Jog Falls, Worlds 7th largest

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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.

Hoysala Trails - Nuggihalli

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After couple of trek and birding weekends I and Prem decided explore Hoysala trails. The last hoysala temple we visited was almost 8 months back(Hosaholau) and I was planning to cover lot many during th elast monsoon. This time first choice was Belavadi but we were not sure if we could make it in a day. For a change we were planning for trip on KSRTC instead of the car as there was always a scare of traffic jams on Hasan road and then we did not know how were the road conditions. So we decided to go to Nuggihalli which was supposed to be the closest Hoysala temple on Hassan route.

This time we made it a point to start as early possible and carry some food and Getorade to tackle the hunger problem(guess who? Prem is the most affected by hunger problem). We reached Majestic by 7:30 AM and managed to get a Rajahansa with comfortable seating than Suvarna Karnataka. It was a 3 hour ride to Chenna Raya Patna with a break at Bellur Cross. I and Prem were reading for a while and then chatting for a while about all the topics in the world and sleeping in between.

At C.R. Patna we found a bus to Tipatur and we got down at the Nuggihalli after half an hour drive through fields. I was surprised to see that the roads were fairly good condition compared to the roads at other places in Karnataka. A short walk from the bus stand through the narrow streets took us to the temple. Probably this was the largest of the places we visited so far in search of the Hoysala temples. It was auspicious day(Narasimha Jayanthi) at the temple and was being celebrated by the folks around the temple. Prem inquired if we could get a guide and we got one!

The floor was hot and the guide was running through the explanation. This time Prem did not ask many questions :) and guide also did not tell us any lengthy stories.( I guess both were feeling the heat ?) So we managed to finish of the tour quickly and headed to the other temple. By the time we reached, it was already locked and we could not see the deities. Standing on toes we managed to take some snaps and run back to the shades. We were thinking we will end up with huge boils. But thankfully that did not happen. When we came back to the first temple it was pooja time and after which we relished prasadam served.
Now started the pics session which took me around 45 mins and then it was time to go back. On the way back we had lunch at CR Patna Bus stand and some how managed to get seats in "Suvarna Karnataka"


How to go?

If you are going by car after couple of kms from Hirisave there is a diversion to Nuggehalli on the right. This is the shortest route from bangalore. On the deviation Karnataka tourism development board has put huge banner with directions.

If you are going by public transport go to Channarayapatna and then catch express buses going to Tiptur. There are plenty of buses available and it takes hardly 20 minutes by the express bus.

What to See ?
Nuggehalli has 2 temples Laxmi Narasimha and Sadashiva temple built during Hoysala period. Laxmi Narasimha temple is a trikoota temple with exquisite carvings on the outer walls. There are 3 deities with Sowmya Keshava in the middle and Venugopal and Laxmi Narasimha on either side. As per Grerard Foekema this is a new style temple with one strip of carving describing Krishna. The temple does not have a Hoysala Crest and has been extended after it was built. Like the temple in Hosaholalu one can see 24 forms of Vishnu depicted on outer walls. Many of the sculptures have the form of Vishnu depicted and sculptors name engraved on the lower side of the sculpture. Must see sculptures include the dancing Ganesh with 8 hands on the left side wall, dancing laxmi on the back side.

Sadashiva temple is close to the first temple but does not have carvings like Laxmi Narasimha temple. But this is fine example of Nagara style architecture. On the way one can also see the remains of the entrance to the city. There is also a guide available at the temple who gives explanation about the carvings and takes to other places.

When to go ?
One can go year around but during the summer months it might be tough to stand on the outer section of the temple as the ground will be heated like the charcoal.

Nuggihalli

Talakad - Deep into the temple town

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From Talakad - Dee...

It was another of eventful trips! We were planning to go via Maddur, based on the Udaya TV(reported agitations in Mandya) and some old news paper article( had an news item which had Chief Minister Kumarswamy proclaiming though roads to Talakad are not complete by the Panchalinga darshan, will be completed soon) we decided to take the Kanakapura road. Thinking that its going to a short trip (110 km) we are taking ample breaks. Slowly road conditions started to deteriorate. Till Sathanur it was ok ok road compared to the Bangalore-Mysore state highway. After Sathanur it was roads in the well rather than pot holes in the road! Instead of whole road being eroded, there were deep pot holes like somebody had dug up purposefully(were they trying rain water harvesting ?)
It was going slow and steady till we were 1 km from Mallavali and then we saw the stranded vehicles due to agitations. There was smoke on the horizon a little bit ahead. Then we saw a taxi guy was taking a detour and he told us to follow him and he will take us past the agitations. Initially we thought luckily we got this fellow, only to realize later that that was our bad luck! We followed this guy on the narrow mud road through the sugar cane fields and brick kilns and every now and then stopping on the edge of the road to allow bullock carts to pass by. Bullock cart fellows also returned the favor by moving to the side in some places. Suddenly our navigator had vanished. We managed to reach the intended destination which is supposed to get us past the agitations by asking school kids and the farmers. That was also blocked and we saw our navigator taking U turn and yet again he promised us to take through a inner road which will take us to Shivanasamudra. Within seconds he vanished again. ( May be he is stuck in a wrong job should have been a magician or politician but do they recruit through monster?)

From Talakad - Dee...

And we were stuck in a "bul bulayya" with no sign boards or mile stones and with hardly any difference between main road and non-main roads. We started asking for directions with people working in the fields and grazing cattle. It was kind of treasure hunt with us getting to know one village after another on the way and with each person giving us varying distances between the places. Finally after more than hours drive we reached the so called national highway 209. Though the last person giving us direction had asked to us take right we took left and found Talkad road. After couple of kilometers we reached actual right meant by that person. If we had taken the left we would have reached the place we wanted to avoid!
With bad roads all along we reached the temple town at 2:00 PM instead of the original guesstimate of 11:00 AM. We took a guide at the entry point. First visit was to the Vaidyanatheshwara temple which had closed before we reached there we had to be satisfied by going around the temple and some explanation by our guide. After that we visited 4 temples and one temple under reconstruction. It took us about 2 hours to go around the temples and then we had lunch at "Udupi Mess" and strolled for a while along the banks of Cauvery.
Now we were very worried which route to take back. After lots of discussion with the guide, we decided to take the Mallvalli, Maddur, Chennapatna route. Canceled all the other plans like visiting somanathpur, mudukothore temple etc. Started the journey back to Bangalore at 5:00 PM. When we passed through Malvalli around 6:30 PM we let out a sigh of relief for crossing first trouble point. Close to Maddur, We had to go through few anxious moments at a traffic jam till we came to know that it was due to the road construction activity. Sugar cane wielding youngsters running here and there with loud instructions to the truck drivers had made us think otherwise. After having dinner at Lokruchi we reached bangalore at 10:00 PM and I reached home after 11:00 PM.

Talakad - Deep into the temple town

For the visitors

For information on how to go there and what to see check out "Talakadu on wknd.in"

What to eat: Before travelling I had read in the most blogs that nothing much available out here and its best to carry some food. But I guess after the recently held Panchaling Darshana many small eateries or so called messes have come up where one can have simple meal. There are lots of shaks on the river banks too. We got back whatever we took along with us.

Car festivals in Coastal Karnataka

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From Car festivals

Come November and its beginning of car festivals at temples in coastal Karntaka. The festivities will be spread around 5-7 days and last 3 days devotees visit the temples in large numbers. During this time idols are taken out in palanquin or chariot and the last but one day is the car festival day.
This is also the time when people staying away from home try to make it to their native so that they can meet friends and relatives.
During my vacation first one to be visited was the Ganesha temple at Anegudde ( around 30 km from Udupi). At the entrance we were greeted with 2 boys who were supposed to ward of evils buy beating themselves !! They were collecting money by beating themselves with long whips made up of coir and collecting money from the passers by. They were good at keeping track of people who had given money and who had not.

From Car festivals

Car festivals All along the way there were shops selling offerings for the god. You can find every kind of makeshift shops selling electronic items, sweets, clothes and toys which are generally in majority. The temple is situated on hillock and till sometime back one could see loitering monkeys on the climb up. But this time around I could not sight even one! We reached the temple and prayed. When we came out, there was a guy posing as Mahathma Gandhi and he was painted in silver from toe to hair. I just wonder why Mahathma Gandhi is always painted in Silver ? Can't he show up with normal skin or is it do with the title Mahathma?

From Car festivals

Next 2 days I was visiting Manjeshwar a town in Kerala pretty close to Mangalore. The rituals followed here are similar most of the other temples in that car festival spread over seven days. In all the temples there will be community meals(prasadam) served on banana leaf and I enjoy them for the curries made out coconut gravy. After the meal there was palanquin procession at night which ends with a symbolic war on evil spirits by shooting arrows with a silver bow. Each of the processions is accompanied with magnificent fire works illuminating sky in the night. Eating joints are integral part of the festivities and were open through out the night. Eating hot pakodas in the cold winter nights has its own kind of kick!
Next day was the car festival day and there was huge gathering of the crowds. After the car festival I went roaming around, it just reminded me of Mark Shand's description of Sonepur Mela(Indian Journeys edited by Dom Moraes), though there were no cattle to be sold rest all was there. You could find astrologers, mini lotteries, fancy item shops and eateries. These were mini Sonepur or Pushkar Melas.
Next day it was back to Udupi and then to Bangalore.