Devotion in Bylakuppe & Aqua Fun in Abbey Falls

Location:
Bylakuppe - Mysore District
Abbey Falls - Madikeri District
Karnataka

Places Covered:
Bylakuppe Golden Temple
Abbey Falls

Distance from Bangalore (By Road):
Bylakuppe -  225 Kms
Abbey Falls - 260 Kms

Route:

Bangalore - Ramanagar - Channapatna - Maddur - Mandya - Srirangapattana - Mysore - Kushalnagar - Bylakuppe Golden temple - Suntikoppa - Abbey Falls 

Estimated Travel Time from Bangalore:
Bylakuppe -  Five and Half Hours
Abbey Falls - Six Hours

Best Time to Visit:
Bylakuppe - Any time during the year
Abbey Falls - June to September

Stay:
Madikeri is the nearest place

This is yet another joyful trip planned by office buddies after a long time. They started in Bangalore at 06:15 AM, picked me in Mysore at 09:00 AM & moved towards River side cottages. This trip was actually planned to relax in river side cottages from the daily routine work in office and not for tourism. However, I was very lucky to cover two wonderful places.  After travelling for about two hours from Mysore, we reached Bylakuppe.

Bylakuppe:

Only four people out of ten people visited the temple while others were enjoying the cold and lazy climate. So we immediately gave work to our cameras for capturing the beauty. This is home for many Tibetan refugee settlements and was established by "Lugsum Samdupling" in 1961 and "Dickyi Larsoe" in 1969. 

Entrance to the Monastery

The Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery is the largest teaching center of the Nyingma Lineage of Tibet Buddism in the world. It is a home for Sangha community of over five thousand lamas (monks & nuns), a religious college and hospital. 

Inside the monastery, Padmasambhava Buddhist Vihara (locally called as Golden temple) houses three attractive golden statues of Buddha Shakyamuni, Padmasambhava & Buddha Amitayus of 40 feet height.   

Padmasambhava Buddhist Vihara (Golden temple)

The walls of the temple are beautifully decorated with colorful paintings depicting gods and demons from Tibetan Buddhist mythology.   

Stepping inside the temple feels like walking into a different world away from the busy streets in the City. During festivals, the main courtyard becomes an open stage where masked dancers twirl in colorful costumes to the sounds of gongs and massive ceremonial trumpets.

Padmasambhava, Buddha Shakyamuni & Buddha Amitayus 

There are few other small temples inside the monastery hosing various gods and monks of Tibetan Culture.

This place is very calm and is surrounded by landscaped gardens. Photography is allowed even inside the temple. There are several stores around the monastery selling Tibetan jewellery, handicrafts etc...

Calendar of events in Bylakuppe:

a. Losar - September to May
b. Tibetan New Year - February/ March
c. Sagadawa Festival - May/June
d. Buddha Jayanti - June
e. Dalailama's Birthday - July 6th

We have spent about an hour here and felt like we were in another country. This is quite place blended with spirituality, nature and picturesque landscape. From here we moved on to our destination - River side cottages after travelling for about half an hour.  

River side Cottages:

This is an accommodation located on the banks of Hatti river located at a distance of 7 Kms from Suntikoppa town in the middle of coffee estates. This place is not luxurious yet it was very comfortable to stay.

Hatti River

Jack fruit

Dining Hut

Little frog

Small Snail 

The rest of the day was filled with fun of eating, dancing & talking. No one knows at what time we slept and few people did not sleep and were enjoying the sight of the river flow in the light of stars. We started to Abbey Falls in the morning next day which is about 35 Kms from here.

Abbey Falls

This is located in the middle of lush spread of coffee plantations and is at a distance of 10 Kms from Madikeri Town. This water finally merges with the Cauvery river and the monsoon season is the best time to visit this place as the water will be in full gush due to heavy rains.

Walking in rain with rented umbrella

Stalls in this place provides umbrella on rental basis for the visitors. A refundable security deposit of Rs. 200/- needs to be deposited initially and an amount of Rs. 20/- will be charged as rent of using the umbrella. We also took two umbrellas to protect the Camera from rain water and started moving towards the waterfall.

Way to Abbey Falls

From the main road, it takes about ten minute walk to reach the waterfall passing through lush green vegetation. The cold rainy atmosphere make the walk joyful and gives visual taste to eyes.

Way to Abbey Falls continued

There is a hanging bridge constructed against the falls to enjoy the sight of the violent flow of the water. The gushing flow of the water makes water to fall on the people standing on the hanging bridge.

Hanging Bridge

One must be careful with the leeches in this place especially during the rainy season. In the main road, there is a board displaying the details of various tourist spots near by the falls along with the distances.

Parking area near falls

This was the end of the tourism for the trip. We moved for lunch and traveled back to Bangalore to come back to the busy life in concrete jungle. This trip was a memory of life.

Classical Touch to tourism in Nithyargram Village & Rainy weather at Hesaraghatta Lake

Location:

Bangalore District

Karnataka

Distance from Bangalore:

By Road - 37 Kms

Estimated Travel Time:

One Hour

Route:

Bangalore - Peenya - Heserghatta - Nithyagram Village

Best Time to Visit:

Any time during the year

Tuesday to Saturday - 10:30 AM to 01:00 PM

Sunday - 10:00 AM to 02:00 PM 

Places seen:

Nithyagram Village

Heserghatta Lake

Stay:

Bangalore is the nearest destination to stay

Nithyagram Village - School of Classical Dances

Me & my friend Mr. Manju got bored with the regular tourism of temples, beaches, trekking etc and decided to have a classical touch to tourism. So we decided to visit "Nithyagram Village" which is very close to Bangalore. We called the village for finding out the timings and immediately started as it closes by 2:00 PM on Sunday. We took almost an hour to reach the place after a big fight with the traffic.   

Nithyagram Village is a school of Indian dance classes. This place offers a unique facility of watching the dance classes which is provided no where in the world. This also makes dancers tough as they have to concentrate more and more while being watched by outsiders and constant movement of the people.

Various forms of dances like odissi, mohiniattam. kathak, bharathanatyam, kuchipudi, kathakali, manipuri are being taught here. This place is a heaven for people who are interested in learning classical dances. The students of this school are also very well known for performing stage shows across the nation. This place provides dance classes for kids as well as adults. One can see the strain taken by the dancers before performing the stage shows.

Dance School for Kids

As this place is far from the hustle and bustle of the city, it provides an immense peace and joy for the visitors. The cold breeze with full of greenery and the smell of mud increase the pleasure several times. There is an open air auditorium constructed at the end of the school for accommodating dance shows on various occasions.

Open Air Auditorium

Stay in this place for a couple of days in the red huts surrounded by lushes of green and beautiful dances will be a visual feast to the eyes.

Shivalinga Flower

There is a good parking space outside the dance school that can accommodate many cars and two wheeler. We  spent time till the closure and moved towards Heserghatta Lake which is on the way to Bangalore. No food is available in Nithyagram Village and by the time we reached Heserghatta Village, our tummies were in urgent need of food. 

Parking Space

Hesaraghatta Lake

As no hotel were available there, we took few local snack items near the lake and resisted the hunger for some time. It is a fresh water lake created in the year 1894 across Arkavathy river which originates in Nandi Hills to meet the drinking needs of Bangalore. The beautiful surroundings makes it an ideal destination to spend peaceful and joyful moments away from busy city life.

By the time we started eating the snacks, heavy rain started and we took shelter in a small temple which was under construction on the banks of the lake. A decent path is made on the banks of the lake to walk around the lake and enjoy the cool breeze and typical Indian village atmosphere. This place is also known for bird watchers. However, we did not find any birds due to heavy rain. 

The visit to Nithyagram village provoked new desire in life to learn classical dance which is one of the most difficult dances across the globe.

Fun filled day trip to Mekedatu

Location:
Ramnagar District
Karnataka

Distance from Bangalore: 100 Kms

Estimated Travel Time by Car:
Three Hours

Route: 
Bangalore - Kanakapura - Sathanur - Sangama - Mekedatu


Best Time to Visit:
Post Monsoon is the best time to Visit. (August to December)

Stay:
Bangalore. Accommodation available near Sangama also can be kept as an option.

The visit to Mekedatu was planned in January and finally we went in July, 2015 as we all were waiting for Shrawani. Mr. Vinod, Mr. Harish Babu, Ms. Shrawani, Mr. Vishnu & Mr. Prudhvi started at 07:13 AM in Ulsoor and picked me in Banashankari after forty five minutes. After a delay of fifteen minutes made by me, we started to Mekedatu and stopped near Adigas Hotel in Kanakapura Road for refilling the tummy.  

Mr. Vishnu, Mr. Prudhvi, Ms. Shrawani, Mr. Harish Babu & Mr. Vinod (Left to Right)

Just a few kilometers before Mekedatu, we stopped for giving some work to Camera and clicked some beautiful shots in the road and also in the greenery by the side of the road.

For going to Mekedatu, we can drive only up to Sangama. There are many stalls selling fresh Fish on either sides of the entrance to Sangama.

Stalls on either side of entrance to Sangama

A walk through the entrance leads to Kavei river - Arkavathi river Sangama from where, we have to go to the other side either in Coracle (Locally called Theppa) or by walking in the water if the water level is low. Ride in coracle costs Rs. 40/- per person for to and fro. 

Kaveri - Arkavathi Sangama

Coracle ride

On the other side of Sangama, there will be buses available to drop us near Mekedatu which is about 4 Kms from Sangama and costs Rs. 60/- per person on both sides. It takes about ten to fifteen minutes to reach Mekedatu from Sangama in bus. Alternatively few people reach Mekedatu by walk.

Bus to Mekedatu from Sangama

Finally, we reached our destination Mekedatu at 11:15 AM and gave lot of work to the camera. One has to go to this place to watch the river water stream cutting through huge rocks on either sides and also different rock formations formed due to erosion by water.

Brave people sitting on the edge of the rock below which is about 100 feet deep

It is believed that long time ago, a herdsman noticed a goat making a desperate giant leap from one side to other side from saving itself from a tiger. However, the tiger did not attempt the feat and abandoned the chase.  It is also believed that the goat that leaped here is none other than "Lord Shiva". 

This is also a very dangerous place where many people died by trying to swim in the water or by slipping the cliff. The rocks will be very slippery during monsoon. It is also believed that there are crocodiles in the water. 

Meditating Babu

After spending about one and half hour, we came back by climbing the steps which we climbed down earlier. It was very sunny and our feet burned without slippers.

There is a shelter to protect us from the burning Sun also there is a stall selling cool drinks and water bottles. There are no other stalls here and so its better to take food with us.

Shelter from Sun

Enjoying the cool drinks in Hot Sun

Bus travel while coming back

We  came back to Sangama, had food and traveled back to Bangalore. This was a fun filled day of the year. Heavy Fun it was !!!!.