A Visit to Chikmagalur

Chikmagalur, a small city nestled in the heart of Western Ghats is famous all over Karnataka for its serene environment and pleasant climate. I had planned to visit it from a long time, but never got the chance to be there. This time my wish came true, when Bindu’s marriage came up. She is my supervisor and a good friend. She invited us all on 21’st October for her marriage in Bangalore, but we couldn't be there, which made here angry. So, we decided to go to Chikmagalur and be there in her wedding reception. But due to project constraints we all couldn't go there. In the end, after a long planning and some tough decisions we four people – Me, Sankara, Swati and Sushma started on Thursday night (25^th October) from Bangalore. We hired a Tata Indica Vista for the trip.

We started around 12 am and reached Chikmagalur around 6:30 am. The morning was really peaceful and cool in Chikmagalur. We went outside and had a brief photo session. From Chikmagalur it took us further one hour to reach her native town Koppa. There we met Bindu; she had arranged our stay in a Forest Guest House. The guest house was situated in the middle of woods. It was a nice place with hot water for bath. We took a bath and explored the nearby area. After a lot of time, I was seeing the perfection of nature; the serenity of morning was embellishing the whole view. It was greenery anywhere eye could see. The trees were laden with the morning dew like they are welcoming us. From there we went to Bindu’s home and had a nice breakfast. She served us the food on banana leaves and we had to eat with hands. I don’t like eating with hands, it makes them messy. But I was little shy to say that, Sushma helped me in this.

After some chit chat with Bindu, we went for some sightseeing nearby. There was home of the famous national poet ‘Kuvempu’ nearby; we went there. It was a nice home placed in the foot of the dense woods. The home was entirely made up of wood and was kept in a good state by the organisation. The home was full of souvenirs of the poet ranging from the daily household items he used to various prizes he earned in his lifetime. I was clearly astounded to see the ‘Padma Vibhushan’. It was the first time I saw that, it was clearly radiating the value of the award. Every year some individuals are honored with this prestigious award by the Government of India to recognize their excellence in their fields. The medal was enclosed in a red box with Padma Vibhushan emboldened on a betel leaf. A one KM walk from there took us to a place on the hill where the poet wrote some of his best poems. It was a quiet place on the hill, but it was too hot that day. So, we quickly came back from there.

After returning to the guest house we got refreshed up and went to the main event – Bindu’s reception. It was arranged in a typical South Indian way; the bride was dressed in traditional attire and the stage was decorated beautifully with flowers. We congratulated them for their wedding and had a tasty lunch there and then we moved on for some more sightseeing. From there went to see some waterfall; the name of which I am unable to recollect. Our filled bellies took over our interest in the sceneries nearby quickly and we all were slumbering in few minutes. I woke up after half an hour; the sharp turns were making me uneasy and I was desperately waiting to reach the destination. Finally, after what seemed ages filled with uneasiness we reached the spot.

I think the name of the waterfall was ‘Srirangana Falls’, but I’m not sure. The waterfall was splendid. The drop was around 18-20 feet. The water was chilly and it was fun to be there. We enjoyed the chilled water of the waterfall and the natural beauty of the place for around half an hour. It was great to watch the water falling on the rocks and then split into countless crystal clear drops. It was a reminder of nature’s ingenuity in spite of its simplicity. It was amazing to see how the simple act of water falling from the rocks was a wonder to the eyes. The world is full of such feats of nature which can never be repeated by any human. Every great artist has found the inspiration from the nature. It is like a bottomless pool of creativity, filled up to brim. Regardless of how much we take from it, it will never dry.

After spending some valuable moments we went off for Chikmagalur. We reached Chikmagalur around 9 PM. There we found ourselves a hotel to spend the night. We had dinner in a nearby restaurant and then went to sleep. As we had traveled so much, we slept quickly and comfortably. Next morning, we woke up early and went to see Mullayanagiri peak, the highest peak in whole of Karnataka. The way to the peak was filled with the vista of Western Ghats, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I took many panoramic shots of the view through my camera. But even my 10-megapixel camera was unable to catch the details that my eyes were able to catch. The overlapping silhouettes of mountains in the distant view were really mesmerizing. Far away nestled in the middle of two mountains I saw a lake which left me spell-bound. I had just seen such views in movies and wallpapers, but seeing these in front of me was like a dream come true.

We reached a base point on the peak, from where we had to climb on foot. The winds were blowing too fast here. I stood on a rock for a pose, and the force of wind was so great that I was being pushed away by it. The cold gale left my whole body shivering. After trekking for about 1 km we finally reached the peak. It was a really great achievement for me as I was feeling like I whole of the Karnataka is below my feet. There was no snow on the peak, but the gale was blowing in such ferocity like it was compensating for it. We spent around half an hour on the peak. Then we climbed down and went to Kemmengudi. The way to Kemmengudi was full of sharp turns and narrow roads. By this time the sun had also risen up high in the sky. The hot weather was contributing to the uneasiness and I felt for some moments that I will have nausea. But fortunately, I overcame that by distracting my thoughts on other topics. We started to play ATLAS and it was fun. The main attraction of Kemmengudi was a famous waterfall ’Hebbe falls’. But after reaching there, we came to know that it has been banned due to an order by Supreme Court order to ban tourism in the wildlife areas. It was really disappointing to miss out the falls after coming such a distance for them. By this time we were hungry also, so we decided to have a quick brunch in a nearby canteen.

After having this brunch, we went to another nearby waterfall that came out to be a fuss. It was a little stream of water falling from 5 feet and a throng of people were bathing there. We decided it was better to go back only. So, we went back to the cab and told him to take us back to Bangalore. After that, we didn't stopped anywhere except some short breaks for rest and tea. Around 9 PM we reached the Bangalore. It was feeling great to be back in Bangalore. It was like this was the place where I will find the comfort I will feel. All I wanted now was to go and relax on my bed and I will be fresh again. I went and got a quickly got asleep. I got a good sleep, actually was enjoying the sleep after many days.

In the end, it was a good trip; we enjoyed the cool weather and the serene environment of Chikmagalur. We badly needed a break from this busy life of Bangalore. But the weekend has ended and I have to go to office tomorrow. I can’t imagine why time flies so fast when we trace it back in past.