Sigandhur launch ride - The last experience

Many of our plans were seeing roadblocks due to unexpected events at home. Our Rameshwaram and Madhurai plans were also hit due to the demise of our closer relative at young age. Life can turn and twist at any point of time. We better stay calm and lower expectations. Someone truly said that good health past 50yrs is biggest investment of life. Everything else vanishes at blink of an eye!

Meanwhile, anxious moments restarted at our house thanks to the haughty landlords of Bengaluru. It is another sale of flat case. He vehemently had expressed that the flat was solely for rental purpose and now turned the course to selling it. For tenants like us where buying property is expensive in Bengaluru and shifting is chaotic, another pain is due! Everyone knows that shifting houses is arduous and bound to damages of your precious assets. Not sure when this cycle of selling/shifting ends for us.

To ward off the anxiety, we decided firmly to visit Sigandhur chowdeshwari temple this Sunday. There was skepticism whether 22nd March exams would be conducted or not due to inconsequential bandh called by few self-centered activists. Fortunately, the last exams concluded and our visit went as planned.

We departed at 6:30AM from home and obviously it was late. Daily chores wont let you start early. We travelled via Chitradurga-Shivamogga route to Holebaagilu.Heavy truck traffic kept the drive distorted till Tumakuru tbut smooth later on. Upon completion of breakfast nearby Tumakuru, we set for long uninterrupted journey till Holebagilu. The maps was showing the destination to be reached around 2:10PM which is afternoon closing time of temple. We reached the launch boarding point quite early. The additional 30 minutes seems to be due to the calculation of barge ride by google maps. Once reached, there were two options. Either board yourselves or ferry the car alongside. We decided to park car in Holebagilu itself costing Rs.50/-. That was right decision as well since the queue was long and other experiences we had during to & fro journey.

There are in total three barges ferrying people across the backwaters. On every trip they get full especially on weekends. Its generally locals only ride during weekdays for daily routine.

From boarding point, one has to travel in barge for 30 minutes to cross the Sharavathi river backwaters. This waterbody is not natural but man made by submerging acres of land for Linganamakki dam project. Even though launch is fun, thats a tragic story altogether and lets refrain from discussing that. The launch ride would rest soon thanks to ongoing bridge construction which would seamlessly connect Holebagilu with Sigandhur temple. The construction is in full swing also the summer. The western ghats are slowlyy loosing its cool.

This would be one of those last few  rides to Sigandhur via barge. Soon the cable bridge would open and vehicular traffic would flow over the bridge. The barges would be permanently decommissioned. Even though it was poignant moment for barge maintainers, the cable construction was much required due to increase in traffic. Also barge would be risky to ferry people and vehicles in long run since maintenance isn't up to mark. Keeping in safety and volume of traffic, the cable bridge construction was biggest respite for locals than pilgrims. The long pending dream of villagers is coming soon and opened on Monsoon of 2025. Since then we hadn't been to Sigandhur. Someday we plan to revisit and explore scenes from cable bridge!

Before the sunset of launch, we wanted to experience the launch journey which ferries both passengers and vehicles. The launch fee collector reaffirmed that motorway would be rested once bridge is fully commissioned. Not sure what would be living for such people alongside the jeep transporters towards temple. Most of the residents strongly support the bridge construction due to miseries experienced during monsoon season. It would be shameful to rely on primitive transports even during advanced era of construction.

We boarded the launch and found shady area to avoid harsh sun. As launch began its journey, the  kids were excited and jubilant throughout the ride. They were constantly pointing at things and grabbing our attention towards it. It is lifetime experience to ride on barge over the pristine Sharavathi river backwaters. A must enjoy ride before the launch service is nixed. It took 30 mins to reach other end. There are in total 3 barges operating in this area ferrying passengers constantly.

If you rely on public transport, 5:30PM is last slot. If you rely on own or jeep transport, the time is extended till 6:30PM. The public transport has highest priority for obvious reasons. The barge can ferry max 10 four wheelers at a time if public transport is absent. In presence of public transport, the number is max 5. The bumpers of buses are ripped to avoid smashing with ground while deboarding. The steep slope of barge exit makes it difficult for buses to negotiate while driving down. Saw few private vehicles also smashing the bumper against the floor.  I guess that this makeshift removal in buses only when water levels are low? During monsoon season when backwaters have healthy levels, the slope isn't that steep. The concrete surface at the exit of barge is also muddy + sloppy slope making it difficult for private vehicles to easily climb up. Saw many vehicles skidding struggling to make it to mainland. It was good decision to skip ferrying our car! The other disadvantage of ferrying car is that it may be difficult for driver to step out and enjoy the nature. There is hardly even inch of gap to accommodate more four wheelers.

The area is truly nature photogenic. The sunsets would be wondrous to watch

Whatever happens looking at picture, the old has to vanish and new needs to evolve. Except for Indian government offices for sure where new things never evolve and corruption is eternal!

Someone crafted a paper boat and set it afloat on the backwaters. Seems funny/creative. It is also photogenic capture its journey along backwaters. Don't know till what distance it would last its journey. Some point of time, it would soak/topple and drown somewhere and thus abruptly ending its journey. Practically speaking, why would spoil the pristine backwaters with trash. Its difficult to balance between emotions & reality. Its tough internal fight between child and adult.

People may brand you rigid if you bring up cleanliness. Unfortunately, pilgrims trash all over backwaters. Its people who need to understand ultimately. Meanwhile, I didn't track the boat's journey!

River terns were everywhere, diving and swooping over the backwaters. Missed my DSLR and telephoto. Hope one day, I can buy a new one to restart by birding journey.

Its damn hot even in western ghats this year.

Few more nature pictures to wind up!

A short to revisit the launch journey!

Rainshaft window!

Thunderstorms are back in Bengaluru finally. After nearly lull period of rains, baking the ground for nearly 2-3 weeks, the rains finally dropped from heavens with bang. very afternoon, thunderstorm cells are forming over the city, doling out parts of the city with moderate rains. The orchestra in skies have started with flashlights and rumbling turned ON! The Ganesha idol immersion is being complemented by the heavens in its own style. Many parts of city received good rains today too. Our part is still waiting for its first September thunderstorm rains.

The West and south-west were brimming with rain activity. The North and East seemed muted. The East had healthy rains yesterday barring ours :-(. Hopefully the rains would last for at least a week which I assume would include our area also in the list, before moving towards coast. Its predicted that east-west shear zone would resurrect the monsoon in coast for final round.

As narrated above, it didn't rain overhead. We witnessed the rain-shaft window towards south-west. The void between rain-shafts felt like a window until they merged. The winds provided a feeling of flying curtains in form of rain-shafts. It was joyful to watch dark skies and the phenomenon of storm movement.

The weather is pleasant now with cool breeze stemming from heavy showers at CBD but still muggy in our area. Sometimes I dread these thunderstorm due to their gaps. Even though ominous clouds heralded a heavy downpour, nothing eventful happened in our area, unfortunately.

Like the one today which just sprinkled 2mm in our area while poured 40mm in CBD. While their distant manifestation is wondrous to behold, their gaps are annoying. Unfortunately it was our region who was victim of that gap resulting in paltry rain. Anyway, not every day can be winning moment.

Today the skies cleared up and weather turned muggy. Hopefully our region will witness much awaited rains during evening. Fingers crossed!

ಬ್ಯಾಕೆಂಡ್ - ೩೧

"ದುಡ್ಡು ಮಾಡೋ ಬೇವರ್ಸಿ..

ನಿಂಗು ಸಿಗ್ತಾಳೆ ಊರ್ವಶಿ"

ಹೌದು ದುಡಿಯಿರಿ ದುಡ್ಡು ಮಾಡಿ ಆದರೆ ಊರ್ವಶಿ ಸಿಗ್ಲಿಕ್ಕೆ ಬೇಡ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಗ್ರಹಚಾರ ಕೆಟ್ರೆ ಊರ್ವಶಿ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯನಾ ಉಡಿಸ್ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರೂ ಮಾಡಬಹುದು. ಬಹುಷಃ ಬೇವರ್ಸಿ ಅನ್ನೋ ಪದ ಸೋಮಾರಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಬಳಸಿರಬಹುದು ಅಥವಾ ಆಫೀಸ್ ರಗಳೆಗಳ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಕೆಲಸವನ್ನು ಕಡೆಗಳಿಸುವವರಿಗೆ ವಿವರಿಸಿರಬಹುದು. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಊರ್ವಶಿ ಅನ್ನೋದು ಅಲಂಕಾರಿಕ ಅನ್ನೋತರ ಕೂಡಾ ಇರಬಹುದು, ಎಲ್ಲ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯದು ಸಿಗುತ್ತೆ ಅಂತಾ!

"ತೋರಿಕೆಯ ಜೀವನ" ಅನ್ನೋ ಜಗತ್ತು ಈಗ. ಆದರೆ ನೀವು ಹಾಗೆ ಆಗಬೇಡಿ. ದುಡ್ಡು ನಿಮ್ಮ ಫ್ರೀಡಂ ಗೋಸ್ಕರ ಮಾಡಿ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ರಕ್ಷಣೆ ಗೋಸ್ಕರ ಮಾಡಿ. ದುಡ್ಡು ಇಲ್ಲದೆ ಈ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವ ಕೆಲಸವೂ ನಡೆಯಲ್ಲ. ಕೃಷ್ಣನ ಅವತಾರ ಕೂಡ ನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶವನ್ನು ರಕ್ಷಿಸಲೊಲ್ಲ. ಪ್ರಳಯ ಬರಬೇಕು ಅಷ್ಟೇ. ತೆಂಗಿನಕಾಯಿ ಒಡೆದ್ರೆ, ಬಾವಿ ತರ ತೂತು ಬೀಳೋ ರೋಡ್ ಮಾಡ್ತಾರೆ. ಅಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಭ್ರಷ್ಟಾಚಾರ. ಬಿಟ್ಟಿ ದುಡ್ಡು ತಿನ್ನೋ ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ನೌಕರರು, ರಾಜಕಾರಣಿಗೋಸ್ಕರನಾದ್ರೂ ದುಡ್ಡು ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ನೋಡಿ. ಹಣ ಸಿಗದಿದ್ದರೂ "ಕೊಡುವವನು ನೀನು, ಕೊಂಬುವವನು ನಾನು" ಅಂತ ದಾಸರು ಹೇಳಿದಂತೆ ಭಗವಂತನನ್ನು ನೆನೆದು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನವನ್ನು ಮುಂದುವರೆಸಬೇಕು.

"ವಿಶ್ವಾಸದಲ್ಲೇ ವಿಷ ಇದೆ.."

ಮೇಲ್ಗಡೆ ಕೂಡ ಬರೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಓಹೋ, ವಿಶ್ವಾಸದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಷ ಇದೆ, ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಊರ್ವಶಿ ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯ ಕಥೆ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದು ನಾನು. ಅದನ್ನು ಕೂಡಾ parallel ಆಗಿ ಬರೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅತಿಯಾದ ವಿಶ್ವಾದ ಅನ್ನೋದು ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಂಡಾಂತರ ನೋಡಿ.

ಡಿ-ಮಾರ್ಟ್ ಪಕ್ಕ ಕಂಡ ಆಟೋ ಬರಹ. ಡಿ-ಮಾರ್ಟ್ ಕೂಡ ಇರೋ ದುಡ್ಡು ಉಳಿಸಲು ಒಂದು ದಾರಿ ಅಂದರೆ ತಪ್ಪಾಗದು. ದುಡ್ಡು ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ದುಡಿದರೆ cheap cheap ಅಂತಾ D-mart ಅಂತಾ ಅಂಗಡಿಯ ನೂಕು ನುಗ್ಗಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕಷ್ಟಪಡೋದು ತಪ್ಪುತ್ತೆ. ನೀವೇ ವಿಚಾರಿಸಿ ನೋಡಿ ಒಮ್ಮೆ!

Mattighatta Waterfalls – A Trail of Skepticism and a Tale of a Fulfilled desire!

Mattighatta waterfall has been in my list for more than decade since I started by professional journey. The primary bottleneck to visit the falls was the absence of partners. No one was ready to join me to trek through dense jungles at that time. It was nasty 6km hike to reach the waterfall. Last December, I decided I would take my lifetime partner to the falls and satiate my exploration. This would be the ideal time to visit waterfalls. This spot is nearly impossible to reach during monsoon due to tough terrains, slippery rocks, leeches and dense jungle. The creek the runs throughout the trail would be brimming with rapids which would be life threatening to cross.

After a divine visit to Sonda Vadiraj mutt and savoring tasty breakfast at my wife's uncle house, we directly headed to Mattighatta village. The roads were in excellent condition but snaky. The dense jungle spread all along the journey was spooky. The network was no worth here. We didn't trace even single dot of signal in our mobile. After a winding drive of nearly 50kms for 2 hours, we reached the Mattighatta village. We enquired the villagers about waterfall. The locals asked us to take a different route than one pinned in maps which was worth taking. They also assured that its safer to reach now.

Instead of going through normal trail which would be 6km odd trek, they suggested alternative route to off roading till a known location and then trek for 1.5km on a jungle trail. It was tricky off roading for nearly 3kms. The road was mostly mud road with patch of concrete roads. At once we thought to be lost but the distant view of waterfall kept our confidence high.

Revving up engine at intervals to negotiate steep roads. The drive was difficult through ballast strewn mud road with absolute zero presence of civilisation.

We reached a village and asked guidance from local. He asked us to drive backwards and look for the deviation with trayambakam board painted on dish. From here, he asked us to drive till a bridge is spotted. As per his instruction, we headed back and found the board hidden behind the thick shrubs

Here is place where we missed Trayambakam board hidden under vegetation. We should have taken right instead we drove straight!

Satisfied us, found the bridge as well as pointed by local and found few North Indian workers doing labor. They guided us to the right trail. The labourers were working in plantation owned by local. He asked us to be careful and not to be adventurous. Please listen to advices from locals. The serious mishaps would prompt authorities to close down the trail permanently which would be unwise on peaceful enthusiasts like me. With this, we began our hike.

Right side is start of trail

Despite two months past the monsoon season, the streams were still flourishing.

Hopping those boulders doesn't seem easy!

Enter the grandeur.

Feel the rainforest 😎

Behold the beauty 😍

Enjoy silence of formidable jungle

Undoubtedly, Western ghats are the epitome of beauty without makeup!

Initially we walked through trail easily which later led to stream strewn with rocks. We initially thought that we have lost way because it seemed dead-end. The stream trail leads us all the way towards the waterfalls. However, this path is arduous due to boulder strewn bed, gushing waters, slippery rocks. Hopping between huge boulders needs good body stamina and grip in your foot like labourers.

We headed back and requested worker to guide us. He was generous to guide us and showed us the trail from stream. He asked us to follow trail and never get down until you see waterfall. Below are picture which we failed to spot initially. The bushes were the culprit which made trail invisible by covering it.

The dense jungle kept us on tenterhooks, but the increasingly loud gushing of water signalled that the waterfall was drawing near. My wife was still skeptical on spotting waterfall and felt nervous. I assured that we would soon spot it.

As we climbed and negotiated narrow trails, we heard the sound of people enjoying in waterfall. Few more ups and downs from cliffs, we finally spotted the waterfall! Anxiety, skepticism, fear turned into joy in a trice after spotting the waterfall post arduous trek. An adrenaline rush of joy erupted from within

The waterfall from distance looks like slender white tree. You can feel the energy only if you move closer by. I didn't capture much images. Most of the moments are captured in form of videos which is composed as YT shorts which I have provided at last. Don't miss to have click the play button and enjoy the real feel of waterfall.

We rested in one of many waterfalls that plunges from hillocks and merges with waterfall stream. There are plenty such tiny waterfall for few distance along the trail

The body was dehydrated and famished. We consumed plenty of water both from packed bottles and as well as pristine stream.  The dates and dry fruits filled the tummy. The kids played for nearly 30 minutes in the cascade. Despite being winter, the hike made us sweat profusely. We couldn't venture closer to the waterfall due to the tough terrain leading to its base. The gushing water, the large boulders need to be negotiated to reach waterfall closely. A glimpse of trail to reach base is as below!

The waterfall is a cascading one, with multiple plunges before its final dive into a deep gorge. I guess the stream merges with Aghanashini river. Some of the cascades remain hidden, obscured by the boulders flanking the trail. Perhaps,  moving closer to waterfall would have exposed them all.

Earlier, during a family function, we spoke to a local who mentioned that the road was paved all the way to the waterfall. However, that was not the case, as reaching the waterfall involved off-roading followed by a hike through the jungle. Even though we weren't primed for such an unusual trail, we successfully made it to the vicinity of the waterfall. Despite all odds and skepticism, it was a pleasant walk through the woods and serene surroundings. Fortunately, neither did leeches invade us, nor did we encounter any deadly reptiles, especially king cobras.

One more batch of labourers were seen enjoying swimming in waterfall. They seemed to be heavily built whole heartedly enjoying nature's charisma. They were easily hopping the boulders without an iota of error. Even though they motivated us to jump boulders and cross streams, we were not confident. Also it would be tough for kids to manage safely. I was greatly satisfied though looking from distance! It was worth the exploration. The trail of skepticism culminated into a tale of most satisfying dream fulfilled. Apart from us, there weren't any outside visitors. Perhaps this waterfall remains lesser known among enthusiasts because it’s hard to reach.

Please don't do this 🙏🙏

Uplifted by the euphoric sight of the waterfalls, we easily made our way to the parking spot. There was no possibility of getting lost in trail. 

On concluding note, 

For visitors, I would request you to remain humble and sober. Please refrain from indulging in adventurous activities along the trail or near the waterfall. It would help you to be safe and also not block future visitors. The risky topography is not worth the adventure and risk your life. Any untoward incident could prompt the authorities to restrict future visits, depriving peaceful enthusiasts like us of the opportunity to explore the place. 

There are no trail marks, no shops, sparse civilisation, absolute nil assistance nearby or even at hike start point. Human presence is zero nearby waterfall. So plan everything on your own.

The dense jungle shrouds the sunlight, keeping the region dark even in broad daylight. Hence, try to wind up the hike by 4 PM at the latest.

Monsoon trekking is risky and dangerous with streams overflowing, unexpected floods, tree falls etc..

This is not officially a designated tourist destination. Only enthusiasts hike here. See if locals can guide you till waterfall. There is also a home stay nearby Mattighatta. May be they also facilitate trek to waterfall.

Last but most important, please do not trash the place. Carry your own trash bags. Live only memories, but do not leave trashes. These are pristine forests of India and home for wide range of wild animals. Do not litter their homes.

Here is a short from the visit. It’s way more beautiful than it looks in YouTube Shorts