Showing posts with label irpu falls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label irpu falls. Show all posts

Oct 24, 2012

Awesome waterfall bath destinations – Coorg and Kudremukh


Place: Scotland of India – Coorg
Irpu / Irupu falls

Well, nestled in the pristine Western Ghats of Karnataka and home to some rich evergreen forests and an amazing climate, rich in biodiversity – be it summer, winter or the monsoon, the land of aromatic coffee and the estates, the birthplace of river Kaveri, the terrain of undulating mountain peaks, the land of shola forests and barren hillocks, the land of mesmerizing greenery, the land of the beautiful Kodava tribes, the land of warriors and the place not to be missed is Coorg. Coorg is home to some of the finest waterfalls located amidst thick jungles and some of them thrive round the year and some prosper particularly during the monsoons.

(Photograph by the author)

On one such casual visit to Coorg, we happened to visit the Irpu falls after obtaining permissions from the forest department as it’s located in a wildlife sanctuary. There was dew in the air and chillness in the breeze as we made our way on the moss infested concrete steps laid out for easier access to the falls. Songs of the birds and the roars of the river were the only sounds we could hear as we moved on feasting upon the rich green covered hillocks in the surroundings that we could see. Irpu looked ravishing from the viewpoint and as we moved ahead, we reached a place much closer where actually the little pellets of water were splashing on to us. Getting drenched slowly by those numerous little pellets, we needed no further invitation to get in right away and within minutes the ice cold water had us soaked and chilled our spines with no mercy and all that we could hear was the continuous chattering of our teeth. Slowly as we moved towards the base of the majestic falls, the thundering splash made us quiver for an instant but later turned out to be a awesome massage relieving us of all the fatigue and filling us with some energy and loads of freshness, we went in tired and came out quivering with freshness and joy, a true blue alive is awesome bathing moment.


Place: Kudremukha, Karnataka
Hanumangundi falls

(Photograph by the author)

Kudremukha is a well known tourist destination located in the lap of Western Ghats in Karnataka, an earlier iron-ore mining area now rich with wildlife after the mining has ceased. It’s a major trekking destination and home to thick dense forests making its terrain pretty difficult to navigate. Kudremukha shines in the finest of glory when it rains and sends shivers down your spine in the winters and attracts huge crowds to its folds and not to the mention it has a lot of hidden treasures in the form of streams, valleys and waterfalls. Hanumangundi falls is pretty well known and visited by many people and easily accessible. The water here is bone-chilling and a dip refreshes the senses no end and a shower beneath the thundering falls makes you forget your pain and misery and fills you up with enthusiasm, freshness and life, its an testimony for being an alive is awesome moment.
(Video by the author)

Both the above mentioned falls have similar characteristics and makes you forget your pain, fatigue and fills you with freshness and life. You may ask why?
Let me tell you both of the river sources originate in dense forests and travels through untouched, pristine nature filling themselves with rich mineral properties and are pretty much clean and thankfully away from pollution. The pain and fatigue that we carry along are removed when the thundering falls roar upon you cleaning you with the pristine crystal clear waters rich in minerals and natural elements and in the process filling you with freshness and energy making you cherish those alive is awesome moments for a lifetime.

More videos of "Alive is Awesome" here - www.youtube.com/cinthol

Oct 20, 2011

Waterfalls in Karnataka I

Every state in India has its own charms and Karnataka is no exception. This post is all about some of the wonderful presentations of nature that I have come across in these regions! Hope to cover more of them as my travels continue...


I. Irupu falls (Iruppu falls) (Kodagu district)




Irupu falls is located in the Brahmagiri range in the Kodagu district of Karnataka. The falls is also known as Lakshmana Thirtha falls (name derived from the Lakshmana thirtha river that flows here). There is also a trekking trail from here to the Brahmagiri peak in Southern Kodagu.



Reach: 48kms from Virajpet, 50kms from Madikeri, 120kms from Mysore and 260kms from Bangalore. Nagarahole national park, Tholpetty wildlife sanctuary, Madikeri are few of the interesting places nearby.

Bangalore-Hunsur-Nagarahole-Kutta-Irupu

June to December is a good time to visit Irupu falls.



II. Magod falls (Uttara Kannada district)




Magod falls is located in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. River Bedti makes a gigantic leap of 650ft to form the pretty Magod falls. The place has got good view points and a PWD rest house for tourists. Weekdays are empty and weekends are crowded.



Reach: 17kms from Yellapur, 80kms from Karwar, 500+kms from Bangalore. On the highway connecting Yellapur to Ankola, a deviation to the left, 5kms after Yellapur leads to this falls. Sathodi falls, Kavadikere, Jenukalgudda are other places of interest nearby.
Bangalore-Chitradurga-Haveri-Sirsi-Yellapur-Magod falls

Best time would be end of monsoons and early winter.



...to be continued

Nov 26, 2008

Birding @ Kokkarebellur, Ranganthittu and Kukkarahalli kere

After the fortnight of festivals and absoutely no plans for Nov 1 (Karnataka Rajyotsava day), we finally decided to go birding again. Initial plan was for 2 days, but later had to limit it to a day because of some emergencies. Guru was unwell and as it was a last minute plan, myself and Raja decided to go ahead with the plan planned at 11 pm the previous night. We intended to cover Valley School - Kokkare bellur - Ranganthittu - Kukkarahalli kere and Karanji lake and return back to bangalore by evening. 


Nov 1 2008: Chilly Saturday morning, left our homes by 5.30 am, reached Valley school area quite early. Valley School area: This has become our favorite jaunt mainly because its just in the neighborhood and nobody to disturb. This time we proceeded straight into the campus to the lake for some good birding. Rue our lethargy, the entire series of photos taken here have vanished without a trace and I hardly remember all the species which I saw.. Some which I can recollect are:
  • Little Cormorant (the most common water bird we have seen)
  • Small blue King
  • Pond Heron
  • Indian Silverbills
  • Pied Wagtail couple
  • Red Whiskered Bulbul
  • Jungle Prinia
  • Tiger butterfly & many others
  • A giant spidey with its huge web...
and many more... We spent a good 2 hours here birding, the best part is you never realize how the time moves so quickly when birding. After satisfying our urge for birding here, we had to move quickly to cover the remaining places for the day; we took the route via Kanakapura to our next place - Kokkare bellur. Well the idea was not so bad as feared because 60% of the roads were good but we had to drive around 20 kms more to reach Kokkare bellur. Enroute to Kokkare bellur we saw a small pond where again we had quite a few sightings which included:

Black kite relaxing under the shade
  • Black Ibis pair
  • Grey Herons
  • Spot Billed Ducks

@ Kokkare bellur:

Pelican flight @ Kokkarebellur
  • Spot billed Pelicans
  • Black Kite
  • Black Ibis
and few more, again these series of photos have vanished. On the way to Kokkare bellur, we spotted a black kite peacefully resting under the shades of a tree. We stopped below him and he gave us some nice shots and inquisite looks. We managed to reach Kokkare bellur by 11 am. Here you can just park your vehicle anywhere and go birding, you will find lots of birdies atop many trees and if lucky on the roads too. We could spot mainly the Pelicans and a few Black Ibis only (the remaining visitors were yet to arrive) here. A tree full of Pelicans with their crooning and fluttering give you good oppurtunity to watch them and capture them in your lenses, but kindly avoid standing under those trees else you would be garnished with white paint all over your body. The black Ibis show was distant as they were perched against the sun which made it all the more difficult to view them directly or capture a clear image. The locals here are very helpful and protective of the winged visitors and any wrong move from your end will result in broken bones! But the sight of children asking for money from the visitors is not a good sight to see! After more than an hour here with the sun steadily rising and burning our heads, we decided to move on to Ranganathittu near Srirangapattinam.


Marsh crocodile @ Ranganthittu.


Ranganthittu bird sanctuary: Its a small sanctuary in the Mandya district but the most famous in and around south karnataka. The restaurant here satisfied our appetities which the first thing we did when we landed here. Afternoon times and the sun blazing, birding was not so productive so we bought tickets for the boat ride on the Kaveri lake. Huge crowd had gathered as it was a saturday and we had wait in a long queue for the tickets. The only advantage going boating is you are taken closer to the birds resting on the trees in the middle and the birds are quite comfortable with the boats being paddled around. Not to miss are the huge crocodiles you see from close quarters, this time we were lucky enough to spot some 7-8 crocodiles around. The few winged visitors which I could recognize seeing here are:
  • White Ibis
  • Spoonbills
  • Night Heron
  • the King
  • Pond Heron
  • Colony of Bats
  • Marsh Crocodiles




Well the sightings were not so good, wish to be back here at leisure during some weekday when few people are around. From here we had plans of covering Kukkarahalli kere and Karanji lakes in Mysuru but owing to time shortage we decided to cancel Karanji lake visit this time.



As we reached the periphery of Mysuru, at the first traffic signal we asked for directions from the constable there; he gave us the most easiest route to take, from the signal take right turn, left at the next signal, and right at only the next traffic signal. We landed right on the fringes of the lake with those directions without a glitch.











Kukkarahalli kere, Mysuru: For starters, its located in the heart of the Mysuru city adjoining the Manasagangotri campus. A neat walkway has been created which is used effectively by the walkers / joggers and also bird watchers! The entire walkway around of the park is approximately 4kms. What started for us as a small walk around ended up making us cover the entire 4kms watching different varied winged visitors spread across the lake. My favorite King (kingfisher bird) was very shy and reluctant and only gave poses from long distances; still waiting for a decent shot of this beautiful king. The sunset here was amazing with the winged visitors perched on the trees in the foreground and the golden sun providing the orange blanket all across the horizon. Few of the winged visitors which we could identify were:
  • Spot Billed Pelicans
  • Pond Heron
  • Little Egret
  • Purple Moorhen
  • Spot Billed Ducks
  • Common Coots
  • Cattle Egret
  • Pied Wagtail
  • Grey Heron
  • Asian Koel
  • Parakeets
  • White Ibis

and few others which I am yet to recollect. As it was dusk our plans of climbing the Chamundi hills on foot went for a toss and instead we drove up the hill to visit the temple. The temple remains closed between 6.30pm to 8pm and is open till 9.30pm. The Mysuru city view from the hill top is beautiful especially if the palace lights are on, it presents a spectacular sight. From here we drove straight back to our homes, infact we covered the bangalore mysore strectch in flat 120 minutes on the saturday evening.


Route: To Valley School: On the Kanakapura road, just 100mts after the NICE road junction a yellow board next to a tree on the right hand side leads to the valley school campus. Good roads upto Kanakapura.


To Kokkare Bellur: On the Mysore highway, just before Maddur town, a huge old board to the left indicates the route to Kokkare bellur which is 16kms from there. Roads are pathetic.


To Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary: On the Mysore highway, after Srirangapattinam, a deviation to the right leads to ranganthittu bird sanctuary which is around 6ms inside. The same route further leads to Hunsur, Madikeri, Virajpet, Nagarhole, Irpu falls, HD kote. Excellent roads.


To Kukkarahalli Kere: As you approach Mysuru city, in the first traffic signal on the outer ring road take a right turn and straight ahead and then left turn at the next signal, and again right turn at only the next traffic signal leads to the lake. Please ask for directions with the locals as you are bound to reach nowhere following my directions. Excellent roads.


Tips: Carry water. Food source Bangalore (for valley school); Maddur town and highway restaurants (for Kokkare bellur); hotel at Ranganthittu and Mysuru city hotels (for Kukkarahalli kere).
Overall a nice birding experience but felt more time was required at Ranganthittu and Kukkarahalli lakes.



Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!