A day trip to the heritage site of Somanathapura. It is famous for an artistic temple with intricate carvings symbolic of Hoysala dynasty architecture which once ruled this region. The stone work is very fine and treat to watch built by General Somanatha of the hoysala.

Starting at around 7 am we reached the temple by 11:00 am taking approximately 4 hours to reach the place with 2 stops on way for fuel and breakfast. The breakfast was at Kamath yatri niwas which has become quite famous amongst travelers from Bangalore to Mysore. A traditional south Indian cuisine on offer, it was the first time I was visiting this place and found nothing extraordinary.

After continuing further on Mysore highway, a state highway 33 starts and we took that road to reach Malavalli police station on a round about. A right turn from that place sent us closer to Somanathapura. The road condition deteriorates within the last 7 km. the sign boards are present throughout and you will not miss them as they have a stone pole with a yellow sign board signifying tourist location distance information.

Once we reached the heritage site, we started filling up our memory cards to our hearts content. We were 5 of us and would have taken many gigs of photos. I nearly filled up my 8GB card which was surprising to me as well.We did not realize how much shooting was going on. The entry ticket is INR 5 which seemed more like a formality to collect tickets. Non Indian origin people are charged INR 25. There is no fee for still camera but video camera attract a fee of INR 100. The ticket issued was yellow colored which has the Incredible India slogan by Archeological Survey ot India in collaboration with Ministry of Tourism.

The temple is situated on the left bank of river Cauvery but we could not feel a water body close by. The temple has 3 sanctums with beautifully carved ceiling, walls and pillar. The idols within the temples were marvelously cut out. On the entrance at left side is a engraved huge stone wall, with inscriptions of people who helped build this temple.

We spent nearly 2 hours photographing all possible views and landscape with temple as focal point. Inside the temple is no light or very dim focus light which makes photography difficult under lo lighting conditions. There are trained certified guides available for hire which will explain the history and multiple stories behind the carving depiction on temple walls. The exterior of temple is equally well carved out.

The time we reached, there was some sort of repairing work going on and some areas were no entry places. We could not go around the temple but could walk on the elevated platform on which the entire temple is built. The sun was right on our head and we shielded ourselves with some shade for a while.

As we were done quite early, we decided to head to Talakad which is around 15 km from this temple site. After going for 2 km we had to take a right for 9 km to reach talakad. We were very disappointed with the location of this place and without any stay, headed straight back. The place is not worth a visit as the roads are in very bad shape and the destination has nothing in it to attract people. A quick bit of ice cream cooled all of us down as sun was flaming it rays on us continuously.

We had packed some stuff from Kamath for lunch and everybody was carrying some with them so we did not feel hungry and also hunt for a place to eat at some place. It was around 2 and we still had a lot of time left in the day to explore some nearby places. We decided to head to Gaganachukki and Barachukki waterfalls also known as Shivanasaudram.. This was my second outing to this destination. Earlier i had been to this place in monsoon time.

The place of Barachukki is reached after climbing down steeply and reaching the base of waterfalls. At road level, the panoramic view of waterfalls are easily visible. At the base is provision for boating in the coracle boats.All 5 of us hired a boat for INR 150 and enjoyed the ride for around 20 minutes. The boat goes right next to water falling from a height and one can get quite wet. We spent some time there basking in the sun as our backs were totally wet after sitting in coracle boats.

The next stop of Gaganachukki is around 1 km from this place and was totally deserted. The last time we had come to this location ws just after rains and the water was gushing around making it difficult even to stand near water. At this time of the year, there was hardly any flowing water in these falls and were mostly dry. We we done seeing all these places by 4:30 pm on that day and decided to call it end and head back home. We were approximately 120km from home and had good long time to rest before getting back to routine the next day.

We stopped at Cafe Coffee day which is around 45 km from Shivanasamudram spending almost an hour for some sandwiches and shakes. We saw Robin Uthappa at this coffee day outlet who plays for Indian cricket team and Karnataka state team. They had just lost the final match earlier day to Mumbai.

We reached home well in time and got a good night’s sleep before resuming office the next day.

The state of Karnataka is known as the focal point of stone carved architecture. The ruins of Hampi or the remains of Hoysala dynasty are 2 world class citing and now declared as world heritage sites.

A gem of architecture which is still not possible today with the availability of all precision based equipment and tools. The archeological site of Somanathapur is another example of expertize of Hoysala dynasty in stone carvings.

The temple is present in a large compound which has been there for many centuries. It was built by a General of Hoysala dynasty centuries ago.

The carvings can be seen on temple walls, ceilings, exteriors and the idols. Follow the below link to get mesmerized in the beautiful architecture of hoysala era.

SOMANATHAPURA PHOTO GALLERY

In the recent posts of my trip to makedatu I wrote a long enough travelogue for people to use as a guide. The travelogue was written as a web page and hence people might want to keep it as a copy while traveling.

I have created a PDF document from the same travelogue information with a little bit information rephrased and corrected.You can grab a copy of the pdf document by clicking on the screen shot below of the travelogue document opened in Acrobat 9 professional.

The pdf file is about 350Kb in size. The image quality within the travelogue might not be greatest as I have tried to compress the data and keep the file size minimum.

Please take care before finally printing the pdf file. In case of extreme need, you should fire a print. Otherwise you could just note down the relevant details on your travel diary or any other document which you generally carry while traveling.

If nothing of the above works for you and you have to fire a print command, please ensure that you print on both sides of the paper i.e double sided print even if it is the network printer in your office. This will save some paper for all and prevent cutting of some trees.

Hopefully small actions like this by us can go a long way in keeping the earth as green as possible and travelers like me to keep the exploration streak forever.

It was a single day trip, to Makedatu which is located about 80km from Bangalore. We hired a cab for the journey to be undertaken by 3 people including 2 of my friends.

It took us about 2 hours to reach the first destination of the journey called Sangam. We started early from our houses reaching comfortably by 9:30 am. ‘Sangam’ is a Hindi language word meaning meeting place for rivers. It is a place where Cauvery and another river merge. Makedatu is about 5 km from this place. Makedatu is a Kannada language term comprising of “Make” meaning ’sheep’ and “Datu” meaning ‘gorge’. Thus the saying that the gorge was separated so close that even a sheep could cross it.

We got off the cab and had to cross the river. On the other side of river was the starting place for a bus service to Makedatu. The river was knee deep and we enjoyed crossing it. After consulting we got to know that the bus would start at 11:00 am. We had one hour with us to explore the surrounding place.

We could see rocks everywhere and water flowing around it. Since it was not monsoon season water level had receded allowing us to go quite inside the rivers. The rugged natural terrain was also looking good in bright sunlight.

We were done with the exploration in about 30 minutes and inquired again for departure of the bus. The service was now postponed to 1 pm as there were not enough passengers to fill up the rickety bus. We decided to trek the distance of 4 km.

The trek was not a difficult one as the route was clearly marked by regular plying buses. It was an extremely hot day and we were sweating quite a bit. We were carrying some sandwiches and 2 liters of water. By the time we reached Makedatu all our supplies had exhausted.

The place is actually some steps down the main road. We took them to see a beautiful terrain in front of us. The river had carved its way through the rocks marking the rocks on its way. The whole view was simply amazing. We were the only ones to be there and we could enjoy as we felt comfortable.

All of us were tired with the walk and lack of liquid intake. We decided to go back on the road above and wait for the bus to come sometime. We heard a bus approaching us and breathed a big sigh of relief. Seeing the bus at that time was the best thing that could happened to us at that moment. In the bus, some vendors were carrying chilled mineral water and soft drinks. We bought it at an exorbitant price.

Our return journey was also an experience. We three were the only passengers in the bus and the driver was driving it like a racing car on a jungle road. I did not even think of sitting and clamped the holders on top for a little smoother ride back.

The bus journey took about 10 minutes which would have taken 2 hours to walk. We again crossed the river to reach our cabs. We decided to have lunch before heading for Chunchi Falls.

The falls are located around 15 km from this place and we saw a sign board for it on our way. We reached the falls in about 30 minutes. It was another trek down to reach the falls. This was a small one but difficult terrain to walk on. We went down quite a bit to see it fall from a height. At this time of the year it was quite dry and we came up after spending 10 minutes near the falls.

Once we reached near the parking area, all of us feasted on tender coconut water. It was a great refreshing drink which just made us feel in heaven.

That was the last destination of the trip and we headed home reaching at about 6 pm. All of us slept like dead logs on that day awakened only by the morning sun light.

Please be cautious to not enter the water at all places. There are warning boards as well due to the presence of crocodiles in the waters. The safe and best route to cross the river is right where the road ends. The water is shallow and knee deep when we went. Also after crossing the river be prepared to walk for around 4 km in case there is no service of a  rickety bus. The bus will charge Rs 20 to drop you at the final place from where you need to trek down to a level where the gushing water through the rocks can be seen and heard aloud.

Ratings and Recommendations:
A good place for picnics and group outings. Across the river the mats and tents can be erected for a good time. People with interest in following areas will appreciate the place more.

* Landscape
* Getting feet wet
Rating: 3/10

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