Trip to Sirsi: Aarankusamittodam Nenevudenna Manam Banvaasi Deshamam

Rains… Clouds… Greenery… 3 words kept buzzing in our minds when we started from Bangalore at 9.40 pm after a hectic week. I took no time and crashed in our pleasant overnight KSRTC sleeper coach bus to Sirsi. Next morning, sleepy town that had unique 5-road circle welcomed us with phone network. Why is it so unique? We went on to discover that our phone networks only when we are this

Yana

circle!

Sirsi is in the middle of Malnad, which is famous for its natural beauty and various other treasures of nature. Monsoon was just wrapping up, waterfalls were overflowing and greenery was all over, we could not have asked for more. We had booked not-so-great Bakula homestay, 9 kms from Sirsi. Although the homestay was in good landscapes, bad food and poor hospitality killed it all- we had a memorable fight with the homestay owner who happens to be related to local MLA! Nevertheless, we had good time by making up with great games of Carom & a long night around campfire!

#Sirsi town is centrally located to all waterfalls, temples, beaches and viewpoints. Town has a famous 16th century Marikamba Temple. We also made sure to get a taste of gobi machurian & gudbud at Hotel Satkar, which was strongly recommended by our taxi driver, Rajeev!

# Yaana , 32 kms from Sirsi, is known for the wonderful rock formation. There are 2 sanctorum: dedicated to Ganga Chandika Bairaveshwara and Parvathi. Priest welcomed us and narrated to us the glorious history that included Sage Ashwattama, Pushpaka

Unchalli Falls

Vimana and Pandavas. We had to trek to go round the temple that displayed the beauty of mammoth tall rocks. Local shops here served very good snacks like bhoti, shankara pole, mirchi mandakki, little hearts & punarpuli juice.

# Manjuguni Venkataramana temple, known as Tirupati of Karnataka, was a special inclusion in our schedule to accommodate lunch. It was one of the best foods we had during our entire trip consisting of typical malnad culinary items like boiled rice, tambuli, kayi payasa and appe mango pickle. Old lady was serving and her enthu was unmatchable. We missed having locally prepared “Attirasa” here.

#Unchalli Falls was classic example of prosperity monsoon boaster’s. It was just amazing with water

Banavasi

hitting the face and those who went close to get better view were drenched. I remember enacting Modi for Swatchh Bharat Andolan by picking up lays packets after wonderful chai here!

#Bheemanvare gudda or Bheeman gudda had best visuals of Western Ghats but not much visibility! Amazing trail of a km that led to top of the hill was the best part. For a moment Sun appeared but we mistook it moon! This explains the God level serenity!

# Magod Falls was the best of all! It had rained a lot on the 50km drive and mood was perfectly set. We arrived to learn that clouds had not opened up since last 3 hours and nobody had caught glimpse of waterfalls. We took round in this zero-visibility park and hoped for luck! Finally the moment

Magod Falls

arrived! Royally following L-shaped fall and then a u-turn, describing this waterfall was beyond words and I got into free anchoring for video makers who had come there! Homemade mandakki and chai was like icing on the cake!

#Banavasi temple, 22 kms from Sirsi, is the oldest town and first capital of ancient Karnataka state and has Madhukeshwara Temple built starting from 2nd century. Tales on how it survived Muslim emperors attacks (havali shivalinga story), shiva linga’s from various parts of India, parallels to Varanasi, amazingly carved 2 eyes of Nandi looking at different directions at Shiv & Parvathi, nritya mantapam with convex concave pillar and architectural marvel wooden bed made up 10 pieces are the best part of this temple. I was carried away. Mind was remembering poem of Adikavi Pampa written when he visited Banavasi in 9th century: “aarankusamittodam nenevudenna manam banvaasi deshamam” “puttidirdode maridumbiyaagi men kogileyaagi nandanavanadol banavaasideshadol” {If to be born, one should take birth in Banavasi. It is a virtue to be born in Banavasi as a human being. If by

Bheeman Gudda Walk

any chance, one cannot take birth as a human being, at least he should be born as a bee or a bird in the garden of Banavasi.}

We left Sirsi refreshed & rejuvenated on an early Sunday morning. We stopped at Shivamogga to watch blockbuster Kannada movie, Bahaddur, and for a heavy lunch at hotel Mathura, before we headed back to Bangalore to reach before 11pm! Sirsi, a must visit! Glorious small town with history, fun and knowledge packaged together!

Here is me describing the beauty of the waterfalls in typical TV9 Kannada channel style:{Shot by Srinivasa, photo-traveller, stranger to me, who was doing photography here!}

[Thanks to Manu D K, Akhilesh, Yashu & Sushma for making this trip memorable! Photo credits: Akhilesh & Yashu]

Kodaikanal Summer Tour: The Cool Gift of the Forest

Recently, due to excessive urbanization, Bangalore also has started facing summers in March-April. Garden city where there was no need of fan, today, has become the house of air conditioners. To beat this heat, we set out to the "Princess of Hill stations"- Kodaikanal!

Established in 1845 by British as their summer homes, Kodaikanal is decorated with Meadows and grasslands that cover the hillsides. Gigantic Eucalyptus trees and shola forests flourish in the valleys. English countryside bungalows are very common. Honestly, this land of Kurunji flowers those which blossom once in 12 years, I never expected it to be this beautiful and cold(15-20 degree Celsius)!

From Bangalore it is overnight journey to the nearest railway station- Kodai Road. From there to Kodaikanal is 80kms. Dindigul junction is the previous station to Kodai Road(you can wake up at Dindigul station!). Since we were six of us- we travelled to and fro in a travera and an innova respectively. You’ll easily realize the difference in weather, flora & fauna when you travel to hill station from railway station! To put it in taxi drivers one word difference- “Chillness”.

#Kodaikanal Lake is what defines Kodaikanal. Interestingly this is an artificial, roughly star-shaped 60 acres lake built in 1863. We could sight couples spending their honeymoon in rowboats and pedalos at the Kodaikanal Boat Club located in this lake. Even we did boating in pedalos!

There are numerous shops and roadside eateries surrounding this lake. Early morning, we hired bicycles and rode in the 5 kilometres path that skirts the periphery of this lovely lake. The reflection of pines, clouds, drizzling rain, sun and moon in this spacious beautiful lake, can make anyone a poet!

#Coaker's Walk, 500 metres from the bus-stand, was constructed by Lt. Coaker in 1872, is a 1-kilometre paved pedestrian path running along the edge of steep slopes. We saw couple of telescope observatories and honestly, were a letdown. Apparently, you can see rainbow in the cloud if the

Sun is behind telescope. Anyways we were not that lucky enough. It was a very scenic walk. We did some shopping here since there were lot vendors selling earrings, eucalyptus oil, homemade chocolates and spices.

#Dolphin's Nose, 8 kilometres from the bus stand, is flat rock projecting over a breathtaking chasm 6,600 feet deep. To reach there, it takes a small trek of 2kms in a trail that steeply descends and might slip as well. You can spot ladies selling short snacks from their individual homes in this trail. Couple of viewpoints makes this small walk interesting- mid way to Dolphin’s nose, there is Mountain valley view and further down Dolphin’s nose, there is echo point. It rained a bit when we were there. Looking down at the symmetric Palani hills is in fact, pure bliss!

#Kodai- By The Lake by Sterling Holidays resort is situated on the banks of the picturesque Kodai Lake and styled on the lines of English countryside to compliment the English styled villages that dot Kodaikanal. In this beautiful resort, we had rented a duplex 2-bhk for a day which came with excellent service, excellent living room and breathtaking views. Nalla irukku!

#Food might be a topic of concern if you crave for spicy dishes. If you love having idly, dosa, rice, rasam and sambar- it won’t be much of problem! We had 2 meals, i.e., breakfast and dinner at the Hotel Eden Park, approximately 20kms from Kodai Road railway station. I can easily recommend this place. At Kodaikanal, previous day lunch at Woodlands hilltop restaurant made us turn to Dominos for the next day. The best part- having Moroccan mint tea while the sun starts to fade behind clouds and mercury touching around

15 degrees Celsius in April. Also, we didn’t miss to grab a bite of roadside bread toast, cuppa noodles, and sandwiches, masala teas with biscuits, vadai, sweet corn, peaches, tree tomatoes, passion fruits and baby carrots!

#Missed places- Pine forest where movie are shot, Pillar rocks, waterfalls due to lack of water and eating at Astoria hotel, highly rated local eatery!

[Thanks Pranita, Aditi, Rashmika, Supraj and Anudeep for making this trip memorable.]

Trek to sea of pearls: Dudhsagar Waterfalls

Thursday, after office hours, I looked at my wrist watch. Time was always right. But for a change, there were water droplets in the glass. This reminded me of the experience I lived. Or the joy that flowed. From the top of a split mountain to the bottom of deep valley with white clouds making the picture perfect, I knew, for sure, that the time was always right!

This time around, when monsoons are creating happiness, havoc and agony, I visited the serene Dudhsagar falls of Goa. This is located near Goa-Karnataka border, in between Collem and Castle Rock railway stations. Dudhsagar falls is India’s fifth tallest waterfall and what makes it exotic is the railway bridge that passes forming a two-tiered visual treat.

5 of us boarded the Netravati express from Udupi at 1am and reached Madgaon at 6am, Monday. A Monday that turned out to be a Monday worth remembering forever! After having one of the worst possible breakfast at the station, we boarded a passenger train to Collem, reached the resort we had booked, dropped our

luggage and we headed back to Collem station.

Collem looked like a very small town with very few small shops and mini restaurants. We had our lunch- buns with yummy baaji- ethnic Maharastrian cuisine. We bought some biscuits and carried fruits, a torch, windcheaters and umbrellas, all set for a big trek.

13kms. We set a target of 3hours-oneway for ourselves, since it was already 1.30pm and in worst case, if we couldn’t find a railway transport backwards- we should reach by 8pm. With every 100mtrs, trek started looking more tedious. We kept walking, enjoying the heavy rains every now and then. Needless to say, this was mentally more challenging than physically. Stones the hit our toes made us more determined, 4 tunnels that we encountered showed what darkness was, numerous mini waterfalls kept us

motivated. Fear of encountering a wild animal or reptiles was always there as we made our way along the tracks in this dense jungle.

A kilometer before the falls, the first view of this majestic beauty, took us to a different level of happiness. The hard trek seemed all okay, anyday, for this, anyday! Cloud slowly uncovering the zenith of the waterfall was definitely His work of marvel. This sight gave us the sneak preview of the final climax.

Then, I stood, opening up my arms…
For her, not that she was not coming!
I looked up at her, like a Kid…
She came down, for me, fighting clouds
And bombard with her boundless grace!
I wore a smile of content and sighed,
She left her countless kisses on my face!
Standing on a bridge of the railway track
My journey had taken me to her pearl sea…
Waves of which carried the aroma of milk…
Feeding enlightenment with every silk!
Then, I stood, opening up my arms…

For her, since I knew, she was already mine!

All of us were completely drenched as soon as we stood in front of the waterfalls. Exquisite sight! We felt very lucky when we learnt that a goods train engine would be at Dudhsagar in an hour or two. It arrived and stopped for less than a minute. A Journey standing in the engine, trust me, we couldn’t stop shouting with ecstasy. We reached the resort by 9pm. A Monday well spent!

We had booked tent rooms in Dudhsagar Spa resort, set up in a beautiful backdrop of a wildlife sanctuary, 6kms from Collem. Except for the poor food, I literally couldn’t ask for more from this place. We checked out on Tuesday afternoon to board train to Bangalore

via Londa, in Rani Chennamma Express, reached Bangalore at 7am, surprisingly on-time after an hour delay at the start!

When I sat to write this today, I was really short of words to describe the experience. Hence, if I couldn’t provide complete justice in this travelogue, then pack your bag, head towards her before the monsoon ends- enjoy the struggle, let her get you drenched and fall in love- all over again- with yourself!

[Thanks Pranita, Aditi, Supraj and Anudeep for making this trip memorable. Photo credits: Pranita, Aditi and Supraj.]