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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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| Sunset from hill |
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| View of Konkan railway bridge cutting through Swarna river overlooking from hill. |
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| Close up of Swarna River |
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!
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