We enjoyed a hot bath from a authentic firewood heater (hanDe snana in local dialect). I took my sweet time watching the smoke from the firewood escape through the gaps in the tiled roof. It was a beautiful sight. We generously served several rounds of Avallakki prepared for breakfast. We dint want to miss a chance to eat Hollige but it seemed they would not offer it till the pooja was over. So we were a lil disappointed. We were done with avallakki and was about to get back to rooms, just then ajji came in and told us to have Hollige. Raja and Sumanth had no other option but to celebrate silently with a wide smile. We happily relished Hollige and our Ugadi was done. This is the best we could have on a festival away from home.