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No of days: Two
days, One Night (2D 1N)
Mode of Travel: Motorbike
Total Distance
Covered: 380
Kilometers
Night Halt at: Mysore
(138 Kms from Bangalore)
Start Date: 16
Nov 2001
Trip
Route:
Bangalore
– Maddur – T. Narsupur – Bluff – Talakad – Somnathpur – Mysore – KRS Dam –
Balmuri Falls – Ranganatittu – Srirangapattnam – Mandya – Maddur - Bangalore
Must See:
a. Sivasamudram
Project – Ganganachukki Falls
b. Barachukki
Falls – Boating
c. Talakad
Temples
d. Somnathpur
Temple
e. KRS
Dam, Brindavan Gardens Mysore
f. Ranganatittu
Bird Sanctuary
g. Tipu’s
Tomb and Fort, Srirangapattnam
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This
was our first trip in Karnataka. We – my wife and I - left Bangalore quite
unplanned on a Friday morning (5 a.m.). After a halt for fuelling up and
breakfast (tea and biscuits), we took up the Bangalore – Mysore highway. Mind
you… do not take the Kanakapura Road (that is quite bad especially on a
motorbike). We proceeded to a town called Maddur, halted there for a breather
and then took a diversion to Bluff – ask any local there, he would tell you
where the road forks left to Bluff (Sivasamudram) and right to Mandya (that’s
the highway).
We
reached a hamlet – T. Narsupur – and had another brief halt. From there on it
was direct to Bluff – the first hydel power plant in Asia. You would have to
keep a good lookout as you might miss the road that leads to the dam… take
it, proceed 3 kilometers and behold! You are at Ganganachukki one of the twin
falls of River Cauvery (122 Kilometers from Bangalore). We could not go down
to the base of the falls or to the dam, but our wish soon came true. About 5
Kilometers away from Ganganachukki (1 Kilometer upstream) is the other twin –
Barachukki. This is the place not to be missed, especially in November. We
walked down to the foot of the falls – 500 odd feet and had a wonderful time
boating right under the curtain of water.
Drenched,
we made our way uphill and took off on the road – dirt track – to Talakad.
This is where we found temples buried in sand/silt. What we heard is that the
temple – Shiva is the main deity – has many unique features, one being the
color of the idol that changes during the course of a day!!. We did not get a
chance to see that, but we found two concentric stones that were joined as
like a chain-link. That was amazing. We lunched there!
From
Talakad, we took a state highway to Mysore, the road is pretty bad, but it is
sure exciting as we accidentally stumbled on a hoarding that said ‘Somnathpur
Temple – National Heritage’. This temple was mind-boggling! You would have to
see it to believe! The carvings on the walls, sides, inside of the temple
were simply superb… and that’s mildly put. After sinking to its magnificence,
we started to Mysore – it was 5 p.m. then and the place was darkening fast.
We reached Mysore at 8 p.m. (a distance of about 65 Kilometers) and
rested.
We
did not spend much time in Mysore. We went to see the Brindavan Gardens at
the KRS Dam and went slightly ahead to what is called the Balmuri Falls. This
is nothing compared to the earlier falls we had seen… we were not impressed
by it at all. But what captivated us was the boat ride at Ranganatittu Bird
Sanctuary (about 12 Kms from Mysore). The place was fantastic. We could not
believe that river Cauvery could be as docile here (we saw its fury the day
before).
From
Ranganatittu, we proceeded to the Bangalore Mysore highway that we had
departed from earlier, and we reached the town Srirangapattanam. I would not
be telling you what greatness lies in this town but don’t miss Tipu’s tomb
and the boating at Sangam – 3 rivers meet here and one is Cauvery! After a
quick lunch at Srirangapattanam we were off towards home. We had about 110
Kilometers to cover and it was 4 p.m. when we had lunch (a lunch if you can
call that!).
The
ride was pretty smooth as the road is excellent and was made good time. We
reached Bangalore at 7 p.m and slept!! It was a good trip and the next day
was a holiday!
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