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.