Somanathapur, Talkad, Shivanasamudra, Srirangapattana trip
Travellers : Goutham Tholpadi, Guru, Amith and self.
Day 1 - Aug 13th, 2005
=================
Left Bangalore by 12:00 in Tholpi's car. 4-laning of Mysore - Bangalore road is nearing completion. It looks really good. Got caught in a traffic jam at Ramanagara. We lost more than half an hour here. As soon as the jam cleared and we started moving, we were hit by a Santro from behind. Minor incident, but, the rear bumper was broken. Lost a few more minutes here.
Stopped for lunch at kamat Lokaruchi. Had a sumptuous lunch. Also, we saw Narayan Murthy there. We reached Srirangapattana by 4:00. Went to Sangama first. I had never seen so much water there. We went for a ride on the "teppa". Got to know from the local people that the day 1 lakh cusecs of water was released from the KRS (Aug 1st), the water level here was about 15-20 ft higher.
Then we hired a guide to show us around the fort. We saw Sultan Batery, an elevated place on which a flag used to be hoisted on a very long pole. Used for signalling the presence of Tippu in the capital. One can see Mysore, KRS, and Kunti betta from this place. Then the guide showed us around the ruined fort. We also visited the Sriranganatha temple. Finally we saw the Jamia masjid. Looks very much like a temple with minarets on it.
We left for Mysore soon after. Had Dose at Mylari and curd rice at Kafe Mallige. We spent the night at my place.
Day 2 - Aug 14th, 2005
=================
Amith joined us for this day's trip. So, we had the luxury of travelling by Fiat Palio. Reached Somanathpur by 9:30 in the morning. If U want to appreciate the scrulpture here, a guide is a must here. This 700 year old Keshava temple was built by the Hoysalas and has 3 Garbha gudis. Both the interior and the exterior of the temple has some very fascinating peices of architecture. Along with this one can see the damage caused by barbaric muslim rulers like Malik Kafur. The British have also looted many of the idols from this temple. The idol of the main deity, Keshava, is now in some musuem in London. What you can see in Somanathpur is only a replacement.
The road between Somanathpur and Talkad is pretty bad. Reached Talkad by 12:30. Again hired a guide. Saw the vaidyanatheshwara temple and had lunch. Lots and lots of people around. Talkad was being hit by a huge wave of tourists. After lunch we visited the other temples - PataLeshvara, Veerabhadra, etc. All the temples have been excavated out of the sand by ASI. Many such temples are being excavated now. The guide said that there is a city underneath the sand. Reminded me of Hampi. Visited the river front after this. Lots of people playing and bathing in the river. Again we ventured out on a teppa. Just like Srirangapattana, there is a lot of water here also. Kaveri looks so beautiful when its full.
Met TC and family just before leaving Talkad. I realized that many many people from B'lore/Mysore will be touring these places on that day. Bumping into someone I knew was not at all surprising.
From Talkad we went to Shivanasamudra. The landscape becomes even more beautiful as we near Shivanasamudra. We first visited Gaganachukki falls. Its not very broad, but the force of the fall is stunning. The spray formed by the falling water forms a thin wall and we could actually see the wall of spray moving downstream. It started raining when we were here and it added to the beauty of the scene. Bharachukki is probably the broadest waterfall I have ever seen. The span of the waterfall is probably more than a kilometer. We went down to the bottom of the waterfall and took a few snaps.
Day 1 - Aug 13th, 2005
=================
Left Bangalore by 12:00 in Tholpi's car. 4-laning of Mysore - Bangalore road is nearing completion. It looks really good. Got caught in a traffic jam at Ramanagara. We lost more than half an hour here. As soon as the jam cleared and we started moving, we were hit by a Santro from behind. Minor incident, but, the rear bumper was broken. Lost a few more minutes here.
Stopped for lunch at kamat Lokaruchi. Had a sumptuous lunch. Also, we saw Narayan Murthy there. We reached Srirangapattana by 4:00. Went to Sangama first. I had never seen so much water there. We went for a ride on the "teppa". Got to know from the local people that the day 1 lakh cusecs of water was released from the KRS (Aug 1st), the water level here was about 15-20 ft higher.
Then we hired a guide to show us around the fort. We saw Sultan Batery, an elevated place on which a flag used to be hoisted on a very long pole. Used for signalling the presence of Tippu in the capital. One can see Mysore, KRS, and Kunti betta from this place. Then the guide showed us around the ruined fort. We also visited the Sriranganatha temple. Finally we saw the Jamia masjid. Looks very much like a temple with minarets on it.
We left for Mysore soon after. Had Dose at Mylari and curd rice at Kafe Mallige. We spent the night at my place.
Day 2 - Aug 14th, 2005
=================
Amith joined us for this day's trip. So, we had the luxury of travelling by Fiat Palio. Reached Somanathpur by 9:30 in the morning. If U want to appreciate the scrulpture here, a guide is a must here. This 700 year old Keshava temple was built by the Hoysalas and has 3 Garbha gudis. Both the interior and the exterior of the temple has some very fascinating peices of architecture. Along with this one can see the damage caused by barbaric muslim rulers like Malik Kafur. The British have also looted many of the idols from this temple. The idol of the main deity, Keshava, is now in some musuem in London. What you can see in Somanathpur is only a replacement.
The road between Somanathpur and Talkad is pretty bad. Reached Talkad by 12:30. Again hired a guide. Saw the vaidyanatheshwara temple and had lunch. Lots and lots of people around. Talkad was being hit by a huge wave of tourists. After lunch we visited the other temples - PataLeshvara, Veerabhadra, etc. All the temples have been excavated out of the sand by ASI. Many such temples are being excavated now. The guide said that there is a city underneath the sand. Reminded me of Hampi. Visited the river front after this. Lots of people playing and bathing in the river. Again we ventured out on a teppa. Just like Srirangapattana, there is a lot of water here also. Kaveri looks so beautiful when its full.
Met TC and family just before leaving Talkad. I realized that many many people from B'lore/Mysore will be touring these places on that day. Bumping into someone I knew was not at all surprising.
From Talkad we went to Shivanasamudra. The landscape becomes even more beautiful as we near Shivanasamudra. We first visited Gaganachukki falls. Its not very broad, but the force of the fall is stunning. The spray formed by the falling water forms a thin wall and we could actually see the wall of spray moving downstream. It started raining when we were here and it added to the beauty of the scene. Bharachukki is probably the broadest waterfall I have ever seen. The span of the waterfall is probably more than a kilometer. We went down to the bottom of the waterfall and took a few snaps.
