Thursday, November 18, 2010

Shivasamudram

Monday Blues disappeared when my colleague, Mahendran showed the greenish pictures of Shivanasamudra he took during the weekend. Quickly called up my friends and we planned to go there the coming weekend. 

Shivanasamudra is located about 130 kms south-west from Bangalore City. The river Cauveri forms two scenic falls, the Gaganachukki  and the Bharachukki. The falls has an average width of about 850 meters and an average height of 90 meters.

The weekend came and we (myself, Benadict, Mahanderan, Rajesh, MuthuKumar and Anto) started early in the moring in Benadict's car. This time I have to leave my bull alone. We took the mysore road->mandya->malavalli->shivanasamudra route and reached our destination in about 3 and a half hours. The road between mandya and malavalli is full of potholes. We parked our car amoung the very few cars already parked over there and when we walked a little down every one shouted oohhhhh!!!!!! We had our first glimpse of the scenic Bharachukki falls. Water was flowing everywhere and we all stood unspoken for sometime awestruck by the beauty of the falls.

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From the above veiw point one can get down along the steps and reach the river. A coracle ride from there take you some what near to the main falls. But we are not satisfied with this and we wanted to go near to the falls. We listend to our heart and took the route very less travelled by. We decided to go around, trek through the forest and reach the top of the falls.

We walked around to find an entry point, everywhere it is fenced and open area along the road side is very step to walk through. After a little walk we found a area which is not that step and we sneeked through. A little further we found a path going and we followed it. Now we came across the gangster area and for nautre lover like us it was very disheartening. The entire place is littered with bottles and plastic cups.

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A little further the path become narrower and finally it ended. Now we were walking alongside small streams. The place was rocky with grassy patches and small trees. We realized that we were in big boys territory as we saw fresh elephant dungs. We contined further until we were halted by a big stream.


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The stream is around 40 feet wide and depth unknow. Not only the sound of water running though the boulders shattered the silence prevailed in the forset, it shattered some of our minds too.. We were determined to cross the steam some how. We were walking to and fro along the stream to find a suitable place to cross. Mahandiran leaped across the boulders like an arrow from the bow and reached the other side. Finally we decided to cross at one point and it took a great team effort and around 2 hours for rest of us to cross. The water was flowing at a tremendous velocity. By the time we reached the other side every one of us is injured. Mahandiran had a huge cut in his feet while leaping. Two pair of shoes and a mobile were lost in the process.

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We hiked a hill covered with tall grass and entered into the forest covered with trees and thorny bushes. The place is full of thorns and I am sure the guys who lost their shoes will be very carefull next time. We had to make our own way throught the forest and we were walking through chest high bushes. We were also on the look out for elephants and we had to be very carefull about our next step, since we were not sure when a snake will bite.

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After a while we cleared through the forest and were on the top side of the falls. The thriller is awaiting for us. The river is very wide and not so deep (keen to waist high) but deep at some points. But it was flowing at great speed and the rock is very very slippery. If you miss a step you will end up falling along the stream 300 feet down!! It wa so risky, but myselft and Mahendrian took up the challenge and made progress inch by inch supporting each other over the highly slippery rocks.

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Ah we made it! We reached our destination, we were on the top, on the edge,next to the falls! Oh man what a sight it was. We sat there silently listening to the falls and enjoying the nature. A flock of rock pegions flying in a circle over us around the falls was stunning. Soon rest of our gang joined us and we had a blast. The view of the nearby water falls through the binocular was dramatic.
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While the photo session was going on the rain started and it send shocking waves throught our spines. We were on the edge of the falls and if water level increases suddenly we all will be dragged along the flow. We had to quickly move out from there but were again hindred by the slippery rocks. After a small battle for life we all were  back inside the forest. This time we wanted to cut short our path and decided to walk downhill through the thick forest. The forest cover is very thick and mostly of thorny shurbs and we had to make our way by cutting them.


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On the way through the forest I saw my first wild Brown fish owl. It was very dark to get a good picture so I just watched it. It was a very thrilling experience walking through the thick canopy and soon we reached the stream which is flowing along the down hill. It is the same stream which hindred our progress earlier and now we were at a spot which is even more dangerous. Again it took around 1 hour 45 minutes to cross the stream. After a little struggle every one reached safely to the other side and a tittle trek took us to the road. With a sense of satisfication and ever green memory we left the place. On the way back we went to Thalkad, but it was very late and the gate keepers told that they will close the gate in another 15 minutes. So we did not had much time, we just went near to the river and returned back. We had a cup of tea over there and started our journey back to Bangalore.