[abhishek46]

Background
With Covid on the wane in Karnataka, and the onset of Navratri/Durga Puja vacation, we decided on heading out to the Western Ghats for a quick Over-Nighter.

We quickly zeroed in on Sakleshpur, as we were yet to visit the Malnad region of the Western Ghats.
Being Monsoon time, we hoped that Malnad Region would be in it's full glory, and we were absolutely right.

Preparations
Few Medicines, some snacks, 10L of water, some warm clothes were packed up.
To avoid delays on the travel date, I tanked up our Creta with Diesel & checked the Tyre Pressures the previous day.


Day 1

We started from Bangalore at around 7am in the morning.
The weather prediction had heavy rains in the afternoon.
Therefore, we hammered on with minimal stops en-route.

After a 10 minute time waste at the NICE Road Toll gate, progress was quick.
The NH75 till Hassan was in excellent condition.
One can maintain pretty good speeds in this section.

However, after crossing Hassan, the roads suddenly deteriorated.
There were diversions every 2Kms or so, and the diversion themselves are broken roads.
Average speeds in this stretch were a measly 25Kmph.

Post Crossing Sakleshpur Town, we left the NH75, and headed towards our accommodation on twisty hill roads.

After a having settled down at our Home Stay, and a quick lunch later, we decided to visit the Bisle Ghat View Point.

The Sights & Scenery en-route Bisle Ghat was mesmerizing 'Green'.
During to the on-set of rains, I could not capture more pictures.

Few Pics en-route:




It was raining quite heavily, when we reached the Bisle Ghat View Point.
We waited for a good 15minutes, for the rain to subside.
However, there was no let-up of the torrential rain.

Not to be deterred, I folded up my Jeans, and using a Umbrella, took the plunge into the rain.
I managed to capture a short video of it, in midst of the heavy rain.

https://youtu.be/U5num_0RmDo

After about 2 hours, there was a let up in the rain, and we had also reached back safely at the accommodation by then.
To our delight, we were greeted by some good misty views of the Malnad, at dusk.

The View from the Sitting Area, Just outside our Cottage.



An expansive 'Grassland', nearby.



Kiddo enjoying a walk in the Grasslands.

[abhishek46]

Day 2

The following morning at breakfast, we decided to consult our host for suggestions for the second day.
Our Host strongly recommended to visit the Famous Belur Channakesava Temple & the Equally Renowned Halebeedu Hoysaleswar Temple.

Trivia
Both of these temples were built during the 11th/12th Century CE.
The Belur Channakesava was built first, and then about 100 years later, the Halebeedu Hoysaleswar Temple was built.

Extremely intricately carved outer walls are to be found in both of these temples.
The material which has been used is soapstone, supposedly a good material for intricate carving.

The Pillars are Stunning super smooth Lathe-Turned, with Grooves.

Belur Channakesava Temple

A View of the Courtyard of The Belur Channakesava Temple.



Another View:



A view of the Gopuram:



The Kappe Channegraha Temple (In the same complex):


Another View:



The view from the main Kesava Temple:



A Small Tank.



Note the Intricate Lathe-Cut Pillars.



The Main Channa Kesava Temple.



Another view of The Main Channa Kesava Temple.



The Rear Entrance of the Channa Kesava Temple.



The Temple of Andal.




The Hoysaleswar temple, Halebeedu.

Frontal View (wide angle)



Frontal View (Standard Angle)



One of the alternate Entrances.



Breath-taking symmetry in the Floor Plan design.



Intricately Cut Art-Work on outer walls.



After the temple visits, we headed towards Hassan, and used the Hassan Ring Road, to bypass the Town and joined NH75.

After a quick lunch stop at Empire, Shantigram, it was smooth sailing and we reached Home just in time for evening tea.

Closing Notes

Our Creta 1.5D performed brilliantly on the trip.
It handled the ghats with great poise, and dispatched the highways with effortless performance.

In the age of Covid and the resultant low social interaction, small outings like these serve as a major mood uplift-er.
There was a pleasing sense of fulfillment, that we experienced after completing this trip.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[jkrishnakj]

Those territories in Karnataka are ‘Addictive’ and you’ll end up visiting more and more. Such is the beauty of Malnad side.

I was driving up and down Bisle just yesterday. I caught some good views of the road and mountains from inside the car.

Thanks for sharing. It was a good read. Nice clicks of the two temples.

[chethan.ram]

Nice write up. Sakaleshpur and surrounding areas are just awesome especially during monsoon. It would have been nice had you mentioned the name and details of the Homestay you stayed. It would help others.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by chethan.ram

Nice write up. Sakaleshpur and surrounding areas are just awesome especially during monsoon. It would have been nice had you mentioned the name and details of the Homestay you stayed. It would help others.

My Bad. Apologies for missing out on this.
The Homestay where we stayed was https://www.mugilu.com/

The Hosts were very friendly, professional & co-operative.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

However, after crossing Hassan, the roads suddenly deteriorated.
There were diversions every 2Kms or so, and the diversion themselves are broken roads.

The better option is Hassan - Gorur - Bisle.

Originally Posted by abhishek46

The Sights & Scenery en-route Bisle Ghat was mesmerizing 'Green'.
During to the on-set of rains, I could not capture more pictures.

Some pics captured from Bisle view point, two days back