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Day 4:

This time we didn't wake up to the sound of rains but to the chirping of birds and sunshine. We saw the sunshine for the first time in the 3 days. The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds.

Our plan for the 4th day was to start early from Banavasi, go to Varadahalli near Sagara and head back to Bangalore. We had missed Varadahalli and instead went to Varadamoola on the first day. Since my dad's colleague had forced us to visit Varadahalli, we were curious to see that place.

Starting early from Banavasi was no more an option to us since it was already 7 30 when we got up. We freshened up, packed our luggage and dumped it inside the car. We then decided to pay a visit to Madhukeshwara temple at Banavasi. Its located just half a kilometer from the guest house. Kiran and Bramhakumar accompanied us to the temple. During our last year visit, the temple priest had explained about the temple and its history in detail.

At Madhukeshwara temple:
L-R: Mom, Dad, Kiran, Bramhakumar and yours truly.


We had the darshan of Lord Shiva and came back to the guest house. Kiran then asked us to accompany him to Pampavana which is right next to the guest house. We had never heard about this even though we stayed right next to it. Its a very calm and peaceful place. Its an ideal place to take a stroll or jog in the morning and also a walk in the evening. A small ancient temple which is assumed to be older than the Banavasi Madhukeshwara temple and a small pond is situated at Pampavana. We spent around 30 minutes in Pampavana and came back to guest house. We bid farewell to each other and started our journey towards Varadahalli in Sagara.

The ancient temple at Pampavana:


The pond in Pampavana:


Pathway in Pampavana:


We took the Banavasi - Soraba - Sagara route (which we had taken on 1st day) and reached Varadahalli at around 11 am. We spotted a couple of peacocks between Banavasi - Soraba. We had breakfast at Hotel Pavithra where we had lunch on the 1st day. One has to take a left after crossing Sagara town towards Jog falls and drive for around 8 km to reach Varadahalli.

Varadahalli:
Varadahalli (Varadapura) is a very scenic place which houses the ashram of Shridhara Swami. There is a small hill on the top of which a shrine is located. There is a Goshala which houses many cows. There is a small pool of water which is called Sridhara theertha. The water is considered to be very sacred. There were lot of visitors since it was Sunday.

The steps to climb the hill:


The source of holy water - Shridhara theertha:








We spent around 45 minutes and then decided to head back to Bangalore through NH-206. It was around 12 pm when we left Varadahalli. I prefer driving on this highway to Banavasi rather than NH-4 since its free of truck traffic and is greener than the NH-4. The NH-4 is definitely faster than NH-206.

The weather was sunny until Bhadravathi after which it started drizziling. We stopped at the Karur railway crossing for the tender coconuts and the groundnuts. We then stopped for a break at Arasikere CCD at around 4 pm.

Arasikere CCD:


We were so accustomed to the traditional food in just 4 days that nothing went inside our throat at CCD. We forcefully stuffed some stuff in our mouth and started towards Bangalore.

Between Arasikere - Tumkur:


Fortunately, the Tumkur - Bangalore stretch was empty. We then took the NICE road and reached our home at around 6 30 pm. The total distance driven was around 1200 km.

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Some pictures of Vanavasika guest house where we stayed:





I guess some lawn work is going on.











Bramhakumar, our friendly guide. Special thanks to him for guiding us throughout our vacation. He is very knowledgeable about all the places and is very soft spoken. He takes great care in looking after the guests who visit Vanavasika guest house.


Before leaving Banavasi, Bramhakumar told us that there are lot of other places to see around for which I replied that I have already planned Banavasi for my next monsoon drive.

Highlights of the road trip:
1. The roads were in very good condition for most part of the drive. I was surprised to see excellent roads even in very remote areas.

2. It used to constantly drizzle the entire day with frequent bursts of heavy rains. Malnad has to be visited in the monsoon to really enjoy the place.

3. Since it was rainy season, we were the only visitors at most of the places. This helps you to look at the places peacefully.

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Day 5 morning:

This time I didn't wake up to the sound of rains or chirping of birds but to the sound of a school bus horn which was waiting for a kid. I got up and looked at the clock. "Its already 7 30", I grumbled. At Banavasi, it would have been "Its still 7 30". Things have already started moving fast after coming to Bangalore. It was already 8 30 by the time I took bath and had breakfast. I then rushed to office. It started drizzling on the way. When I turned on the wipers, I could see a thick line of dirt getting accumulated at the right edge of the windscreen. This never happened in the last 4 days. It stopped drizzling after some time. I rolled down the windows and thick layer of dust got accumulated on the dashboard within no time. There was not even a speck of dust on the dashboard during the entire 1200 km drive. I then came across the species of vehicles which I hate the most on roads - cabs, concrete mixer trucks and water tankers. I had never sighted one during the 4 days vacation. I reached office at around 9 30 and looked at the tiring faces of my colleagues. In fact the Agile methodology had made their life fragile.

Earlier I would have already lost half of my cool after witnessing the above incidents. But now, I don't give a damn for such things. Its already 3 weeks since I visited Banavasi. The involvement with nature, fresh and pure oxygen which I inhaled for 4 days is still keeping my mind fresh. Once the effect goes down, I'll head back to Malnad to rejuvenate myself.

[FlyingSpur]

Thread taken live in the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

[mazda4life]

Excellent travelogue, thanks for sharing. One of the most beautiful places in Karnataka and there are so many more places to explore, the list is almost endless.

[mallumowgli]

Amazing. Thanks for bringing out such off-beat locations. Hope your i20 didn't face any problems getting to such remote locations

[Fauji]

Lovely! Malnad vistas beautifully captured. It is fun to drive during monsoon amid greenery isn't it? The bonus is on encounters numerous tiny unknown waterfalls on the way. I loved the Manjuguni lake picture with Mantapa. Beautiful. Of course, the beautiful Jog falls.

Did you miss out Banavasi?

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Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Amazing. Thanks for bringing out such off-beat locations. Hope your i20 didn't face any problems getting to such remote locations

i20 didn't face any issues. The roads are in great shape even at the remote places. Any car can easily make it to all the places.

Originally Posted by Fauji

Lovely! Malnad vistas beautifully captured. It is fun to drive during monsoon amid greenery isn't it? The bonus is on encounters numerous tiny unknown waterfalls on the way. I loved the Manjuguni lake picture with Mantapa. Beautiful. Of course, the beautiful Jog falls.

Thanks. Malnad has to be visited during monsoons to enjoy the real beauty. It was painted green everywhere. It was a great experience driving in the rains.

Did you miss out Banavasi?

Fauji Sir, I guess you missed out some parts of the travelogue. I stayed at Banavasi on all 4 days . I simply fell in love with this lovely small ancient town during my last year drive and hence decided to stay there this time too. Banavasi is very calm and peaceful.

[shrk_18]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Day 5 morning:

This time I didn't wake up to the sound of rains or chirping of birds but to the sound of a school bus horn which was waiting for a kid. I got up and looked at the clock. "Its already 7 30", I grumbled. At Banavasi, it would have been "Its still 7 30". Things have already started moving fast after coming to Bangalore. It was already 8 30 by the time I took bath and had breakfast. I then rushed to office. It started drizzling on the way. When I turned on the wipers, I could see a thick line of dirt getting accumulated at the right edge of the windscreen. This never happened in the last 4 days. It stopped drizzling after some time. I rolled down the windows and thick layer of dust got accumulated on the dashboard within no time. There was not even a speck of dust on the dashboard during the entire 1200 km drive. I then came across the species of vehicles which I hate the most on roads - cabs, concrete mixer trucks and water tankers. I had never sighted one during the 4 days vacation. I reached office at around 9 30 and looked at the tiring faces of my colleagues. In fact the Agile methodology had made their life fragile.

Earlier I would have already lost half of my cool after witnessing the above incidents. But now, I don't give a damn for such things. Its already 3 weeks since I visited Banavasi. The involvement with nature, fresh and pure oxygen which I inhaled for 4 days is still keeping my mind fresh. Once the effect goes down, I'll head back to Malnad to rejuvenate myself.

Fantastic travelogue and pictures !!! Also love the phrase- " Agile methodology has made their life fragile"

[abhinav.s]

Amazingly narrated and thanks for bringing this remote location on the radar. Will surely plan a monsoon drive there. Very good pics as well!

PS: Day 5 -->

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I had mentioned about our last year visit to the Kotipura Kaitabeshwara temple in the opening post. I somehow managed to find those pics. Its a very beautiful temple.






























Observe the mirror finish on the pillars:

[Rajesh K R]

Sir. Very nice log. fresh green photos. Feeling rejuvenated just by seeing the photos.

Hv u visited keladi? Amazing temple.

Will someday make it to Banavasi, my wife's aunt is from Sirsi..

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

Sir. Very nice log. fresh green photos. Feeling rejuvenated just by seeing the photos.

Thanks Sir. Its a very nice experience to live amidst the greenery of Malnad. Please don't call me as Sir. It makes me feel about 30 years older than what I am. You can call me Vinay .

Hv u visited keladi? Amazing temple.

I haven't visited Keladi. Will visit next time. Thanks for the suggestion. This time we covered places west of Banavasi.

Will someday make it to Banavasi, my wife's aunt is from Sirsi..

Don't miss Banavasi at any cost. Its an amazing place. Its just 23 km from Sirsi. You'll completely forget your city life once you reach there.

[ampere]

Very refreshing to read about this. And I really laughed out, when I read when nothing went in at CCD after getting accustomed to such nice local cuisine!

Truly a magical place to visit in the rains.

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Ever since I showed my last Banavasi road trip photos to my colleagues, they were pestering me to take them there. We were planning to go there from past 2-3 months but couldn't due to weekend personal commitments.

Last week when we were having coffee in the office cafeteria, I suddenly came up with the plan of visiting Banavasi. Everyone in my gang immediately agreed and we planned to visit there last weekend. Our plan was to leave Bangalore on Saturday morning and come back on Sunday night. I confirmed our booking in the Vanavasika guest house at Banavasi.

We left Bangalore at 6 in the morning. Our plan was to take NH-4 until Harihara and then take a left. We reached Tumkur at 7 AM and had tatte idly and vada in Ravi hotel at Kyatsandra. We then drove towards Harihara in NH-4. Surprisingly the truck traffic was very low. It was a smooth drive until Harihara. We then took a left towards Humsabhavi. We planned to visit the Kotipura temple and then proceed to Banavasi.

Somewhere before Chitradurga:


We took Harihara -Humsabhavi - Tiluvalli route to reach Kotipura. The roads were very good for most of the parts with very few bad stretches in between. We reached Kotipura at around 12:30 PM.

Yours truly at the temple entrance:



The gang:


After spending around an hour there, we headed towards Banavasi. Banavasi can be reached in two ways from Kotipura. One route is through Jade and another through Anavatti. We decided to take the latter one since there is a very bad stretch of 5 km in the former route. Anavatti is 1 km from Kotipura. We have to take a right at Anavatti which joins the Soraba - Banavasi road at an unknown place. The stretch from Anavatti to the unknown place at Soraba - Banavasi road is in very good condition. The stretch is around 16 km. The stretch between unknown place - Banavasi is decent which is around 9 km.

We reached Banavasi at around 2 PM. We dumped our luggage at the guest house, refreshed ourselves and headed straight to Khanavali for lunch. AFter lunch, the plan was to visit the Rani mahal, Gudnapura lake, Chandragutti and Gudavi bird sanctuary.

We first headed towards Rani mahal. I couldn't visit this place during my previous two visits. Its a very old small palace which is in ruins overlooking the Gudnapura lake. The palace was built by Raja Ravivarma for his queen. Its a very good sunset point. We didn't wait until sunset as we had to visit other places.

The Rani Mahal. It was excavated by the ASI. Its the only building left. One can only see the foundation stones of the rest of the palace:


The gang at Rani Mahal:



Inside Rani Mahal:



We then headed towards the Gudnapura lake. Its a very peaceful area with no one around: