Jog Falls, Worlds 7th largest

Posted by Nbhat

I was helping Som, to reach Bengaluru early from his scheduled Mangalore trip and ended up having a new itinerary and I also joined the trip. Plan was to visit Jog Falls via Shimoga and then visit Murdeshwar via Sharavathy valley and then take a train to Udupi along green route on Konkan railway. It was ambitious, packed and I was keeping my fingers crossed.

Trip started on a disastrous note. It was raining cats and dogs on Thursday night and there huge were traffic jams everywhere. Ended up walking 3-4 kilo meters to the railway station and thankfully train was delayed and we reached just in time. Wonder how many missed train,bus.. What about people planning to travel with kids? How many would venture to travel out after this kind of experience. There are hardly any sign of improvement in the condition of infrastructure in Bangalore.

We had booked First Class AC as that was the only available category. This was the first time I travelled in 1AC. Seat/Bed/Berth was certainly more comfortable and surprisingly there is socket for charging laptop with 110V and US type socket. Also there is a rest room status indicator in every cabin. Cabin can contain 2 or 4 berths. After the long run I did not feel the cold but was hungry at midnight along with body pain. The train does not have pantry car. Reached Shimoga at 6:20 AM with a cloudy weather. Car we had booked was waiting for us.

Elephants at the entrance of Aghoreshwara Temple, From Jog Falls

We had a packed schedule and there was only one our to get ready and have breakfast. Coloured hot water came out of taps for taking bath. I convinced Som that the colour was due to the fact that locals treated the water with herbs to make it soft and usable. He realized I was joking only when he was explaining it to Santosh and I told him the truth, which was well after the trip. We got into the car at 8:15 AM to see Jog falls. We quickly paid a visit to Aghoreshvara temple and then rushed to Jog falls, worried that heavy rains can potentially spoil the fun of watching falls. All along the road we were greeted with green cover on both the sides and cool climate. To add some difference to the ambience every now then there were breif drizzles and children marching on with the flags celebrating independence day. Looking at those children we got nostalgic and regurgitated memories of independence day celebration we were part of as kids!

On the way we went past the now closed railway tracks of only "Rail bus" in the world. It had only two carriages and one would buy ticket once you got into the train. There used to be a conductor moving around issuing tickets on the way! Amidst all the talking we reached mist covered Jog Falls. There were hundreds waiting for the mist to clear up as falls played hide and seek behind. Little a bit of waiting and we got glimpse for few minutes with people cheering around and hordes of photographers who were waiting for this minute so that they can have somebody to take an instant photograph with falls on the backdrop. It was precious business time for them.

Raja, Roarer, Rocket, Rani From Jog Falls

After having some hot Maggi Noodles at a small shack in tourists complex, we visited other view point below travellers bungalow. One can go really close to the mouth of Raja, one of the 4 falls from here. After some diligent walking we reached the mouth and took some good photographs.

From here the next stop was Murdeshwar through Sharavathy valley. Its a treat to drive through this valley. Even at 2:00 PM it was covered with mist. Atmosphere was cold but not chilling. There are numerous baby falls, view points and zeals on the way with forest on both sides of the road. Traffic is low and as it is ghat section one can slowly move, looking at the surroundings.

Fog covered Sharavathy Valley From Jog Falls

Murdeshwar Beach From Jog Falls

We had our lunch at Honnavar and reached Murdeshwar around 4:00 PM as planned. We spent some time at park with Shiva statues with cool breeze passing by. Visited the temple and then went to the beach and touched the chilling water! It was so good, long time since I went to a beach during monsoon.

There were already people thinking of settling down there, but for we had a train to catch at 6:30 PM. Reached Udupi around 9:00 PM by Madgaon Passenger of Konkan Railway which is one of the beutiful routes to travel on. That was end of the trip for me, but for Som&Jayeeta there were more places to be covered before they started to bangalore on Sunday afternoon from Mangalore.

How to reach
We took Shimoga express which leaves bangalore at 11:40 PM and reaches Shimoga Town at 6:00 AM in morning next day. Note that there are two stations Shimog town and Shimoga, later is a deserted station with hardly any amenities. Make sure you get down at Shimoga town station which is well connected and easily one can get Auto or a Taxi. There will also be Buses to Sagar from here and one can catch a bus to Jog from Sagar. We had booked a car which took us around and dropped at Murdeshwar via Honnavar on NH 206. From Honnavar one can travel north and go to Gokarna, Karwar, Goa etc.

Where to stay
Sagar is ideal place to stay but as there are really few hotes it is very tough to get accomodation during monsoon. Check out the link to notes for phone numbers. We stayed at Mathura residency in Shimoga just enough amenieties to freshen up and have breakfast.

What to see

1. Tyavarekoppa lion safari - A few kilometers from Shimoga on the way to Jog falls.
2. Ikkeri - 4 kms from Sagar has Aghoreshwara Temple built 500 years back with carvings on the outerwalls. Supposed to built in Vijayanagara Style architecture built by Keladi Nayakas Though I saw royal emblem of Hoysala among temple carvings style distinct from other Hoysala Temples. The main diety of Shiva with 32 hands was 300 hundred years back and is placed outside the temple. The existing "Shivalingam" along with "Nandi" was installed 200 years back. Preist told that In India one can rarely see a temple platform so high from the ground. There is small Akhilandeshwari temple is next to this temple.
3. Keladi - Though we could not visit due to lack of time and bad raods, its worth visiting if you want to see some more ornately built temple. Its 25 km away from Sagar.
4. Singdhur Choudeshwari temple - Around 10-15 km from Sagar and Situated on a island fully covered with forest. Supposed to have very scenic view and one has to catch a ferry to reach the temple. Our driver emphasized about the ferry ride than the temple. We could not visit this place.
5. Jog Falls - Has 2 main view points. From the first one can see all the four falls Raja, Roarer , Rocket and Rani. One can also trek down and see the falls from bottom, but not during the monsoon as it is not allowed. Other view point is below the travellers bunglow and if the water is low one can up till the mouth of Raja and also hear roaring sound made by Roarer. Side view of othere 2 falls is also very good from this view point.
6. Sharavathy Valley - NH 206 passes through the valley and there numerous small falls and zeals on the way. There are also couple of elavated view points watch the valley.
7. Murdeshwar - is on the beach with Shiva Temple and statue park.