By Shobha Rao Smilemaker

Feb 1: After decades of intending to visit the birthplace of my mother, we finally made a day trip to Vittal, which is just an hour's drive away from Mangalore and has wonderful natural greenery.

This place was part of a small ancient kingdom comprising of 16 villages was ruled by the Domba Heggade Dynasty whose descendants still live together at what used to be their ancient palace.

Vittal Aremane has the distinction of housing one of the largest joint families of India with around 120 members living together, though with seperate kitchens. The ex Royals now live as commoners here and their grand heritage house on the 10 acre property is in dire need of renovation. Their direct descendant Krishnayya himself took us around to the 4 sided open courtyard and to almost all the inner rooms on the ground floor. We even saw the family God's room and the dilapidated palaquin used by the king in the earlier heydays. The ex-royal family is still very influential regarding the local temple activities. Their earlier palace was destroyed in Hyder Ali's time and this palace that is around 250 years old may have witnessed many changes from its initial days of glory.

Krishnayya also told us interesting facts of the famous Pancha Lingeshwar temple of Vithala.The Pandavas themselves are said to have installed the 5 lingas as recorded on an ancient stone inscription here. The sprawling temple complex and its unique architecture is worth a visit. The renovated temple is rectangular from front, and semicircular like an elephants back from behind, with 3 ornamental doors on its 3 floors, ancient carvings and very attractive copper roofing. We just missed the annual festival that attracts hordes of devotees due to the wish fulfilling power of this temple.

Since Bheema brother was late, his linga was replaced the next day and the other one was retrieved from a nearby pond, from where it was supposed to be thrown by Bheema! Surprisingly previous days rice is also considered as an auspicious offering in this temple! This is also supposed to be the land where Bheema killed the greedy demon Bakasura during their years of exile.

And the highlight of this trip was my visit to the first RCC private house constructed in this district in 1953, on a sprawling land that was purchased from my Grandfather. With a good friends help, it was a miracle to see an ancient door that was reused from my mother's ancestral home. Her old birth home must have been demolished by the new owners, but that door still stands as a mute witness to my connection to our mother's roots!

Shobha Rao Smilemaker has a vision of living in a world where people use their ability to find and make smiles in any situation. She is a lawyer by qualification, a soft skills trainer by passion, a motivational speaker, a freelance journalist, a bestselling author, an avid traveler and founder of 'Smilemakers Trainings'. She can be contacted at www.shobhasmilemaker.com.