[SharathScorp]

Hi There,

I did Kukke Subrahmanya trip last weekend with family, which included my daughter 4 years old and son 8 Months in my Scorpio. I have done several visits to Dakshina Kannada temples and was with no doubts either on routes or stay. Just had a chatwith few of my friends who had made recent visits to check the Shiradi ghat road conditions. And since monsoon is delayed and hardly any real monsoon rains this year, road conditions were pretty good in ghat.

We started Bangalore (Padmanabhanagar) at Friday 3PM and were checked in the hotel at Kukke at 9PM. Average cruising speed was 80 to 110. There was just one stop of exactly one hour at Kamat Upachar after Channarayapatna. Even though I don't like this restaurant much, I had no option but to stop there as the kids and elders were badly in need for a break. I would always recommend Hotel Mayura in Bellur cross or Hotel Aashritha in Sakaleshpur for refreshments in this route.

Hotel Mayura is with exorbitant price chart, but I like their food menu and taste and also the ambience such as small children's play area. I would suggest anyone visiting here not to miss having a plate of mini idly dipped in sambar and special butter masale dosa. A hot filter coffee can be a fitting end to get finely refreshed. Keep in mind the price of One masala dose is Rs 60!

The restaurant in Aashrita sakaleshpur offers you hot Akki Rotti with saagu and chutney. I would never want to miss this when I pass Sakaleshpur anytime.

Now coming to Kukke, We stayed in Krishna Residency. This is owned by same person who owns Neo Mysore Cafe restaurant which is near temple. This was my second visit to this hotel and I would say this is also a good place to stay in Kukke. I had booked that in advance by calling them and they would re-confirm calling you twice and promptly reserve the room for you. Charges are around 450/- for a deluxe room. 950 for a family room(4 beds). 1100/- for AC double room.

Saturday morning, we visited temple for darshana and everything was done by 1030am. Dropped into Neo Mysore Cafe for breakfast and checked out the hotel at 12 noon.

Restaurants in Kukke: I would recommend Kumara Krupa than NEO mysore cafe, as it is comparably better in taste. Both these guys have now made it self service claiming labour challenge and it is not so good news if someone wants to sit and enjoy the food. However, they do serve in very few tables after the breakfast hours in morning.

It was exactly an hour's drive to Sakleshpur and we stopped in Aashritha for lunch. Had stomachful of Akki Rottis and juice and all refreshments were done for kids and everyone. After a break of 1 hour, headed on to highway and next stop was at Mayura for a coffee break. This also finally turned out to be a break of one hour where my daughter enjoyed playing in the swings and all kids playing gears in park.

Next stop was at home and the clock was showing 7PM.

I would never recommend Nayandahalli junction and Goraguntepalya junction unless it is earlier than 6AM and late hours after 11PM, So we took NICE road. Keep in mind, now they have started charging toll in Hassan road after Nelamangala and twice you need to pay for your car. 33 Rs each.

Total toll Summary:

1. Nice Road: 105/-
2. Nelamangala expressway: 20/- (they have increased)
3. Hassan road near Nelamangala: 33/- (Newly started)
4. Hassan road near Bellur Cross: 33/- (Newly started)

Total: 191/-. I would still rate NICE road a zero for bad maintenance they are doing with all bumpy patches and finishes.

I hope my write up helps many of you who are planning for a Kukke trip. I did not opt for Dharmastala this time as it would be more tiring for kids and would prefer to visit it exclusively during some other time. Would keep you updated !

[Praveen1]

Thanks a lot SharathScorp for the information.

Actually the trip doesnt end there, we are planning to visit Munnar from there. Does any one have the route details from Kukke to Munnar.

Please help me....

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Praveen1

Actually the trip doesnt end there, we are planning to visit Munnar from there. Does any one have the route details from Kukke to Munnar.

Best route is to come back to Mysore. Then go via Chamarajanagar-Sathyamangalam-Annur-Avinashi-Palladam-Udumalpet-Munnar.

The route to Mysore is the same as was mentioned before.
Jalasoor/Sulya/Madikeri/Hunsur/Mysore.

[Praveen1]

Originally Posted by ampere

Best route is to come back to Mysore. Then go via Chamarajanagar-Sathyamangalam-Annur-Avinashi-Palladam-Udumalpet-Munnar.

The route to Mysore is the same as was mentioned before.
Jalasoor/Sulya/Madikeri/Hunsur/Mysore.

Ampere. The route which you are suggesting is good. But is there any other route which we can take.

Google suggests me Kukke-madikeri-vadakara-Kozhikode-Thirissur-Munnar

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Praveen1

Ampere. The route which you are suggesting is good. But is there any other route which we can take.

Google suggests me Kukke-madikeri-vadakara-Kozhikode-Thirissur-Munnar

@Praveen,

Distances are almost same. But by going through Mysore way:

- You avoid traffic prone Kerala sector
- You get very good and less traffic prone roads till the base at Udumalpet
- You get to see the best scenery on Udumalpet-Munnar road

[kannan666]

Am planning to make a trip to Kukke this Friday and will be travelling in an Omni. One of my friends had been there recently but he took the Madikeri - Sulya route and he said that the road from the turn off after Sulya was quite pathetic. Do I stick to the Hassan - Sakleshpur - Gundiya route ? This route is shorter also, around 285kms compared to the Madikeri - Sulya one which is around 360kms

[_chikku]

Originally Posted by kannan666

Am planning to make a trip to Kukke this Friday and will be travelling in an Omni. One of my friends had been there recently but he took the Madikeri - Sulya route and he said that the road from the turn off after Sulya was quite pathetic. Do I stick to the Hassan - Sakleshpur - Gundiya route ? This route is shorter also, around 285kms compared to the Madikeri - Sulya one which is around 360kms

You better stick to hassan gundya route. It is shorter and has lesser turns compared to the madikeri route.

[Praveen1]

Originally Posted by ampere

@Praveen,

Distances are almost same. But by going through Mysore way:

- You avoid traffic prone Kerala sector
- You get very good and less traffic prone roads till the base at Udumalpet
- You get to see the best scenery on Udumalpet-Munnar road

Thanks Ampere. I think i will take the route suggested by you to munnar.

[shreeps]

Originally Posted by skandyhere

I second prasad14's route description. Just a minor variation; instead of driving all the way to Jalsoor from Sulya, you can take the road on your right 3 km from Sulya (at Paichar) and that smoothly merges with the Jalsoor-Kukke road. Taking this road rather than driving all the way to Jalsoor might save about 13 kms.

I was just checking the route on mapmyindia site and it shows a turnoff to Kukke at Aranthodu (on Madikeri-Sulya road). This apparently joins the Jalsoor-Kukke road. Do you know if this is a viable option or is the road non existent / non navigable in reality? Snapshot attached

[SharathScorp]

Originally Posted by kannan666

Am planning to make a trip to Kukke this Friday and will be travelling in an Omni. One of my friends had been there recently but he took the Madikeri - Sulya route and he said that the road from the turn off after Sulya was quite pathetic. Do I stick to the Hassan - Sakleshpur - Gundiya route ? This route is shorter also, around 285kms compared to the Madikeri - Sulya one which is around 360kms

I would suggest you to stick to Hassan route. Check this thread few posts above, I have written my recent experience on same route.

[skandyhere]

Originally Posted by shreeps

I was just checking the route on mapmyindia site and it shows a turnoff to Kukke at Aranthodu (on Madikeri-Sulya road). This apparently joins the Jalsoor-Kukke road. Do you know if this is a viable option or is the road non existent / non navigable in reality?
[/ATTACH]

I haven't taken that road ever. What I do know is that it's a narrow carriageway without traffic.

About the condition of the road, I can only guess, and would be very surprised if it were to be a pleasant drive. If you take that road, you could answer that question for us

[_chikku]

Originally Posted by shreeps

I was just checking the route on mapmyindia site and it shows a turnoff to Kukke at Aranthodu (on Madikeri-Sulya road). This apparently joins the Jalsoor-Kukke road. Do you know if this is a viable option or is the road non existent / non navigable in reality? Snapshot attached

Its a single lane road, used to be decent till 5 years ago. It may have moderate traffic. Lately people travelling from coorg to coastal side use this road to bypass the bad puttur sullia section.

[kannan666]

Originally Posted by SharathScorp

I would suggest you to stick to Hassan route. Check this thread few posts above, I have written my recent experience on same route.

Nice review Sharath, I did read it in full and that is exactly why I have a doubt as to why my friend chose to go via Madikeri even though he did not visit any of the places enroute. I will of course be going in a much smaller vehicle compared to yours and that is why I am just double checking ! Have more or less finalised on the Hassan - Gundiya route now as suggested here by fellow team bhpians, will post an update once I get back as I will also be visiting Dharmasthala from Kukke on Saturday afternoon. Another small query, will I need to go back from Kukke to Gundya and proceed to Dharmasthala from there or is there any other route ?

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by kannan666

Another small query, will I need to go back from Kukke to Gundya and proceed to Dharmasthala from there or is there any other route ?

Yes, you will need to to pass Gundya to reach Dharmasthala. There are other routes, but this is the shortest and the best route.

[SharathScorp]

Originally Posted by kannan666

I will of course be going in a much smaller vehicle compared to yours and that is why I am just double checking ! Have more or less finalised on the Hassan - Gundiya route now as suggested here by fellow team bhpians, will post an update once I get back as I will also be visiting Dharmasthala from Kukke on Saturday afternoon. Another small query, will I need to go back from Kukke to Gundya and proceed to Dharmasthala from there or is there any other route ?

The road is good enough for Omni too, Kannan. Have less worries. But keep in mind the ghat road was already getting bad with rains picking up. Still if you are going this weekend, it shouldn't be worse. I would recommend you not to postpone.

And Kukke to Dharmastala, Better is via Gundya since the 25 kms Kukke to Gundya stretch is very neat. There is another one via Uppinangadi, which I dont recommend for bad road condition.