Monsoon Getaway - Jog Falls and Thirthahalli

Monsoon time of the year and I was looking for a short holiday for just over a weekend. As I started looking for a holiday suiting my needs, I found this best holiday package Jog Falls and that too in this season. This was planned by F5Escapes, an all women tour group. And yes, they had called it right, the next 3 days they took us to nature lover’s paradise where we could unwind ourselves amidst nature. Let me take you all on this monsoon getaway.

Day 1: We started our journey from Bangalore around 6 am in the morning, after picking everyone from all areas of Bangalore, we halted for Breakfast at 10 Am. Post that we drove for next 5 hours to reach our destination “Inchara Homestay” in Thirthahalli taluk of Shimoga District, Karnataka. This homestay is nestled amidst areca nut and coffee plantations in the little village of Mandagadde. The simplicity and elegance of this sets it apart from several other homestays in Karnataka. We were treated with a wholesome lunch on arrival.

Post relaxing a bit, we set out to visit Mandagadde Bird Sanctuary. This is just 2 km from the homestay, we can even walk if it’s not raining.  First look of the sanctuary was flock of white color birds sitting on branches of trees in the middle of river.

  

It is smaller than the other bird sanctuaries found in Karnataka, but it still is well known for housing some of the most spectacular looking bird species. Like several other sanctuaries, the backdrop of this one is also dense forest on top of river Tunga. There is watchtower which people can climb to get a better view of the birds and click pictures. We spent some time there and then headed back to homestay. Spent the rest of the evening playing indoor games since it was raining, had yummy dinner and then slept soon since we had started our day little early in the morning.  

Day 2: After yummy breakfast of Neer Dosa, we started our trip to Jog Falls. En-route we stopped at Gajanur Dam. This dam is built across river Tunga and is one of the scenic spots for the tourists. 

 Security guard told us that 4 gates were opened and we could take a walk at the other side of the dam to enjoy this spectacular view. And yes it was indeed worth the walk.

We spent some time clicking pictures and then started our journey to Jog.

This was a long drive of around 3.5 hours one way trip but the drive is very beautiful in monsoon. We reached Jog around 12 noon. Jog is also called as Gerosoppa Falls or Jogada Gundi (In Kannada) located in Sagara, Shimoga district. It is one of the major tourist attractions of Karnataka especially in the rainy season. But viewers will get to view the spectacular look only if the authorities release the dam gates. Sharavathi river comes down in 4 distinct falls – Raja (is majestic among the four), Rani (falls down silently), Roarer (named because of the sound water makes while gushing downwards), Rocket (shoots downwards in a series of jets). This needs to be experienced and hence cannot be written much in words here. Please ensure you carry rain coats and umbrellas in this season since it is continuously drizzling.  We clicked some pictures from the viewpoint and then had lunch at KSTDC Mayura Hotel.

Post lunch we drove to the British Bungalow side to enjoy the view on the other side. It was worth the drive. This view also was truly amazing. 

Here we relaxed a bit and then started our journey back to our Homestay. Reached homestay at around 7 where our homestay master chefs had prepared hot pakoras with nice hot tea/coffee which was like icing on the cake. We then played cards till around dinner time. Post savoring delicious dinner, hit the bed and needless to say had a sound sleep amidst nature. All we could hear in the night was the slight rain drizzle, creepy noises of insects and complete silence. It was a complete relaxing break away from stressful crowded noisy city life.

Day 3: Post breakfast, we packed lemon rice for lunch prepared by our homestay master chefs and started our journey back to Bangalore. Today we had two stops in our return journey

Our first stop was Sakrebyle Elephant Camp. We saw the caretakers giving bath to some elephants and the elephants were relaxing in water enjoying the scrubs given. 

While inquiring we got to know that all the wild elephants residing in the forest visit the camp to bathe, have food and then return to their forests. Best part was some elephants were named based on place from where they were brought like one elephant was named Raghavendra since he was brought from Mantralaya, another one was named Shamanur Shivashankarappa since he was brought from Davangere. So it was an interesting introduction of elephants. While walking out of the camp, we saw some Mahouts getting the next set of elephants for bath. So it was a treat to watch so many elephants so closely.

Our Second stop was Amrutheshwara Temple at Tarikere. Located in Amruthapura, around 25 km from Shimoga, this 12^th century temple encapsulates the salient features of Hoysala style of temple architecture while also being an important spiritual site for thousands of devotees. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, this temple was built in 1196 by the commander under the rule of King Ballala II, Amrutheshwara Dandanayaka. The main deity of the temple is Lord Shiva and the Shivalinga at the temple is a 300- year old Trimurti brought from river Gandakki, Nepal. An idol of Sharadha Devi is present on its right. This temple is in the shape of a star and you can see 5 doors depicting the same. There are 55 pillars and 42 domes (also called gopura’s) each of them designed differently.

One of the important pieces of sculptures on the temple can be found on the southern wall, a detailed depiction of events from the Ramayana, the story’s linear timeline represented in an anti-clockwise direction, quite unusual. The north side has more panels depicting important Hindu mythology. One can find the events of the Mahabharata here depicted this time in a clockwise direction along with panels chronicling the life of Krishna. The temple also houses a huge stone inscription, which consists of Kannada poetry, reflecting the rich knowledge of the poets of this era. 

If one want to explore/study/enjoy the Hoysala architecture peacefully, this is a must visit place. This place is not commercialized and hence you will not find any shops/restaurants nearby. So if you are visiting with family and kids, please ensure you are carrying water, food and beverages. We had our simple lunch that we packed from homestay in our cab and then started our journey to Bangalore. Reached Bangalore by late evening around 6 pm with bagful of memories of this wonderful monsoon getaway. 

Thanks to F5Escapes group for giving me this experience of Monsoon magic.