‘This entire planet is bungalow, staying in one
city your whole life would be like never leaving the corner room’ has said someone
very precisely. Excuse me for stays back in a room for life, I am the one who
loves travel at most to explore the unseen.
Misty and green all over!!
I consider best time to travel is during monsoon and post to
that, once Mother Nature blaze the best of its beauty with greenery, waterbodies
and added extras. The WG rainforest was beckoning me as it was raining heavily
over the region and four of us Shashi, Ajay, Sagar involving myself certainly decided
to visit the legendary temple towns Dharmastala and Kukke Subramanya. This trip
was deliberately planned to ride over the mountain ranges in Karnataka where is
an opportunity to drive through the beautiful landscape of meadows and rolling
hills. To make the ride more fascinating we opted Charmadi ghat route which is
famous for drive on winding mountain roads with water falls every few kilometers.
I recommend this route on monsoon to people who enjoy the journey than the
destination.
Quick
nourishment Somewhere near Hassan.
Towards Hassan !!
Candid.
We stopped en route Dharmastala at two places and we were
nothing short of being mesmerized. We were on the top of the clouds
and could see the whole Charmadi range in a panoramic view at one point. This
priceless sight took away all my journey discomfort and the only sounds I could
hear were – “Ow”, “Wow” and click as many as we can. Once you enter Kottigehara
village from Mudigere, you will experience a drastic change in the climate and
other than that curves became tighter, road narrower, and each curve sling shot
us into another curve, which turned the other way. The car held the road effortlessly.
Before reaching Kottigehara.
Famous Kottigehara Neer Dosa(Water Dosa).
Wet n misty Kottigehara.
@Kottigehara
With lord Manjunatha blessings the interference of rain showers and heavy rain
at a times all along the ride was a sweet interference. It was as if the clouds
were chasing us; every time we stop at a place to shoot a photograph it started
raining.
Wade to beauty through !!
We reached Dharmastala morning by 10 AM took holy
bath in Nethravathi River to visit the temple. Being the long weekend, queues near
temple complex was stretched almost 2 kms even it’s raining relentlessly. We
decided to come back to Darshan later in the evening after having chat with
temple staff. Meanwhile we thought of roam around nearby places to passing the
time. A quick check on nice and less explored places lead us to drive till foot
hills of Kudremukh range of hills. Wander during the monsoon really thrilling,
we could come across streams overflowing, rivers indicating danger mark and magnificent
clouds passing are few common sights. Add on to that landscapes with the greenery
in its backdrop gives picture perfect view to those who love to capture the
sight in lens. We took left diversion from Mundaje to explore the nature around
and en route the beautiful Kuduremukh range and Bandaje falls could be seen on
the way.
Ever green on side walls of Charmadi!
Road Side falls on Charmadi!!
River Nethravathi in spate.
Nethravathi river Bridge!!
Finally came back to Dharmastala and had
comfortable Darshan of lord Manjunatha by 8’o clock in the evening and finished
our dinner at Annapoorna Kitchen managed by Dharmastala trust. The kitchen was
recently featured on the Mega-kitchens of National geographic channel as one of
the most efficient and resourceful mass kitchens of India.It has been a
folklore and a tradition not to leave Dharmasthala without savoring the meal, doing so leaves your pilgrimage
incomplete; the helpers working in the Annapurna Kitchen, do their best to
preserve this sacred belief.The pilgrims are served with a
three-course meal, making it one of the best served meals in any temple. The
kitchen is self-sufficient in every form; from the raw materials to the bio-gas
fire and the organic plantain leaf plates used to serve the food. The
architecture of the disposal system is of a kind that helps foster the
implementation of sustainable energy forms.
Bandaje
falls could be seen!
Talking to local people !!
Night stay was at Ujire at a lodge, we got up early in the morning and headed towards
Kukke which lapped in the luxurious abundance of the beauty of the nature the
village of Subramanya lies in the Sullia Taluk in Dakshina Kannada with a sanctity
which very few places can boast of. The temple is situated in the heart of the
village. Nature reveals herself in all her unhidden beauty in the rivers,
forests and mountains which the temples is surrounded by. It is about a 60 KM
from Dharmastala the road to Kukke was broad and flat, inviting us to push
harder into the atmosphere. We have followed traditional ritual of visiting the
temple and had finish Darshan quickly unlike in the Dharmastala.
In
the morning the forest road looks enchanting.
Mist filled Kumara Parvata hill.
Soon we finished our BF and were
on the Shiradi ghat towards Bangalore, this stretch of highway has some scenic
view to offer during monsoon. Shiradi ghat is located in one of India's high
rain falling regions.Shiradi Ghat is a unique place as it
is a rich biodiversity spot with a variety of rare medicinal plants and rare
animal species in the world. But for a nature lover, this Ghat is just a
package of unlimited natural beauty. The real beauty of Shiradi can be seen
only during in rainy season.
Beauty !!
💗💖💕
Half
misty and greenery around in all possible places.
Really attractive.
Posing newly renovated Shiradi road with mist in the back ground.
Unnamed water falls near Marenahalli.
I can say and conclude that these places are able to preserve
their magnanimous beauty only because they are very difficult to access. If man
was easily able to come here, then this too would have turned into a shabby
place.
