[scorpion_blore]

I have been driving my Ritz VXI for close to three years. Never I have taken this beauty out on a long drive. I always longed to go on a long drive, but usually backed out at the last minute due to change in plans. However things changed after marriage. My wifey loves going outdoors and enjoys long drives.

It was 15th of Aug, the Independence Day. We finally decided to break out of the monotonous daily schedule and decided to go on a long drive. The options were limited since it was a Thursday, and hence it had to be a one day trip. Finally we narrowed it down to Shivanasamudra and Talakadu.

Yelahanka New Town to Shivanasamudra:
Starting place: Yelahanka New Town
Starting time: 08:30 AM
Route taken: Yelahanka New Town -> K R Market -> Nayandahalli Cross -> RV College -> Kengeri Satellite Town -> Bidadi -> Ramanagaram -> Channapatna -> Maddur -> K M Doddi -> Malavalli -> Shivanasamudra
Arrival time at Shivanasamudra: 02:00 PM
Distance: 162 KM

Shivanasamudra to Talakadu:
Starting place: Shivanasamudra
Starting time: 03:30 PM
Route taken: Shivanasamudra -> Mudukothore -> Talakadu
Arrival time at Talakadu: 04:10 PM
Distance: 27.5 KM

Talakadu to Yelahanka New Town:
Starting place: Talakadu
Starting time: 06:20 PM
Route taken: Shivanasamudra -> Mudukothore -> Vijayapura -> Malavalli -> Channapatna -> Ramanagaram -> Bidadi -> Kengeri Satellite Town -> RV College -> Nayandahalli Cross -> Tumkur Junction -> Hebbal -> Yelahanka New Town
Arrival time at Yelahanka New Town: 10:30 PM
Distance: 178 KM

Travelers: Me, Wifey

Car: Ritz VXI

Route options: To reach Sihavanasamudra/Talakdu, one can take either Mysore Road or the Kanakapura Road. If you select Mysore Road, you might end up travelling 10-15 KMs more. But this route is recommended since the road condition is pretty good, and there are a lot of dhabas and CCD outlets on the way. And there's Kamat Lokaruchi too, where they serve authentic North karnakataka cuisine.

We started at 08:30 AM but reached Shivanasamudra at 02:00 PM. The journey takes 3 to 3:30 hours. So we should have reached by 12 PM, but we had to make a halt at in-laws house first and had breakfast. Then we made a couple of stops at CCD and Kamat Lokaruchi. We packed our lunch at Kamat Lokaruchi, and from here it was a non-stop drive to Shivanasamudra.



Places to see in Shivanasamudra:
Gaganachukki Falls: While travelling from Bangalore, you'll first visit Ganagachukki Falls in Shivanasamudra. There is ample parking space available here. From the parking lot, one has to walk quite some distance to the falls, and this path is not hygienic. There are all sorts of street vendors selling fried meat and other stuff, and the whole place was stinking. But once we reached the falls, we forgot about all the bad experience. One has to climb down the rocks to get near the water. The water was in full force when we visitied.

Barachukki Falls: We did not visit Barachukki Falls since here we do not get the option to go near the water. There is a viewpoint, from where you have to enjoy the beauty of the falls.












Places to see in Talakadu:
One should not miss out the "Panchalinga Darshana" when in Talakadu. The Panchalings Temples include Vaidyanatheshwara, Pathaleshwara, Maruleshwara, Arkeshwara, and Mallikarjuna temple.

Vaidyanatheshwara Temple: When you enter talakadu, you'll see road signs that guide you to Vaidyanatheshwara Temple. There is a parking lot here and they charge 30 bucks as parking fee. The temple is vast and there were hardly any visitors when we were there. We had a quick darshan and left the place.

Pathaleshwara Temple: There is a pathway covered with sand which covers three temples. The pathway leads to Pathaleshwara temple from Vaidyanatheshwara temple. The localites say that the color of Shiva idol changes in the morning, afternoon and night. When we visited in the evening, it was black. The priest told that the temple gets covered with sand quite often, and the officials restore it regularly. Now they have built a compound around the temple which prevents such instances.

Maruleshwara Temple: The last stop in the pathway covering three temples is the Maruleshwara temple. Continuing in the same pathway further leads to the parking lot.

Mallikarjuna Temple: This temple is not in Talakadu. It is located on top of a small hill in a nearby village by name "Mudukothore". It is suggested to cover this temple on the return journey to Bangalore, since this is located on the return route. The drive to the top can be a bit tricky since the road can accommodate only one vehicle at a time. Fortunately for us, there were no vehicles when we were there. One has to climb around 200 steps to reach the temple. The scene from the top is totally mesmerizing. We saw Cauvery river and total greenery all around.
The Lat-Long co-ordinates for this temple are: +12° 13' 31.21", +77° 2' 36.68"

Arkeshwara Temple: This temple is located in a village by name "Vijayapura". To reach the Arkeshwara temple, one has to drive down the hill to the T-junction. From here it is required to drive down the same road further across the hill and continue on the same road till it reaches the highway, and from here the temple is clearly visible. It is a small road and it is in decent condition. It took us about 20-25 minutes to reach this temple from Mudukothore. Unfortunately when we reached this temple, it was about 06:15 PM and the temple was closed.
The Lat-Long co-ordinates for this temple are: +12° 12' 1.89", +77° 4' 12.12

Keerthi Narayana Temple: This is located close to Vaidyanatheshwara Temple. Restoration work was in progress when we visited Talakadu, and hence we could not enter this temple. This temple has a large idol of Lord Vishnu.

Cauvery River: To reach the river Cauvery, just follow the signboards in Talakadu. There is sufficient parking space available. We did not like the atmosphere here even a little bit. The whole place is commercialized. There are street vendors selling food, clothes, toys, hats, and many more stuff. The river water was totally brown. We felt that it would be unsafe to get into such polluted water, and hence did not spend much time there.
After telling about the horrible state of this place to my friend, he told me to visit the river through another entrance. I couldn't understand the directions, but maybe my friends here can throw some light on it.

Shiva temple in Talakadu:


View from Mallikarjuna temple in Mudukothore:


Steps leading to Mallikarjuna Temple:


View from Mallikarjuna Temple in Mudukothore:


Mallikarjuna Temple as seen during the drive up the hill:



Points to note:
1) Carry plenty of water and soft drinks. It's important to keep yourself hydrated during long drives. It's hard to get genuine packed water bottles in Shivanasamudra and Talakadu.
2) There are a lot of monkeys in Talakadu. Do not scare them away. One gentleman tried to scare a monkey away, and it started making some weird aggressive sounds at him. Be careful of what you carry with you in talakadu. The monkeys might snatch them away. Carry eatables in a handbag, and not in transparent polythene covers.
3) Do not leave your footwear in the car when going to Talakadu temples. The temples are located a long distance away from each other. There is provision to leave your footwear outside every temple.
4) Network coverage is very limited at villages like Vijayapura. 3G coverage is non-existent in these places and 2G speed is too low. So it is recommended to save the co-ordinates of such places in offline navigation apps like Sygic. I did the same, and it helped me in driving from Shivanasamudra to Talakadu, and from Vijayapura to Malavalli. After nearing Malavalli, 2G speed improved and I was able to use Google Maps for further navigation.

[Eddy]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing.

[laluks]

Thanks for the information on Talakadu.
Wonderful trip and nice details.