(Not so ) Histori Trip II

If anyone finds the above pictures interesting , they are encouraged to go further down . I was so fascinated by similar pictures many many years ago as a kid and wanted to go there , and fulfilled my dream recently.

As busy me ( u can read it as lazy me … But I really am not getting enough time to do what I want to …. ) has no time to pen down the details of my not so historic trip to Kodachadri , I thought of atleast putting some photos instead... ( and ended up with so much of details !! )

No words would suffice to describe the beauty of that place … And these pictures are not even half as beautiful as the place really is . Refreshing , nature at its best , exciting and lots more… which I suggest you all to visit and experience yourself ..

Kodachadri is a mountain peak in western Ghats , near temple town Kollur.
( From Kollur , you can either hire a jeep , till Karekatte on Bangalore - Kollur Road. From here you can walk for 12 km to Ullur on mud road and start the trek up for around 6 kms . Other option is to go till Ullur by jeep for Rs 500 , and start the trek after a tea or bonda water ( tender coconut water ) at Kaka s Hotel . We chose the second option as we started from Kollur at 11 am on suday and wanted to reach the peak before sunset . One more option for lazy bums is to take jeep till mountain top ( 40 km roundabout journey )

There s no definite route to the peak. What looks like a way made by water stream during rains is the route taken for the trek . We carried lots of water, and bread and biscuits. Some of the members who strongly opposed carrying food items were the ones who ate most !!! Looking back , I think we should have carried some juices instead of food , as water was not enough to prevent dehydration. As it was during mid summer , we didn’t carry any heavy clothings . Just one extra dress.

It can not be called as a difficult trek, but it s tiring and strenuous. It s uphills all the way and is steep and slippery at places. Initial half of the trek was in the woods and the rest was in kind of an open place , where we walked on the edge of small peaks . If one falls from the edge , it s a feast for the tigers down in the forests ( Mookambika forest is protected and there are more than ten tigers and black panthers !! ) . View of the forest down , and many small and big peaks surrounding the valley is very beautiful .

After taking several breaks , we reached the top by 4 pm , just as had planned. The first house as you land there will be of nagesh bhatta s . There s facility ( ??? ) for stay and food.( stay Rs 25 per person , food will be around 20 rs ) After drinking some buttermilk in his place , seeing the place we decided against staying there in the night. We thought of staying at Sarvajna Peetha , which is again 2 km trek up to the peak. So we paid him 100 Rs and took some rice , Saambar, and water . Bhatta was too disappointed as we decided not to stay there.

After walking a bit further we realized our mistake , as we saw much cleaner house of one more bhatta ( cant remember his name ) and one PWD guest house.

We started our climb to sarvajna peetha,( 1840 feet from sea level ) where Shankaracharya had meditated way back in 8 th century.

The route is heavenly .. really !!! As we climbed uphill , we were literally surrounded by clouds and could nt see beyond few feet. We walked up on the narrow edge where it was difficult to concentrate on the route as we were lost enjoying the refreshing clouds. Once we reached the peak , all we could see or rather feel in all direction were clouds.

Walk in the cloulds !

As sun started to set , we were a bit disappointed as to we could nt see the sun setting in to Arabian sea at the horizon due to these clouds. But the colorful clouds , forming different shapes and layers everywhere was a visual treat anyways. We later learnt that in this season , one rarely gets to see the sunset .

We abandoned our plan to spend the night in the peak as we didn’t have enough water and food. Also rice and sambar given by bhatta had become inedible by then. we walked down to the PWD guest house to try our luck . And we were lucky … out of 2 rooms , one was vacant and we occupied it . It s a well maintained (except unwashed bed sheets which had turned brown and yellow and smelly too … ..yuckkkk ! ) big room , with 4 cots and a clean attatched bath room . We were served good hot dinner .

PWD guset house

Next early morning , after a good cup of tea , we climbed up the peak again and enjoyed the views without clouds.

View from PWD guest house

From the other side of the peak , we got down through a steep way to a place called chithramoola , which is a water source . There s a small rocky cave , and we saw a lady and a man , meditating there. This rock faces the open space towards Arabian sea .

From there, we returned to our guest house, had a good breakfast , and went to Agasthya theertha, which is a water source .There s always water trickling through the rocks , and forms a small pond near Bhatta s house. It was noon by then .We gave a quick visit to the temples there and started our way back .

Getting down was tougher than we thought it would be, as it was difficult to balance ourselves at places because of the slope.

Couple of our gang members (including me ) lost their way down for some time and all managed to reach kaka s shop by 3.30 pm . The jeep was ready for us there as we had called him from the guest house. After filling our stomach in kollur , we started to Maniapl with one of our friends parents who had come to visit Mookambika temple .

And our memorable trip ended with all of us parting in Manipal. Thanks to our new camera , we could at least capture the memories to some extent.

Map - courtesy- bhagawatha

We were told that during Novemebr – February , the place is greener, cooler and one can see sun setting in the horizon of Arabian sea from the peak. So I m planning to go there again during that time just for that ... Anyone interested??? I will be your guide also .. !! Till ten enjoy maadi ..