In the laps of western ghats

             BALEBARE GHAT           -CHANDIKESHWARI TEMPLE            -BALEBARE GHAT    Befoe visiting this place, I had heard from many people that , this is a holy place and people visit here from far away places to perform pujas. I was amazed when one of my cousin also gave me  review about this temple (actually he won't believe in superstitions and worships). Normally I travel through the Balebari/Hulikal Ghat(where this temple is situated) to my home (Sagara) from Udupi. I was stunned to see that all the vehicles which passes through this Ghat were stopping there for a while. Even our bus stopped there, and conductor collected kanike (money given by devotees to temple)from us and returned back with kunkuma (a red powder for religious markings in India). Later I got to know from the local people that this is the strongest god which saves the traveller ,who travel by t...

                           NAGARA Nagara is a small town in Hosnagara taluk of Shivamogga district. The fort is built on a small hill. The fragrance of the history is spread allover the fort. It was called by the name Bidnur during the 16th century. Situated at a roadside of state highway, this charming fort attracts many number of tourists.     I had a visit on my way back to home. There weren't many people. Hardly I was able to find only a few couple of visitors there. The fort is built on a small hill beside a small lake. It was around 4 in the evening. I started to climb top as soon as I reached there. The top view was refreshing and this adorable fort filled me with the sence of serenity. The construction of the fort on a small hilltop was mesmerizing. I was able to find many similarities between Nagara fort and Kavaledurga fort, later I discovered that both the forts had been ruled by Shivappa n...

                 MADIKERI DAY 2  Our second day plan was to visit Mallalli falls. We had kept almost the whole day to spend in the Mallalli falls. Before visiting I thought it was a bad idea to be there in a single place for a whole day. Anyhow we started to there by morning 9 after having our breakfast.  The 50 KM's journey to Mallalli falls from Kushalnagar via Somavarpet was cherishing. The western ghats of Coorg was welcoming us. Finally we were there at 11:30. We were astonished to see the view from the top. The milky falls was flowing down by craving the rocks. We parked our vehicle and started towards down.  Mallalli falls is formed by the river Kumaradara which flows in the Pushpagiri mountains. The 200 meters falls plunges down in two slopes. The waterfalls is hidden inside the lush green forests of Puahpagiri mountains. It's a must place to visit if you are a travel freak. You have steps made till down...

                                                                             TUMBE It was a cool evening when we started our ride towards Tumbe, a village situated at distance of 20 KM's from Sagara town. There is nothing much to see there except there backwater of Linganamakki dam. I would like to say that it's not worth of visiting this place from far away places. We left sagara at sharp 3 in the afternoon. I had heard that many sagara people especially students do visits here occasionally. Four of us were riding on 2 bikes. I thought this wouldn't be a much impressive place to visit as I was feeling quite normal while riding bike for about first 5 KM's. But suddenly I was amazed to see the road being covered by green thick forests. I was excited and increased my speed. But I was force...

              MADIKERI DAY 1 Our madikeri plan was well planned before a month. Our motive was to have fun than to visit places. It had been 2 years since we hadn't met. We were set ready to take off by Saturday evening in shimoga. We left from shimoga by that night. We had  a mini bus booked for our 2 days trip. NEXT DAY: We reached Kushalnagara by morning 6. We got freshened up in our prebooked lodge in that city and left towards Dubare elephant camp. Dubare  is  famous for elephant camp and  river rafting. It is situated in the middle of the dense forests. Our Karnataka is famous for Mysore Dussera and elephants for Mysore Dussera are trained here. The wildlife elephant camp is situated in the banks of the holy river Kaveri.  We were surprised to see the number of visitors there. There was a long line of around 50 visitors for river rafting. By seeing the length of line we canceled our plan of river rafting ...

                                   JOG FALLS I had visited jog falls many times but my recent visit with my best friends was much memorable. There is a song in Kannada "ಮಾನವನಾಗಿ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ ಮೇಲೆ ಏನ್ ಏನ್ ಕಂಡಿ! ಸಾಯೋದ್ರೊಳಗೆ ನೋಡು ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಜೋಗದ್ ಗುಂಡಿ" which means ' What have you seen in your life when you havent seen the Jog falls yet '.  Yeah! I can say Your life is incomplete unless you visit jog falls before you die. It is situated in the heart of the malenadu district shivamogga. The falls is created by the holy river Sharavathi which takes birth in Ambutheertha near konanduru. The falls kisses the bottom from a height of 253 meters (830 feet). The quantity of flow of water changes from season to season. It is the second highest waterfall in India and is ranked 13th among the world. The flow of water will be more in the monsoon season however the construction of the Linganamakki dam has restric...

                                KAVALEDURGA     Our visit to Kavaledurga was unplanned. We actually started to the place when one of our friends suggested the place. I had heard people talking about the big fort in Kavaledurga and people also talk how suitable place is for trekking. We all were tired but still agreed to visit there looking forward for a great enjoyment there.   We reached there by 3 P.M. We parked our vehicles and moved towards a shop nearby to get something to drink and eat. The shopkeeper told us about how to get on to the top and he also suggested us not to return without visiting the top of the hill. He also told us about the three gates which we were supposed to cross to reach the summit. Now the journey begins...     Before sharing my experience I would like to tell you about the history about the gigantic fort in Kavaledurga. The fort is loc...