Gajanur Dam and Sakrebayalu, Shimoga

Gajanur has a Dam for River Tunga and its 12 km from Shimoga on the way to Thirthahalli. Gajanur is an ideal picnic spot for the people around.

Few kms from Gajanur dam on the way to Thirthahalli one can visit Sakrebayalu. Sakrebayalu has elephant camp. Every day morning there are around 12 elephants are brought here for bathing, breakfast, oiling etc. from their mahouts from inside the forest. As of Jan 2010 we could see 12 elephants including 2 of age 4 and 6 and one of 40 years how lived with her daughter and granddaughter of 6 years. Every day evening they are again brought here back from forest for some rest and few days they are left free in forest. There is an entry fee of 20 per person at Sakrebayalu. The best part is the elephants and mahouts are visitor and camera friendly. And these elephants pose very well for cameras. It’s fun to play with those baby elephants. I had also learnt that there was one tiny tot of 6 months and she was uncontrollable by more than 4 mahouts and hence she was not brought to the camp regularly as she was naughty, loved water and never came out of water most of the time.

Koodali, Shimoga

Koodali is the meeting point of two main rivers Tunga and Bhadra. In earlier days people have seen a white river and a black river meeting at this point. It was nothing but Tunga in white color and Bhadra and hence the name Koodali. It’s a distance of 16 km from Shimoga. Two important rivers Tunga and Bhadra mingle here, hence the name Koodali. Koodali is famous for its cultural heritage and temples. Along with few temples there is 600 years old mutt of shankaracharya.

Shivappa Nayaka Palace , Shimoga

Shivappa Nayaka Palace is located center of Shimoga city. The entire palace has been built in rose wood in 16th century by Shivappa Nayaka. The palace is entirely built of rose wood. This palace is under ASI and being used as museum. As seen in most of the ASI museum one can see various stone carved structures, status, idols of Keladi period and many other periods. Also found is the manuscripts (written in “thalegari”) of Valmiki Ramayana, Mahabharata, Gaythri Mantra etc.

Varadamoola

Varadamoola as the name suggests it the birth place of river Varada. This is about 6 km from Sagara, on the same road which leads to Ikkeri and Sigandur. River Varada joins Tungabhadra. This place has a temple in which a lady performs the pooja. I felt the silence of nature at Varadamoola to be a little strange. Though this place is covered by Areca nut farm and lots of fresh greens some who its silence did not attract me rather it was slightly on scary side am yet to figure out why so. Apart from there is a resident vaidya who treats people for bone related problems.

Keladi Temple

Keladi is approx of 6-7 km from Sagara. On Soraba road one need to take a diversion to reach Keladi. Am not sure of bus frequency as I went by an auto which cost around 100 for a round trip. Also I did not see any bus on my either way. Keladi was capital of Keladi Nayakas. Here one can find temples of Veerabhadra, Rameshwara and Parvathi. These are built in combination of Hoysala and Dravidian style. There is also a well maintained Keladi Museum, which has a collection of copper inscriptions, palm leaves and coins from Nayaka's period. When I had been to this place in Jan 2010 the museum was closed for renovation. Apart from this it also has a very old chariot in a very fragile condition.

Tyavarekoppa Lion and Tiger Safar

Tyavarekoppa is located 10 km away from Shimoga and approx of45- 50 kms from Sagara. I had been to this place from Sagara, my usual destination. Buses are frequent on this route and one needs to ask for Tyavarekoppa stop else they do not stop. The safari is stretch around an area of 200 Hectares of forest. Had been to lion safari a half an hr to 45 mins rides inside the forest by forest dept bus (Swaraj Mazda). Drivers are very well versed with routes and they drive in the same route where Lions and other animals will be resting. Tigers, cheetahs, bears and other wild life animals roam around in the forests freely. For me it looked like more a reserve forest as against deep dense forest claimed by many people. Disappointing fact for me was that none of the animals had the usual glow, roaring in their body language which is found in most of the animals in forest. They more or less looked like animals in zoo. Though Shimoga is well known for surrounding somehow the feel of forest, fresh green was missing. This safari will be open from 9 AM to 5 PM every day except Tuesday (weekly holiday).Everyone needs to buy tickets at the entrance. For camera it’s optional if you are taking a safari then you need to compulsorily pick up the ticket or else if you plan just to go around the cages then no need to. Also there is a small place for refreshments, I could decent tea, some snacks etc. Apart from this there is a play area for children.

Nadakalsi Kalasi

The purohit at Ikkeri had mentioned about Nadakalsi a temple dedicate to Lord Shiva. Nadakalsi, Ikkeri and Keladi played an important role during Keladi Nayaka’s dynasty. As each time they had a won a war or before going to any war they used visit these temple. It is also considered as good practice to visit all the three temples in one stretch as one would do in case of panchalinga darshana. One need to travel on Soraba road and take a diversion to right hand side after traveling around 6 kms and from this diversion another 2 kms is the temple. Nadakalsi also has many idols/ statues of “Nagaraja”. And couple of huge black stoned with “lipi” (olden day script).Though I could not see any visitors or purohit at the temple it looked like pooja was offered to god that day morning. And the garbagudi has no doors, so any time god can be seen. There is a small pond adjacent to the temple and there was no one available so that I could check on the importance of the pond in the premises. Also this place is under ASI, except for ASI standard board there is no history/ importance of this place mentioned.

Chandragutti (Soraba Taluk, Shimoga District)

Chandragutti is situated at a distance of 16 kms from Soraba (main bus stand). Soraba is one of the beautiful villages in Sahyadri ranges. Chandragutti is a religious center for goddess Renukamba wife of Jamadagni and mother Parusharam. The temple is situated on top of a hill which is completely covered with greenery. In short it’s very scenic. As soon as we reached the entrance of the temple we were welcomed by a small pond which is known as “Tottila baavi” and also there is small rock on which foot prints of main deity is carved. Once we crossed few steps, on to the right hand side there is a small temple of “Kalabairaveshwara”. In this temple lord is in both human and in “lingam” form. Few steps from this temple towards hill top will lead to Renukamba Temple. By the time we had reached this place temple was closed. We got to know by a villager that this temple will be open for full day only on Tuesday and Friday and rest of the week temple is opened for few hours in morning. Since the temple was closed we could not see main deity, we could see “Matangi” seated along with her company in between two huge rocks. The main deity is inside a cave with golden coverings or golden statue as people say. Along with this goddess there are 2 more temple, one of sacred seven headed “Nagaraja” (snake god) and “Parusharam” right in front of the Goddess Renukamba and the other one is of “Shoolada Beerappa”, there is a stair way which leads towards down the hill here is the temple of Shoolada Beerappa. This Shoolada Beerappa has hundreds of tridents (thrisuhla in Kannada) emerged from earth. Behind this is a small pond known as “Ammanavara Honda”. In south India “Ammnavaru” means goddess. Water for this pond comes from a bigger pond from top of the hill known as “tavarakere” (tavare means lotus in Kannada). The same water continues further ahead and reaches Tottila baavi

How to reach
We took a bus from Sagara (our main point) to Soraba and then from there another bus to Chandragutti, it was the same for return also. There are many (private) buses to Chandragutti from Soraba, Shimoga and very less direct bus from Sagara. Chandragutti is 106 kms from Shimoga. It can be reached from Soraba (approx 16kms), Siddapur (approx 18kms) and from Sirsi (approx 40kms) Sagara(approx 45 kms).
See also
As Chandragutti and Gudavi Bird Sanctuary or on the same road, one can visit these two together. They both a have difference of approx 10-12 kms from each other. From Soraba first comes Gudavi, at one point we need to take a right turn and continue approx of 6 kms from this Turing point. We could not make it up to Gudavi for one reason was that it was raining heavily. Though June to September is believed as good time for bird watching at Gudavi it is at the same time of heavy rains in that region so I don’t understand the point of calling it a good season for migrated birds. Also it’s reported that since last couple of years it’s been raining heavy which results in flood and these migrated birds lose their lives along with/out their eggs. I know it’s sad, but that’s the truth.
I thank articles on net, my friends and villagers for helping me with the info.

Ikkeri

Since I visit Sagar (Shimoga) almost every month I plan to cover as much as place as possible. The main reason being Keladi Nayaka's, though having little knowledge about them I like their way of architecture and each temple is having its own history behind it. So here comes Ikkeri.

Ikkeri is around 3-4 kms from Sagar with lots of bus and auto's plying in between (auto would cost anything between Rs 50-100 depending on you). Ikkeri is on the same road which leads to Varadamula and Sigandor. Also it’s a good idea to walk from Sagar to Ikkeri if one likes roads completely covered plants and flowers on both the edges of road or if there is good company. Keladi Nayaka's had built 3 main temples during their rule. Out of 3 I only remember 2 Keladi and Ikkeri. At Ikkeri a beautiful temple for Lord Shiva is built. Lord is known as Agoreshwara and is in human form. Alongside the main temple a small temple for goddess Parwathi is found. This specialty of this temple was that the statue of Lord Shiva in Human form was built in single black stone which measured around 24 feet. The pujari of the temple mentioned that it was destroyed by the Moghul after they conquered. For such huge Lord Shiva his vehicle Nandi is also huge. Reason behind such huge Nandi is that, the temple from main entrance till the statue had approx of 8 doors and the placement of nandi in elevated position is that he could see his lord always.
Not to miss there – Ask the pujari/purohit to tell you the story of the temple, he is all enthu to tell the story about the rulers and temple. As you enter to the temple the moment you see nandi take a left turn towards the edge of the wall, there on the corner 2 lizards facing each other and a line is drawn in between. It’s believed that these 2 lizards kept coming closer to each other and once these 2 lizards meet - it's the end of earth and hence the line is drawn in between so that they do not meet each other.
The temple and its premises are well maintained and there are couple of local folks who can take you around to explain you in details about the importance, history of the temple. Just outside the temple is a small pond with lots of Lotus and also has a small place to sit and enjoy the beauty of nature.


Only one photograph attached as I want to finish writing about maximum possible places in next few days. And again if you want more details or photographs let me know via email or comment.

Sigandur / Singandooru

This is a island temple for Goddess Chowdeshwari. This place is closer to Sagara than Shimoga. There are plenty of buses from Sagara, almost every 45mins to an hr there is a bus to Sigandur and it’s a journey of 1- 1.5 hrs depending the bus speed and driver. If you like greenery, nature and driving trust me take your own vehicle, but don't curse me if roads are bad.

Best part is most of the buses will take you till the ferry point where we need to cross water and along with us the bus will also travel in ferry so that at the other end the same bus will carry us to temple and back to ferry and back to sagara. The last bus from there to sagara is at 6.00pm. But the best bet is to catch a bus at 5.00pm which never gets crowded or else you never know who is breathing whose carbon dioxide, yes it’s that crowded. OR if you want to spend your own time on the banks you can drive on your own and the ferry will carry your vehicle too. At one time the ferry can carry a 45 seater bus, 6 MUV’s and almost 20 bikes with few autos. It’s a half an hr launch drive between both the banks & it’s wonderful. Every year in January around 13-15th a fest (jathare) happens at this place. During these days most of the private bus owners increase the no of buses to this place. Normal ticket price is 25 per side that means from sagara to first bank and from second bank to temple. Ferry takes 1Re per person from one side. Also from the second bank to temple and temple to second bank there are few jeeps & auto which does taxi services and there costs are different based on number of people & the vehicle they drive. Since the bus we took Sigandur was continuing to Jog falls we had to take another bus for return from 1st bank. So we decided to take a jeep with few others to reach the 2nd bank from the temple and then to catch ferry to 1st bank. I must say this was a wonderful decision. As the jeep driver took a shortcut in between the forest and we got to see some amazing landscapes. Now that we had reached the 2nd bank we had to wait for some time for ferry to pick us up. Water in this bank is very transparent and one can walk upto certain distance in water that too only when water level is normal.

It’s a very good experience to hang around, play in this water. Check out the photographs @ my FB album. What next ……boarded the ferry & came to the 1st bank and anyway we had to wait for a different bus as our bus had gone to Jog. So we had some light snacks and coffee at one of the hotel. By then our bus arrived and we were happy to take that empty bus back to Sagara. We were back to Sagara with almost an hour’s journey.

List of places I have seen

I don't know either am too busy or lazy to write the notes on all my travels. So I found a shortcut, am gonna list all the places I have been to and in case you want to go to that place ask me and I shall talk/email you the details.... here is the list

1 Ahemadabad - Venkateshwara Temple, Vaishnodevi Temple

2 Alleppy - Back waters, boat house, 500 +yrs old Nagaraja Temple

3 Anne Gudda Ganesha - Temple

4 Attilakkam and Jaladigere - Lakshmi Temple

5 Beharampur - Sight Seeing

6 Bekal Fort - Sight Seeing

7 Belur - Sight Seeing

8 Bhanerghatta - Zoo+Sight Seeing, Trekking

9 Bhoganadieswara - Temple

10 Bhubaneswar - Sight Seeing

11 BR Hills - Trek

12 Chennai - 300 yrs old Shiva Temple, Beach

13 Club Cabbana - Resort

14 Coorg - Sight Seeing

15 Devarayanaduraga - Trek, Temple

16 Electronic City temple - Temple

17 Gajanur Dam - Tunga Dam

18 Halebidu Sight - Seeing

19 Hemavathi -Tumkur Trek, Shiva Temple

20 Himawadgopal Swamy betta - Sight Seeing, Photography

21 Hogenekkal Falls - Water Falls

22 Holiday Village – Resort

23 Horanadu Annapurneswari - Temple

24 Indore - Sight Seeing

25 Jaipur - Sight Seeing

26 Jaladhama - Resort

27 Jog Falls - Water Falls

28 Kabbal - Temple, Trek

29 Kalhatty Jungle - Camp, Trek, Wildlife, Photography

30 Kanive Nandi - Temple

31 Kanva Dam - Sight Seeing

32 Kasaragudu - Sight Seeing

33 Katilu - Temple

34 Keladi - Temple

35 Kollur Mukambike - Temple

36 Konark - Sun Temple

37 Kudali - Meeting point of Tunga and Badra

38 Lepakshi - Temple

39 Madakshira - Tumkur Trek

40 Madurai - Meenakshi Temple

41 Malai Mahadeshwara - Temple

42 Manali - Sight Seeing

43 Mekedatu Water - Falls

44 Melkote - Temple

45 Mettor Dam - Sight Seeing

46 Mudigeshi - Tumkur Trek
47 Murudeshwara - Temple
48 Muthathi - Water Falls

49 Mysore - Zoo, Temple, Planet X, etc
50 Nagarahole - Safari and Resort

51 Nalabana Bird watching tower - Slat Backwaters - Chilka Lake

52 Nanadan Kanana - Zoo
53 Nandhi Hills - Trek
54 Penugonda - Trek,Temples, History

55 Pilyaarpaati - Famous Ganesha Temple (closer to Madurai)

56 Puri - Puri Jaganath Temple, Beach

57 Pushkar - Bhrama's temple, Venkateshwara(thirupathi) Temple

58 Ramoji Film City - Sight Seeing, Photography

59 Revana Sideshwara - Trek, Photogrpahy

60 Sakkarebayalu - Elephant Camp

61 Savanadurga - Trek, Photography

62 Sharavanabelagola - Temple, Photography

63 Shoolagiri - Trek, Photography

64 Sigandoor - Temple, Sight Seeing, Photography

65 Skanda Giri - Trek

66 Somanathpura - Sight Seeing

67 SriKalahasthi - Temple, Bedarakanappa Temple

68 Srirangapatana - Sight Seeing

69 Talakadu - Sight Seeing

70 Thirupathi - Temple

71 Udaipur - Palace,Sight Seeing

72 Ujjain - Temple

73 Yadiuru Siddalingeshwara - Temple

74 Sri Adichunchanagiri - Temple, Trek, Peacock Sanctuary

75 Udupi - Temple

76 Chitradurga - Fort, History, Photography

77 Adumalleshwara - Mini zoo (Chitradurga)

78 Halurameshwara - Temple (Hiriyur, Chitradurga)

79 Chandragutti - Temple (Soraba, Shimoga)

80 Goa

81 Kundapura

82 Ooty 
83 Waynad
84 Agumbe 
85 Bramhavara (Udupi) 
86 Kovalam