A brief visit to Manipal end point

10 Feb 2017,

This article was hidden in diary. After rummaging through the erratic drawer, I found the diary where I had documented the story of visit. Hope you like the post.

Calm Friday evening. Day after the conclusion of bustling ceremony, my mind yearned for a short relaxation. The place I chose was none other than Manipal End Point. Sometimes indecisiveness created turmoil in my mind but the whimsical soul said give it a go. Impulsiveness has never good to me majority of occasion but rarely it works like in this case. I chose this iconic place not because of it's familiar, but due to beauty of snaking Swarna river hemmed between mighty hillocks and paddy fields. The scene is quite refreshing and wondrous during monsoon season.

We started our journey in car at around 5:30PM. The car swept along udupi-manipal road flanked by tiled roof houses, legendary institutions, beautiful temples and archaic restaurants. As we rose up along the last leg of the stretch, the scene instantly changed. Drive deep inside, we saw concrete pinnacles, glass moulded buildings, pizza huts, star hotels and why not posh Chinese restaurants which Indians overly admire alongside chinese mobiles. This was irksome transformation to me who visit the native place to feel relieved from such visual cacophonies. The cityscape texture morph from udupi to Manipal swayed my mood back to noisy city life with unreal aura of modernity. For people like me who obsess about rural landscapes, such drastic change of landscape resembling Bangalore creates additional vexation. But as we reach the endpoint, the sublime scenery vanquished all turbulences.

Nevertheless, the theme of this post is not to brag about my moody moments. With the help of navigation, we comfortably reached the end point gate in 15 mins. In earlier times, vehicles were allowed till the dead end of destination but now the entry restricted till gate. From there, 1km walk leads us to the end point location. It was relaxing moment when we saw the snaking swarna river through the rural landscape. This is the nearest place to Udupi where we can blend with nature and respire its pristine scent. Few seating huts are constructed to enjoy scenery beneath the hillocks. Also one can witness the Konkan rail passing through Swarna river bridge atop hill.

Sunset from hill

A well-formed trail along the mountain leads you to base of hillock closer to the beautiful bank of river Swarna. You witness stark contrast as you scamper downhill. The opulence of concrete pinnacles is drastically replaced by luxury of nature. The enchanting scene is surrounded with greenery and tranquilness. A small but neat Siddhi-Vinayak temple is located nearby tops-up the sanctity of the place. A resort is located nearby for opulent citizens to unwind. The resort however though clouds the expansive view of Swarna river :-(. After brief stay and gaze, it was turn to head back. The uphill climb though minor is tedious (or I felt so due to lack of practice). On reaching the summit, I was sweating profusely which proved the raise of humidity with onset of spring. With brief huff and puff backed by snacks, I reached summit and joined my sister again. That was minor workout for slouching techie. At the fag end of hike, the slouching techie was immersed in saline water originated from burnt fat.

View of Konkan railway bridge cutting through Swarna river overlooking from hill.

The sunset was not so much interesting to shoot due to lousy haze. Moreover, the city scape blemishes the entire western horizon. In rainy season, the landscape is much verdant and vibrant to behold. The rains clear the haze paving way to azure sky which is inexplicable. The western horizon displays the orange hued matchboxed cityscape during sunset hours. Contrastingly, the eastern horizon hosts some of splendid landscapes comprising of Swarna river, the swaying palms, dense vegetations and paddy fields. Probably monsoon is best time to cherish such a beauty. The sky would be at its best, the clear atmosphere exposing sun well, the rivers would be flourishing with full capacity, the paddy fields will be textured with greenery and why not mountains will be brimming with verdant beauty. The monsoon season accentuates the beauty of these nature reserves but it is daunting task to trek down due to slippery trail. If you are landscape enthusiast, the best time to visit during the sunrise of break monsoon season. The sunrise with backdrop of distant western ghats, tranquil scenes of rivers & fields would compose an ideal landscape frame.

Close up of Swarna River

A short stay of an hour more ended our visit to Manipal end point and it was bid adieu to the spot. another 1km walk back to gate, lead us to car parking arena. Smug with the excursion, myself happily drove back to udupi.

For many months my soul was physically and mentally strangled amidst blizzard of shrilling wagons, languid city life and tyranny of carbon. Certainly this visit fleetingly absolved from the frigid web.

The video sums up the landscape & sunset viewed atop the hill and the hinterland scenes of Swarna river. If situation permits, I will have another visit during fag end of monsoon season!

Srinivasa Saagara (Jakkalamadagu) reservoir

25th Feb 2018,

Spring is about to step-in here at Bangalore. It has been pale weekend until I decided to visit the Jakkalamadagu reservoir near Doddaballapur (henceforth referred to as DB-Town). It was actually October plan when newspapers (vernacular ones) reported that the reservoir was abound with rain water after huge gap. Until then, I never heard of this massive container. The newspaper reports stimulated me to visit the area and feel the nature. The October timeline would have been ideal considering the withdraw phase of monsoon and verdant nature. The water would be sludgy but nature, at its best. Anyways, as usual excuses thwarted my journey and today it finally arrived.

I finished my lunch on bright Sunday and throttled motorbike towards DB-town. Bike was cranky last week ago which I got repaired. So I was confident to roll it for long distances.

Unlike the last visit to Ghati-Subramanya, the road is motorable now with authorities constructing one lane neatly. The parallel lanes are under construction and at some places are hindered by land acquisition, electric pole shifting etc.. Even though the railway overbridge is under construction near industrial area, similar bridge is completed near D-Cross. The over-bridge at D-Cross is great relief in this route considering the overwhelming vehicular traffic. Last time I almost wasted 15mins near the gate waiting for train to cross. This time the path was like a thoroughfare :-). On the other hand, good things bare cost and this road will be tolled on completion :-). The toll gates are also under brisk construction!

There was no need of maps till DB cross. Later on, I switched on maps and it showed linear path with no hiccups. The location is just 16kms along Chikkaballapura (henceforth referred as CB-town) road. In midst of ride, I was not mindful and lost the route. The map led to me to jagged roads and sometimes even bumpy mud roads. If I remember in my earlier rides, maps used to warn when journey turns astray. At first, I thought the journey is botched up. Before skepticism could creep in, I decided to rewind my journey from DB cross. As I headed back to main road, the maps started re-routing the track. Aha! This was the first time I realized that map adapts to your path. The Google Maps is now enhanced to re-route your direction if you lose the path. However, the new enhancement is proving to be troublesome along rural paths. I faced this issue even while scouting Jakkur lake. Probably, they need to provide an option to lock route so that we don't digress. Eventually, I returned to main road and turned the bike towards DB cross. Voila!, just 500mts after DB cross, is a left turn which I miscued while riding. I was not heedful at that time which led me to weird tracks. Now I could vision clear milestone and well paved road. I veered the bike towards this tiny rural road and map was also on track. The rural path is narrow but evenly laid. Last few kms is bit bumpy for low-key two wheelers like mine. There is absolutely feeble traffic with countable vehicles :D. All along the path you behold those distant hills, ride along the up & downs, drift along the forest area and why not, lift helmet (or glasses down) to breathe with nature :-). 14 kms of gentle ride lead me to the jakkalamadagu reservoir and now its time to have fun. From quite a distance, the reservoir filled with blue waters greets you to its lap. What a majestic scene from the distance itself.

The inaugural stone was laid by none other than Sir M Visheshwaraiah on the said date as shown in picture. Probably, he was the one who engineered this reservoir as well.

Hemmed between semi-arid hills, Srinivasa Saagara reservoir (also known as Jakkalmadagu reservoir) is one of those perfect destinations for nature lovers and landscape cohorts. Probably name is originated due to presence of  Sri Venkateshwara temple nearby reservoir. One more water-body nearby Bangalore rejuvenated by last year's monsoon rains. The Jakkalamadagu reservoir brimmed in year 2017 after whopping gap of 12 years also brimming joy on the faces of nearby villagers. Even though my desire was to visit this place during October time-frame, irrational reasons thwarted the plans.A fine early spring afternoon the slack mind bloomed to have ride towards this reservoir. It was worth visiting despite the blistering Sun. A placid get-away discovered nearby Bangalore. This place would be abound with beauty of verdant nature at fag-end of monsoon. The water is lone source of drinking water to towns of DB & CB and prohibited for farming purposes. Apart from reservoir, one can enjoy the charm of bucolic world by beholding variety of vegetable cultivation.

There were no clouds, vegetation was bleak but sky was azure. The azure sky reflecting on to the clean water flashed by evening Sun framed an autonomous perfect landscape setup. As usual, I hustled to capture those shots before it's too late. It was never late though since I reached around 3PM. However, the excitement is unstoppable after beholding the divinity of pristine nature.

Most of the farmers here grow tomatoes, avare (Hyacinth bean) and few green leafy vegetables.

It was moment of felicity for citizens of DB & CB towns last year. The source of drinking water which is this reservoir, completely filled thanks to the copious monsoon rains that teemed the region over period of 2 months. The troposphere which roared during the monsoon season showered joy into the bleak water-bodies by recharging them to full potential. The brimming reservoir has enabled unabated water supply to DB & CB towns at-least for couple of years. In fact, its not only the rains in the reservoir area but majority contribution arrived from the streams rolling from nearby mountains including Nandi Hills.

I had brief conversation with the supervisor responsible for chikkaballapur pump-house.

Despite the monsoon retreat around October end of 2017, the reservoir still maintains 50feet deep water which could quench drinking water requirement of both towns for 2years without any rains. That may be bit exaggerating considering the summer heat. Perhaps he meant, even low rains could sustain good storage quantity. Was I able to gauge the depth? Absolutely no, but supervisor has superior familiarity than me :-)

The water is strictly for drinking water purpose of DB and CB towns. The water cannot be used for irrigation needs. Two pump-houses in reservoir facilitate to propel the water towards CB and DB towns respectively. The pump continuously operates from morning 7AM to evening 5PM.

This place is solely for nature lovers. Revelers are banned invariably by curbing activities such as swimming, alcohol, bathing etc.. Please understand that water is drinking water source hence be wise before dabbling with such precious resource. May be you can do fishing in nearby swamps.

My desire was to capture aerial view of the reservoir from neighboring hills but could not make it to any of summits

An ideal destination for wanderlusts.This place is exclusively for nature lovers. Revelers are banned indirectly by imposing restrictions on swimming, eating, bathing, alcohol etc.. Please note that this is source of drinking water and humble cognizance is required even before you think of dabbling with precious resource.

Time to go home!

My lone Partner :-)

Video:

as the Sun steadily advanced into the western horizon, the landscape on eastern horizon accentuated in a way no editing was required. The saturation on sky, the exposure on mountain and color on the water was perfect. Perhaps, golden hour in this region would have been fascinating to watch. I had to ride back towards city due to time constraints also due to the fact that the path is desolated till DB town. This place without doubt, would be heaven during golden hour especially when sun is shying behind patch of clouds. Apologize for the tiny patch on video. It's dirt on the censor which needs a cleaning. I understand that the small dirt blemishes the clip badly and hopefully, will soon clean it.

Transportation:

There is absolutely no means of transportation available to this marvelous destination. I did not see any mode of transport (buses, mini-buses, shared auto) plying on this route. All I could see infrequent two-wheelers and sparse four-wheelers during my fleeting stay of 2hrs. You need to have own vehicle to reach this place.

Food:

Doddaballapur is the only option for food. En-route to Doddaballapur from Yelahanka, Ganesh grand is possible option. I had evening snacks here and the taste was good except for the high-prices.

Capturing the reflective moment

In this post, I hankered to capture those reflective moment on the swamp developed for slush race.  One fine evening, I captured the faint reflections and it was worth the effort. Due to the scorching Sun, the water was almost dried up. Patches of puddles were enough to capture the reflection of clouds over the abandoned field. Due to light evening rains, the clouds were hovering over the fields. The large clouds disintegrated into tinier ones paving way for beautiful evening Sun. The golden hour was fantastic to behold due to the presence of rich colors and the equally magnificent reflections. Here are those moments!

Away from Lighthouse

22nd October 2018,

It was concluding day of my short Navaratri vacation. Me along with nephew set out for brief visit to Kapu beach. Since the sun sets early nowadays, we had really short time. The journey started at 5PM and lasted for 90 mins. My little ones were in other grandparent's house and consequently we were the only two interested.

Due to absence of toddlers, we set out for a different walk away from lighthouse. We explored the other side of the Kapu beach which is predominantly covered with coconut trees. It also give rise to the perceptions which I never tried till date. The scene was not as exciting as my last visit but worth capturing. Also we walked barefoot to feel the dunes and massage our knees!

It was literally eudaemonic to see paltry crowd "away from lighthouse" and there was plethora of time to frame those golden shots unobstructed by human presence! The only team I could notice was the couple having pre-wedding(or something else) shoot backed by drone and opulent DSLRs. In fact, the crowd nearby lighthouse was also minimal owing to conclusion of Dasara holidays.

Strangely, we spotted lot of dead marine life. The reason is still remains mystical to me. We had churmuri and gobi-manchurian to conclude our day.