Sunday, October 3, 2010

ShivanasamudrDSC04900a is a small town in the Mandya district of Karnataka, situated on the banks of the river Cauvery. It has the first Hydro-Electric Power station of Asia, setup in the year 1902. The Cauvery river winds it way through rocks and ravines of the Deccan Plateau and it drops off here to form the Shivanasamudra falls. This island town divides the river into twin Waterfalls. This is a segmented waterfall.  Segmented waterfalls occur where the water flow is broken into two or more channels before dropping over a cliff, resulting in multiple side by side waterfalls.

A common misconception about these waterfalls are that the left segment is called Gaganachukki and the right segment is called Bharachukki. In reality the Bharachukki falls are a few kilometres to the south-west of the Gaganachukki falls. The Gaganachukki waterfalls are best viewDSC04846ed from the Shivanasamudra watch tower.

There is another approach to the Gaganachukki falls from the Darga Hazrath Mardane Gaib. Despite warnings being posted, people climb down the rocks and attempt to view the waterfalls from behind/top, resulting in many fatal accidents.

As we explored the area, we went into the river. As the water was very less, it was easy to go in. Better be careful with the water as it will be very slippery and people may get hurt.

There is a series of rocks in the middle of the river where we can sit for some time. A nice place to take pictures withDSC04922 the waterfall in the background. Coracle rides can be taken in the river and all my friends went over for a ride while i waited at the river bank. I was not too much interested in the ride and was planning and waiting for the next pit stop.

All the others went for a ride which takes them very nearer to the falls. There were at the falls for about 20 minutes. The scenery there would have been great referring to the pictures they have taken. After their ride, we spent some more time in the shade, had some snacks and cucumber and climbed up. We had to again have some coconut water once we came up as it was too hot.

We then started off, stopped in between to take some pictures, had nice Andhra Lunch and set off to our next destination, Srirangapatana.

How to reach Shivanasamudra:

Shivanasamudra can be approached either via Bangalore – Mysore road or Kanakapura  road. If you are taking Mysore road, you need to turn left at Maddur and drive some distance. On Kanakapura road, keep driving for around 120 kms on the highway. Shivanasamudra is very close to the highway. Kanakapura road is usually devoid of much traffic and is preferred way for driving. The roads are not very good and it may require 3 hours to cover the distance, so plan to leave early. There are no hotels close by and no accommodation or restaurants available on location. Nearby places to visit include Talkad, which has nice sandy shores by the river and a few historical monuments.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really nice to share your experience & your posts making us to plan the trips with complete info.I already visited some of the places which you mentioned but I missed some of the worth-watching corners.Next time I will plan without missing anything with the help of your shared experience.

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