I plan to use this weblog (psst..this is my first blog ever) to document all interesting and nice places along River Cauvery. River Cauvery is one of the most important rivers of Karnataka. It is so important that thousands of farmers - all along its banks in two states - Karnataka and Tamil Nadu - are dependent on it. The River comes to life in a place called Tala Cauvery in Kodagu.
On December 29, 2008, we, myself along with my family and extended families (my grandmother, uncles, aunts, cousins) left for a place called Shivanasamudram (also called Bluff) and Talakkadu - near Mysore. My Dad told us that there's a very nice river beach and got us all excited to play in the river. What he did not tell us is that elders were more interested in seeing temples (a good 1.5 hour walk) - which isnt our cup of tea. I will come to it in a bit.
We left Bangalore at 7:30 - boarding a Tempo traveller. Our first stop was at our cousin's farm house for a quick breakfast (we ended up spending an hour, eventually). We enjoyed our grandma's plate idlis and the normal ones along with chutney and Avarekalu curry.
Our next stop was a place called Bluff - Shivana samudram (Sea of Lord Shiva). This place has two magnificient waterfalls - GaganaChukki and BharaChukki. River cauvery breaks into two streams creating an island - Shivanasamudram. The two falls are separated by about 10 KMs by road. We first stopped at Gagana Chukki.
Check out the panoramic view of the falls (two pictures stitched together using Canon Photostitch).
At Gagana chukki, please obey the rules posted all over. Do not cross the railings. They are there for your safety. A good one noticed near the falls "Do not be too brave. Down below is your watery grave". We did not venture beyond the railings.
There's no hotel serving food here. Pack your snacks or brunch and you can have a nice picnic here. There's a store that sells water and potato chips. There are a couple of tender coconut vendors too.
My uncle (Suresh) mentioned that there used to be a van trip to the Power generating station. But we could not find any such thing during our trip.
Gagana Chukki is home to the first Hydro electric power station in Asia. This station was commissioned in 1902 by the Britishers to supply power to the Kolar Gold Mines.
Our next stop was at Bharachukki. You can reach this place by following the directions on the sign boards. Though this fall is about 10 kms from Gaganachukki, it took us almost 30 min to reach. On the way we had to pass through a very narrow bridge - traffic can flow only in one direction at a time.
Unlike Gaganachukki, there are no railings here. We are allowed to climb down the steps to reach the bottom of the waterfall. The steps are made of stones and they vary in size. The stairs are pretty steep at some places but can be climbed with some effort. There are about 150 steps and requires lot of focus to climb down or climb up the stairs. Amongst our tour party, I was the first to climb up the stairs followed by Suhas - My cousin brother.
Our next stop was at Bharachukki. You can reach this place by following the directions on the sign boards. Though this fall is about 10 kms from Gaganachukki, it took us almost 30 min to reach. On the way we had to pass through a very narrow bridge - traffic can flow only in one direction at a time.
Unlike Gaganachukki, there are no railings here. We are allowed to climb down the steps to reach the bottom of the waterfall. The steps are made of stones and they vary in size. The stairs are pretty steep at some places but can be climbed with some effort. There are about 150 steps and requires lot of focus to climb down or climb up the stairs. Amongst our tour party, I was the first to climb up the stairs followed by Suhas - My cousin brother.At the bottom of the stairs, we were greeted by a beautiful sight of the falls. The rumbling sound of water flowing over the boulders was very pleasing to hear. My ears were so happy to hear something pleasing after all the honks and engines in Bangalore traffic.
Panoramic view of Bharachukki Falls - Image created using three pictures taken from a Canon PowerShot 2. Images stitched using Canon Photostitch software.
At the bottom of the stairs, we hired a coracle (country boat). We paid Rs 100 per boat, each carrying 3 adults. The coracle ride was fun. The boat goes all the way upto the bottom of the falls and touches the rock pointed by the small black arrow in the picture. On the way back to the shore, the boatman added to the excitement by swirling the coracle viciously. We almost felt dizzy by the sudden turning of the coracle. We got off the coracle and went to a nearby chatwala. We ate "Chur muri" (Bhel puri) and started to climb up the stairs. I felt that it was easier climbing up than climbing down.This is because most of the rocks point downwards and there's real danger of slipping. We had to be very careful or else we fell and hurt ourselves badly. If you are taking any children with you then be very careful and ensure that they are holding your hand.
Will post some more photographs soon. Please check back later.
We proceeded to our next stop : Talakkad.
