Also see: Our photography Day Outs in Melukote.
I started this as a Photo Essay, as I was feeling lazy to write and thought of filling it up with photographs instead. But as I started scribbling, words filled in so much, it became a pretty long story. The weekend trip to Melukote was an eventful one.
Yoganarasimha temple, as seen from the town
On the streets of Melukote..
Melukote or Melkote is generally done as a day-trip from Bangalore. But we were keen to be there at the time of sunrise, so decided to make it a two day trip. There aren’t any places to stay in Melukote, but we managed to sneak into the house of a kind lady who not only gave us place to stay but also ensured that we were fed to brim!
Melukote town and the Kalyani, as seen from the top of the hill
Melukote is a temple town, standing immune to the stride of time. There are a couple of temples, a few Kalyanis and mantapas that make the town. And most of the residents seem to be priests. Houses have an old-time look and nothing in town is flashy or modern. And unlike most religious places, it is not garish but quiet, pleasant and easygoing. People are friendly and hospitable. At the place where we stayed, we were treated like old relatives who are coming home after a long time. It was a pleasure spending time there. My fellow traveller said – “I can easily spend a week here”, and I can’t help but agree. But a ‘tourist’ doesn’t have so much to do or see in Melukote beyond a day-trip’s itinerary.
We took an early morning bus from Bangalore, reached there a little before noon and headed towards Yoganarasimha temple after lunch. Having plenty of time in hand, we took 4-5 hours to cover what should otherwise take 15 to 30 minutes. The first long stop was at a Kalyani at the base of the temple – a well-known landmark I have seen in many Kannada movies. In the hour or two we spent there, we watched people take ritual ablutions, go for a swim, sit for meditation or just take a stroll around it.
The Kalyani
We made our way further towards Yoganarasimha temple on the top of a hill – the major landmark in Melukote. A bunch of happy kids encountered us on the way up, who were eager to pose for the camera. They gave us a good time while they had their fun looking at their poses on the LCD.
The way up to the top is through steps that can tire the aged, but is actually a short climb. There are a few trees on the hill, and half way through I suddenly exclaimed – “these trees are planted!” On the otherwise barren hill, someone had thoughtfully planted leafy trees along the path to give shade to the people visiting the temple. Bless them!
The steps leading to Yoganaraimha Swamy temple
I took a detour just before the temple and found the path opening up to the vistas of the plains below, revealing the vast planes, fields and villages at a distance. It was an overcast evening with plenty of shade from the clouds and pleasant breeze on the hilltop, which invited us to spend another hour there.
When we eventually reached the temple to finish our long journey, I was pleasantly surprised by the temple’s design. It did not have the typical dark sanctum and priests performing rituals on the other side of a fenced arena, but instead an open and informal interior where anyone could freely walk around. It was a pleasure to be inside, and to go up on the top of temple to savor the 360-degree views of the surroundings. We stayed there till sun down.
The temple Gopura at Sunset
At the top of the temple..
The idea of spending two days in Melukote was to be there to relish the early morning hours. But things did not work out as we planned. Next morning, we woke up only after 8, and seeing that the sun was already high, took our time and came out only after 9. It has been such a disappointment missing the morning, two-three weeks since the trip we are still it blaming each other for it!
We walked to Sankrit research institute which was closed being a Sunday, and then to Raya Gopura and Akka Thangi Kola. Raya Gopura is another landmark which has served as a location for many movies. The watchman at the Gopura said there was a movie crew previous evening too. Akka Thangi Kola are a pair of kalyanis next to each other.
Raya Gopura, they say it was built overnight, which is not easy to believe
Thangi Kola
We then met friends who drove down from Bangalore in the morning, and headed towards Tondlur to a gigantic lake which is more than a kilometer long. We spent a couple of hours there lying down in a lonely sandy shoreline eating just harvested sugar canes that we picked up from nearby fields. Pleasure at its prefect form!
Coming back from Tondlur, we drove around aimlessly for sometime and returned to Melukote to spend rest of the evening again at the Kalyani, and eventually headed back to Bangalore.
Much as we had planned on it, we still left a couple of things undone as we returned back. An early morning stroll in the town was one of them. We were also keen to talk to the man of the house where we stayed – one of the priests in a temple – about the history, origin and all other things about Melukote, which did not happen.
Description of Melukote is never complete without a mention of Puliogre, the favourite dish of the town. Go to any place, and be assured that you will be offered Puliogre. It is indeed delicious, but at the end of two days, we had an overdose of it. All meals that we had in Melukote included Puliogre in the menu, and sometimes it was a Puliogre-only meal! Sakkare Pongal is another dish the the town takes pride about.
An eatery selling Puliogre
Melukote Information
Melukote or Melkote is a small town in Mandya district, around 120km from Bangalore. To get to Melukote, drive on Mysore road till Mandya. Ask for directions and turn right in Mandya and drive for another 40km to reach the town. If you are taking bus from Bangalore, you need to go to Mandya and change buses. Ask for private buses to Melukote once you get down in Mandya.
There is no accommodation available in Melukote. There are a few eateries that serve clean and healthy food, but don’t expect much.
Cheluvarayaswamy temple
Places to see: Yoganarasimha temple on the top of a hill is the primary attraction. Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple in the town is another well known place. Some landmarks in the town are the Kalyani below Yoganarasimha temple, Raya Gopura, Akka Thangi Kola and the Sanskrit research institute. Tondlur kere is a huge lake 15km from Melukote
, and is worth a visit.
It was a rainy afternoon. And when it rains in the Sahyadris–the long line of hills that run parallel to India’s west coast–it only pours without mercy. We were biking from Gokarna to Sirsi and there was nothing protecting us from the rains. We kept riding despite being wet and dripping, despite the raindrops lashing on us hard. Somewhere, at a fork in the road in a thickly a wooded area, it stopped raining in a while. We came across a tea-shop nearby and decided to break the journey a bit.
There were two people at the tea-shop, one of them the owner of the shop and the other person seemed to be his acquaintance from a nearby village. They were conversing casually, which was interrupted by our arrival as the shop-keeper broke off to slice a tender coconut for my fellow rider. I glanced at the shop, which hardly had any merchandise on it’s shelves. There were a few biscuit packets, local brands of crunchies, stuff to make tea and omelette, and little else.
From the looks of it, the owner did not look like he was too keen to make some good money from the shop. He seemed to be only using the shop as a means to kill time in his otherwise idle life. A few minutes later, his acquaintance was ready to leave and he looked unhappy about having to spend rest of the time by himself. He tried to stay busy by arranging stuff in the shop and finding things to do where nothing existed. I then felt it would be nice to have a tea after the rainy ride, and asked him for one.
Ondu tea maadtheera? ‘Will you make some tea?’
He paused from his work of trying to appear busy, looked up to me slowly and thought for a short interval, while I stared at him and awaited his answer. He took his time to think about my question and pondered as though he is working on resolving all the serious problems affecting the universe. A few silent moments later came his response in a lazy and uninterested tone –
illa.. eega maadudilla.. No.. won’t make it now..
I was slightly disappointed about missing my tea, and we moved on. Later, discussing about his response on our journey further, we burst into a laughter. He wasn’t the least bothered about how much money he was making at the end of the day, nor was he probably dependent on the shop to make his ends meet. And the place he had chosen for his business was so deserted and away from habitation that a dozen customers in a day would be the peak business he can expect. His targets were most likely his friends who would drop by at the end of a day to have a good time together, even if they did not bring in any business. No revenue targets, no growth pressures and no interest in making an extra buck, but just an idle and contented life! And no managers to report to, no fussy subordinates to keep up with and no one to be responsible for. Naturally, at a time he was feeling lazy, he was least interested in spending efforts to make tea, and subsequently wash the glasses and utensils!
Seemed like a good way to live!
Also See part 1 and Gokarna Image Gallery
We arrived at Gokarna Road station around noon, walked to the main road and took a ‘tempo’ to Om Beach.
Near the train station…
Near the train station…
The gang had fairly good plans to spend the four days in Gokarna and there was plenty of moving around to do. But I had decided to take it as a more relaxed weekend, doing nothing much but wander around the beaches.
Arriving at Namaste
We arrived on Saturday morning and checked into the beach side accommodation at Namaste . Namaste resort is built right next to the famous Om Beach and it is a pleasure to sit on the restaurant which is right next to the sands. But the first thing that stuck me when we reached there was that it was an illegal construction built right on the beach. There are many such structures in Gokarna.
Vista of Om beach
We spent the first evening relaxing, walking around and exploring the beach. Like I do often these days, I left my camera behind and spent time watching the waves hit the rock. It was a pleasant evening spent till the hours of sunset, sitting on the rocks that were lashed by waves.
Rocks of Om Beach
A section of Om Beach
Most of the group left for Yana next morning but three of us stayed behind. We started the day late, but an overcast sky meant it did not matter what time of the day is it. We walked northwards to Gokarna town, along the sea shore passing through beautiful rocky shoreline. The seashore around Gokarna is covered with porous chocolate brown rocks inhabited crabs that make a quick run to nearest hiding on sighting anyone approaching. There was a lone fisherman with a long thread, the only human anywhere around us. He had not caught anything since morning, and it did not look like he was too bothered about it. We had lost our way while sticking to the shore and and after consulting the fisherman and some minor rock climbing later, we were back on the bridle path to Gokarna. But we were glad to move off the track, or we would have missed that beautiful rocky shoreline completely.
Rocky shoreline north of Om Beach
Walking along the shore, north of Om Beach
The lone fisherman
The path took us through Kudle beach, which is dirty, full of garbage and many seaside tourist accommodation. An otherwise pretty beach was now in a completely avoidable state. Another fifteen minutes of walk over the hill took us to Gokarna town, where we encountered a couple of temples and narrow streets.
A Woman of Halakki Tribe, She was all smiles
Gokarana is a temple town and a pilgrimage center with a well known temple of Shiva in the name of Mahabaleshwara. Our entry to the town happened through a narrow lane which is very typical of the towns in coastal Karnataka. The structures of the town have a distinct boundary, beyond which is an open space. The first thing we encountered in the town was a Ganapathi temple. The first sights of the town included a few priests walking around and Hallakki tribeswomen selling flowers(big, beautiful hibiscus) and other things of worship. We walked past them and headed towards a lane that was makred ‘to the beach’. Before we hit the beach, we encountered a restaurant which reminded that it was already beyond lunchtime.
Gokarna Beach..
Walking along the Gokarna Beach..
A long and lazy lunch meant we spend almost two hours killing time in the restaurant, till it was evening and a good time to hit the beach. And Gokarna beach turned out to be the best of all beaches, with fine sand, wide beach front which was many kilometers long, lasting as long as we could see. We took a lazy walk along the beach, made a failed attempt to play cricket with children for whom we were unwelcome guests, and eventually settled down somewhere till the hour of sunset. It was a pleasant and quiet evening at the beach.
Kids @ Gokarna Beach..
A girl @ Gokarna Beach..
It was dark when we walked back to Namaste and the gang that had gone to Yana had still not arrived. We had our dinner while waiting for them to come in, and hear their stories. They sure had a good trip and a good time as much as we did.
The centre of Om Beach
The next morning, everyone headed to Gokarna and rest of us again made other plans. We stayed back and walked around Om Beach in the morning hours. As the Sun climbed higher, a friend and I took a bike and started a two hour ride to Sirsi in pouring rains.
Though I am familiar with the landscapes of coastal Karnataka and the Sahayadris, had never ridden on these roads. It was a pleasure to ride on the open roads, and the rains added a lot of fun to it. As we entered the thick forests of Sahyadri, it started becoming cooler and pleasant and the rains also stopped. Two hours and three stops for tender coconut, chai and lunch, we reached Sirsi and settled down there for rest of the day. A hot bath, awesome weather and intermittent rains kept us in great mood. I took a bus from Sirsi back to Bangalore the same night, ending the three day journey along the beaches and hills.
Rest of the gang stayed back at Gokarna for another day and made it back to Bangalore the morning after.
Gokarna Information
Gokarna has been a temple town and well known pilgrimage center in the south for a long time, known for it’s temple of Shiva in the name of Mahabaleshwara. But in the last one decade, influx of foreign tourist looking for less explored destinations outside Goa has made Goakarna’s beaches famous. There are five well known beaches – Gokarna beach, Kudle, Om, Half moon and paradise beaches, ordered from North to South. Of the first three I have seen, Om is the most well known one but I personally found Gokarna beach more appealing. What really impressed me are not the beaches but the colourful rocky seashore north of Om Beach. One of the well known activities in Gokarna is to walk along these beaches in the night. But you also see many signs all over the place saying that walking in the night is dangerous. It is probably safe as long as you are not alone.
Gokarna is connected by single KSRTC bus and a couple of private buses from Bangalore. If you can’t find a place in that, consider travelling to any of the nearby towns – Karwar or Kumta and then change over to a bus to Gokarna. It is a long drive from Bangalore if you want to take the car(May be 500kms). You can choose one of the following routes:
1. Take NH4 to Tumkur, turn left and take NH206 for next 300kms till Honnavar. Then
take NH17 north and pass through Kumta town. You need to turn left after driving for 30 minutes from Kumta. You may not find any signs, so keep asking for directions beyond Kumta.
2. Take NH4 out of Bangalore and drive all the way to Hubli(400kms). Take Hubli-Ankola highway from Hubli till you hit NH17(approx 140km). Take NH17 towards south and ask for directions to Gokaran, which is a right turn from NH17.
There is a train station station 12km from Gokarna, called Gokarna Road Station. This is on the Konkan railway line between Mangalore and Goa; there are no direct trains from Bangalore.
Namaste on Om beach is the most well known accommodation for budget travellers. Kudle beach also has some acco, but nothing worth a mention. If you are on a pilgrimage, you can stay at budget hotels in the town.