Monsoon Magic in Malnad

It was raining in Bangalore, my birthday coming up, had been a hectic few months - so we decided to go to the area of more rains “Maley Nadu”!! or Malnad which is the shortened version of this. Actually badly needed a break! Read about copious water at Jog Falls and decided – well, why not? Booked a room at the Royal Orchid Central Shimoga and off we went!

Day 1- Bangalore – Shimoga – 19/08/2013

Left at our usual 6.15am, with an over-nighter and packed breakfast…took the road to Nelamangala road…and what a beautiful road it was, in terms of scenery, in terms of low traffic volume, good road surface, cloudy morning and a cool breeze…in fact perfect made to order travel weather! Thoroughly enjoyed the drive. It was a relaxed drive stopping for breakfast, coffee, to gaze at a flock of cranes in the green paddy fields, we meandered through as we did not want to reach too early – check in was at noon, reached on dot!

Checked in – good room, well appointed, comfortable but NO view at all, as it is smack in the middle of Gandhi Bazaar on the main B.H.Road, the plot is bordered by commercial establishments – the only disappointment, but then there are limited options for stay in Shimoga and this is considered the best. Went down for lunch to the Pinxx Restaurant and had the standard buffet, which is wasted on us, being lousy eaters.

Then crashed out, work up by 5.30pm, had coffee, went for a stroll, bought some apples (Rs.50/kg) – hadn’t heard those rates in Bangalore for over a decade, and returned debating on how Bangalore has become ridiculously expensive in everything!

Checked my mails with the free wi-fi connection in the room, it was a breeze, averted a couple of minor disasters, which is par for the course (smile…) and then watched some telly, called and booked a taxi for the next day (Ranga said he wanted a break too – fair enough)! And then - ordered dinner in the room. Food is good, though taste wise lacks the oomph factor!

By ten pm I called it a night, curled up with a book, read for sometime and drifted off…

Day 2 – Shimoga – Ikkeri – Jog Falls – Keladi – 20/08/2013

Woke up a tad late – at 7 am, with a hot cuppa in hand, opened all my birthday gifts, and replied to all the sms-es and emails that had started coming in from friends and family and went for breakfast at 8.30am, again disappointed taste-wise, however with not much choice on offer, can’t crib, it was clean and hot! It had rained all night and the weather was a bit brrr. Got dressed and left in our Tata Indigo taxi for Jog and other places at 9.30am

Again good roads and cool weather made the drive wonderful. On the way to Jog Falls, we turned left at a point before Sagara to Ikkeri.

Ikkeri is a historical place located at a distance of 3 km from Sagara in Shimoga district. The prime attraction of Ikkeri is the Aghoreshwara Temple. The Aghoreshwara Temple in Ikkeri was constructed by the Keladi Nayakas, who were once upon a time feudatories to the Vijayanagara Empire.

The Aghoreshwara temple in Ikkeri is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The Temple looks with vast open outer space throughout the temple compound. Instead of the Gopura to the temple compound is a simple but superb cubical arch carved out of granite across the small passage with steps. As soon as you enter the temple, it is really simple to grasp the plan of the temples and other structures’ interior. The very first thing is a prominent shrine of Nandi in the axis of this main temple. It can be rare to get this kind of large Nandi image having a glass like finish and with such an elaborate enclosure.

Right next to Nandi shrine is a big Balipitha and a number of smaller Balipithas. A Balipitha (the Altar Stone) is where ritual offerings for God are offered. Carvings in Vijayanagara style abound.

This is a living temple with pujas being offered even today, some 6 centuries later! That is India!.

We then moved on to Jog Falls which is 28 kms away from Sagara town and about 105 kms from Shimoga or Shivamogga, as the locals call it. It had started drizzling as we moved up the ghats, and the entire area was covered in mist! Including the falls though we could hear the roar of the gushing water…we were told to be patient and wait for the mist to roll…and lo behold! The falls were revealed in all their splendour albeit in stages…it was like magic…awesome to see the force of water falling into the gorge with an earth shattering roar…Raja, Rani, Rover and Rocket – the highest falls in India…wow! Makes one feel very, very insignificant in the face of such might!

We stayed for about half hour and left after using the rest rooms which are pay & use so very clean but I was irritated that women had to pay more than men, seriously? – discrimination to pee! Anyways, we reached Sagara again, and turned left to reach Keladi.

Keladi is 8 Kms from Sagar. – no signboards and a bad road. 

 Make sure you don't miss:

1. Gandaberunda on the ceiling of Veerabadhra temple.
2. Daksha statue with goat-head in the Veerabadhra temple.

There is a museum with few meters from the temple. It has many artifacts of Keladi era. There's a painting of Queen Elizabeth showing India as her heart and other colonies as different parts. The temple priest’s family are friendly and double as guides. The wooden ceiling and friezes are amazing. From outside the temple is very deceptively simple but as you go in the history seeps into the stones. The temple is popularly known as Keladi Rameshwara Temple. The shrine has three deities, Devi Parvathi, Lord Rameshwara and Lord Veerabhadra. The temple was built by Chowdappa Nayaka. The temple is in Dravidian style of architecture influenced by Kadamba and Hoysala style. The roofs and pillars of the temple is made out of carved wood.

By then it was close to 2pm, so we stopped for a simple meal at Sagara, again not too many options but this looked the cleanest! Wonder why no luxury hotels or resorts have come up in such a popular tourist spot? Government apathy?

Anyways reached the hotel around 4pm and relaxed for a couple of hours. Then went down for a birthday dinner to the Tiger Trail restaurant where the theme that day was Bombay Chaat while I would have loved a taste of the local cuisine. Returned happily tired, chatted for some time , answered a few calls and finally called it a day!

Day 3 – Shimoga – Bangalore – 21/08/2013

Woke up at 7am, had breakfast and checked out at 9am. Driving back we stopped at Arsikere to buy veggies, couldn’t resist it – beans at Rs.20/kg, brinjal at Rs.15/kg etc…bought more apples and continued back home. After a brief lunch stop at Tumkur, reached home at 2pm.

A good trip..a much needed break!

Total distance clocked – 570kms.

Route – Bangalore – Tumkur(68 kms) – Tiptur (73 kms)–Kadur (66 kms) – Shivamogga (69 kms)

Time taken – 5 hours with 2 stops of about 45 mins in all each way.