[hummer]

We are four friends at Bengaluru and we meet regularly inspite of popular Bengalureans saying “I am busy”. We believe we need no reason to meet friends, meeting friends is the reason.

Three of us are from Shimoga and one from Bellary. All of us visited Shimoga so many times for the kind of tourist places it offers and obviously it’s the hometown for the majority crowd.

Travel towards Bellary region was shot down earlier many times due to hot and dry conditions and considering unsuitable to enjoy the vacation. This Dasara holidays Bellary friend was pushing hard to travel to his territory and this time we didn’t want to disappoint him, moreover Oct-Dec is better time to visit Bellary/Hampi.

I had to be at Shimoga for Dasara festival celebration with parents, so we planned to start from Bengaluru on 8th Oct early morning.

We got the following plan firmed up:
Day-1: Travel from Bengaluru and visit Thungabhadra dam at Hospet
Day-2: Visit Hampi and travel to Shimoga
Day-3 & 4: Festival at Shimoga and local travel
Day 5: Visit Sigandur temple near Sagar town
Day 6: Visit Areca nut farm at our ancestral village
Day 7: Return travel to Bengaluru

Mode of travel: Nissan Terrano, Volkswagen Vento, Honda Amaze

Day-1:

One family had been to Manthralaya by train ahead of us. Bellary friend (Vento) with all excitement went to Bellary one day early to welcome us. We were to meet both of them at Bellary.

Route map:


We (Terrano and Amaze) started from Bengaluru at 6:00am. We decided to have breakfast at Bellary which is 310kms away. Traffic was very bad even at that time due to long weekend. We entered into Puna-Bengaluru road and took a diversion at Hiriyur towards Bellary. Though it’s not a 4 lane highway like PB road, that road was good till Bellary with very less traffic. We reached Bellary around 10am, I could hear the super excitement in the voice of our Bellary friend.

Me on the way near Hiriyur:



All 4 families met at a point and headed to the hotel Chalukya for breakfast. We had dosa, idli etc there and then went to taste the famous mandakki (type of very special bhel) and mirchi bajji. Slight walk from hotel Chalukya through clock tower circle. That street has many mirchi bajji shops, we couldn’t resist, it was really special and tasty, we had another round of breakfast at Kottureshwara mirchi bajji shop and came back to Chalukya for coffee and tea.

Kottureshwara mirchi bajji shop:


Kids waiting for hot mirchi bajji:


We then visited Aadhishakti Devi temple, Bellary friend’s old house and started journey towards Jindal township at Toranagallu where we had booked our accommodation. Toranagallu is around 32 kms away from Bellary.

Aadhishakti Devi temple:



Popular clock tower of Bellary:


Women went for shopping:


Men waiting restlessly:


Bellary Fort:


Local kids cooling off:


JSW Steel Ltd. the flagship company of over $11 billion JSW Group, set up Jindal Vijayanagar Steel (JVSL) in 1994 at the remote village of Toranagallu in between Bellary-Hospet. Sprawling township has spread over 20000 acres.

We were amazed to see the transformation of the dry land into a beautiful heaven. Water supplied from Thungabhadra and Krishna rivers in huge pipelines. It has private airport and many goods rail tracks. Township has everything - residential complex, schools, hospitals, shopping, hotels, guest houses, stadiums, swimming pools, movie halls, lush green parks, museums, well laid tar roads, KSRTC and private bus connections etc.

Wish all other cities in India were as clean and green as this township.

More details about the JSW at Toranagallu: http://www.jsw.in/steel/about-vijayanagar-works

JSW from a distance:


Welcome to JSW township:


Guesthouse entrance:


Very well maintained water-bodies:


Collage of guesthouse and surroundings:


We occupied the rooms and got freshen up. Got ready to visit the TB dam at Hospet which is 14 kms away from Toranagallu. It was a quite scenic drive to Hospet via Sandur mines. Roads were made of cement to tolerate the heavy mining trucks. Roads and trees were soaked in red color due to iron rich red soil.

Some pics en-route TBB dam:





We reached TB dam around 5pm, parked our cars, bought the tickets and got into the TB dam bus to go up the dam. It was an excellent view of the endless water from the top. Wind was blowing heavily. We had some snacks and coffee. There was a laser show and musical fountain that night, we watched it for some time and headed back to Toranagallu.

Beautiful TB dam:


Group photo:






Sunset view:


Lighting:


Similar to KRS (Mysore):


There is a nice restaurant attached to the guesthouse, we had proper dinner and ended the day-1. Next day, we planned to visit Hampi and I had to travel to Shimoga by night.

[hummer]

Day – 2:

It was long and stressful day, we had good sleep, so all of us could get up early and got ready by 7:00am. We hired a 12 seater minivan for Hampi sight seeing, since van came late, we finished breakfast at the restaurant at Jindal.

Waiting to get into the van:


It’s roughly 40 mins drive to Hampi. After a long time we all sat together in one single vehicle without having to drive, well, that’s also an experience. First we visited Virupaksha temple, which is the main and biggest temple at Hampi. We can understand the full history if we hire a guide. We didn’t have much time, wanted to visit only key places, so we didn’t take the guide.

Sri Virupaksha temple:



Inside Virupaksha temple there are small temples. We saw the inverted image (it’s not the shadow) of the main tower on an inner wall inside the temple. We were told it’s the pinhole camera effect which was done in that age.

Kids offered bananas to the Elephant in the campus:


Later visited Yanthroddaraka Sri Anjaneya Swamy temple in the bank of the river, after that we saw Ugra Narsimha statue, Huge Shivlinga, Sasivekalu Ganesha Temple, Queen's Bath, Dasara Dibba, Stepped Tank and Vijaya Vittala Temple Complex.

Riverside in front of Anjaneya temple:






Stepped Tank was used to filter the water for drinking, we were told RO (Reverse Osmosis) technology was used to filter the water!!

Vijaya Vittala Temple Complex has many temples inside including the famous Stone Chariot and temple with Musical Pillars. We couldn’t try Musical Pillars as the temple was closed for renovation.

On the way to Vijaya Vittala Temple:



Main entrance of Vijaya Vittala Temple:






Stone Chariot:


Musical Pillar Temple:


Musical Pillar Temple in light:


Other pics inside Vijaya Vittala Temple complex:





Since the temperature was high, with a lot of walking, all were tired and hungry by 2pm, even though we wanted to explore, we had to retire for kids. We returned to Hospet and had lunch at a hotel called Malligi. It’s one of the good hotels at Hospet, having separate sections for veg and non-veg.
We returned to Jindal guesthouse by evening. It was already getting dark, friends persuaded me to start to Shimoga next morning, so I had to postpone.

That evening, we visited some places within the Jindal Township, it has got a big stadium, swimming pool, parks, shops, we saw Navrathri festival dances. Kaladham is a 3D museum one of its kinds in India. It is inspired by a museum in Australia. Kaladham gives you a virtual tour to Hampi.

At the JSW garden:



Inside Kaladham museum:



We returned to guesthouse for dinner and end the day.

[hummer]

Day – 3:

Next day got up early and left at 5:00am, leaving all friends who were still sleeping, we continued our journey to Shimoga. It was still dark, passed through Sandur mines and forest, it would have been a pretty sight during day. We observed many villages that side still don’t have toilet.

We chose to drive through Sandur ==> Kudligi ==> Kottur ==> Harapanahalli ==> Harihar ==> Shimoga, which is around 200 kms.

Route map:


Visited the famous Kottureshwara temple at Kottur and Harihareshwara temple at Harihar. It was very pleasant morning, with no crowd at the temples. Road condition was bad from Kottur to Harapanahalli.

Sri Kottureshwara temple:




Sri Harihareshwara temple:


Reached Shimoga for breakfast. Got the cars washed and decorated with flowers, offered ayudha pooja and took rest.




Friends visited Kumaraswamy temple at Bellary and got the vehicle pooja done:



Day – 4:

Very important day of Dasara ==> Vijaya Dashami. At Shimoga also there will be procession of goddesses on elephants and mostly on tractors, all assemble at the stadium and return after the banni pooja. Thousands of people gather on either side of the roads to witness the festive celebration.

[hummer]

Day – 5:

We planned to visit the famous Sri Sigandur Chowdeshwari Temple in Sagar taluk nearby Jogfalls. It is around 110kms from Shimoga. Best part of the journey is going in the Launch along with our car on Sharavati Back Waters. Launch takes about 15-20 minutes to reach other side, it’s an awesome experience.

We had breakfast at Anmol at Shimoga, it’s a newly opened hotel, so the customer care was very high.

Ready and waiting:


Hotel Anmol:


Hit the beautiful Sagar road towards Sigandur, took a diversion before Sagar towards Heggodu.





Heggodu is important cultural and educational hub in South India, because of the organizations at this place like Ninasam, Akshara Prakashana and Charaka.

Ninasam (NIlakanteshwara NAtyaseva SAMgha): A drama institute, focuses on drama, films and literature. It hosts a multiple programs and workshops throughout the year to strengthen and develop the South Indian drama culture. http://www.ninasam.org/

Akshara Prakashana: As an organization under Ninasam, it thrives to reduce the barrier between artists and literature by publication of many books and translations of stage-play at affordable price. It also publishes make-ups, educational and informational related books.

Charaka: It focuses on design and promotion of khadi wears and improvement of the economical state of the workers.




Reached the point of boarding to Launch, big crowd was there due to holidays, we got into the launch after a brief waiting. They load so many vehicles (including buses) into Launch with very little gap between the vehicles, I had to argue with a tempo traveler to leave bigger gap. It was a nice 20 minutes ride through the Sharavati Back Waters.




Finally in the Launch:


Look at the gap:


Look at the gap:








Finally out of the Launch:


Temple is just few a minutes drive from the other end. We had good darshan of Sri Sigandureshwari and had prasadam at the temple.




Main entrance of the temple:


Entry to prasadam hall:


Since there was a big crowd for Launch to return, we chose another (longer) route through Nittur, Kodachadri, Nagara, Hosanagara, Ripponpet, Ayanur. It was full 40 kms more, we could have waited for Launch rather than taking this route. However, on the way we got glimpse of Kodachadri, visited Nagara fort and returned to Shimoga by evening.

Some pics taken at Nagara fort:






Day – 6: Visited our Areca nut farm at our ancestral village and met few relatives. Kids had good time at the village.

Kids played Sultan:


Day – 7: Ready for the return journey to Bangalore after a weeklong vacation. We returned on Friday itself to avoid the traffic on weekend and also we could take rest before starting the office and school on Monday.
We enjoyed the trip thoroughly, with friends and family, it was visit for mix of archeological, mythical, religious, historical and picturesque places, got enough to fill our souls until the next such trip.

Some pictures of my Terrano:


Always wear seat belts and practice safe driving

[bsdbsd]

They say clapping is expressing the joy of the heart. I clapped after reading this travelogue. Very well written, perfectly complemented by the photos. The group photos were particularly nice. Thank you.

[karthikd21]

Originally Posted by hummer

Day – 5:

Some pics taken at Nagara fort:

Amazing travel! i love the places around Shimoga as i grew up in Shimoga District myself. Do you have any pics of Kodachadri peak?

[hummer]

Originally Posted by karthikd21

Amazing travel! i love the places around Shimoga as i grew up in Shimoga District myself. Do you have any pics of Kodachadri peak?

Thanks karthikd21, Shimoga is evergreen.

Here is my full travelogue on Kodachadri:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...odachadri.html

[autospeaker]

Excellent write up. Rated 5 stars.
I had been to Sigandur recently and you article just ignited my memories of this wonderful place again.
On another note, good that you managed to take your NT across the water in the Launch. Usually the place is crowded and people will have to wait a lot for their turn. And real problem is getting the vehicle into the Launch through the ramp. Quite a few vehicles get bellies scrapped. I presume your NT did not a problem here.

And a special salute to all the guys in the gang. It's hard for all the guys to make some time for a trip at once.

[hummer]

Originally Posted by autospeaker

Excellent write up. Rated 5 stars.
I presume your NT did not a problem here.
And a special salute to all the guys in the gang. It's hard for all the guys to make some time for a trip at once.

Thank you autospeaker!!

Yes, I saw many cars both front and back got scrapped while loading and unloading, but NT didn't have any problem, thanks to 205mm ground clearance

This trip was more fun because of the full gang. Thank you.