In the laps of western ghats

THE MAYURAVANA HOMESTAY

Situated in the foothills of the Chandradrona hill station and surrounded by the coffee estates, the two day stay gave us a heavenly experience. It is situated in the village named Mallenahalli which is 12 Km's from Chikkamagaluru town. The village itself has many myths and stories behind it. The host told that the Giris (hills, particularly mullayanagiri, Bababudangiri, Seetalayyanagiri and Deviramana betta) gives birth to many water source which runs through their village, and that medicinal powers of the water are absorbed in the land. So it is a kind of spiritual place. And he also told that no one dies of snakebite in that village.

It was evening when we reached there, we were welcomed by a warm coffee and some homemade snacks. Later after freshen up, the host took us for a estate walk. The estate is spread over 12 acres with coffee, Silver Oak and Black pepper. He explained us about the preparation of coffee powder and it was quite interesting. The weather was so good that I asked my mates to cancel tomorrow's plan of visiting Giris, just to spend some more time there itself. But couldn't convince them.

They called us for the dinner at 8 PM. The mouthwatering Malnad style food served is the main attraction here. There were many items, the main attraction was green pudina chicken. It was so good and when I asked them about the recipe, they told that it was invented by them and also they mentioned that all the ingredients which are used for cooking were homemade. I swear, it was the best dinner of my life.

The second day started with the magical sunrise view from the window, we could able to find the sun rising behind the hills through the glass window.The day was planned for the Giris. They had already hired the jeep for us. The jeep guy, Babanna was so friendly. We left homestay after having our breakfast. The plan was well prepared, in a span of 7 hours we covered six places.

First he took us to Mullayanagiri via Seetalayyanagiri. Mullayanagiri is the highest peak in Karnataka. It was fully covered by mist and we weren't able to see each other. The essence of spirituality was overloaded there. Wind was pushing us too hard, sometimes even we stopped to escape from the force. After spending some valuable time we went to Honnammana halla falls. Here water flows on the artificial steps. It looks like someone is pouring milk from the top.

Later we went to Manikya dhara falls, which is a spiritual place for Muslims. On the way to Bababudangiri he took us to a place named 'Shooting Point'. He told that view is awesome from there, but as it was fully covered by mist, we couldn't able to find any view. But here force of the wind was too high, even our Jeep's top roof came out. It was too cold and we continued towards Bababudangiri which is a pilgrimage center for both Hindus and Muslims. We had a visit to temple and headed back towards homestay.

It was evening and again I asked for a estate walk with the host. After having coffee and snacks he happily took us for a estate walk with a smile. I didn't know when it got dark, I really was a kind of addicted to the estate. They again served a special kind of chicken named cashew chicken which I had never eaten before. It was really delicious and I ate my stomach full. They served with a happy smile and I felt like home.

The next morning they took us to Deviramana temple for darshana. Later we came back to homestay for our departure. At the end of the trip, we were fully loaded with the memories. They treated us like their own family. Before we leave they gave me many advices regarding life. He also shared his story and he really inspired us. It's a must visit place of you are both a foodie and traveller.