Day 2: Saturday 22nd, August 2015
After visiting
Shravanabelagola and Belur on Day 1, it was time to explore Chikkamagaluru - famous for its serene, green forests and tall mountains.
Chikkamagaluru takes its name from the word "Chikkamagala Uru" which
translates to "younger daughter's town" in Kannada language. We
decided to visit major places: Mullayanagiri Peak, Baba Budangiri Dattathreyapeeta
& Manikyadhara falls.
We had breakfast at
'Hotel Mayur' (Butter Masala dosa and coffee must try :P) and started our ride
at 8.30 am. First place of visit -
Mullayanagiri Peak (23 kms).
3. Mullayanagiri Peak
This is the
highest peak in Karnataka having an elevation of 1930 m (6317 ft.). You get to
capture beautiful scenery on this narrow route.
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| Narrow route to Mullayanagiri Peak |
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| Hire-Pin curve |
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| Landscape view |
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| Scenery |
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| yo pose :P |
First
checkpoint: Sitalayyanagiri peak, if you
are interested in trekking then park your vehicle at this peak and then trek
for three kms to reach Mullayanagiri Peak.
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| Sitalayyanagiri Peak |
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| Route to Mullayangiri Peak |
On reaching the
peak’s parking area you will find couple of hot mirchi Bajji’s and tea stalls
to help yourself.
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| Yummy mirchi bajji's |
Three hundred
concrete steps more to reach Lord Shiva's temple on the top of the Mullayanagiri
peak. Around 10.30 am, we reached the peak.
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| Start point of Mullayanagiri Peak |
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| 300 concrete steps to climb |
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| 6300.17 feet high |
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| Lord Shiva temple at Mullayanagiri Peak |
If you are
planning to visit during monsoon then do carry raincoats as it rains every
now and then. At 12.30 pm, we left for Baba Budangiri hills (40 kms). There is Dabdabe falls on
the way, people will be calling out for Jeep ride at Rs 700/jeep. Since it gets dark by 5 pm, we
decided to finish off Manikyadhara falls first and then cover
Dattathreyapeeta and Dabdabe falls while returning.
4. Manikyadhara falls
This falls is a
sacred place for both Hindus and Muslims. You can find herbal medicines for a
number of ailments here. It’s believed that taking bath from in this falls make
you free from ailments.
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| Off road riding to Manikyadhara falls |
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| Manikyadhara falls |
Couple of meters
walk will get you to the viewpoint.
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| View point |
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| View Point near Manikyadhara falls |
On the way, back
to Dattathreyapeeta we noticed some Jeep trails hence decided to hike and explore.
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| Jeep trails |
This is what we
found there after our 500 m hike. Thanks to Sagar for capture this beautiful
video.
We headed back to cover remaining places. Unluckily the weather got worse and started raining very heavily, all four of us got totally drenched. Couple of minutes later, rain almost reduced and we resumed our ride down to Dattathreyapeeta.
5. Dattathreyapeeta
At 4.45 pm, we reached Dattathreyapeeta. This hill has an elevation of 1895 m and holds the shrine of Muslim Sufi saint Baba Budan and Guru Dattatreya making it a sacred place for both Hindus and Muslims. The Shrine is inside a Cave like formation. If you are looking for food then there is Khushka and Parotha with dal available here. We had food and spent time till 6 pm and headed back to Chikkamagaluru.
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| Dattathreyapeeta at Baba Budangiri Hills |
On the way back we found falls by the side of the road, don’t remember the name: P simply stopped for taking snaps.
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| Road side falls |
Mandatory Groupfie :P
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| Travel Buddies |
Chikkamagaluru - Mullayangiri Peak - Manikyadhara falls - Baba budangiri Dattathreyapeeta – Chikkamagaluru -> Total ride for the day was around 85 kms. Ride seemed less but truly unforgettable experiences. Reached back lodge at 7.30 pm. We thought of playing cards at night but all were so tired that we had dinner and dosed off.
Couple of falls that we could not cover:
- Kemmangudi falls
- Kalhatti falls
- Hebbe falls
- Dabdabe falls
If you get time then do plan to visit these falls too :)
For other attractions in Chikkamagaluru, check out this map below.
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