Shivanasamudram....I'm not Bluff-ing

It was a hot February morning and we were driving on the Kanakpura road from Bangalore. We had just finished visiting the Pyramid Valley and now the question was.... ‘Where Next?’

100kms from the junction of Kebbedodde Village on Kanakpura Road lies the well know falls – Shivanasamudram, also called as the Shimsa or Bluff falls. (From Bangalore it is about 120kms if you take the Kanakpura road). Inspite of being a perennial waterfall of the Cauveri River, we were disappointed to see very less water in the falls. The best season to visit would be during the monsoons (July-October) when the two falls show their majestic nature.


Since this is a segmented waterfall, there is a misconception that the left segment is called the Gaganachukki falls and the right as Bharachukki. But in reality, the Bharachukki is a few kilometres to the south-west of the Gaganachukki falls. The falls that you see in most of the images is the Gaganachukki falls which is 90 metres in height and can be viewed from the Shivasamudram watch tower.

The above image is during February and the below is just after the Monsoons.

There are a lot of places to visit in and around Shivanasamudram. The closest being the Bharachukki falls (69 metres), which is about 14kms south-west from Gaganachukki. At Bharachukki, the tourist can go upto the base of the falls and enjoy the Theppa (boat) ride for a small fee. One can also have a dip in the holy water during the summers, but gets dangerous as the monsoon season approaches. There is also a Dargah and a Srichakra temple on the way to this place. Other close locations are Talkad, Somnathpur & Srirangapatna.

At Shivanasamudram, there is only one restaurant called the Jala Darshini, where we stopped for lunch as the blazing sun over our heads got our tummies grumbling. 

It was now about 4pm and we had to head out to find our next destination. We did not take road to Talkad or Somnathpur as we had seen those places before and so headed straight towards Mysore. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Barren Lands - Vibrant Souls

Image
Exploring Kashmir '09 It seemed eternity since I had been on a holiday. Work was hectic and desperately needed a break. The last real holiday was to Sattal nearly 7 months ago and before that was an all-girls trip to Ladakh a year ago. The idea of going back to Kashmir was quite motivating. I wanted to see the snow-peaked mountains resting on the banks of Indus and Zanskar with a stretch of the sand desert next to it....all over again. So finally, on the dawn of 4th September 2009, the epitome of excitement was rising higher as the 6 of us (Kiran, Sheela, Nithyanand, Hari, Ani and myself) with packed luggage were ready to board the flight to Srinagar. The terrorised city of Srinagar has always stirred our imaginations, even as a child. The prospect of visiting this mysterious land was a pleasure we always fancied. Our flight SG224 departed on time @ 08:45am from the Bangalore International Airport and stopped over at New Delhi for a good one hour. We were asked not ...
Read more

Abode of Supreme Peace – Prashanti Nilayam

Image
“Your mission has begun. These are my words to you, My devotees. Each one of you has a unique and valuable part to play in this lifetime. Only those whom I have called can Serve me”. - Baba It was once again a call from Swami that made us wanting to visit and have a darshan of him and so, we decided to head to Puttaparthi on the dawn of 18 th July 2009. It was my second time, first being in April 2009. It is believed that one cannot set foot on the holy land of Puttaparthi until and unless called by the Lord himself. I was fortunate that by his grace, I would be seeing him again in such short span of time. This time we were 5 of us, mom, dad, sister, a friend of her’s and I. We started by around 7am and drove up to chikballapur where we stopped for breakfast. There are two good places for food here, one being the local Shanti Sagar and the other- Kamat. The distance between Bangalore and Puttaparthi is about 160kms, a little more than a 3hrs drive by road. It is ...
Read more

To the little I remember of the Annapurna Range

Image
Along the greatest heights of the Himalayas where cold mountains meet the heated Indian plains lies the land of Yaks and Yetis, Stupas and Sherpas – Nepal . It was 9 years ago that I visited this place. I was 16 then and had no inclinations to write travelogues, but today when I look back, I wish I had. To the little I remember of the Annapurna Range....Here I go... It was the scotching summer of 2000, and May being the holiday season for all we cousins, the elders of the family planned a trip to the north. It was once again a family trip, this time to a rare destination in Nepal stretching for a fortnight. As per the agenda, it was decided that we first go to ‘Ayodhya – the birth place of Lord Rama’, from there to ‘Naimisharanya – the forest where Lord Rama wandered during his exile’ and then to ‘Pokhara’ in Nepal and further to ‘Muktinath’ , our final destination. Day 1 On the 17th of May 2000, as the evening was setting in, the epitome of excitement was rising higher as the 14 of u...
Read more