2020! At last, the year ended which was written as a
remarkable year in the history of mankind. We decided to end it with refreshing
travel time. After looooooooooooooooong time, here comes my little (big!) travelogue. This
time we visited Coastal Karnataka.
Coastal Karnataka is of course beautiful with pretty
beaches, green makeup, and stylish nature. One gets lost in the sheer beauty of
nature. We went on a trip with beloved extended family members. Being a few
months away from our 10th wedding anniversary, the trip was special
for me and my husband. Travel is one element that has strengthened our bond
from time to time. And travel is a must to break the mundane daily routine.
DAY 1
Having arrived at Hubli train station, we headed towards
Kumta (a 1-hour drive from Gokarna) to get fully drenched with seawater. The
hut cottages were right in front of the beach. The crowd was very less and the
beach was clean. We enjoyed the sea thoroughly.
‘Sea’ – always mesmerizes everyone. Few like to stare at its
enormous waves. Few like to play with the waves. And few likes to observe the
changing nature, varied colors, and pleasant surroundings. The only thing
difficult about the beach is to walk on sand bare feet. (I experienced walking
on heated sand with bare feet!). To our dismay, the hut did not have a hot
water facility and throughout our stay, we carried hot water to the hut. Quite
a unique experience…
DAY 2
On day second, we ventured towards Yana caves. Yana is
famous for two massive rock outcrops known as Bhairaveshwara Shikhara and
Mohini Shikhara. The rocks are composed of solid black, crystalline Karst
limestone- unique formations and nature’s wonder! It is absolutely the site not
to be missed.
We trekked through the woods for 1.5 km to reach the place.
But the effort was worthwhile. Also experienced an infestation of honey bees as
the rock was home to thousands of honey bees. Yana is also a pilgrimage center
as there is a cave temple of Shiva below. Due to Covid, it was closed. We
enjoyed the path inside the caves. My husband, aunt-in-law, and I decided to
come back through the woods on feet just to check our fitness levels. The silence
of the woods always gives a calming experience.
Enjoying a South Indian meal on the roadside, we headed
towards Vibhuti falls. Our driver Manjunath recommended to visit it. We explicitly
asked if we have to walk far. He said it is nearby. But the reality was far
from it. It was again uphill trek and by the time we returned everyone was
exhausted. Vibhuti falls is a small waterfall, but it was crowded with
tourists. We escaped from there. There are many such falls nearby Pune which we
have visited, so we were a little disappointed.
The next destination was Gokarna. By the time we reached
there, it was almost sunset time. We just took a glimpse of the sunset over the
Om beach. It was a breath-taking sight. Sunsets are always special as we bid
farewell to the sun to meet again the next day. It gives calmness to our
existence as we approach the end of the day.
Failed to capture the shape of Om, we headed towards Gokarna
temple. We had planned to visit all the beaches of Gokarna, but lack of time is
always an issue with many people on board.
Gokarna is a pilgrimage that has Atma Linga of Shiva with
the shape of a cow’s ear. Ravana was
bestowed with Atma Linga of Shiva which he was carrying to Lanka. Shiva has put
the condition that it should not be kept on the ground, otherwise it will get
established itself in the very place. Lord Vishnu knew that Ravana would never
miss his evening rites. So, he hides the sun with his Sudarshan chakra. Ravana
finds a brahmin boy who was playing nearby and asked him to hold the Linga and
not to place it on earth till he comes back. The boy was no other than Lord Ganpati!
He told Ravana that he would call him three times. If he fails to come soon, he
would keep the linga on the ground. Lord Ganpati calls Ravana three times when
he was performing his rites and places the linga on Earth and he vanishes. The
Atma Linga at once gets entrenched in the earth. Ravana tries to extricate it,
resulting in throwing the coverings of the Linga to Surathkal, Dhareshwar,
Gunavanteshwar, Murudeshwar, and Shejjeshwar temples. The Atma linga gets the
shape of a cow’s ear, hence called Gokarna.
We took Darshan at the temple and it was almost dark. There
are shops for spices nearby the temple premises. Some of us did spicey shopping
there 😉
DAY 3
The next day, it was a long journey throughout the day.
(Kumta-Murudeshwar-Sringeri-Udupi). Murudeshwar is a one-hour drive from
Kumta. A grand statue of Lord Shiva just
on the seashore captures everyone’s attention as we enter Murudeshwara. We took
blessings from Murudeshwara and headed towards the lift of Gopuram to go to the 18th
floor to catch glimpse of serene surroundings. (17 floors are empty I guess). On
one side we can look straight into the face of Lord Shiva. The other three
sides are equally beautiful. Coming down from the lift we visited the museum
which depicts a live story of Atma Linga. The lift experience was similar to visiting
big towers at various places in Europe. Go up…and everything looks small to
you…even our little-big problems!
From Murudeshwar to Sringeri journey is awesome. On the way, there comes a patch with the sea on one side and the Sharavati river on the other. One gets immersed in breath-taking views. We took a natural stop at Maravanthe beach which was an absolute delight. The light blue – light green sea continued to mesmerize.
From Maravanthe beach, the route to Sringeri goes from Agumbe road curves. To our surprise, we spotted an endangered lion-tailed macaque on the road. The Agumbe road curves are dangerous with sharp turns. It needs expert driving skills.
We reached Sringeri at 5 pm…hardly 2-3 hours left to explore the place. But we reached it at a very good time. The sun was setting over the hills on the west and the moon was rising through the coconut trees on the east. The place has positive vibrance and tranquillity. The Math is surrounded by hills and lakes. In the evening, large flocks of herons gathered over a tree and the tree was all over white. Quite a delight!
There is a Shardamba temple and a historic Shiva temple established by Adi Shankaracharya. There was no rush to reach anywhere…We sat inside the temple with closed eyes and soothing Om chanting in the background was the only thing on the mind.
Reluctantly
got up from the place to end up getting amazed with the beautiful carvings outside
on the temple. There were different avatars of gods like
Varah avatar, Vaman avatar, Matsya avatar, Kurma Avatar, etc. Few stories were weaved, but we
failed to get the contexts. Most of the big animals made a proud entry on the carvings depicting the importance
of the animal kingdom in this Human dominated world.
We took
Prasadam at
the Annachhatra... Bisi Bele Bath, Curd rice, and Payasam...
Any kind of Prasadam at Temple is always delicious as it is made with goodness.
Left Sringeri at 8 pm and reached Udupi at night in the excitement of the
next day on the beach.
DAY 4
We visited
St Mary’s island near Udupi. One can go there by taking a boat ride from Malpe
beach. Vasco Da Gama
had visited this place, so it has got historical importance (?). St Mary’s
Island is beautiful…the beach is surrounded by rocks. One can find heaps of
seashells all over the beach...My daughter was happily playing around...
After getting sun-soaked, we headed towards Woodlands Udupi
Restaurant to devour delicious South Indian Thali.
With filled stomachs, we visited Krishna Math. There is Kanak
Kindi (Kanak Window) outside. Kanakdasa was a saint from Udupi who was supposed
to be from the lower strata of society. He was denied entry to Krishna temple.
So, he used to take Darshan from a window. It is said that Krishna idol moved
to face towards this window to look towards him. Hence, we can get the Krishna Darshan
through the window only.
We headed towards the Kapu beach to experience another great Sun
Set. There is a beautiful lighthouse just over the rocks beside the beach. A beautiful day in Udupi ended with playing
around in the seawater.
DAY 5
The next day, our return
journey to North started and we headed towards Jog Falls. On the way, again
took a relaxing break on Marvanthe beach. We visited Idgunji and Anegudde – old
temples of Shri Vinayaka which are on the way. They are among the six famous
Ganesha temples on the west coast of Karnataka.
We also stopped at a huge
hanging bridge over the Sharavati River. It is made for pedestrians and two-wheelers.
I was happy to see lots of water in the river even in January. I wonder what would happen when another dam
would get built over this fantastic river. Are we not heading the river to
natural death? The fragile ecosystem of Sahyadri and our very existence is at
stake.
Jog falls must be huge in
the rainy season. In winter, the site
was not that great. We spent some time looking at the falling water and headed
towards the agro resort at Siddhapur near Sirsi where we have planned to stay
overnight.
DAY 6
Hebbani agro farm was
wonderful. The host was courteous. The next day, devouring a delicious Set Dosa
with Jaggery- Ghee syrup, we headed to catch up a train at Hubli at night. But,
we had a day-time to catch up two interesting places; Banvasi and
Sahstralingam.
Banavasi was the ancient
capital of the Kannada Empire Kadamba who ruled the entire Karnataka state.
They were the first native empire to give prominence to Kannada and Karnataka.
Banvasi has a huge Shiv Linga of Madhukeshwara.
The linga has the color of honey. Hence, the name Madhukeshwara.
Describing Banvasi temple needs another blog post ;-) So, do check it out
sometime.
Sasralingam is a place
with sahastra lingas carved in the river. Once entered into the water, we can
reach to few Shiva Lingas... The river Netravati didn’t have much flow in the
winter. Hence, it was good to enter the water. One can experience a natural
foot spa by the fish in the river.
This ended our exciting
trip to the west coast of Karnataka… I just hope the ecosystem of this
beautiful region stays as it is…lovely, calm, serene…
This travelogue is
incomplete without mention of the food. I love south Indian food...It is Satvik
yet yummy. Most of the time we ordered South Indian Thalis in lunch. The thali
at Woodlands Udupi Restaurant was the best. MTR restaurant at Udupi was also
very good with Vangi Bath and Akki Roti... For breakfast, Idli-Vadas, Dosas,
Chow Chow Bath were on the menu – can’t have enough! Special mention is for
Banana Bonda – (Banana Puri) at Sukh Sagar which was a yummy delicacy. (I have
decided to make it sometimes).
In the end, we just loved
the local brand of Ice Cream – Hangyo Ice Cream.
I hope you found this
travelogue interesting enough to explore Karnataka more. If you have any other
memories from coastal Karnataka, do share them in the comment box.
Happy Travelling!
