Recalling Shivasamudra!

Bengaluru is a Happy Place. After moving here I have got a feeling that life is quite relaxed here. Or perhaps, I am feeling so because I have come here from Mumbai, where life moves at the speed of light! Initially, I did feel jitters and Mumbai used to be in my thoughts all the time. It is not easy to leave Mumbai! Once a Mumbaikar is always a Mumbaikar! However gradually I started getting blended in the colors of Bengaluru. And for the time being, I want to adore and enjoy Bengaluru. I have always been fascinated by the scenic beauty of South India. I am posting today the travel account of one of my team outing at a place called Shivasamudra. I wrote it four months back.

Here I go-

Generally speaking for majority of the salaried people, especially, IT people weekends are meant to sleep late and there are only few occasions when you would like to get up early on a weekend and at the end of the day feel ecstatic that it was worth it!

As luck would have it, I just experienced the same last Saturday on December 5, 2009, when my team planned a day trip to Shivasamudra falls.

It was a perfect occasion for me as I have recently shifted to Bangalore and was eager to explore the areas in and around it.

India, our country as a whole, is beautiful in every literal sense of the word, yet I have always been fascinated by the natural and scenic beauty of the south India. When I was in high school, I used to watch the Kerala tourism department advertisement “Visit God’s own country” and wonder when I would get a chance to visit the southern areas of the country. My wish came true when I visited Pollachi, a small town in Tamilnadu for my foundation software training after getting campus recruit. I was so mesmerized with the place that when I was leaving, I wondered when I would get another chance to visit south India. Destiny has mysterious ways of doing things and riding on that mystery I landed in Bangalore for my new job!

To start with, I would like to give a brief introduction of the Shivasamudra falls. And honestly, I would profusely thank Google and Microsoft for that. Google, for you can find information regarding anything on the tip of your fingers. My geography has been weak since my school days, so it helped me in finding the facts related to Shivasamudra. And Microsoft for devising copy and paste. Software Engineers can very well understand the importance of CTL-C and CTL-V!

Shivasamudra is a small town in the Mandya district of the state of Karnataka, India. It is situated on the banks of the river Cauvery and is the location of the first hydro-electric power station in Asia, which was set up in the year 1902. Shivasamudra falls is the second biggest waterfall in India and the sixteenth largest in the world.

The Shivasamudra falls is on the Cauvery River after the river has wound its way through the rocks and ravines of the Deccan Plateau and drops off to form waterfalls. The island town of Shivasamudra divides the river into twin waterfalls. This creates the fourth largest island in the rivers course.

This is a segmented waterfall. Segmented waterfalls occur where the water flow is broken into two or more channels before dropping over a cliff, resulting in multiple side by side waterfalls. It has an average width of 849 meters, a height of 90 meters, and an average volume of 934 cubic meters / sec. The maximum recorded volume is 18,887 cubic meters / sec. It is a perennial waterfall.

A common misconception about these waterfalls is that the left segment is called Gaganachukki and the right segment is called Bharachukki. In reality the Bharachukki falls are a few kilometers to the south-west of the Gaganachukki falls. This is due to the Cauvery River itself splitting a few kilometers to the south into western and eastern branches. The western branch results in the twin waterfalls of Gaganachukki, whereas the eastern branch results in the Bharachukki falls.

Though assumption is the mother of all goof-ups, yet I assume the description of the place might tempt anyone to visit there. It was 9.00 am in the morning when we left Bangalore city, picking everyone up from their respective pick up points. We stopped an hour later on the highway, after leaving the city, for having our breakfast. Everybody savored the tasty idlis and wadas brought by Shreedevi. Some vigilant eyes among us saw that we have stopped near a tamarind tree. We plucked few tamarinds to give tangy twist to our taste buds! Minutes later, we marched ahead, playing Antakshari and having doses of laughter, the best medicine. If I say from my experience, Antakshari is the only and best way to enjoy trips when you are travelling!

Our next stop was a small village en route. At the village stop, we got some lemon rice packed for our lunch and moved ahead. After sometime we reached the Gaganachukki falls. The view was awesome and one’s mouth would remain open seeing the spectacular beauty! At the waterfall site, there were coconut water vendors, shop owners selling cold drinks and snacks. There were lots of monkeys at the site, waiting to snatch something to eat from us! I do not know but I speculate that they must be having the feeling that it is their right to snatch things from us as science claims them to be our ancestors. Somebody might have recited the book “Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin in front of them!

There was no scope to get down to the water as the terrain was rough and rocky. Also there was a big CAUTION signboard erected warning not to go near water. There was also a story written below it referring to a person and what happened to him when he did not pay attention to the caution.

Giving due respect to the caution board and thinking that life is precious we just clicked some pictures and marched ahead for the Shivasamudra falls. On the way, we stopped at an aloof KSRTC bus stop to have our lunch. That bus stop would have thanked God that at least somebody visited it! Unfortunately the lemon rice that we had brought got stale. Yet there were lot of delicacies to enjoy, especially Pooris and Shrikhand brought by Aniket and everyone relished the lunch to the maximum. The caravan proceeded further and it was about 2.00 pm when we reached Shivasamudra.

I was mesmerized by the sublime nature and perhaps the majestic feeling cannot be described in words. To reach the base of the waterfall we had to descend a rocky terrain of about 100meters. However nothing comes in the way when you have enthusiasm to the brim and the same was the case with us!

Everybody was so excited that no one gave a thought that as per the laws of physics, ascending is tougher than descending! But for a situation like this, to hell with Physics and Mathematics!

We did not have any intentions to go and get ourselves drenched in water but once we reached there, we could not resist the temptation and got ourselves completely drenched! The water was ice cold but that could not defeat our enthusiasm to enjoy it!

After playing in water and relishing the nature’s beauty, it was the time to move. The uphill task was to ascend back the rocky terrain! When we came up, I just wondered that how our armed forces people live in those rough terrains near border! Real time heroes, I must say.

Our next destination was Somnathpur. Somnathpur is a small village on the banks of the river Cauvery that was founded by the commander of the Hoyasala army, Somnath. The village is famous for its splendid and grand Keshava temple that has been built in the Hoyasala style. The temple is famous for its elaborate and intricate sculpturing. The temple is enclosed in a walled courtyard that has a gate and a porch. The temple is built on an elevated star shaped platform.

The sides of the raised platform are decorated with richly carved friezes, portraying rows of cavalry, elephants and scenes from the epics. The rows above have sculptures of Gods mainly Vishnu in various forms. The shrine has three shrines and three sanctums. The temple has three intricately carved pinnacles and a common Navranga. The northern sanctum has the idol of Lord Janardhana and the southern sanctum has the idol of Lord Venugopala. The main hall has exquisitely turned pillars and ceiling panels.

The temple is an example of the grand and glorious temples built by the Hoyasala rulers. The names of the sculptors are inscribed on their works, which was a common practice during the reign of the Hoyasalas.

We were filled with admiration because of the architecture of the temple. After taking round of the temple and the lush green grass lawn that surrounded it, it was the time to get back to Bangalore.

We started our journey at about 5.15 pm and this time everyone was tired so almost everyone dozed off during the return journey!

I reached home at about 9.30 pm taking with me memories that I would cherish forever. I was dead tired but then sometimes getting tired is fruitful and worth it!

Cheers!

God Bless!

Adi