Short trip to Somnathpur / Talakad - Team-BHP

Traxter · 29th September 2007, 14:00

Went on a short trip to Somnathpur and Talakkad. Some notes as well as tips for others planning on similar route

We drove from Mysore. The road to Somnathapura is via T. Narsipur. From there it is on the road to Bannur, about 10km away from TN. Talakkad is a further 25 odd km away. You have to back track a bit towards TN and take a turn to Talakkad.
Mysore-Somnathpur-Talakkad-Mysore was about 150km total.
The roads are not marked in many places, especially at crucial junctions, even in Kannada. KA has a way of placing abundant markers where they are not required (such as multiple signs on a straight stretch of road) and no signs at all where you should take a turn.
Talakkad is marked ok but not Somanathpur, at least on the route through TN. You have to ask your way around. But locals are helpful as usual.
Both sites have beautiful temples that are well worth the trip. Somanathapur Kesava temple resembles the ones at Belur/Halibed and is considered a perfect example of Hoysala temple style. It is full of intricately carves stone sculptures.
Talakkad has temples excavated from under sand dunes and exacvations are still going on. They are of granite, unlike the Somanathapur ones which are made of soft stone.
The guide said a huge palace is going to be excavated and that will make it the No.1 tourist spot in India. Take that with a bit of salt. Right now it is deserted.
The road from Mysore to TN is bad and narrow, with lots of motorcycle traffic. But you can call it a road.
But the one to Somnathpur and especially the one to Talakkad is practically non-existent. It is off-road territory for over 15km. There are huge ruts formed by trucks on the tar that can swallow a M800. My trax with its huge ground clearance had no worries (except once when road touched the vehicle bottom) but beware if you use a low-slung car. Avoiding ruts is not that easy too since there are multiple ones. One really pities our villagers living under such conditions without protest..
There are lots of speed breakers along the way, most unmarked. Some are vicious even at low speeds. I am not talking about the unintentional speed breakers in the form of huge gaps in roads, potholes etc. They are a dime a dozen. Exercise utmost care!
Pack food because decent looking eating joints are non-existent.
There is another hill-top shrine near Talakkad called MudukuThore which we skipped for another visit.
Hire a guide for about Rs.100 at Talakkad and they can tell you nice stories about the history of the place.
The scenery enroute is beautiful after monsoon, all fields are green and with rivers and canals flowing everywhere and small ponds and tanks filled with water etc.
Shall post some pics once I figure out how. Happy to answer any questions.

Traxter · 30th September 2007, 20:23

Some images are below

madaboutCARS · 2nd October 2007, 07:49

nice pics,

i am in mysore only working for SPI. i will have a look at these places sometime , you have inspired me.

skandyhere · 5th October 2007, 15:54

Is there practically NO decent approach to talakad - 360 degrees around? non-existent roads are an integral part of any report on visits to talakad.

msdivy · 5th October 2007, 16:05

Nice tips. Another way to reach Somanathpur would be to take Bannur road in Mandya. This works out shorter than via Mysore, from Bangalore.

You can reach Talakad via Mysore, as done by Traxter or via Kanakapura-Malavalli. 2 years back condition of both these approaches were same. I guess it has gone worse.

29th September 2007, 14:00	#1 (permalink)
Traxter Newbie Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Interior Karnataka Posts: 25	Short trip to Somnathpur / Talakad Went on a short trip to Somnathpur and Talakkad. Some notes as well as tips for others planning on similar route We drove from Mysore. The road to Somnathapura is via T. Narsipur. From there it is on the road to Bannur, about 10km away from TN. Talakkad is a further 25 odd km away. You have to back track a bit towards TN and take a turn to Talakkad. Mysore-Somnathpur-Talakkad-Mysore was about 150km total. The roads are not marked in many places, especially at crucial junctions, even in Kannada. KA has a way of placing abundant markers where they are not required (such as multiple signs on a straight stretch of road) and no signs at all where you should take a turn. Talakkad is marked ok but not Somanathpur, at least on the route through TN. You have to ask your way around. But locals are helpful as usual. Both sites have beautiful temples that are well worth the trip. Somanathapur Kesava temple resembles the ones at Belur/Halibed and is considered a perfect example of Hoysala temple style. It is full of intricately carves stone sculptures. Talakkad has temples excavated from under sand dunes and exacvations are still going on. They are of granite, unlike the Somanathapur ones which are made of soft stone. The guide said a huge palace is going to be excavated and that will make it the No.1 tourist spot in India. Take that with a bit of salt. Right now it is deserted. The road from Mysore to TN is bad and narrow, with lots of motorcycle traffic. But you can call it a road. But the one to Somnathpur and especially the one to Talakkad is practically non-existent. It is off-road territory for over 15km. There are huge ruts formed by trucks on the tar that can swallow a M800. My trax with its huge ground clearance had no worries (except once when road touched the vehicle bottom) but beware if you use a low-slung car. Avoiding ruts is not that easy too since there are multiple ones. One really pities our villagers living under such conditions without protest.. There are lots of speed breakers along the way, most unmarked. Some are vicious even at low speeds. I am not talking about the unintentional speed breakers in the form of huge gaps in roads, potholes etc. They are a dime a dozen. Exercise utmost care! Pack food because decent looking eating joints are non-existent. There is another hill-top shrine near Talakkad called MudukuThore which we skipped for another visit. Hire a guide for about Rs.100 at Talakkad and they can tell you nice stories about the history of the place. The scenery enroute is beautiful after monsoon, all fields are green and with rivers and canals flowing everywhere and small ponds and tanks filled with water etc. Shall post some pics once I figure out how. Happy to answer any questions.

2nd October 2007, 07:49	#3 (permalink)
madaboutCARS BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: mysore Posts: 53	nice pics nice pics, i am in mysore only working for SPI. i will have a look at these places sometime , you have inspired me.

5th October 2007, 15:54	#4 (permalink)
skandyhere BHPian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 193	Is there practically NO decent approach to talakad - 360 degrees around? non-existent roads are an integral part of any report on visits to talakad. __________________ Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug...

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30th September 2007, 20:23	#2 (permalink)
Traxter Newbie Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Interior Karnataka Posts: 25	Some images are below

5th October 2007, 16:05	#5 (permalink)
msdivy BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 467	Nice tips. Another way to reach Somanathpur would be to take Bannur road in Mandya. This works out shorter than via Mysore, from Bangalore. You can reach Talakad via Mysore, as done by Traxter or via Kanakapura-Malavalli. 2 years back condition of both these approaches were same. I guess it has gone worse.