Paadooru is my native village situated near Kaup, Udupi District of Karnataka. The blog is dedicated to beautiful landscape of KAUP Beach and my village Paadooru
This is one of my old write-ups being published now. Almost 4 years since I visited beautiful Melukote. Just sharing those few moments of tranquility in serene environment. I documented very less during the journey and content is relatively less. I admire this place for those eye-catching landscapes and lakes. Apart from this I do enjoy savoring those tasty puliyogare (tamarind rice), mirchi bajji and curd rice with mango pickle :D which is quite popular and unique here. I have been twice here, once alone and another time with my parents. I have also plans to visit this place in future too ;).
01 Nov 2009
I frequently travel to Mysore to my elder sister's house and have fun time with my nephew. He was just a 2-3 years old those days and playing with infants is very much exhilarating. Their cute smiles, wicked acts, naughty deeds and more prominently their enthusiasm and energy have great lessons embedded in them [He used to pull my hair and spectacles too ;-)]. After spending few days in Mysore, during my return journey, I used to get lured by the signboards towards Melukote nearby Mandya. Did hear about the place very long time and was also impressed seeing wikipedia entry. On a fine day, I inquired in KSRTC bus station regarding the bus availability from Bangalore. As usual the staff were irish and I did not get proper response from them. One of the staff angrily asked me to inquire in Mandya Bus Stand. I was bit annoyed but can't help. Nowadays things have far improved though.
It was on 01 Nov 2009, I started my journey towards Melukote. Unaware of route to destination, my first target was Mandya and later seek help in bus stand. I caught up with early morning train to Mysore and in matter of 90 minutes I was in Mandya. Later I walked towards bus stand which is few hundred meters from Railway Station. As I reached the bus stop, a bus destined to Melukote was about to start. When inquired, the conductor informed it will be 15 mins more to start. Also the bus was empty and I had tasty breakfast in bus stand hotel itself. Later the bus started moving towards Melukote slowly. Since it was local bus, the movement was at snail's pace. It was fabulous journey though. The lush green meadows, the coconut plantations, the fragrance of Jaggery houses, the flowing canals, the magnificent hillocks and lakes and paddy/sugarcane fields made sure that I never get bored. Also the roads were very well paved. As we neared Melukote, the hills of Yoganarasimha temple caught my eyes. The last few kms were of semi ghat type with hair pin bends. At last 9:45PM, I was in Melukote and it was time to explore.
Apparently Melukote is a hamlet with antique look. It is surrounded by beautiful nature especially numerous water bodies. As I was not aware of this place much, my primary intention was to visit the prominent temples for which the place is known for. The beneath temple deity is Cheluvanarayana swamy while the hillock one is Yoganarasimha swamy. The annual car festival attracts thousands of pilgrims to this place. One has to walk for few distance to reach Cheluvanarayana swamy temple if you are arriving by bus. The private vehicles can drive till temple premises. The first impression of temple was it is ancient temple made entirely of stone. The temples were constructed during Hoysala Empire in respect of Sri Ramanujacharya who is propagator of Vishishtadwaita. Few renovation work was under progress. There were lot of debris inside the temple cluttered all along. The interior was filled with darkness with only few lights. Apparently felt filthy inside. The sanctum sanitarium was closed when I went inside. Few minutes later it opened for public visit. There was small pale bulb which lights up the sanctum sanitarium which people felt like its almost dusk. Nevertheless the deity's idol was beautiful to watch. Since the photography was prohibited inside, I could only enjoy from my eyes. After having darshan of lord, I roamed around the temple premises for a while. The array of pillars were looking magnificent too! There is also free lunch home where devotees are fed with free meals every afternoon. After being satisfied with stroll, I departed towards the Yoganarasimha hill.
CHELUVANARAYANASWAMY TEMPLE
BEAUTIFUL SIDE LOOK
CORRIDOR
I really had to rush to temple since it would be closed for public visit by 12PM. I checked time and it was already 11AM. It is required to climb 300 steps bare foot to reach the temple. There is shoe stand just before stepping up where we need to leave our footwears. One can also take vehicles till mid of hill from where the steps are only around hundred. I had no option other than climbing entire stretch. The pestering of beggars for money all along the steps is an irritating sight altogether. If you lend one, others will throng you begging! Most of the travelers do not owe even single penny to beggars to avoid their embarrassment. These beggars used to curse people who did not lend them money but that was manageable :). The next problem creators were as usual monkeys. There are gazillion of them. Their courage is kind of intimidating for us. Fortunately I did not have any food item and hence nowhere near me. However, I could see them aggressively snatching the eatables from pilgrims.
CLOSE-UP LOOK OF YOGANARASIMHA
DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING FOR ME
WILL I GET SOME SHARE :-?
AFTER FOOD, IT'S TIME TO CHILL :)
THERE ARE MANY CONTENDERS :)
ONE MORE VIEW OF YOGANARASIMHA HILLOCK
There were good things to enjoy here too ;-). The landscape from mid of ascension was breath taking. The hillocks and lakes were ravishing to watch. I took many pictures to satisfy my photography thirst. Those were the days, I knew very little about photography relatively. No HDR, timelapse and very few manual mode experiments. Also I had basic manual mode camera and no DSLR. After toiling for nearly 45mins, I reached the temple. There was huge rush for the darshan and had to wait for some time to enter the sanctum sanatorium. I found more people here than in the temple beneath. The idol is marvelous describing the divine anger of Narasimha with sharp nails and teeth. After finishing my darshan, I enjoyed some beautiful landscapes surrounding the temple. Landscapes are well captured at an altitude and consequently some more pictures snapped here. Sometimes I felt precarious due to gravity pull :D.
KALYANI FROM TOP
BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE
WATER BODY FROM HILLOCK
I stepped down the hill and had local dishes in one of mobile hotel. Puliyogare and curd rice are simply the best here :-). It was nominal Rs.10/- per leaf cup. You can even buy puliyogare paste or powder if you wish but the paste doesn't last long. After lunch it was time to relish the locally grown tender coconut. Once done, I moved towards Bangalore. Caught a bus to Mandya and from there to Bangalore and thus ending one of my enchanting journeys.
KALYANI
MAYAGOPURA
Few years later, I visited this place with my parents and spotted few more attractions nearby. I did miss them during my last itinerary. Prominently Akka-Tangi Kola and Rayagopura. That time I had the best mirchi bajji in my lifetime and still the best till date :). Never miss to savor the tasty Puliyogare, curd rice and mirchi bajji with pickle if you are visiting (No photographs though). Overall a great place to visit for a day and refresh in natural air along with serene environment. I suggest to visit during Jan-Feb timeframe.
More info can be found in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melukote
Here are two panoramic pictures composed during my second visit
Hot summer day, thought of visiting some
beach nearby to inhale breeze from the ocean. They are natural tranquilizers
and mood bringers. This time, I chose to visit Maravanthe Beach near
Kundapur. I had to bank upon the public transport for my plan. I ended
up catching 3 buses for mere 70kms :(. My plan was primarily for
photoshoot and rest for rejoicing.
The expansive sea
shore of Maravanthe does not fail lure anyone in my humble opinion. It
has a partner along the other side of the highway which is Souparnika
River :). Driving along this sea shoreline is one of the wonderful
experiences of lifetime especially during monsoon season during which
place looks intimidating. Sometimes, the waves strike highway during peak
monsoon season. During monsoon season, both river and sea brims and it
feels like sea wants to take revenge against the river for not merging
here. However the river keeps teasing the sea everytime :). Emotions
apart, here are some of the HDR shots composed during my visit.
Hope you enjoy the same.
As the sun slides down the horizon during last day Hindu calendar year, he will shine us for a new beautiful next day. I watched the sinking SUN hoping for "A beautiful Tomorrow". Whatever happens at this moment, be happy and enjoy the small things in life and hope for A Beautiful Tomorrow everyday :). Nature provides curation through simple means. Be it sunrise, sunshine, sunset, monsoon clouds & rains, summer breeze along sea shore, western ghats, sound of sea tides, roaring streams in forest, thundering sound of waterfalls, the striking downpour, rejoice every moment of nature which provides immense bliss to our souls which is enough to combat morbid city life.
Finally hear one
of perfect musical melody from Imperfection "A Beautiful Tomorrow". What
a work by imperfection absolutely gorgeous melody :)
For
me life is like Uplifting Trance music :D. Many people feel it to be
esoteric with sequence of monotonic beats. Some people have even
criticized me as show-off listening to such music. But who cares! Music is for self-healing and not to impress foreign souls. At the outset, the sounds seems to be harsh, lacking in melody, naive and
somewhat boring. You feel like switching off the music at very much
early stage. However actual rythm starts past 2 minutes in most of cases
during which many instruments line up and make up for symphonic chords.
Once the rythm outsets, you never feel like tuning off ;). The music
at its peak during the heart of breakdown and also breakdown :) and the
melody prolongs. The last part again seems to boring however the prior
influence of harmonic tunes makes it interesting too :D.
Even
our life can be analogous to above case. Initially tough, boring and
feel like cursing ourselves. Only those people who have patience to hear
past 2 minutes will hear the actual melody and enjoy life and this
symphony continues :). Few wicked thoughts may arise as if we can skip
initial part and seek past 2 mins in music player. Remember life is like
radio station ;) you cannot seek the way you want as in music player
;). Either you have to switch off or tune into other stations or have
patience to listen to entire song :). Phew man.. enough of fable :D.
Its time to hear beautiful music. Hope you listen past 2 mins and you
have an option of seeking to position you want ;)
Imperfection - A Beautiful Tomorrow: http://vbox7.com/play:b0c856f639
I did pull up a video for one of monsoon videos compiled last year here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ce2S3AGBpE
Last Note: The beautiful images does not arise without complications. It was difficult to focus on a hot scorching evening. Also there were many people staring (some inquisitive while some teasers) at my camera setup. I had to overcome all those distractions/obstacles to continue with whatever I was planning for. Also few suggestions on perceptions arouse out of thoughtful truck drivers too B-) and believe me, they were good suggestions too! All those difficulties finally lead to beautiful images of tomorrow ;). More than that, I broke my shackles shooting in public without hesitation.
Before saying goodbye, here is short video compiled during my stay at Maravanthe beach. The steady video is mainly due to the usage of tripod.
This new year, I had been to Yana. Here are some scribbling from my itinerary. One of the beautiful places of UttaraKannada covered with dense rainforests. I did write a brief note on this place during MahaShivaratri here. This is an expanded view of the previous post. Hope you enjoy the same. As always, comments and critiques are welcome. 03 Jan 2014,
Yana is popular tourist attraction situated near Kumta Taluk of Uttara Kannada District. It is known for the surreal rocky landscape amidst beautiful thick western ghats. This region is also home to wide variety of medicinal plants as well as King Cobras. From many years, I have been planning to visit this exotic destination but everything in vain despite being hardly 200kms from hometown. This time I made up my mind to visit the beautiful place and spend few hours in middle of western ghats. My first travel in new year turned out to be quite exciting too! I do not have to venture into distant locations to feel nature. Within 200km radius of my hometown, I have lot of glorious spots to visit during leisure. I have plans to cover still more locations nearby my place before venturing outside region.
The plan was executed just a day back. My parents were running on ill-health and I decided to travel alone. Travelling alone is not a new experience for me nowadays. I enjoy travelling alone as well as with friends. Father wanted car for specific purpose. Hence I decided to drop the drive. The other option was none other than wonderful Konkan Rail route. Wow! thats a cute decision. Eventually plan turned out to be travel to Kumta in Konkan railway and hire an auto to Yaana. Everything was set now except for waking up early. The train departs from Udupi station around 7:45AM and I had to start by 6:30AM from my village to reach 20km distant station.
Early morning, the village woke up to slight chilly weather (bit unusual in coast) and dancing fog. I packed essentials and ready to start by 6:30AM. My father joined me till railway station. Enroute, I enjoyed colorful sunrise reflecting on beautiful Udyavara river sneaking through coconut trees. It was easy drive till railway station and reached within 20minutes due to feeble traffic. There was not much crowd too! My father left the station and I collected the ticket which was costing only Rs.35/- for 191kms. There was hardly any person in ticket queue too! The train is Mangalore-Madgaon passenger which runs to and fro on same day. It requires 6hours to reach Madgaon along Konkan railway route. Few minutes later, a dissappointing announcement was aired stating the train would arrive by 8:15AM :-(. The railways never improve in time :-(. Finally our train arrived at 8:20AM and we were set to go. I could easily grab a seat inside relatively empty bogie.
The train started chugging towards north and our first station was Barkur. I missed shooting beautiful swarna river however was foreseeing a colorful journey past Kundapur. Mere 30 minutes of journey, here we are at Kundapur station. I grabbed the footboard and managed easily since there were less crowd on board. Here starts my shooting too! Those memsmerizing hillocks, mighty rivulets, swaying coconut trees teasing river, the beautiful fields makes journey an enduring experience to cherish. The route is best visited during peak monsoon season during which one can see water and greenery everywhere. Not to miss those kissing clouds towards hillocks too! The stretch between Kundapur to Gokarna receives very heavy rainfall during monsoon season (averaging 4000mm) due to the fact that western ghats are relatively closer to coast. I shot good videos of rivulets all along with paddy fields. One can see majestic shiva statue of Murudeshwara too from railway line. Excitement increased as we reached breath taking sharavati river basin of honavar followed by 3 tunnels. Sharavati river has the longest built bridge along the Konkan route and train journey along the stretch is simply mind blowing. From Honavar station, kumta is 15 mins journey. Around 11:20AM, we reached Kumta station which was an hour of delay from usual schedule.
Lack of morning breakfast was eagerly driving famished soul to a decent lunchhome as early as possible. I hired an auto to Yaana from here and asked him to stop at decent hotel for lunch before resuming journey. He took me to a very good hotel along highway (Panduranga hotel) and meals here was perfect for me (less spice and salt). It was tasty too! We resumed journey after lunch and I had first distant glimpse of beautiful aghanaashini river of Kumta. What a great landscape it has. Those blue waters coupled with serial coconut trees swayed all along banks makes it perfect place for nature lovers. This place has been one of my favorite spots ever since I came across. One can enjoy landscape from highway bridge provided the traffic is less. If you have your own arrangements, you can reach divgi to have broader look of the river.
From Kumta, Yaana is around 30kms in distance. We crossed NH-66 to reach SH-69 which is Kumta-Sirsi highway. The roads are well laid and still in good condition. Few kms later, here starts beautiful stretch of lush green rainforests. Uttara Kannada has dense and wide cover of rain forests barring few kms of coastline. 12kms after, we reached Aanegundi cross. From here, Yaana is around 16kms. One has to drive through very thick rain forests to reach Yaana. The rainforests are very dense which shrouds the region with sheer darkness even during scorching mid-day Sun. The region was decorated with lush greenery by these tall woods. Also the stretch is home to wide variety of medicinal plants and wild animals. The road leading to yaana is average (some times well paved and few stretches have nasty pot holes). There are numerous streams along this stretch which finally meet aghanaashini river. The interesting fact was that despite many months after monsoon retreat, the streams had considerable amount of water. The first 6kms is somewhat straight road while remaining 9kms is ghat section road with steep hairpin bends. The road is also narrow and difficult for a bus and a car to negotiate simultaneously. Our journey was delayed mainly because of such incidents. After enjoying the journey along the beautiful forests, we reached Yaana gate around 1:30PM. From here onwards, one needs to trek for 1.5kms to reach the Yaana.
INTO THE SKY - THE TALL WOODS
MAIN ENTRANCE
ONE OF THE HUGE LIMESTONE ROCK
THE DENSE CANOPY OF RAINFOREST
The trail is not straight but not much steep either. There are numerous streams nearby the place. The tiny streams cascade to form a larger stream which eventually meets aghanaashini river near Kumta. The trail is easy to manage. We did cross 2-3 streams enroute before reaching the monolithoc rocks. The last few steps can be covered either with steps or the trail. Due to my recent treks, I managed the 1.5kms in matter of 15 minutes comfortably however with prolific sweating :-). Being well known tourist spot, the place was crowded especially with school children. It was joyous to watch those intermittent streams with pure and sweet water (I tasted from one of the stream too!). The entire trail is covered with brown soil which is unusual in coastal Karnataka being predominently covered with red soil.
THERE ARE MANY ENROUTE
SPECIAL BOULDER STRUCTURE
WE NEED TO CROSS THESE
There are around 61 limestone rocks around Yana. Out of which, two are largest. One is Bhairaveshwara shikara and other mohini shikara. They have mythological importance too. The place is mentioned in 'Skanda Purana' and 'Shaiva siddhanta' The Bhiaraveshwara is dedicated to Lord Shiva and has a temple beneath the rocky hill. The shiva linga inside the hill is self-originated (udbhava). The temple is called as Ganga Chandika Bhairaveshwara temple. The name Ganga signifies the water dripping on shivalinga all through the year while the chandika signifies the Paravathi bronze idol inside temple. It is believed that Shiva-Parvathi resided beneath the hill to repress demons. The complex look of the cave temple gives feeling that it is not man made but naturally evolved. The daily offerings is done to the shivalinga originated on the boulder. The visitors are not allowed to enter sanctum sanatorium of temple except during Mahashivaratri when the place gets heavily crowded. Some enthusiasts even visit during peak monsoon season. The shop keeper mentioned that it is not easily manageable due to presence of leeches.
WE ARE ALMOST THERE
SILHOUETTE OF MOHINI SHIKARA
ONE MORE VIEW
THE PLACARD DESCRIBING YANA
Fable:
The priest narrated the above fable to everyone who visit the temple, gently and crisp. The fable is narrated only in Kannada though. There is intention behind narrating fable to everyone. People visit the place as excursion spot rather than having sacred feeling disturbing the peace of temple. The priest narrates the mythology in an attempt to make people aware of the place. He also requested us to cascade the information to people who are willing to visit the place. The narration was crisp, clear and prudent.
The name Yana:
Earlier during British era, the pilgrims had tough times to reach this place. They were toiling towards Yana through deep dense jungles. When Britishers enquired these people trudging towards this holy place, the people responded saying they were on "Yana" (Yana is Kannada means travel or pilgrimage). This habitual response over years, named this place as Yana :-). This story was also narrated by priest of temple.
Once we finished the darshan, we went to circumambulate temple which is around the rocky hill itself. One has to leave footwear before proceeding to circumambulate. We entered inside the rocky hill and it was natural AC :-). Due to our trek, we were profusely sweating and the region under this rock provided great relief. What an experience :-). The boulders inside have weird alignment. The trail at some places is too narrow. Watch out for flying bats :D. There are no steps to climb down instead rely on the natural rocks. After finishing the circle, we came across vast honeycombs engraved on the rocky hill. Do not pelt stones at them to grab some honey ;-). Once we finished the circle, it was time to rest in nearby shops and have some liquid.
THE CONTINUOUS FLOW OF WATER FROM BOULDER
ENTERING AC ROOM :)
BENEATH THE BOULDER
THE EXIT
EXIT PATH
We had brief friendly chat with local shopkeepers before concluding the journey. In matter of few minutes we were at the entrance gate. Along the descent, I stopped at few places to have deep breaths to enjoy those pristine air arising out of healthy rainforests and drank water from flowing streams. All along, people were seen toiling upwards desperately wanting to reach culmination. They were inquiring us the difference distance from relative point :-). During my ascension, I was ahead of many travelers who started along with me, however the auto driver was quicker than me :-). This was because he had lot of experience climbing hills. Once we reached the gate, we started back to Kumta. In matter of 30minutes we were back in Kumta. The main attraction point driving down along Kumta-Sirsi highway towards Kumta is the gorgeous Aghanashini River. It has breath-taking landscape. I enjoyed the place for around 15 mins before proceeding further. I could have shot better glimpses if I had my arrangements which would have enabled me to travel towards Divgi area to have much broader look. As of now, I was happy to spend atleast few moments of bliss here. It was 4PM when I reached Kumta Railway Station. Since the train arrived an hour late during my to journey it was expected to arrive with same delay. The scheduled time of depart from Kumta was 3:50PM. Consequently due to delay, I could get ticket to Udupi. I handed over money to auto driver Sri Ganesh and thanked him for support. We exchanged phone numbers in case if required during my next itinerary. After brief talk, we bid adieu and myself entered the station platform. Wherever I hired auto, the drivers were kind to me. Be it in Kolar, Devarayanadurga or now in Kumta, I never faced problem of cranky auto drivers. May be it's my luck :-).
Uttara Kannada is great place for nature lovers. The region is blessed with exotic waterfalls, shimmering hilly beaches, exhilarating landscapes, vast cover of rainforests, heavy monsoon season, beautiful temples and rivulets. I have been exploring this region from quite sometime and each time I find new places around it. The Kumta-Siddapur and Kumta-Yellapur stretch is home to myriad of splendorous waterfalls with vivid landscapes (especially the magnificent 5 stage burude waterfall). I still do have lots of places on paper to visit here but not sure when will it get materialized. This time I could not visit Vibhuti Waterfalls since we did not take Gokarna-Sirsi route. Please do not miss the Vibhuti Waterfalls if you plan for Yana. Also there is house self-constructed by an enthusiast nearby Yana which is environment friendly and designed for energy efficiency and maximize ventilation. I once thought of staying in Kumta to visit Vibhuti waterfalls and Apsarakonda beach. Later I decided to defer the waterfall visit to peak monsoon season and beach to sometime during summer.
The scorching sun at west was waiting for its time to sink down the horizon. The weather was warm and slightly humid. I love warm weather of coast which keeps me away from sluggishness. The train arrived honking gently to Kumta station at 4:45PM. It was relatively empty too! I enjoyed the Sharavati river basin during my return journey too! This is third time I am enjoying the mighty river and willing to enjoy it forever. As train neared Murudeshwara, I enjoyed the golden hour Sun shimmering the Arabian Sea with beautiful yellow spectacle. You can have glimpse of Arabian sea from train near Murudeshwara. Nearby Bhatkal, I enjoyed those ecstatic sunset of winter with bright red-orange rays. I could just hope if at all train stopped right now but that did not happen :-). My eyes enjoyed to the fullest though ;-). The entire stretch is perfect place for monsoon timelapses with beautiful landscapes! Previous new year, my journey was special traveling along Subramanya ghats in train. This time it was the magnificent Konkan railway journey for the new year. I reached Udupi at 7:20PM and thus ending one more memorable journey. I boarded a city bus to Sri Krishna Math and later enjoyed wonderful carnatic concert by Dr.Srivatsa Menon.
The route:
From Kumta, there are two routes to reach Yana. One from Kumta via Anegundi cross along Kumta-Sirsi highway. The trek distance is 1.5kms if you approach via this route. The other route is via the same highway but deviate along Gokarna-Sirsi road. From this route trek distance is mere 500mts. I strongly recommend the second route not because of smaller trek distance but due to presence of Vibhuti Waterfalls. One of the beautiful waterfalls of western ghats which can be visited during monsoon season, as well as 2-3 months after monsoon season.
Food:
Kumta is nearby and hence no problem for food. The shopkeeper at the gate informed that they would prepare on request. The shops nearby Yana sell only snacks and beverages. There are no churumuri shops though :-(.
A humble request:
Yana is brutally littered with plastic and other non decomposable wastes which is eyesore sight to watch. It is propensity of Indians to garbage unprecedently without knowing consequences. If you are visiting the place, please do not garbage this beautiful nature. Authorities have placed sufficient garbage bins to dump the waste. Please make use of them. Understand and respect the habitat of wild animals and have a heart for lovely rainforests of India. Kindly do not visit this place if you want to celebrate and make merry. The place is sacred and maintain the sanctity of this unique temple.
The mistake this time:
I shot many pictures and videos during my travel. I was quite unaware why the videos were bit unsteady and pictures required bit more trial to stabilize. As I reached home, Alas! I realized IS was off on my lens :-(. This was done during my star trails experiment the previous day and I forgot to switch it ON :-(. Last time during my train journey I did the mistake of inserting earphone to microphone jack. This time no grinning. I am utterly dissappointed with my dismal show. There is something wrong with me since this cannot be perpertual. I am trying to work out strategy before getting started. After few hours of contemplation, I realized the need to be attentive, patient and neatly prepared before starting travel :-(. Fortunately, since the shutter speed was moving beyond 1/100s, the IS was not required but videos turned out bit unsteady. There are software approaches to correct such mistakes but they are never close to on board approaches. I corrected the few shaky videos with KDENLIVE but deeply dissappointed with my frivolousness :-(.
The related blogs of Sharavati and Aghanaashini River are here:
The stretch from Mangalore to Goa is great place for drive as well as Konkan Railway journey. The region is spectacular during monsoon season painted with lush greenery, brimming rivulets and of-course torrential monsoon rains. Recently during my visit to Yana, I stopped one of those beautiful river along this stretch which is one and only Aghanaashini river of Kumta for 15 minutes. It is exhilarating to feel this magnificent river and has been one of my hotspots from past 3 years along Mangalore-Karwar belt. Its breath-taking landscape decorated with tiny boats, hills, coconut trees and blue water makes me stunned every time I visit. I did hire an auto to visit Yana however if I had my own arrangements, I would have driven to Divgi where we can enjoy the river basin closely. Also this river is flows along many beautiful waterfalls nearby Siddapur before reaching Kumta and merging with Arabian sea. I took some shots and videos for my archive. Enjoy the pictures and a short video compilation shot from National Highway. During next visit, I hope to grab some footages from Divgi region.
Shiva is sign of energy, simplicity and unpredictability. One needs energy to move on during unpredictable times and simplicity to lead peaceful life. These are qualities which I learnt from the almighty. Today on auspicious day of Mahashivaratri I would like to share some of HDR and panoramic pictures from Yana visit known for surreal rocky landscapes. I wanted to write detailed blog on Yana but due to lack of time could not commit. This is the only day wherein devotees are allowed to enter sanctum sanctorum of temple. The place will be heavily crowded today with myriad of pilgrims visiting to have darshan of Lord Bhairaveshwara. The post is dedicated Lord Bhairaveshwara of Yana who is residing deity of the place.
Yana is one of those beautiful treasures of coastal Karnataka located in between spectacular rainforests of Uttara Kannada district. One needs to travel in order to feel region shrouded under dense canopy of western ghats. Amidst this magnificent nature lies Yana which has almost 61 limestone rocks stamped on its surface. Of them, the prominent are the two large peaks namely Mohini Shikara and Bhairaveshwara shikara. Lord shiva is self formed under Bhairaveshwara shikara and water drips from top of shivalinga all through year. Precisely the Lord is described as "Ganga Chandika Bhairaveshwara". The reason behind such a name will be described in my detailed blog (or you can google it!). The environment beneath the monolithic rock is natural AC :-). It is so cool under the natural air cooler of western ghats! There are plethora of streams which run besides thick tall woods finally merging with Aghanaashini river near Kumta. If you ever visit Gokarna or Kumta, don't ever miss to visit this alluring natural splendor. Here are pictures after boring narration ;-).
PANORAMIC GLOWING PICTURE :-)
CLOSE UP PANORAMA
This one is not so well composed. Just posted for archive.
PANORAMA WITH TEMPLE
The below picture is not composed with RAW files. Nowadays I compose HDR in RAW and I can see difference from JPG files. One can tweak resulting image to vast extent without losing quality or infusing noise. Eventually I have corrected myself :-).
MOHINI SHIKARA IN HDR
Even though trajectory of Sun starts to change around Makara Sankranthi, Shivaratri signifies the end of winter and beginning of spring. Usually a week or two before Shivaratri, strong breeze pervade the region signifying end of winter. It is also period of sickness too due to significant transition in weather!
On this day, I would like to share one of my favorite composition "Sri Vishwanatham Bhajeham" by Shri Muthuswamy Deekshitar, a Sanskrit rendetion with blend of 14 raagas. The beauty of Shri Deekshitar composition is the aligning tint of raaga with song literature. He describes the majestic shiva in 14 raagas with fabulous literature. The song starts with "Shri" raaga and ends with "Bhoopala". The song is divided into two sections. The first section comprises of Shri, Aarabhi, Gowri, Gowla, Naata, Mohana and later follows the reverse path. The second section comprises of Saama, Lalita, Bhairava, Saranga, Shankarabharanam, Kambodhi, Devakriya, Bhoopalam and later goes all the way reverse path of 14 raagas with spectacular progression :-). The depth of Shri Deekshitar's scholarship is evident from this masterpiece.
If you admire carnatic classical music, do hear this bautiful music sung in chorus in two parts. The delightful rendition is of this song goes to Smt. M L Vasanthakumari however not finding link anywhere :-(.
1) Sri Vishwanatham Bhajeham Part-1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73BKPMkNWgg
2) Sri Vishwanatham Bhajeham Part-2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxS9uMP1T3g
Konkan rail train journey one of beautiful train journeys to cherish in India. The mesmerizing landscape from Mangalore to Roha is just heaven to watch during monsoon season. The lush green paddy fields, the rivulets fancied by bent coconut trees, the distant western ghats, the breath taking tunnels and bridges transports you to into an exotic location. During my recent train journey from Udupi to Kumta, I shot those landscapes and safe in my camera ;-). The location which always excited me everytime along this route is the longest bridge constructed across mighty Sharavati river near Honavar along Konkan railway route. It has been one of my gretest desire too from many years to visit this place again. Here how it goes!
I was on my toes as train reached Murudeshwara station. The two dimensional view from distance rendered the Shiva statue and pinnacle adjacent to each other stamped to the sky. The train started chugging towards Manki station. Few minutes later we were in Manki. My excitement peaked as train departed from Manki station. The heart palpitated as the train pierced through Manki tunnel and was eagerly waiting for that moment to arrive. Few more minutes hear I see the Sharavathi river bridge signboard and there she goes :-). The train rattled along this mighty bridge with high speed. The landscape is simply amazing sight to watch. One of the hot-spots along the Konkan railway route which one should never miss during the itinerary.
I do want to visit during monsoon even! The river which has small width near Jog falls, widens to more broader landscape near Honavar adorns the region with intriguing nature. I did shoot the train journey video along this magnificent region during my itinerary. During my journey towards Kumta, I shot along the west side since the shooting straight to sun spoils the footage. At this time of day, the west part had beautiful soft light of Sun which exposed the region with perfect colors. Similarly during my return journey, I shot from east side since it was evening. Again the same effect as described earlier. Had it been golden hour, I would have shot towards the Sun, to capture those beautiful golden sun sparkling the river. Enjoy the train journey along beautiful Sharavathi river basin. Dive into darkness with speeding loco passing through two tunnels further onwards. Also the video has footages from return journey too! So, do not miss to watch entire video ;-).
The majority of audio has noise of breeze but landscape has turned out to be pretty well in full HD ;-). Audio is corrected but still not so tidy. May be I should have sat on foot-board to grab better audio.
Whenever I find time, will try to compose entire train journey video. Stay tuned!
It's been quite long time since I posted something mainly because of shift in priority. Finally here is a post after long delay. It has been almost 3 months since we traveled to Hogenakkal waterfalls and eventually I found some time to compile experiences of the journey.
09-Nov-2013,
Never had this in mind till the last moment. There was a plan to visit waterfall but not by bike. At last moment some of them backed off and it was myself and Rajesh left over. Cab would be dearer to hire, buses would be late and eventually bike was the only option. We had almost dropped the plans but Rajesh asked if we can go for it. I was bit skeptical though since the shine was in dirt and its been long time being serviced :D. Finally the crave for travel made me to accept the proposal ;-) and the stage was set. It was only a day before we made this plan and were unaware of any details on route. Can be termed as candid plan. I had been to Shivansamudra alone last time in bike covering more than 300kms. That time the bike was in good shape and I was alone. This time we were two heavyweights and had to cover 300kms in unserviced bike :-). Despite of all the confusions, we decided to travel in bike. Apart from what was mentioned above, there was one more problem which was language. We both did not knew Tamil and travel after Hosur required some language exposure. To avoid language problems, Rajesh took prints of routes including the important junctions. Our first trust was on google maps and next the locals. Anyhow we were looking forward this unique candid journey with full enthusiasm. Hogenakkal is around 150kms from SilkBorad Junction and would be taking around 3hrs in bike under the assumption of having good roads. Remember bike is not car ;-) it is not enough to have good roads but evenly paved roads. Even the patches cut down bike speed but cars can negotiate well.
Early morning woke up with chilly weather outside. Seems like winter has finally started. Rajesh caught up with me at HSR BDA junction around 7:30AM.
We had breakfast at 7:30AM and ready to cruise around 8AM from silk board. There was not a single traffic hiccup in middle and we took elevated highway for quick exit from city mess. The city was enveloped with thick blanket of fog and could not take picture due to time constraints. Once we reached NH-6, everything was smooth until border area. Later on, the constructions are still under way at slackening pace. We reached Hosur and not sure whom to ask :-). People did not understand my half baked Tamil language :D. Fortunately a Kannada speaking person assisted us to find SH-17 towards Palacode. A km later, we saw signboards in English towards Palacode and were greatly relieved for achieving the first target successfully.
VACANT ROAD
AZURE SKY
Next hurdle was finding the Hogenakkal cross after Palacode. We successfully reached Palacode and took Palacode bypass. It never looked like bypass but we felt being inside city. The roads are good to excellent at some places while bad at remaining. Overall 75-25 (good-bad). The distance covered was around 60kms. After Palacode bypass, we spotted diversion towards right. I was bit doubtful whether we were on right track but Rajesh was confident. The signboards were only in Tamil. After riding for 2kms along this path, we spotted a clear signboard mentioning Hogenakal-70kms :-). Yes this was our second victory. Even roads were really very good along this path. But we were still unclear about as how to reach Hogenakkal-Dharmapuri road.
As our journey progressed, we came across confusing deviation towards Pennagram. Rajesh said that we have to follow Pennagram deviation as per map. But the signboards were showing other path for Hogenakkal. Since we were not sure, we decided to ride along the prescribed route. Few kms after, here we are at Hogenakal-Dharmapuri Road :-). We were really excited that finally we will reach falls without any further more complications. From this junction, distance is 28kms to waterfalls. Along the way there were few more deviations but signboards were crisp to lead us to waterfalls. Also all signboards were presented in English language too!
WE ARE ABOUT TO REACH :-)
THE SEMI-GHAT SECTION
10kms before falls site, we had to pay entrance fee of Rs.10/-. Once we did the payment, it was nice drive along the semi-ghat section. Especially 2-3kms were like proper ghat sections with steep curves and hairpin bends. Also there were many monkeys too :D. They were roaring even when we were riding bike, fearing threat :-). Along the route we came across a bridge but did not see ample water. I was bit suspicious if we could find considerable water in waterfall area. After beautiful journey for 10kms we entered Hogenakkal town. There is again parking fee here. We rode bike nearby waterfalls rather than parking in entrance.
As we neared our confusion was cleared and there was good amount of water to enjoy. The cauvery river is the source of waterfall. The geography is bit awkward. The water falls along multiple divisions with great velocity. Due to the presence of uneven rocks and height, the water gathers tremendous kinetic energy while reaching ground. The authorities have also constructed walls for proper head bath. People can make use to have thunderous head bath :-). This place is not risky at all and one can manage even without knowing swimming. There are protective rails around the constructed walls. Initially we had glimpse of shorter plunge on hanging bridge. Even this place has entrance fee but nominal. Later we crossed one of the streams to get to main waterfalls. This place also has protective rails to cross. The biting fishes created tickling sensation in our leg :-). Rajesh was saying biting fishes are good since they clean dead cells from body (not shark or whales but small fishes :D). After crossing stream, we had good look of main waterfall area. There is also a view point where one can see panoramic view of waterfalls. It also has entrance fee ;-). There are many massage providers here :D and also fish curry cookers. The oil massager plead to you to feel massage. Many people were having nice massage and later on bathing in river. If you enjoy relishing river fish, there are many fish vendors here for you.
THEY ARE MANY :-)
FIRST GLIMPSE
HANGING BRIDGE
PARALLEL PLUNGE!
JUMPING FISHES
THE GUSH
NEED TO CROSS THIS SECTION
THE SILKY PLUNGE
We were curious to see the distant waterfall plunge which had multiple divisions placed in a curve. That was really great sight to watch. When inquired, people asked us to take coracle ride to reach the view point. The coracle costs around 960/- per trip. If you are 6, it costs 160 per head. We were only two and fortunately found 2 more and hence price reduced to 240/- per head. Still it was bit high price but left with no option. We were adamant to reach to the view point and also enjoy the ride on river. Having paid the amount, there is that thud, coracle being rolled into river and we were ready to start. As we were traveling we came across coracle shop which serves some chips and cool drinks :D. That was unique shop we had seen for first time.
CAUVERY RIVER VALLEY
FROM VIEW POINT
ONE MORE!
RAINBOW
CORACLE SHOP :D
We had small twiddle in middle of river which we enjoyed :-). After sometime, we reached the banks from where one needs to walk for 0.5kms towards view point. The coracle is carried in pickup vehicle till the other side of river bank. We had some oranges here before proceeding further. It seemed like we have path to reach this point via road. Did not inquire much about it. It was really mesmerizing sight from view point. The water plunges energetically with absolute beauty. The eye-catching part is the array of falls aligned along curve and falling towards common gorge. Some people were also seen nearby waterfalls to have closer look. After enjoying this wonderful sight we headed back towards the bank to resume our coracle ride towards the entrance. It seems during heavy outflow from KRS, the waterfall is not at all accessible and entire area looks unified. Even view point will be submerged in water!
THERE ARE NUMEROUS OF THESE ENROUTE
CAUVERY RIVER
THE DISTANT VIEW POINT
FULL VIEW
MAGNIFICENT NATURE
I was having friendly chat with the sailor since he knew Kannada. He was narrating many stories including people who were washed away due to galloping water. Also few people were rescued in helicopter during huge water inflow. He was also stating some things about slow down in IT. It seems some of his friends are also hit because of slow-down. So recession is something severely striking from top to bottom then ;-). The sailor does this job during the proper seasons and fishing during high torrents. He also said that water on the other side of valley is 80feet while it was only 3-4 feet nearby waterfall. But the velocity of water gives it fiery look despite being only 3-4 feet in depth. It is this velocity coupled with rocky landscape provides glory to waterfall. we also sailed along those gushing water. The sight of coracle sliding down along the torrent was bit intimidating :D. We also enjoyed the distant hills along with cauvery river landscape. After nearly 90 minutes of joy we reached the entrance again.
CORACLES IN FLIGHT
CAUVERY RIVER BASIN
GALLOPING WATER
It is time to have some fun in water. I did not have backup clothes but Rajesh had them. He enjoyed in the platform of thundering water from a height and had nice head bath. It is easy manage here since authorities have constructed safety structures. Also being flowing water, no need to worry about purity of water. Once Rajesh finished head bath and we were ready for lunch. We had lunch in one of the hotels maintained by TamilNadu tourism. They had only south Indian meals costing Rs.60/- which was OK to clear our hunger albeit being spicy. After resting briefly for sometime, we started back to Bangalore around 3:30PM. This time I rode since I enjoy up-hilling of ghats which involves frequent shifting of gears :D. Even while driving I prefer up-hilling to downhill since it requires frequent gear shifts :D. Pretty weird right ;-). Even father teases me hearing this weird joy ;-). We had smooth ride till Hosur which we reached around 6:30PM. The only problem along the rural route is villagers taking law unto themselves. People spread hay along the width of road to separate out grains from grass. This would lead to slippery of bike if not ridden consciously.
SUNSET BEAUTIFUL LIFE. CAUGHT ON THE WAY BACK
The ride from Hosur was bit cumbersome with heavy traffic and brisk crossing of people along the NH-6. There were lot wrong sider too :-(. It is not worth to pay toll to such highways with too many U turns and not much alternatives to human crossing. The U turns sometimes turned out be intimidating due to swift veering of vehicles. We were riding very slowly around 40kmph most of the times and felt greatly relieved after reaching electronic city toll gate. 7:15PM, we reached Silk board junction and ending one more journey. We had tea in one of restaurant before dispersing.
I was exhilarated about journey and strength of my bike ;-). My shine truly shined :D. Despite being unserviced for many months and having capacity of 125cc, it was smooth ride altogether! This may be usual but I did not have prior records carrying two heavy weights :D for such long distance. Now I have full confidence on my bike but requires a overhaul before gearing it for one more long journey.
Total Distance covered: 145*2=290kms (170kms Rajesh + 120kms myself) from silkboard junction
Note state highway numbers belong to TamilNadu not Karnataka. If you follow SH-17 of Karnataka you will reach Mysore ;-)
Rely on google maps and you will reach the target!
Credits:
My friend Rajesh for detailed review of writeup
To all those people who helped us to take proper route
Google maps
Last but not the least, my bike ;-) for sustaining long journey!
Checklists:
Water, preferably 2ltrs/person
Energy bars like chocolates
Fruits like apple, orange
Glucose if required
First Aid Box
Nothing much this time except for a panoramic shot and short Hogenakkal video. One of the reason to delay this post was the video rendering. Video editing (especially full HD) can be sometimes boring if your system is not equipped with royal processor (like i5) and GPU. Nevertheless, lack of disk space forced me to compile video finally :-).
