[Traxter]

Went on a short trip to Somnathpur and Talakkad. Some notes as well as tips for others planning on similar route

1. We drove from Mysore. The road to Somnathapura is via T. Narsipur. From there it is on the road to Bannur, about 10km away from TN. Talakkad is a further 25 odd km away. You have to back track a bit towards TN and take a turn to Talakkad.
2. Mysore-Somnathpur-Talakkad-Mysore was about 150km total.
3. The roads are not marked in many places, especially at crucial junctions, even in Kannada. KA has a way of placing abundant markers where they are not required (such as multiple signs on a straight stretch of road) and no signs at all where you should take a turn.
4. Talakkad is marked ok but not Somanathpur, at least on the route through TN. You have to ask your way around. But locals are helpful as usual.
5. Both sites have beautiful temples that are well worth the trip. Somanathapur Kesava temple resembles the ones at Belur/Halibed and is considered a perfect example of Hoysala temple style. It is full of intricately carves stone sculptures.
6. Talakkad has temples excavated from under sand dunes and exacvations are still going on. They are of granite, unlike the Somanathapur ones which are made of soft stone.
7. The guide said a huge palace is going to be excavated and that will make it the No.1 tourist spot in India. Take that with a bit of salt. Right now it is deserted.
8. The road from Mysore to TN is bad and narrow, with lots of motorcycle traffic. But you can call it a road.
9. But the one to Somnathpur and especially the one to Talakkad is practically non-existent. It is off-road territory for over 15km. There are huge ruts formed by trucks on the tar that can swallow a M800. My trax with its huge ground clearance had no worries (except once when road touched the vehicle bottom) but beware if you use a low-slung car. Avoiding ruts is not that easy too since there are multiple ones. One really pities our villagers living under such conditions without protest..
10. There are lots of speed breakers along the way, most unmarked. Some are vicious even at low speeds. I am not talking about the unintentional speed breakers in the form of huge gaps in roads, potholes etc. They are a dime a dozen. Exercise utmost care!
11. Pack food because decent looking eating joints are non-existent.
12. There is another hill-top shrine near Talakkad called MudukuThore which we skipped for another visit.
13. Hire a guide for about Rs.100 at Talakkad and they can tell you nice stories about the history of the place.
14. The scenery enroute is beautiful after monsoon, all fields are green and with rivers and canals flowing everywhere and small ponds and tanks filled with water etc.
15. Shall post some pics once I figure out how. Happy to answer any questions.

[Traxter]

Some images are below

[madaboutCARS]

nice pics,

i am in mysore only working for SPI. i will have a look at these places sometime , you have inspired me.

[skandyhere]

Is there practically NO decent approach to talakad - 360 degrees around? non-existent roads are an integral part of any report on visits to talakad.

[msdivy]

Nice tips. Another way to reach Somanathpur would be to take Bannur road in Mandya. This works out shorter than via Mysore, from Bangalore.

You can reach Talakad via Mysore, as done by Traxter or via Kanakapura-Malavalli. 2 years back condition of both these approaches were same. I guess it has gone worse.

[wildon]

Hi All,

I'm planning a 1 day picnic trip to Talakad. I would like to know about the present road condition, route from Bangalore (starting from Old Madras Road) etc. Please suggest.

[srb]

Hi ,

I am planning for a day trip to Somnathpur and Talakad .Does anyone know the current road conditions ? I am planning to take the Bangalore -kanakapura-Malavali - Talakad route.

regards

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by srb

Hi ,

I am planning for a day trip to Somnathpur and Talakad .Does anyone know the current road conditions ? I am planning to take the Bangalore -kanakapura-Malavali - Talakad route.

regards

EDIT: Sorry, just noticed, the date was not mentioned.

Anyway, please update us about the road when you are done

[srb]

Hi ,

Did my trip to Talakad and Somanathpur on last Friday(May 13th ,2011) . Here are the details :

1) Left my house in JP Nagar ,Bangalore at around 7.30AM and reached Talakad at aroun 10.30AM after a short break for breakfast .
2) Took the Kanakapura,Malavalli route . Just before Malavalli , there is a deviation to go towards Talakad . While driving on this road , there is another deviation (which is a narrow road,but very less traffic) which takes you to Talakad . THere are enough sign boards to look out for .
3) Road condition is excellent for the entire drive till Talakad(124 Kms), except for the fact that the road is a two way without any medians .Traffic was less (perhaps because I was travelling on Friday).
4) There are no good resturants enroute so one need to pack the food for this outing .THere are enough petrol bunks on the road though .
5) Once you reach Talakad , drive straight to the Kaveri river . There is an nice place to park the car (under a huge tree cover) . The same place can be used to have lunch etc .
6) Have a good bath in the river which is worth spending a hour or two . Water is clean without any slippery stones . One can also take the teppa ride on the river ( for Rs 20 per person) .
7) There are some good Churmuri(bhel puri) vendors on the river side .Found them to very tasty and neat as well :-)
8) There are guides available to take you around the temple areas which is surrounded by sand . They charge Rs 100/- for showing all the temples - 7-8 temples. The main temple (Vaidyanatheswara temple) is closed from 1.30PM to 4.30PM , but the others are open from 9 to 7PM . The walk is bit strenous as one need to walk on the sand which is not very easy .
9) Returned back from the temple visit , had a nice lunch(packed from home) and slipped into a small nap .
10) Started from Talakad to Somanathpur at aroun 4PM. The road which I took was horrible (around initial 25 kms) , but later on good (5-6 kms) . Later I was told the road to Somanathpur via T.Narasipur was good . Reached Somanathpur at 4.45-5PM due to bad roads .
11) Somanathpur is a architectural splendor (similar to Belur/Halebid) and one can spend atleast 1 to 1.5 hours listening to the guide (they charge Rs 150) .Since the temple closes at 5.30PM , we had to rush through .
12) Started back to Bangalore via Bannur , Mallavalli and Kanakapura . Drive was excellent (due to good roads) and reached house by 8.15 PM .
13) One can easily spend 4-5 hours in Talakad . Nice place to hand around , take a good river bath , walk(trek) around in sand and take a good nap under the shade of the trees .
14) Somanathpur is worth at 1 to 1.5hours and preferably early mornig 9.30-10 or late afternoon 3-3.30 PM since the stone slabs would have good heated up in the sun .
15) Overall a good one day trip from Bangalore.

[sdp1975]

Planning a trip to Somnathpur soon - which route should I take and how are the latest road conditions ?

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

Planning a trip to Somnathpur soon - which route should I take and how are the latest road conditions ?

Go on NH 209 - Via Kanakapura - and after Malavalli look for sigange for Somanthpur. road condition is excellent. Check out my TL "Unwinding in Wayanad over weekend" for details

[sdp1975]

Originally Posted by Fauji

Go on NH 209 - Via Kanakapura - and after Malavalli look for sigange for Somanthpur. road condition is excellent. Check out my TL "Unwinding in Wayanad over weekend" for details

Thanks Fauji. Any decent eateries on this route ?

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

Thanks Fauji. Any decent eateries on this route ?

There is one in Kanakapura named "Gokul". It is recently opened and may be good. It is on the highway in the town.