[arjithin]

Originally Posted by ampere

Beautiful! This one picture says it all.

Cant agree more. Where exactly is this road? Any gps coordinates?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Cant agree more. Where exactly is this road? Any gps coordinates?

This I think is the Yellapur-Sirsi-Sagar road. The one which cuts the NH63 to NH206.

[swsumit]

Originally Posted by ampere

This I think is the Yellapur-Sirsi-Sagar road. The one which cuts the NH63 to NH206.

Hii
this is SH 1 towards Kalaghatgi from Dharwad

regards

[ampere]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Cant agree more. Where exactly is this road? Any gps coordinates?

Arijit, Please note. Its not the Sirsi road.

Originally Posted by swsumit

Hii
this is SH 1 towards Kalaghatgi from Dharwad

Wow! This SH was in shambles. Looks like fully relaid.

[meetbadri]

Awesome photos Sumit. This has been my home district and has been almost 3 years since I visited Murudeshwara. I should plan for a trip very soon. Please do let me know the road conditions after Honnavar Bridge towards Murudeshwar.

[sunny310c]

Amazing pictures Sumit. Am definitely going to plan a trip to this part of the country. Just awesome sights and I have to commend you on your skills with the camera. Great stuff and thanks for sharing.

[mnvvishwa]

Hi Sumit,
Nice travelogue and lovely pics.
It is amazing to see our place through the eyes of a tourist.
My native is near Gerusoppa other side of the Sharavathi river.



You might have missed a view point in between Job and Gerusoppa. It is called as sharavathi view point (Sharavathi Kolla nota).

[swsumit]

Hello everybody,

Thank you all for the appreciation, i truly feel that this country has immense potential and history and it is up to us to project and harness it in a correct manner.

Regards
Sumit

[abhinav.s]

Superb log and pics swsumit! Specially the foggy, rain soaked roads with greenery all around is inviting and makes one want to take a road trip impromptu.

[swsumit]

# DAY IV : MURUDESWARA- KOLLUR (distance: 90 km)

23. I was up quite early the next day as i wished to see the morning aarthi at the temple and also click few shoots of the statue of Lord Shiva. It was a pleasant experience to walk in the temple premises early in the morning without all the day trippers present. I spent close to an hour and half and also took the lift to the 18TH floor of the Raja Gopura to see the statue in the backdrop of the Arabian Sea.

24. Soon we were ready for the next phase of the trip which was towards Kollur but before that i was also keen on visiting the local places of interest and the unique temples that abound Karnataka. We were soon crossing Bhatkal and thereafter Baindur which is around 30 Km on NH 17. NH 17 after Bhatkal towards Shirur is totally potholed and progress is exceedingly slow. After Baindur the road condition improves dramatically and we were speeding away to a place called Marvanthe Beach which was eye catching owing to the amazing waves of the Arabain Sea which came right up to the highway on one side and on the other side of NH 17 we had the Sourpanika river which comes really close to the sea but then turns away once again making the place unique with the river on one side and the sea on the other.

25. There is also a temple dedicated to Lord Varha, one of the ten Dasavataras of Lord Vishnu. This is one of the rare temples dedicated to this avatar and we were very interested in visiting the temple. The other forms i.e tortoise, fish and crocodile are engraved in stone within the temple and we have three avatars of Lord Vishnu as the main deities. At the back of the temple the Sourpanika river joins with the Kolluru river and forms the island of Kuru which abounded with palm trees all around. The local fishermen also offer boat rides into the island and around it for a fee for those interested.

26. Soon we was retracing my path back as we did not wish to move onward towards Mangalore which lay ahead as our destination actually was in the opposite direction, Kollur. We took the diversion from NH17 on to the Kollur-Kalthod road which was sparse and through the amazing Karnataka countryside. After 13 km we joined the Kollur-Baindur road and then soon after 10 km joined the Kollur-Kundapur road towards the temple town of Kollur . Kollur was reached by 1330 hrs and our stay was at Beena Residency.

27. Kollur was significant to me for two reasons, one was to visit Maa Mookambika temple and the other was to visit Kodachadri. Now Kodachadri was something that I had read on the net but did not know anyone who had visited it that frequently. I had worked out with the hotel to provide me a Jeep on hire to take me to Kodachadri.

28. Kodachadri is 45 km away from Kollur and it is famous for the three reasons but I would like to make it four: First is the cave where Shri Adi Shankaracharya meditated known as Sarvajnapeetha , the two temples of Maa Mooambika along with the iron pillar which legend says was the Trishul which the Devi Maa used to slay the demon Mookasura whose iron has still not rusted even in the moist humid climate out at the peak and the scenic beauty of Kodachadri Peak itself as it towers in front of the surrounding landscape. The additional aspect which I would like to add out here is the final 10 Kms road trip till the peak.

29. I realized why only locals can drive the path for firstly there is no path and when I mean there is no path it is in the literal as well as physical sense, the vehicle was all the time in those magical 10 kms at an impossible steep angle to the ground. Honestly if I were to give an opinion of a vehicle which can undertake a journey on that jungle path, the image that would come into my mind would be mammoth wheeled off road vehicles but what were used was the Mahindra Jeep , my admiration for the drivers and the vehicle has increased many a fold. On my part I don’t think I could ever be able to confidently do what they do and to top it, it was done in the peak monsoon rains with cloud cover all around.

30. The drive is undertaken through Mookambika wild life sanctuary through the villages of Nittur and Kattinahole. Kattinahole is the also the last place where one can hire Jeeps. We reached the peak summit at around 1530 hours with heavy cloud cover all around. We were given two hours by the driver to trek till the Sarvajnapaatha temple which is around 3 km away but somehow we could only maybe complete a km or so and we were running late , so decision was made to turn back as the visibility was extremely low and with darkness approaching and no other individual out there it was not a viable option to continue ahead but I think I will definitely go back to Kodachadri once again 

31. We reached Kollur back by 1930 hrs and soon we were at Maa Mookambika temple for the evening Mangalaarthi.I have not been in temples a lot actually and if I look back then maybe this has been the first time that I chose to visit them in close proximity (I use this phrase for lack of a better way to put it down or then maybe I could say that deep down it was ordained that I would visit them). Kollur was I don’t remember in my initial plan or not, but then it became a focal point in the later stages of planning. The more I read about the temple, the greater was the need to visit.

32. Mookambika temple, Kollur is one of the legendary temples of South India. The temple is a Devi temple and is unique as Sri Mookambika , is the embodiment of Maa Parvathi , Kaali and Mahalakshmi into one Adiprakashakti - Mookambika . This is nowhere else in the country and the temple is one of the holiest Siddhi Kshetras (abode of mystic powers). It is said that the Jyothirlingam at Sri Mookambika is the unification of Purush and Prakurthi and hence can be worshipped in any form of either Male or Female. Legend has it that Lord Parushrama worshipped Devi Parvathi here and many a legendry sage and God did penance out at Mookambica. Built along the banks of the river Sourpanika , the river is attributed to the eagle Saurpna that performed penance along the banks of the river and attained salvation.

33. The temple also has the shrines of Panchamukha Ganapati, Subramanya, Partheswara,Chandramouleeswara, Nanjundeswara, Sri Anjeya , Lord Vishnu , Tulsi Krishna and Veerbhadra. It is considered auspicious to pray to these prior to offering prayers to the Devi.

34. We visited the temple in the evening at around seven which was the time for the Pradshona Pooja which was conducted with great fervor. The pooja is performed for all the gods which includes the evening aarthi. It was a most satisfying time spent in the temple and we stayed close to an hour. Not many tourists I must say and hardly anyone from North, most were from southern states or localites. For the fortunate ones, there is the Kaashava Teertham , a sacred concoction introduced by Sri Adi shankracharya himself which is distributed to devotees and is said to be of great medicinal value.

35. There is a strict dress code for those who wish to see the inner shrine of the Devi . For men it means no jeans and belt and upper torso has to be bare while for women it is appropriate to be in Indian Dresses.

36. Somehow I realized that we did not wish to leave the temple but eventually we left at around nine and hunted for some place to eat. Not many eating options available and finally landed at Hotel Akshay just outside the main gate of the temple and had simple south Indian thaali. What a satisfying day it was I could just think back; from the early morning Aarthi at Murudeswara temple to the rain soaked clouds on Kodachadri peak to the wild roads of the Mookambica wild life sanctuary and finally to the evening darshan and Aarthi of Devi Mookambica.

37. All that was left to dry the clothes, a lot of them were wet, clean up the camera as it was definitely not an all weather camera and I had subjected it to a lot of brutal moisture and beating and finally to close the eyes and go to sleep in the temple town of Kollur deep in the Western Ghats.



SCENE DEPICTING THE TALE OF THE AATMA LINGA



LORD SHIVA HIMSELF






PANAROMIC VIEW AGAINST BACKDROP OF ARABIAN SEA






PRESPECTIVE



MURUDESWARA TEMPLE






EARLY MORNINGS





MURUDESWARA BEACH



THE BOATS WAIT THEIR TURN ON THE SEA



INCREDIBLE INDIA







THE INDOMITABLE

[swsumit]

# DAY IV : MURUDESWARA- KOLLUR (distance: 90 km)

The visual depiction of day IV continues ..



KOLLUR ENTRY



MOOKAAMBICA WILD LIFE SANCTUARY



THE PATHS THROUGH MIST















SRI VARAHASWAMY TEMPLE AT MARVANTHE





SOURPNIKA RIVER





VARAHA DEVAA





NH 17 AT MARVANTHE

[swsumit]

# DAY IV : MURUDESWARA- KOLLUR (distance: 90 km)

KODACHADRI TREK . The visuals depict the jeep ride till the peak and then the final trek to the Sarvajanapeetha temple.

[drhoneycake]

Wow. Absolutely speechless. You have captured my home district beautifully. Love your trip report and the pictures.

[srs_shetty87]

The pictures are really wow-worthy, i wish i had been to these places.

I did a Mumbai-Udipi trip this June, 7th June precisely, but did not venture out to these places as i was all alone and wanted to finish the trip as soon as possible (13 hours or so).
I used the Kalghatgi - Yellapur - Gokarna route as well and it was really beautiful and sunny, but the monsoon seems to have beautified the region even more.
Thank you for posting the pictures, makes me want to travel again

[JASMEET MATTOO]

Absolutely amazing travelogue and superb pictures. Your thread has re-emphasized that there is a lot of beauty in our own country. Truly mesmerizing.