Kaaveriya Madilalli...

6:30am 27, October 2007

On a chilly winter morning of October our Sumo was zipping on the majestic Mysore road. The following two days were memorable as we went off to see the most beautiful places on the banks of river Kaveri. The rain god was playing hide and seek through-out the trip, though never came in our way!!

The planning was done my chikkappa and one more chikki & Co. joined the trip. The small crowd of two family and my cousin added glitter to the trip. First place to visit was the Dodda Aladamara about 10-15 km from Kengeri off Mysore road. The road had gone completely bad and the driver had to virtually drive on water clogged road because of rain. It was 7:15am when we reached there. A tree of 400 years history and a temple was quite interesting to watch. After spending some time we were off to next place via Chennapattana, Madduru and Mandya.

Srirangapatna
After having small break at Madduru to pack Madduru vaDa, we reached SrirangapaTTaNa at around 9:30am. After cleaning our self :) in the river Kaveri (Anjaneya Temple) we went to the Bailey's Dungeon, a place where prisoners were held in the time Tipu Sultan. The Temple: The abode of Ranganatha Swamy has a history of several centuries. The hoysala architecture is festival to eye. The Ranganatha swamy in shesha shayana form brought the memories of my visit to SriRangam in Trichy (Apr 2003). Then we headed to the Daria Daulat, the summer palace of Tipu Sultan. A well maintained small palace in the center of a big garden (called Daria Daulat Bhaugh). We could see the Jumma Masjid and the place where Tipu was killed on the way to Daria Daulat. We missed Tipu sulthan tomb (Which I covered later when I visited the same place with my Team a month later: Mausoleum Of Tipu Sulthan and his family members in the middle of a lush green garden)

Ranganathittu
11:00 am -12:00 noon
Protected bird Sanctuary with boating facility at 12km from Srirangapatna. We had to be satisfied with watching only a few birds, as it was not a breading season.(Breading season is Jan-March something). The boating was fun with constant fear of alligator!! The few bird varieties were White Ibis (Japan), Red Wittled Livington, river turn, stone plower, spoon bill. Having enjoyed the boat ride, we were off to our next part of the journey.

Mysore - Zoo, Palace and KRS
Reached Mysore at 12:15pm and headed straight to Zoo (12:30 to 2:30). Quick lunch at nearby hotel and we were next to the majestic Mysore palace. My cousin, who is studying in Mysore too joined us. For our luck, we had the chance to see the Chair of Mysore Kings, Simhasana and the Golden Houda, on which idol of the goddess chamundeswari is carried during dasara. We also visited the museum nearby. Evening we headed Brindavan garden and the KRS dam (6:30pm - 7:45pm). The highlight of the evening was music fountain watched by thousands at Brindavan garden. We booked a dormitary at Royale Lodge near to St. Philomena's church and I went to have a quick look at the Shashi's hostel in Mysore. Finishing dinner there, I headed back to lodge. The day came to an end at 10:00pm

Mysore - Chamundi Betta
8:00am 28, October 2007
Before the starting of the second day, saw the the St. Philomena's church, one of the oldest church in Southern India. Next, on the outskirts of the city (6km) we headed for the Chamundi betta and had the divine darshan of Goddess Chanmundeshwari and the biggest Nandi statue. We had our breakfast at a roadside hotel on way to Nanjanagudu.

Nanjanagudu

10:00am-11:00am
Another beautiful place 25km away from Mysore, is the temple dedicated to the Lord Nanjundeshwara. The Brown colored gopura was the start attraction.

Talakkad
12:30pm
On a rugged road we reached Talakkad via T. Narasipur and engaged a guide to show the place. It was a place with great historic and mythological importance. The remains of a old Temple, acres of sand dunes in the middle of fertile land, a number of temples , the story associated with, all were all very exciting. Having lunch at the "house-cum-hotel" we headed for the Sangama at around 2:30pm. It is the confluence of river Kaveri and another river. River Kaveri flows very shallow here and is ideal to take bath and play around.
Shivanasamudram
Last leg of our tour included the visit to the falls formed by river Kaveri. 30 km from Talakkad on the way to Kollegala, we reached first of the two falls. It is called the Bharachukki (3:30pm). We had to walk down to reach the bottom of the fall, where river was falling with all its might. It is one of the widest falls that I had ever seen. There were theppa's available for a stroll, but we did not have time to experience it :(Nearby we have the Gaganachukki falls(4:30pm) which falls from a very high point. It has two views, one behind a Mosque and another near man made viewing point. We preferred the former, which had the choice of getting down to the water. Spending some time in the water we headed back to our Sumo(5:00pm), which will take us back to Bangalore. Final journey was around 125 km and we passed Malavalli (6:00pm) Madduru (7:15pm) and reached bangalore at 8:15pm. Having dinner at a hotel on the Ring Road, we reached home at 8:45pm.
It was coincidence that we visited many places which were associated with river Kaveri: Srirangapatna and Ranganthittu gloried on the river Kaveri, Mysore where it is in the stagnant form, in Dam. Talakkad, it just disappears and again come back in Sangama, in Peaceful form. In Shivana Samudra it falls in two different places. Finally in B'lore where it comes in Tap :)

The smell of the paddy fields and scenic mountains in the distance, the cloudy weather and the cool breeze, small villages, the cattles ,was appearing as if it was calling us...ಮರಳಿ ಬಾ ಕಾವೇರಿಯ ಮಡಿಲಿಗೆ.... (maraLi Baa.... Kaveriya Madilige)