Musafir

Shivanasamudra 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 viewed 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 with 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.

Any Trip to Mysore from Bangalore would be incomplete without this place. This trip would be memorable to my friend as he was newly wed  and was taking his wife out for the first time. And these kind of trips are total fun with friends. We all are classmates in Post Graduation and working in Bangalore. And we all attended Gopi’s wedding as i mentioned in my previous Post on Paapi Kondalu.

And here we are… planning his first trip after marriage. This trip was also an opportunity to get his wife acquainted to all of us.

All four of us went to his house early in the morning at 5. As always, our regular driver Maula was there with his vehicle. We all started at around 6 after nice hot “home made” tea. 

It was total relaxation once we left Bangalore. Cool breeze and nice view outside created a nice mood for the journey. We stopped mid-way to  have "”home made” breakfast again, thanks to our friend’s wife. We passed a very old bridge on the way and looking at the construction, it should have been constructed in 16th century.

There is one thing that makes me smile even today. There are two small villages enroute named “New York” and “California”. We do now why they were named so, but the postal addresses would of these villages would be funny.

We stopped twice midway to stretch our legs. The journey was not much eventful and we reached Shivanasamudra at around 11 AM. There is a series of long steps to the bottom and it was really hot. We slowly went down towards the water falls.

There was not much water then as summer had just began. The landscape of the entire area was rocky and dry. There is a small pond that forms from the water that comes down.  There is ample shade near the pool and there will be vendors with soft drinks, cucumber and snacks. We relaxed for a little while and set to explore the place. We just hear the sound of water flowing down and nothing else, which is the best part of moving away from the city and this pleasant atmosphere is a must need for all our busy lives.

To be continued…