The Land of Butterflies and Thunderstorms

Sounds exotic? It is, but it’s a mere 350kms away from Bangalore! Nestled in the heartland of Coorg or Kodagu, Virajpet is off the beaten track and not visited in the normal scenario…a new Club Mahindra resort and friends wanting to join in was all that was needed to get us going…booked for after Dussera and combined it with a day at home in Mysore ( a second day though planned had to be cancelled as I was not feeling up to it) !!

Sunday, 13^th Oct, the whole family celebrated Amma’s birthday at Fortune JP Cosmos over dinner, came home, put finishing touches to the packing and went to bed early, even Toshu as he was tired after his exams…only to wake up at 4.30am.

Day 1 – Bangalore – Mysore – 14/10/2013

Left home a bit before 6am and even then the traffic on Mysore Road was heavy, it was Vijayadashami, the day of the finale of the Mysore Dasara after all…stopped for breakfast at Kamat Upachar, our regular Kadambam was closed!, and reached Serene Saket at about 9.30pm…promptly Toshu want back to bed!!

Ranga and I did a myriad no. of things which a home needs for maintenance, paid bills, cleaned the 2 wheeler and did the puja as this was the only vehicle which had been missed when the puja was done at Bangalore on 13^th. Made lunch, had a restful nap, socialized with neighbors, did some small shopping, had dinner, watched movie Satyagraha and called it a night!

Day 2 – Mysore – Virajpet – 15/10/2013

After a good breakfast and packing up lunch for all 3, checking on the status of Sreekanth and Purnima’s progress from Bangalore, left home leisurely at 10am . We cruised slowly through hoping they would catch up, turned at Koppa and went to Bylakuppe Tibetan settlement to pick up flat noodles!! And sight seeing along the way but then realized there was no point, and we continued on to Virajpet. As soon as you enter Madikeri, you get a U-turn to the left to Virajpet. Good roads, in typical Coorg scenery with hills and dales, a green canopy over you…this really soothes the eyes and soul, stopped for lunch enroute and continued on. Short spells of thundershowers kept surprising us…but it was a beautiful drive.

Reached at 3pm, check in was smooth, made some tea and then waited for a short while to meet up with Sreekanth and Purnima. We decided to meet up at 7 for dinner in our room and the kids went off to play with Toshu chaperoning them!

A leisurely evening meal, chatting, taking a walk in the lit resort which is really eye catching and beautiful, we spent a nice evening with friends. The resort is designed on modern lines, with space frames, trusses, lots of glass with a simple beauty to it. Each unit is well appointed and stocked though the kitchen platform in the Studio unit could be at least a couple of feet longer, the one in the 1 BR is fine though.

It must be the pure air, everyone was yawning by 10pm and that was that!

Day 3 – Virajpet – 16/10/2013

Woke up to a balmy morning, went for a nice walk as the paved wide pathways are a pleasure, gaining knowledge reading all the plants names and yes gyaan on butterflies as the blocks are named after the Lepidoptera species and we also saw some magnificent specimens flitting around too! Went to the travel desk and after checking all options, though a day trip to Kannur was tempting, we decided to make that a separate trip and decided to go to the Igguthappa temple and Nalknad Palace near Kakkabe. Some falls required a lot of trekking and were automatically out of the reckoning for us. Went to the room, had a simple breakfast and set off at 10.30am for sight seeing. Pricing of a la carte is simply ridiculous, the buffet too large and for poor eaters like us, an absolute waste, hope they can restructure the a la carte dining rates, otherwise its forcing people to opt for the buffet and that is a sheer waste for people like us!

Iguthappa Temple :-

Padi Igguthappa Temple was built by King Lingarajendra in 1810 and is dedicated to Igguthappa, another name for Lord Subramanya (Iggu in Kodava is grain and thappa means to give). Igguthappa is also the Rain God and the main deity of Kodavas. Thousands gather for the Kaliyarchi festival which falls in the month of march the god is taken out on a procession to the top of Mallama Betta Hill and then reinstalled in the temple. Then it is followed by various ceremonial dances. 

The devotees believe in the miracles by Iguthappa, where any one can ask for anything from this super power God. Tulabhara, weighing oneself against fruits, sugar, coconuts, rice etc, is an important offering here. This temple governs significant role in the cultural and traditional life of the place.

Though just 20kms from the resort the winding roads and asking for directions took us nearly 45mins to reach there and we barely squeezed in before the temple doors shut for lunch.

We left for the Nalknad Palace. The 3 kms off - roading on a narrow track driving with your heart in your mouth praying that there is no on-coming vehicle, really takes you back in time, Set in near virgin surroundings, the only deference to civilization being a couple of dwellings and the macadam road – the place is tucked in a location selected by the king to make it difficult for invaders to reach and buy, the man had good sense – how was he to know visitors would find it tough nearly 200+ years later, right?? 

Nalknad Palace built by Dodda Virarajendra in 1792, is situated at the bottom of the highest peak Thadiyandamol and once belonged to the Hindu king Langarajendra, promises the tourists a valued visit and enthralls everyone with its eye-catching paintings (now covered in plastic to protect them though maybe this can be done more aesthetically) and marvelous architecture. This palace served as the royal hunting lodge and summer home of the Kodava Kings. 

The palace has intricate woodcarvings all around the structure and decorated with ancient paintings and historical architecture. The low-slung conical roof, crested dome, pillared facade, intricate wooden friezes, wall murals and the courtyard with its four bulls. Somehow the structure feels alive even today, this thought I was told unequivocally by all was not to be ebtertained at all!!! The columns and sloped roofs have been replicated at the resort!! 

Also not to miss are the local Kapala tribesmen who inhabit the area around Nalknad. There is a saying that the King bought them from Kerala but believed to be originally from Ethiopia. 

Thadiyendamol is the highest peak in Coorg at 5,730 feet, and the second highest in Karnataka. The first being the Mullayanagiri in Chikamaglur district. It is one of the most picturesque spots in south India with un-tampered original forest and natural perennial springs all around. 

Beautiful morning, happy but hungry we returned to the resort by 2pm. Had lunch and settled down to watch the Indo-Aus one dayer…weren’t disappointed, it was a slug fest and the evening flew with jabbering friends, a great match, good food…bliss! Hit the sack by 11pm and was instantly asleep…

Day 4 – Virajpet – Bangalore – 17/10/2013

Left Virajpet at 8am after an early breakfast, reached Madikeri by 9.15am, picked up honey and coffee, continued on our way, stopped just before Mysore, picked up veggies and then stopped only for lunch at Adiga’s after Maddur. Reached Bangalore at 3pm, said hi to parents and were home by 4pm.

A beautiful getaway !

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Route Taken :- Bangalore – Mysore – Hunsur – Periyapatna – Kushalnagar – Madikeri – Murnad – Kadanoor Junction (take right turn) – Kadanga (take left turn) – Native Club (a cute CM board which reads distance as in 7 humpsJ) – turn right and follow the road to reach Club Mahindra Virajpet – a total of about 300kms

Total mileage on the odo – 815kms.

Economy – 14kms/litre