Shivanasamudra - Treat to Eyes in Monsoons

Few days back the news was out in the papers - "KRS Dam is full and the dam gates have been opened to release the water to the river". This meant the water falls around KRS would be full and treat to eyes. One such point is Shivanasmudra, where the 2 falls - Gagana Chukki and Bhara Chukki attract thousands of tourists. These two falls are awesome during monsoon - especially if the rains have been very good. This year is one such year.

This place is about 120 Kms from Bangalore and can be reached via Kanakapura Road or Mysore Road. The roads are pretty good and would take about 2 1/2 - 3 hours by car. We prefer the Kanakapura road as there is lesser traffic and also the road is surrounded by fields which is welcome treat to the eyes.

Gagana Chukki Falls

We started from Bangalore around 8:30AM after a quick breakfast at Adyar Anand Bhavan in BTM Layout. Three more families (Pankaj's cousins) joined us on this trip. The meeting point was Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ashram on Kanakapura road at 8:30 AM. It was 8:45 AM, when we started from the ashram. The drive was peaceful and we reached Gagana chukki point by 11:30 AM. There were a lot of visitors as the news was out.

Bhara Chukki Falls

Nothing much has changed in last decade. Every monsoon, there is a flood of visitors - which keeps increasing every year, the roads have not been improved nor the infrastructure around. There is still no restaurant around :( The only eatables available are chips, biscuits, ground nuts and cucumber. Only option is to pack the food. The bridge to Bhara Chukki is very narrow. Every year there is traffic jam and most of the time is spent is waiting to cross the bridge.

Flooded river

Nevertheless, a good break in monsoon. Just be mentally prepared to accept a lot of crowd and traffic. However the view of the falls is superb. The water looks almost like milk. We had fun visiting both the falls. Since we had packed our lunch, it was a nice picnic under the trees. Spent time playing cards and catching up with cousins.






TIP: Crowd can be avoided if you plan to reach the place before 9/10 AM. You can enjoy the falls peacefully.

Lepakshi

Lepakshi - This is one place which is so close to Bangalore, yet we had never visited it. The monsoon was set and weather was great in Bangalore and we were itching to go for a long drive. And so, Lepakshi was chosen. This is a great place to go with a group of friends/family. I checked with my friends if anybody was free to join us on a day trip to Lepakshi. Most of them were busy with Kids exams and other commitments. One of our family friends Latha & Mohan joined us with their kids.

And so it was decided - we would meet at Konark restaurant on Richmond Road for break fast at 8:30AM and then start to Lepakshi on a Sunday morning. We had found out that there aren't any good restaurants in Lepakshi and best option would be pack lunch. We split some dishes and decided to carry packed lunch and have a picnic. In the hind sight, this was an excellent idea. We really enjoyed it.

On Sunday morning, with lunch packed, we started at 8 AM to meet at Konark restaurant. Latha's family was already waiting for us. We were all meeting after a very long time and everybody was excited to meet each other. Had a good breakfast of Idlis and Dosas. Latha had got her Honda CRV and she suggested we drive in a single car. We parked our car on Richmond Road and all of us (4 adults + 4 kids) hopped in CRV. This was fun. We played a lot of games on our way. We reached Lepakshi around 11:30 AM.

Lepakshi is a small town in Andhra Pradesh bordering Karnataka. This place is about 130 KMs from Bangalore on the NH7 highway to Hyderabad and is famous for Veerabhadra Temple, dedicated to Veerabhadra. Built by the brothers Viranna and Virupanna, the temple is a notable example of the Vijayanagar architectural style. It is famous for its sculptures, which were created by the artisans of Vijayanagara empire. A huge Nandi bull made out of a single granite stone is one of the attractions in Lepakshi. This monolithic Nandi is the largest Nandi in India and second largest Monolithic statue in India. The place is renowned for being one of the best repository of mural paintings of the Vijayanagar Kings. 

Nandi - Monolithic Granite Stone

Seven Hood Snake

The first stop at Lepakshi is the huge Nandi built from Granite stone. The Nandi is around 500 years old and still in very good condition. 200 mts from here is the Veerabhadra temple which was built during the Vijayanagar dynasty in 1500 AD. The temple is still in very good condition and is functioning. Some of the paintings on the ceiling still have clear paints showing the pictures. The carvings on the pillar are excellent. It is best if the temple complex is explored with a guide. Without the guide it is very difficult to know the history and significance of this temple. Unfortunately there is only one guide. But he is pretty good though some of the stuff he mention may not make sense if you think rationally :) 

500 year old paintings on the ceiling

Unfinished Kalyana Mantap

Few interesting points in the temple - paintings on the ceiling, a pillar which is not touching the ground, the huge 7 hooded stone carved snake, the unfinished Kalyan Mantap, the foot of Sita (who was about 8 1/2 feet tall), the huge thali's etc. The entire exploring of temple will take around 1 1/2 - 2 hours. By the time we were done it was 1:30 PM. It was lunch time ans we were pretty hungry. First thought was to have the lunch at the temple complex - but there are quite a few monkeys and also beggars who are constantly pinging you. We decided to stop at some open farm around the temple.

The so called Sita's foot

We boarded the car in hunt of some place - preferably under a tree. We found a farm and went it to check if there was anybody from whom we could take permission to have our lunch in their farm. But none was in sight. There were few cows tied in the shed. We were very hungry and decided, we will talk to the farmer after food. We had a tasty lunch - over ate. By the time we were finishing our lunch, the care taker of the farm came by. He was more than happy to have us in his farm. We chatted with him for some time. Its amazing how people in villages are so friendly and extend their warmth and hospitality to strangers which is not common in cities.

Kids Enjoying in the Farm after lunch

After a relaxed lunch, we started back to Bangalore. On the way back we stopped at Cafe Coffee Day for a short break and then it was straight to Bangalore-Richmond Road to pick our car. We bid good bye to Latha's family. It was one short trip full of great memories.