Prashanth's parents have been transferred to a place called Shikaripura, near Shimoga (for people for whom the name sounds familiar, this is Karnataka CM Yediurappa's constituency). Since we had a long weekend of 4 days coming up in October, we decided to drive down there instead of taking the train/bus and see the places nearby.
We left Bangalore at 6:00 am on thursday morning. The route is Tumkur - tiptur - arisikere - birur - shimoga - shikaripura on the Bangalore - Honnavara road. About 330 kms to Shikaripura.We reached Birur without any hassles by 11:00, no traffic at all. The road from there is really terrible or non existant till Shimoga. After that, they turn out fine. Reached Shikaripura at about 12:30 and had lunch and a nap. It's a small town nestled in the malnad. It's quiet, calm, really really green and beautiful.We set off in the evening for a drive nearby. There was supposed to be a town festival of some sorts happening for Vijayadashmi. So the four of us set off to see that. A beautiful drive later, we found out that we were a little late for the festivities. They had gotten over a while back. No harm done, watched a colourful sunset and drove back home.
We had decided to go to Shringeri next day which is roughly about 125- 130 kms from there. Set off early at 8.30 after breakfast. The countryside is gorgeous and breathtaking. Acres and acres of paddy fields gives the feeling of a bright green carpet covering the earth.The area, since it comes under evergreen forests of the Western Ghats is really green and gorgeous. In the rainy season, it'll be a vision. We stopped along the way at a place called Dam Hosur, a small dam has been built across Sharavathi. It's more like a barrier than an actual dam. The view was breathtaking. Really!..I am running out of synonyms ( some new words used here onwards will be courtesy thesaurus.reference.com ) . The roads are really nice, the landscape is best experienced if one drives moderately slowly. We stopped on a roadside stall for tea and bun - now this is something one has to try. It's unlike the regular bakery bun. It's sweet and salty at the same time and very tasty. Roadside stalls are the best places to get correct routes, have a little inside stories and get some really good tea/coffee. After being told a better route to get to shringeri, we set off and reached the place at 12:30. It was filled with people.Swarming is a better word. We had completly forgotten that the previous day was vijayadashami and festival time around there. There was also a rathotsav that morning and people had come from far to be a part of it. Oh well, nothing could be done, we parked and set off to see the goddess. After a lot of struggle, we did manage to see the idol. The goddess did look beautiful in all the finery. We then stood in queue for the threetha from the Swamy.Most temples in malnad serve lunch for all the devotees that come. It's done free of charge and the food is tasty, hot and served in a clean place. The people were well behaved and stood in queue for their turn. Serving of a three course meal, eating and cleaning happens in 15 minutes flat for one set of people. It is extremely well organised and smoothly run. We finished a filling lunch and went to see the rest of the place. We left shringeri at about 3:30 and started back. Stopped at Gajanur dam along the way near Shimoga. This is a dam and has all the security systems in place. People are not allowed beyond a certain point. Saw the dam, had the evening tea (I had coconut water, which is really tasty and filling) and drove back. reached Shikaripura at about 8:30 and had a simple dinner and went to sleep.
Next day's plan was to go to Jog Falls...
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