The ancient temple complex built by Hoysalas
Friday, October 3, 2008
Postcards From Backwaters
Some more pics from the backwaters
The ancient temple complex built by Hoysalas
The ancient temple complex built by Hoysalas
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
An Evening at the backwaters of Cauvery
Another weekend, another hangout with my very close friends. The decision to have a hangout here was all of a sudden and surprising. Well, let me introduce you to the team who joined for this memorable outing.
The team(from left): Raja,me, Manohar,Raghavendra, Somasundar ( a.k.a Soma),Amith,Krishna & of course Nitin.
The Team photo on the bridge across Cauvery
It was 2pm on a wet Saturday evening, it had been drizzling a lot from the morning, and by afternoon, the cloud storm intensified leading to torrential rains. It was impossible to move out in such rains. It was around this time Krishna called me up to join for an hangout at the backwaters of River Cauvery. We all met at manu's place,with rain clouds still playing hide and seek . Four of us, me, raja and amith were stuffed into Krishna’s car and the rest into manu’s car. We drove off with the rains still pouring on and very good music being played on the player. We passed by Mysore’s Electronic City, home to companies like Infosys, LnT & SPI ( My friend Raja works here, so couldn’t leave out his company) Soon we were nearing the K.R.S dam, most of the crest gates had been opened and the water was gushing in full force. We headed straight towards a small village where a temple which used to be submerged all the time when the dam was full, was being renovated and bunds being built to block water from again flooding the temple complex.
On the banks of River Cauvery
The rains had finally stopped, so that we could enjoy the place in peace. Not too many visitors, Few locals(like us), few people from outside, and very few people who had been entrusted with the work of renovating the temple. Soon we were enjoying the vast backwaters of river Cauvery having our photo-sessions then and now.
The ancient temple complex
Looking at how all the guys enjoyed the much needed break, it was bringing all our memories of our college life back to us.
An island on the backwaters
We moved around a bit, watched the sunset, evening lights around the reservoir were being turned on. It was already getting dusk, so we decided to pack off towards mysore. The enjoyment had made everybody hungry and something like hunger cannot be controlled by the boys. So we stopped by a midway dhaba and ordered a little bit of everything, Soon we were all busy eating and discussing about our lives which i believe stretched for the next 1 hour and we were back in our homes by 9, and to top of it, I had to take another round of my dinner, lest I angered my mother.
This is how an evening which was turning out to very pale due to the rains turned out actually to be very memorable!!
©All image courtesy is provided by manu’s camera and he is the sole owner of all the photos.
A final word of thanks to Manu’s camera Sony DSC-H3, Krishna’s W350i, Amith’s W700i for providing the photo courtesy. I shouldn’t forget the two beautiful cars which bore all our brunt’s and the poor roads around the city.
Krishna's Car
Manu's car with Manu in the middle
The team(from left): Raja,me, Manohar,Raghavendra, Somasundar ( a.k.a Soma),Amith,Krishna & of course Nitin.
The Team photo on the bridge across CauveryIt was 2pm on a wet Saturday evening, it had been drizzling a lot from the morning, and by afternoon, the cloud storm intensified leading to torrential rains. It was impossible to move out in such rains. It was around this time Krishna called me up to join for an hangout at the backwaters of River Cauvery. We all met at manu's place,with rain clouds still playing hide and seek . Four of us, me, raja and amith were stuffed into Krishna’s car and the rest into manu’s car. We drove off with the rains still pouring on and very good music being played on the player. We passed by Mysore’s Electronic City, home to companies like Infosys, LnT & SPI ( My friend Raja works here, so couldn’t leave out his company) Soon we were nearing the K.R.S dam, most of the crest gates had been opened and the water was gushing in full force. We headed straight towards a small village where a temple which used to be submerged all the time when the dam was full, was being renovated and bunds being built to block water from again flooding the temple complex.
On the banks of River CauveryThe rains had finally stopped, so that we could enjoy the place in peace. Not too many visitors, Few locals(like us), few people from outside, and very few people who had been entrusted with the work of renovating the temple. Soon we were enjoying the vast backwaters of river Cauvery having our photo-sessions then and now.
The ancient temple complexLooking at how all the guys enjoyed the much needed break, it was bringing all our memories of our college life back to us.
An island on the backwatersWe moved around a bit, watched the sunset, evening lights around the reservoir were being turned on. It was already getting dusk, so we decided to pack off towards mysore. The enjoyment had made everybody hungry and something like hunger cannot be controlled by the boys. So we stopped by a midway dhaba and ordered a little bit of everything, Soon we were all busy eating and discussing about our lives which i believe stretched for the next 1 hour and we were back in our homes by 9, and to top of it, I had to take another round of my dinner, lest I angered my mother.
This is how an evening which was turning out to very pale due to the rains turned out actually to be very memorable!!
©All image courtesy is provided by manu’s camera and he is the sole owner of all the photos.
A final word of thanks to Manu’s camera Sony DSC-H3, Krishna’s W350i, Amith’s W700i for providing the photo courtesy. I shouldn’t forget the two beautiful cars which bore all our brunt’s and the poor roads around the city.
Krishna's Car
Manu's car with Manu in the middleTuesday, August 19, 2008
A ride through Kudremukha Valley
This wasn't in our travel itinerary, we had to visit our ancestral village for a religious function. Our ancestral village is nearby to Manipal and since the road via Shiradi Ghat towards Mangalore, Udupi was being repaired at the time ,we took the road via Kalasa and Kudremukh National Park, so we could visit places like Sringeri and Horanadu. The journey was done during peak summer time and we didn't expect the rain gods to make the weather around us better.
We started off from mysore at 6 in the morning, The drive till Belur cross via Hassan was pretty good, no bad patches but after Belur cross till Mudigere where we take a deviation towards Horanadu was at its worst. potholes every 10 meters greeted us. After Mudigere, The Western Ghats range starts across, We can find vast ranges of Shola grasslands on those hills, ranges of tea and coffee estates which have been cultivated over here since ages.
It was a time of peak summer we travelled towards Kudremukh, and almost the Shola grasslands were dry, since it hadn't been drained by the monsoons. We reached Horanadu via kalasa around noon. Finished our darshan and had our lunch which is served at the temple. Next we drive across to Kudremukh via kalasa, The drive covers most of the area of the the Kudremukh National Park, Once you cross Kalasa you are given a ticket and given atleast 2 hrs to cross the other side of the National Park. Camping is not allowed inside this reserved forest area until and unless you have permission.
Kudremukha National park is one of the most untouched parks devoid of human inhabitation. Majestic shola grasslands cover every inch of the park, even in such peak summer we could feel the breeze coming from the grasslands. I can guarantee this is one of the most scenic drives you will have in your lifetime, 2 hrs through the National Park with no traffic and only birds chirping( Yes!! U need to shut your music system if you are travelling by car), very difficult to sight wildlife but can be excused, because you need to camp over here if you are so interested in Wildlife.
Some of the Scenic pics on the drive through Kudremukh National Park
Fast Facts: Kudremukha
Kuduremukha( ಕುದುರೆಮುಖ in Kannada/Tulu) is a mountain range nestled in Western Ghats at an average height of 1200MSL in Chikmagalur district, in Karnataka. Kudremukha peak is about 1892MSL. It is also the name of a small town situated near the mountain, about 48 kilometers from Karkala and about 20 kilometers from Kalsa. The name Kuduremukha (as it is known by the natives) literally means 'horse-face' (in the local language Kannada) and refers to a particular picturesque view of a side of the mountain that resembles the same. The Kudremukh National Park is the second largest declared Wildlife Protected Area (600.32 km²) of a tropical wet evergreen type of forest in the Western Ghats. Kudremukh National Park is located in Udupi and Chikmagalore districts of Karnataka states. The Western Ghats is one of the thirty four hot spots identified for bio-diversity conservation in the world. Kudremukh National Park comes under the Global Tiger Conservation Priority-I, under the format developed jointly by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and World Wide Fund-USA. Camping is not allowed inside Kudremukha National Park until and unless you have the permission from the Forest Department. You can also check the following link regarding trekking/camping inside the reserved forest
http://www.karnatakawildernesstourism.org/Trekking_opp_in/Kudremukh.htm
Hanumanagundi Falls
On the drive towards sringeri from kalasa, we can reach gangamoola( Birthplace of River Tunga) and the hanumangundi falls. To reach hanumanagundi falls, U need to climb down around 500 steps, but it is worth. This falls will be filled up during monsoon and is a pleasure to watch.
Sringeri:
We had reached Sringeri by around 4pm and we were told the temple opens only at 5, so left with no option but to move around the temple premises, watched lots of Mahseer( katla in kannada) fish on the banks of river tunga, fed them lot of puri's which are available. crossed the tunga river, marvelled the architecture of vidyashankar mandir, and finally, doors were opened into sringeri sharadamba temple. We sat inside the temple for half an hour and then left to our ancestral village.
The route we covered
We started off from mysore at 6 in the morning, The drive till Belur cross via Hassan was pretty good, no bad patches but after Belur cross till Mudigere where we take a deviation towards Horanadu was at its worst. potholes every 10 meters greeted us. After Mudigere, The Western Ghats range starts across, We can find vast ranges of Shola grasslands on those hills, ranges of tea and coffee estates which have been cultivated over here since ages.
It was a time of peak summer we travelled towards Kudremukh, and almost the Shola grasslands were dry, since it hadn't been drained by the monsoons. We reached Horanadu via kalasa around noon. Finished our darshan and had our lunch which is served at the temple. Next we drive across to Kudremukh via kalasa, The drive covers most of the area of the the Kudremukh National Park, Once you cross Kalasa you are given a ticket and given atleast 2 hrs to cross the other side of the National Park. Camping is not allowed inside this reserved forest area until and unless you have permission.
Kudremukha National park is one of the most untouched parks devoid of human inhabitation. Majestic shola grasslands cover every inch of the park, even in such peak summer we could feel the breeze coming from the grasslands. I can guarantee this is one of the most scenic drives you will have in your lifetime, 2 hrs through the National Park with no traffic and only birds chirping( Yes!! U need to shut your music system if you are travelling by car), very difficult to sight wildlife but can be excused, because you need to camp over here if you are so interested in Wildlife.
Some of the Scenic pics on the drive through Kudremukh National Park
Fast Facts: Kudremukha
Kuduremukha( ಕುದುರೆಮುಖ in Kannada/Tulu) is a mountain range nestled in Western Ghats at an average height of 1200MSL in Chikmagalur district, in Karnataka. Kudremukha peak is about 1892MSL. It is also the name of a small town situated near the mountain, about 48 kilometers from Karkala and about 20 kilometers from Kalsa. The name Kuduremukha (as it is known by the natives) literally means 'horse-face' (in the local language Kannada) and refers to a particular picturesque view of a side of the mountain that resembles the same. The Kudremukh National Park is the second largest declared Wildlife Protected Area (600.32 km²) of a tropical wet evergreen type of forest in the Western Ghats. Kudremukh National Park is located in Udupi and Chikmagalore districts of Karnataka states. The Western Ghats is one of the thirty four hot spots identified for bio-diversity conservation in the world. Kudremukh National Park comes under the Global Tiger Conservation Priority-I, under the format developed jointly by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and World Wide Fund-USA. Camping is not allowed inside Kudremukha National Park until and unless you have the permission from the Forest Department. You can also check the following link regarding trekking/camping inside the reserved forest
http://www.karnatakawildernesstourism.org/Trekking_opp_in/Kudremukh.htm
Hanumanagundi Falls
On the drive towards sringeri from kalasa, we can reach gangamoola( Birthplace of River Tunga) and the hanumangundi falls. To reach hanumanagundi falls, U need to climb down around 500 steps, but it is worth. This falls will be filled up during monsoon and is a pleasure to watch.
Sringeri:
We had reached Sringeri by around 4pm and we were told the temple opens only at 5, so left with no option but to move around the temple premises, watched lots of Mahseer( katla in kannada) fish on the banks of river tunga, fed them lot of puri's which are available. crossed the tunga river, marvelled the architecture of vidyashankar mandir, and finally, doors were opened into sringeri sharadamba temple. We sat inside the temple for half an hour and then left to our ancestral village.
The route we covered
"Mysore--> Hassan-->Belur Cross-->Mudigere-->Kalasa-->Horanadu-->Kudremukha-->Sringeri"
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