Kodachadri - the best sunset till date in the mountains.

There are few journeys which go with a perfect plan. Trek to Kodachadri was one of the best planned trek organized by Nomads. We started with Nagara fort followed by Kodachadri trek, Kolluru , Marvante beach, Alvekodi beach and ended with Darshan of Lord Shiva in Murudeshwara. I and Vineeth know the places of Shivamogga and Coastal Karnataka very well. It helped us to come up with a neat plan with alternatives.

We were 12 in number. Most of them were my colleagues in Bosch. Our plan was for 2 days. We started in a Tempo traveller from Bangalore at 9:30 PM from Devegowda petrol bunk. By the time we reached Hebbal via ring road, it was already 11:00 PM. We had dinner in one of the Daba after Tumkur. I was totally awake whole night and by the time we reached Hosanagara it was 7:45 AM. Our plan was to freshen up in Hosnagara but we thought of going to Nagara fort and then freshen up in the falls on the way to kodachadri trek.

Nagara fort

Nagara is 17 km from Hosanagara taluk, Shivamogga. One of the famous ruler who ruled this region is Shivappa Nayaka of Keladi. Nagara was capital for the Keladi rulers for some period. Though the fort is in very endangered form , but the remains of the fort is worth visiting. You can find the remains of Darbar Hall, Akka tangi Kola. Surrounded by beautiful hills , it looks picturesque. A worth visiting place if you are near Hosanagara or Kodachadri.

We spent more than an hour in this place and rushed to the Kodachadri starting point. We referred Kotresh blog for the routes. There are two routes. to Kodachadri trek.

1. One via Hidlumane falls

2. One via Santhosh hotel

Kodachadri trek

Kodachadri which is famous for kutaja flowers and hence the Kodachadri. It is also famous because Sage Adi Shankaracharya visited this place and built a small temple by name Sarvajna peeta. But for me this is very much close to my heart because Shivaram Karanth visited this place and mentions this as best of three beautiful peaks close to coastal Karnataka. (Other being Kumara Parvatha and Kudremukha)

We started our trek from the Hidlumane falls route. We need to take left turn one the way to Nittur from Shimogga (1.5 Km before Nittur). You will get a sign board of Kodachadri on the left side. It is better to take a guide otherwise you might miss the falls route. He will charge you around 500 Rs for whole team. You will get some small shops where you can have a breakfast. You will also a find a public toilet and tap. Every one had Chitranna and Puliogre in that shop.

It was total 8 km trek to Bhatru Mane and from there it is 1.5 km to Peak. It was already 10 : 30 AM when we started. 4 km towards forest took us to Hidlumane falls. On the way we had butter milk. We all had 2 cups of Buttermilk since we were little tired. For some of them the forest route was new and for us it was routine.

Hidlumane falls flows with full force during rainy season. So it s not advisable to take this route during heavy rain. Since it was just the beginning of monsoon, there was not much rain. Water was hitting with full force but it was very thin line of water. We took bath in the falls. Make sure that you don't use soap inside the falls. It is harmful to aquatic animals.

We spent an hour in the falls and then moved towards bhatru mane. It is a thick forest and people say there are wild animals also. After the falls, a slope comes which is the only little difficult part of trek. This slope is of almost 70-75 degree.

If you move few kilometers, you will find the Galipata view point where movie Galipata was shot. From there it is mud road and after few distance you will get the temple. Bhatru mane is near the temple.

We first went to Government guest house where we had lunch . For lunch we had rice, rasam and sambar. Butter milk was also there. They charged 60 Rs for Lunch. For dinner also they will charge 60 Rs.

There are two temples and two priests are taking care. We didn't get rooms in the house where we reserved (this is all because of our guide who wanted some commission)but we got the room in one more Bhatru mane. They charged 175 / head. You will get rooms for 150 Rs also in Guest house. Because of our guide, we didn't get it, since he wanted to take some commission out of it. We put our bags in Bhatru mane and rushed towards sunset point.

We saw Sarvajnana peeta. From there we moved to the sunset point which is only a few distance away.

It was full of mist and cloud. We thought that we would not be able to see sunset. But the clouds moved and showed us the most beautiful sunset we had ever seen. It was no near. It looked as if we were in different world.

Look at this picture. I have never seen Sun so close. It was mix of the anger , the care and the love of the Sun. For a time being it looked like Lord Shiva is dancing and the clouds are moving left and right for the music of Damaru. It was such a beautiful moment for all of us. For some people it will remain one of the best trip they ever had. For me, born in Sagar and finished my high school in same place , it took me this many years to reach this place. But there was a happiness for finally making it to God's one of the beautiful creation.

Every one was happy and they ignored the darkness which was prevailing. We took the help of torch to come down to Bhatru mane. We had our dinner in Govt guest house. We got mats and bed sheets and in that cold climate we got a very good sleep. Morning we went for sunrise to another hill point. Though it was not visible because of the clouds, we could see the beautiful view from the top. It is a 360 degree view point. We spent some time there and returned back to bhatru mane. Completing morning formalities, we went for a breakfast to guest house.

For breakfast we had upma and chitranna. We were already late. We packed our our bag and took another descending route towards Santhosh hotel. It was only 5-6 km and since it was descending track, in 2 hours we reached Santhosh hotel. Now few people didn't had bath so I took them to a pond near by. After having bath we went to kollur Marikamba temple and had lunch there.

Marvante beach

We had a small stop in the Marvante beach. Marvante beach is one of the most beautiful beach, you could see in Karnataka. For me it is always the most memorable beach along with Alvekodi beach. Lot of childhood memories are associated with this beach. The one which is beautiful is always dangerous, It applies to Marvante beach also. In the beginning only it is having depth and because of high water current many peope have died here. So it is not advisable to get into water here. But it is one of the beautiful sunset point in the coastal Karnataka. Even I can say a cleanest beach where you can spend time.

After Marvante beach, we went to Summer ice cream in Bhatkal. This is where, I and my brother used to have ice cream, when we were kid. Gadbad is very famous here and I ordered the same for all. Every one had two cups of ice cream.

Then we went to Alvekodi, my granny's place. After my Granny's death, I have rarely visited this village. Small river flows in this village and it is also known by the same name. It joins the Arabian sea and near the sangam there is a temple Durga Parameshwari which is very popular in this region.

First we went to the view point where the river joins the sea. This place has been very common to me since I used to spend most of my school holidays here. But others were very much thrilled about the place. What really makes this place more interesting is big trees near the temple and the calmness of the place. The day starts here early morning with a visit to temple. After that only they will take up any work. A completely spiritual environment where the people are more inclined towards the service to God.

After the view point, we moved towards the beach. Beach is very calm, you find rarely a tourist here. One reason is people prefer Murudeshwara beach because of the Shiva temple. Secondly it is a remote village kept away from money making business.

If you visit here try to avoid river joining point where the current is more. But this is more a friendly beach where you can spend your useful time. Sunset here changes colour with every minute. It is an awesome place to visit for all kinds of people. Only thing is that you find more plastic and other materials in the entry point because the sea takes all those waste from boat to the sea bed.

After the sun set, we took darshan of Durga Parameshwari and moved towards Murudeshwara. I have already written about Murudeshwara in my blog. Except me, every one had darshan of Lord Shiva. I was enquiring about restaurants with my cousin. People who wanted to taste non veg went to non veg hotel and others had food in Kamat hotel, Murudeshwara. For non veg, Nisarga is popular restaurant, but expect delay in service. After having dinner we said good bye to Murudeshwara and
left to Bangalore. Throughout our journey, driver was very cooperative. He was getting sleep in between. So I was awake till we reached Bangalore. At 6:15 we were at Mekhri circle. It was indeed one of the most beautiful trip of my life. And also a better organised and better planned trip of Nomads. Thanks to Ananda, my ex-colleague who gave useful information about the Kodachadri trek.