[rk_sans]

"It is a virtue to be born in Banavasi as a human being. If not as a human being, then one should be born at least as a bee or a cuckoo in the garden of Banavasi"
-By Pampa, Kannada Poet(Born 902 CE)

This was one of the local place which me and my friend wanted to visit from long time. We planned it once and had to cancel it at last minute. This time it was quick decision to visit this place.
The main driving point for us to visit was the history of the place and second was the stay. The place we stayed was at a tourist home run by the Village panchayat in support by Ministry of tourism and a NGO. We were curious to know how they have implemented this and run by them.

So couple of calls to the incharge person of the home stay, the accommodation was in place. They have a well detailed website about the history of the place, places around it and different options to go around the places.

To give a brief history about Banasavi,
Banavasi is on the banks of river Varada and has many stories to tell. It is recognized as the first capital of ancient karnataka when the kadamba dynasty ruled over the region from the fourth to the sixth centuries. A fifth century copper coin was discovered in Banavasi recently.

Banavasi also features in hindu mythology across the yugas(eras). It is considered to be as old as Kashi (varanasi) which is amongst the most holy of hindu towns.

Buddhism and Jainism have also spread their roots here. During the reign of Samrat Ashok, Banavasi was a learning centre for Buddhist monks.

Link to the Tourist home
http://www.banavasitoursim.com

I am also attaching the Guide book developed by the Tourist Home, which is very detailed and one can plan a trip easily with help of it.

Banavasi_Guest_Guidebook.pdf

Couple of pics

[shishir_bn]

Waiting to see how you have captured my Native. Hope you went to Yana also.

[rk_sans]

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

Waiting to see how you have captured my Native. Hope you went to Yana also.

We did go to Yana, check the second pic.

[TaureanBull]

The slides look beautiful. Lets see some good pics coming.

Please share details of accommodation, cost, mode of transport.

[ampere]

what was the route you took to the place.
Another place added to the "visit list"!

I can see the Yana Rock Formation!

[ravibhat]

Very beautiful, good that you visited bird sanctuary and sahasra linga and yaana.
Waiting to see detailed report.

Regards,

Ravi.

[shyamhegde]

Hey, they are some nice shots. Please post some more snaps, a bigger sized one this time !
Good to see places around my home town here

[rk_sans]

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

The slides look beautiful. Lets see some good pics coming.
Please share details of accommodation, cost, mode of transport.

Thanks and I am putting up all the details shortly.

Originally Posted by ampere

what was the route you took to the place.
Another place added to the "visit list"!
I can see the Yana Rock Formation!

I took Chitradurga - Haveri, suggested by @ravibhat.

Originally Posted by ravibhat

Very beautiful, good that you visited bird sanctuary and sahasra linga and yaana.
Waiting to see detailed report.

Regards,

Ravi.

thanks Ravi. And special thanks for the route, it was the best route to reach Banavasi.

[rk_sans]

Dates: 13th and 14th.(It was exact 48 hours of trip actually)
Ride : Accent CRDI
No of persons : 4 adults and 1 child.
Total Kms: 1020

Milestone of the trip :
Our Accent made the magical figure of 123456 kms.



13th Nov 1 am
Left bangalore thru haveri reached Banavasi around 7am. Thanks to @ravibhat for the route guide. It was a breeze drive till Haveri. And missed the turn to Banavasi on the Haveri Bypass. There is no marking towards Banavasi at this turn. It is a khacha road which goes down the bridge. We then went inside the town and joined the road to Banavasi. Road to Banavasi from here is not so good but manageable. Interestingly, we saw a fox on this route.

[rk_sans]

13th Nov 2010
Reached Banavasi, got freshenup and breakfast was served. They do not prepare there but get it from a house(popularly known locally as Khanavalis).
Our plan for the day was fixed on the breakfast table. First we visited Madhukeshwara Temple(Built in 9th Century). Then banavasi area is known for pineapple orchards, so they have a processing unit also. There we could see how pineapple was peeled and cut into pieces and packaged for consuming later, like the frozen foods. And then we went to pineapple orchards to see how they grow pineapple.

Then we went to place called "Gudnapur Lake", a lake beside the hills and know for views of sunset. And also there is "Rani Mahal", a old structure which is still being explored by ASI.

Banavasi is also know for designer cloth bag making, so visited and did some shopping. Then it is famous for an art and crafts persons called as "Gudigar". We got to see the pith coronet carvers, who use a very soft wood grown inside water to make flowers, garlands, etc. Amazing art work this was. All these arts has been flown through their generations.

Then we had lunch at Khanavalis. Simply amazing local delicacy lunch it was, no words to explain the taste and the varieties we had. After an heavy lunch, we took a break for 1 hour as we had travelled all night to banavasi.

Around 4pm, we left to Guduvi Bird Sanctuary. It was last days of the season and we could see only White Ibsis, Darter,Little Cormorant and lots of Egrets.

Oh, i forgot to tell the interesting part over here, while on the way to Guduvi, the roads are single lane and pretty neat roads. I was doing around 50-60kms, i see something black crawling on the road. I could not recongise initially what it was because of the speed, then after passing it, i could see in the mirror it was a Scorpion. Wow !! Applied sudden brakes and everybody were what happened. I told them to get down fast and all were pretty frightened the way i told them. Then i showed them the Scorpion on the road side.

Returning back from Guduvi, the sky opened up and it started pouring. We were pretty happy about it because we had finished our itinerary for that day with Guduvi.

Had some local snacks and then some chat with the incharge person about various things about Banavasi. We had our dinner and retired for the day.

[TaureanBull]

Nice pics.

Somehow of late this spider thing has been a hit in the forum. Yours is a nice one too.

What was your shooting gear?

[rk_sans]

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

Nice pics.

Somehow of late this spider thing has been a hit in the forum. Yours is a nice one too.

What was your shooting gear?

Thanks, All the pics are taken from Nikon Coolpix P90 and Panasonic DSCFZ7

[rk_sans]

More photos from Day 1

[ravibhat]

Good going, to be very honest only these birds we spotted every time we visited that sanctuary. It is good to know Banavasi has good tourist home.

Regards,

Ravi.

[asdon]

Great snaps Santosh... keep them comming, please give some details on the stay also, I am getting some interests