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-   -   Wanderlust Traveler: Ranganathittu, Srirangapatna & Kokkare Bellur (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/146797-wanderlust-traveler-ranganathittu-srirangapatna-kokkare-bellur.html)

25-Dec-2013

A holiday in middle of the week gets our plan running. 5 of us decide to visit Ranganathittu bird sanctuary.

We start off from friends house in JP Nagar, Bangalore at 05.30 AM. Our ride is friends i20. We take ORR and reach Mysore road in no time. Traffic is thin on Mysore road, however the numerous speed breakers slow us down.

Around 07.00 AM we reach our routine stop at BP COCO near Channapatana. After a break of around 40 mins for breakfast at Kamat located inside the COCO complex, we start again.

For reaching Ranganathittu one needs to take right from Bangalore - Mysore (SH 17) highway past Srirangapatana. This road is one option to bye-pass Mysore city while traveling towards Coorg/ Hunsur, the second option is to take Mysore ring road driving further down SH-17 towards Mysore.

Ranganathittu

As soon as you take the right from SH 17 you need to cross a railway level crossing, drive further from there for around 1.5 KMS and you will notice the entry to Ranganathittu on your right. We reach the bird sanctuary around 08.30 AM.

Entry arch towards Ranganathittu-



Road condition is good, unlike during my previous trip on this road some 1.5 years back.

Our ride near entry


Ticket charge is Rs 50 per head, we felt it was bit steep considering there is no specific use with that. If you want to see the birds you will have to take a boat, paying again at boating counter.

There is sufficient parking area



We walk towards boating ticket counter from parking lot. Boating starts at 08.00 AM, thankfully there is no crowd. You can either get individual tickets and wait for any boat to get filled up or if in a bigger group, can hire an entire boat for yourself.

As per the counter employees the boats can accommodate 10 people, however we felt anything above 7 may be bit of tight fit.

We decide to hire a boat for our-self, boats take you around a pre-defined route which takes around 40 mins.



The whole place is calm when we start



Then we come across tree crowded by birds



Some white



While some black



A peahen in flight





Pelican in flight



The boat seen in background are the ones taken for rent.



Lot of crocodiles are visible basking in the sun, boat employees claim there are around 100 crocodiles in the sanctuary; we saw about 15 of them.







By 10 AM our boating is completed and we are back. We head on to SH 17 and take right at Srirangapatna junction, which is around 5KM's from bird sanctuary.

Srirangapatna

Our first stop was Tippu's summer palace (Daria Daulat Bagh) , the place was bit crowded. However finding parking was not an issue. There is an entry ticket of Rs. 5 per head. The palace is maintained by ASI.

Parking area-



Palace view -





Details about the place -





Photography is not allowed inside the palace. The palace houses paintings and artifacts from Tippu Sultan's time. It takes around an hour for viewing the palace.

Gosai Ghatt

We head to our next destination, place called as Gosai Ghatt. There is nothing much to see here apart from the fact that the river side is much more cleaner than Sangama.



There is sufficient parking near Gosai Ghatt and also few shops which sell snacks.

We are back in car within 20 mins and head over to our next destination.

Gumbaz

Few KM's ahead of the road is Gubmaz. This is the tomb of Tippu and Tippu's parents. Also few of his relatives are buried alongside. There is also a mosque alongside the tomb. Entry to Gubmaz is free, parking is charged Rs. 20 which is valid for the next destination Sangama further down the road.











By now it is afternoon and crowd has grown considerably.

Sangama

We head further on the same road towards Sangama. The place is crowded by the time we reach there. There is a small parking area which is already filled, however we find space on road leading to Sangama.

Road leading to Parking



Sangama



I remember Sangama as a clean and calm place from my previous trips, however this time it was exactly the opposite. Sadly the water has become a dumping place for all waste items.

It is past lunch time, so we decide to head back towards Bangalore. For lunch we decide to stop at our old joint Amaravati which is past Mandya on way to Bangalore. I guess with numerous hotels opening up on Bangalore - Mysore road this place has lost quiet a few customers. Unlike previous days the place is no more crowded.

Once lunch done, we start our return trip towards Bangalore. We were discussing about another bird sanctuary in morning while heading towards Ranganathittu in morning. This place is called as Kokkare Bellur near to Maddur. Since it is only afternoon we decide to check the place too.

Kokkare Bellur

While coming from Mandya side towards Bangalore once you cross Maddur you reach place called as Shivapuri. Couple of KM's ahead you cross a bridge and Adigas and Empire hotels on your left. Couple of KM's from there you reach a T- Junction from where you need to take right. Keep a eye out for Karnataka Tourism yellow sign boards if you are not sure about direction.

Kokkare Bellur is a small village around 12 KM's from SH 17 on this road, unlike Ranganathittu and other bird sanctuaries there are no separate area marked as sanctury for Kokkare Bellur. Instead inside the village migratory birds come for nesting in same trees each year.

Road from SH 17 to Kokkare Bellur is in good shape, however it was harvest time and that means our rides underbody got scrubbing for the entire 12 KM's.

This was the view for entire distance








We reach Kokkare Bellur after an agonizingly slow drive over hay. Tree's where birds nest are on the left fork from village junction. Do note that there are few sign boards mentioning parking, these are nothing but open ground where few kids try collecting money in name of parking charges.

It is better to park the vehicle on road side each time you spot the birds and get a closer view.

A small pond can be seen in satellite view here . Birds can be seen on tree next to pond.









We felt if someone has been to Ranganathittu it does not make much sense in visiting Kokkare Bellur. What we enjoyed is the relaxed pace of life at the village.

We start back and wade though the 12 KM long under-body scrub towards SH 17. Once on Bangalore - Mysore road we stop at toy shops en-route for checking out the famed Channapatna toys.



Apart from toys most of the shops sell wooden showpieces and wooden jewelery. Shopping done we stop at Coffee day before Channapatna for a 30 min break.
Traffic was heavy from Channapatna till NICE road entry. We reached JP Nagar around 08.00 PM, a holiday well spend.

With your kind permission , can I add a few pictures that I clicked when I had been to Ranganthitoo ? Would it be ok with you ?

Awaiting your pics. Please go ahead.

I had been to Ranganthittu sometime back with some of my friends. Here are some pictures from my side.

The ride , one year old Innova GX . It had clocked 45,000 Kms and was in top notch condition. Fresh from the dealer service. We left quite early as it was on a sunday. Filled up diesel at the petrol pump on Mysore road after the nice road exit . The car was all filled up , next we had to fill our big tummies with proper fuel . This was properly done at Kamat next to Janapada Loka.






No monkey business !!


3 is a company



Flying home


Creeping Croc

No mood to come out


This pose ok for you ??


Just sun bathing !






Cleaning Wings ??


















That's all folks !!

Wonderful pics girimajiananth. Thanks for sharing.
From the pic of your ride near Kamat it looks you would have reached Ranganathittu bit late, was it difficult in getting boat ? Asking since by time we returned from boating (~10.00 AM) it was starting to get crowded.

Also could you please let know in which month you did the trip.

No the first pic is from another trip . I had been there once with my parents and I clicked the pic at the Ranganthittu. Yes it was around 10 AM.

When I had been there with my friends ,we were the first ones to reach there. It was around 8 AM. The staff waited and since no one showed up , only 3 of us had the big boat. When we came back after the trip , there were lot of noisy tourists and children from nearby school.

I think I had been there in early December .

Nice photos, thanks for sharing :thumbs up !
How much did you pay to hire a separate boat? Is there any scope of bargaining?

Thanks Ankan.
As per rate chart seperate hire charges are Rs.1000, however for us they agreed for Rs 500 since there was only 5 of us.

Though I don't think it is the correct way since there was no receipts issued. However I guess we were able to get it done since there were no other tourists but quiet few free boats.

This thread slipped my attention - you have put up so many, one or two are bound to get missed :). Good log as usual

How is the season this time at kokkare bellur? Anyone visited recently? Jan and Feb are good
Months to visit.

Sorry, just noticing the post now. Jan~Feb is considered good time to visit.

Did you visit Kokkere Bellur?

No I couldn't. Will do next year.