[Amyth Prabhakar]

A visit to Shivana-Samudra.

A brief introduction to set the context:

I had no intentions to travel anywhere during the lock-down period.
I bought a new vehicle (Seltos) a month ago. It is now about 40 days old and the service center guys at KIA Advaith, kept on calling me everyday after a month (30 day period) to ensure that I drop the vehicle for 1st service.

My first question to them was, "What service will you do on a brand new vehicle that has not even done 500 kms"?

They said they will inspect and wash it. I did not agree to that and asked them to not disturb me until I complete at least 500 kms. It is raining almost everyday in Bangalore and since I park the vehicle outside, it is getting washed very well under natural showers and there are no issues that I have come across with the vehicle so far.

The Road Trip:

I have been to this place countless number of times since school days. It is approximately a 2 hour drive from home.( about 120 km ).
My father used to work for the Electricity board and he had taken us to the hydro electric power station many times with special privileges.
I still remember how scary it used to be to go down in that cable trolley down the hill to see how the turbines work.
Inside there, it used to be very noisy because of channeled water gushing in through huge pipes connected to the turbines to rotate the propellers and to generate electricity.

The reason I went this time was to clock a few kilometers on my new vehicle and somehow touch/cross the 500 km mark.

It was absolutely unplanned and we had our early lunch on Sunday, as we did not want to stop over for any refreshments in the middle due to Covid.
We started in the afternoon around 1.30 PM and headed straight to this place. Weather conditions looked cloudy and there was a slight drizzle too and rained at some points along the journey.

The Route:

I took the Kanakapura road to avoid traffic and drove non-stop.
This is usually my preferred route, as Mysore road is sometimes laden with heavy traffic and the traffic density is unpredictable.

I also got a chance to test the mileage of my vehicle and we reached in just 2 hours with sedate driving. I maintained 80-100 kmph throughout the drive and got around 15 kmpl. I thought, not bad for a DCT as I used sports mode on some empty stretches.

The Destination:

I thought it would be lonely now due to Covid situations, but to my pleasant surprise, the place was over crowded and I saw a lot of them without masks.
Most of the visitors appeared to be from Bangalore or Mysore, going by the registration numbers of their vehicles. I hardly saw any out of state vehicle.
Parking arrangements were made about 500m away from the falls and it was almost packed with cars, bikes and even some Force tempo travelers. There was a big queue to even get into the parking lot.

We took all precautions and wore the mask and stayed away from the crowd and went and took pictures only when we saw the crowds getting dispersed.
The hotels and the small shacks were all closed and not operational. Even the stairway to get closer to the falls and the designated view point was also barricaded and a small police force was deployed to control the crowd.
We managed to catch a glimpse of the waterfalls amidst the chaos and took a few videos and pictures.

Due to heavy rainfalls and floods, there has been an excess inflow of water into the Carvery river and the discharge of about (75,000 cusecs) water from KRS dam and about (50,000 cusecs) water from Kabini reservoir have restored the nature's beauty and Gaganachukki was raging in it's full glory.Though I have been here several times, I had never seen it flow in its full splendor. It was like Niagara falls.

Seeing the heavy crowds, we decided not to visit the Bharachukki and headed straight back to home.

Below are the pictures:













The Hydro Electric Power Station:

















The Hotel and the Accommodation:



This was a very short trip. We spent about an hour there watching the falls and left the place by 4.30 PM and were back home by 7:00 PM.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

A visit to Shivana-Samudra.
....
....
Due to heavy rainfalls and floods, there has been an excess inflow of water into the Carvery river and the discharge of about (75,000 cusecs) water from KRS dam and about (50,000 cusecs) water from Kabini reservoir have restored the nature's beauty and Gaganachukki was raging in it's full glory.Though I have been here several times, I had never seen it flow in its full splendor. It was like Niagara falls.

Seeing the heavy crowds, we decided not to visit the Bharachukki and headed straight back to home.
.....

Nice crisp log with wonderful photos of the glorious waterfall.
Today's newspaper (The Hindu) reported that Barachukki has been closed to visitors owing to huge crowds and the pandemic.

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Originally Posted by srvm

Nice crisp log with wonderful photos of the glorious waterfall.
Today's newspaper (The Hindu) reported that Barachukki has been closed to visitors owing to huge crowds and the pandemic.

Yes, Absolutely Required. It is not possible to stop and control people if such measures are not taken

[ChiragM]

Nice pictures Amyth Prabhakar.

Having been born and bought up in Bangalore, I somehow have never visited this place. Maybe when I was a kid, but I dont remember now. Have been thinking about driving down for sometime now but never got around to it. The falls look epic in your pictures with the increase in rain. Seems to be the ideal time to visit, if not for the crowds.

I thought it would be lonely now due to Covid situations, but to my pleasant surprise, the place was over crowded and I saw a lot of them without masks.

A bit surprised at reading this. Thought that the pandemic and the high number of cases in Bangalore would mean lesser crowds now. That's what I was thinking when I opened this travelogue.

Also, congrats on your Seltos.

[tanaysn]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

Yes, Absolutely Required. It is not possible to stop and control people if such measures are not taken

Crisp article and in fact while I was going through it, I was making my plans for this weekend's trip just for the sake of driving to Shivanasamudra falls and then I read the closure post

But as you said it right, this is needed if people themselves don't obey self disipline.

[ValarMorghulis]

Wow this is such a beautiful place to visit!
With WFH becoming tedious day by day, I really thought I could do this quick trip with minimal crowds this weekend. Seems like everyone is thinking the same.

With around 15 vacation days set to lapse by end of year, I need to plan for some downtime. But where does one go if not even day trips are possible.
Sigh

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

A visit to Shivana-Samudra.

I saw the post by BHPian procrj a few days back on the "Cool Drives" Thread here > (Cool Drives within 150 km from Bangalore) and had shared the same with you.

Nice that you also had the opportunity visit and Thanks for sharing the pictures from your visit

[procrj]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

where does one go if not even day trips are possible

Its a function of time my friend. Leave early, get to the place early and get back early. You will have no crowds. I was at gaganchukki on 8th morning at 8 am and there were hardly 5 people there Do check here for more day trip (Cool Drives within 150 km from Bangalore) inspiration

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Originally Posted by procrj

Its a function of time my friend. Leave early, get to the place early and get back early. You will have no crowds. I was at gaganchukki on 8th morning at 8 am and there were hardly 5 people there [/url] inspiration

Never knew about your thread and vsrivatsa shared a Watsapp pic, in fact a screen shot of the falls and not the thread and that was enough to trigger the excitement in me. Had I seen your thread earlier, I would have gone to the other places as well.

Anyway, nice to know that you too had been there early in the morning.

For me, like I said, I have been here on several occasions since I was a young boy. We also used to get guest house accommodation and special VIP treatment as my father was working in electricity board and had arranged several family get-together's here before. I know every inch of that place.

This time, nothing so special, but just wanted to run the stagnant vehicle.

There was a huge crowd. Parking lot was full when I entered.

A pic of the parking lot at the time when I was about to leave. It was half full.



Looks like everyone wanted to take a glimpse of it after hearing the news of water being released from KRS and Kabini. The news was on all local TV news channels.

Unfortunately seeing the influx of crowd, they have now closed it to prevent the spread of panademic.

[Shanky_1002]

A very crisp log and beautiful pictures. Being confined to home for months has really taken a toll on our physical and mental health. Getting out for a drive to a scenic place to revive the mind and machine is really helpful amidst the situation with no hope as to when this will end, needless to say with ample safety precautions. I've been doing similar drives/rides either late night or early morning at times. Even a short drive in rain with some soft music, accompanied by home made coffee has been rejuvenating. However I feel sad for the people and their families who are not taking proper safety measures when venturing out, best to keep safe distance from such folks.

[download2live]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

A visit to Shivana-Samudra.
My father used to work for the Electricity board and he had taken us to the hydro electric power station many times with special privileges.
I still remember how scary it used to be to go down in that cable trolley down the hill to see how the turbines work.
Inside there, it used to be very noisy because of channeled water gushing in through huge pipes connected to the turbines to rotate the propellers and to generate electricity.

Have you got any pictures of those? I have only seen that from a distance. I think it was the first hydroelectric power station in whole of India(and Sir Vishveshwarya was involved in its construction?).

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Originally Posted by download2live

Have you got any pictures of those? I have only seen that from a distance. I think it was the first hydroelectric power station in whole of India(and Sir Vishveshwarya was involved in its construction?).

Yes, you are right. Sir MV was instrumental in building this hydro electric project in 1902 and was the mastermind behind the construction of KRS dam and automatic flood gates. The electricity from this station was first supplied to KGF ( Kolar Gold Fields ).

It has now been more than 117 years and still operational which really deserves a standing ovation.

Unfortunately I don't have any photographs. The pictures are in my mind and I do not know how to share them.

I am from the 90's and back then we were crazy uncontrollable kids. ( includes brother and cousins). We never gave so much importance to photographs as much as we are doing it now.Frankly, I did not even know how to hold the camera. We enjoyed each other's company more than anything else and that was all that mattered at that time.

My father had a camera called Minolta ( which used films) and he had clicked a few photographs. He never let me even keep my finger on that camera as I had dropped it once and he used the same camera for years after getting it repaired. I really don't know where they are now. There are some old albums lying in dust. Will need to see if I can find something there. If I find anything then I will scan it and upload. The best bet would be to check with my cousins and see if they have any.

It's only now that I am into DSLR and mirror-less cameras and crazy about capturing things, storing and safeguarding them.

[Mile_Breaker]

First of all congratulations for your new car. Day trips are best these days. Couple of years back I had visited this place in December during my Ooty Mysore trip. But at that time of the year it was not having so much of water. Your photos reveal the water falls at its best. Thanks for sharing.

[download2live]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

There are some old albums lying in dust. Will need to see if I can find something there. If I find anything then I will scan it and upload. The best bet would be to check with my cousins and see if they have any.

Please do. Would be awesome to have them on forum.

It is an irony that though we are taking more pictures now, they are getting lost/deleted at even higher pace. My last 5 years worth of pictures were lost after the hard drive crash.

[Red Liner]

Something from Tuesday morning. Water levels already reducing.