Kundadka falls near Kukke Subramanya

We planned impromptu stay in most revered kukke Subramanya temple and sought his blessings on less crowded busy temple. The visit has been long due which was finally fulfilled without any hassle. We had tummy full of darshan with stay of nearly 20mins near sanctum which would be impossible during busy days. Thanks to non-holiday season, the darshan was smooth without standing in queue. Also we had tummy full of tasty temple meals (both lunch and dinner) which avoided outside food. Since the darshan concluded surprisingly early, we had plenty of time left for the day to spend in Subramanya. My wife had earmarked couple of waterfalls to visit nearby to make the visit worth the stay. One of them was kundadka falls nearby.

The falls is hardly 30 mins drive towards Kadaba highway. The deviation for couple of kms is located amidst the highway. Since roads were good barring few rugged stretches, it took 30 mins only to reach the location pinned in maps. The final 1.5km deviation was mud road with protruding rock structures. As soon as we reached the pinned location, there wasn't any sign of waterfalls or its gush. We became nervous and skeptical if we had reached right place. We parked the car at wider area and walked forward along muddy trail. There was a sudden shift to concrete road but still no sign of waterfalls. Wife also became anxious and for a moment we thought of returning since loud thunder threatened heavy rains. The people presence was nil and passerby bike riders did not help us.

Not seeing waterfall would demoralize us and we stood firm and walked along concrete road and reached a gate. Perhaps, it was rubber estate gate. The mind was relieved when we saw directions to waterfall pasted on the gate.

Finally some relief! The gate was locked though. A narrow entry would guide us to move along the further trail. We walked through the muddy trail but still no sound of waterfall. We again became skeptical. At once, our thought was that trail would have been blocked by creepers. We kept mind steady and moved forward. After walk of 200m, the sound of waterfall started striking mildly our ears. As we moved further, the sound accentuated and we were sure of spotting it.

Finally, the creeks began showing up and waterfall unleashed behind the bushy trail. What a majestic scene and soul satisfying it was! The forest path was instantly transformed to open playground with waterfall. The rains too helped us by restricting themselves to fleeting mild drizzles. The topography is not risky too! Its flat area where waterfall plunges directly to base. There are no risky rocks unless you try to climb the rocks. Good thing was we were only visitor during that time. It seems like people presence was less due to non-holiday season or less visibility.

The waterfall is plunge type i.e. no intermediate cascade section. Not sure if there are cascade above the plunge outset point. The waterfall plunges through the rocky surface chiseled artistically to create mini cascade pattern. That decelerates the velocity of waterfall as it reaches base.

The base of waterfall is not deep (hardly 1-2 mts) deep and has safe topography to play and bath. Kids whole heartedly played in water pool. Even though the area is safe and free from depth, I recommend to be cautious since the rocks are hard and slippery. Surprisingly, I have never seen safe waterfall topography than this anytime. Looks like waterfall situated amidst playground just to refresh post play fatigue.

Just reach the location pinned in maps. Drive further for 100mts. When you reach concrete road, spot the gate from where walk along trail for 300mts to reach waterfall. The waterfalls seems to be sourced from local hill or stream. Hence not a all-round year visiting place. We visited during September and hence sufficient water could be  found. Avoid during peak monsoon season since the area is desolated. Also watch out for wild elephant movements as per warning boards.

Final Note:

This place is revered by locals as sacred place of serpent gods. Please maintain cleanliness and restrict using soaps. Also maintain silence in this pristine environment. Enjoy the melody of birds, rhythm of waterfall and beauty of nature.

A short to end the blog!

Droplets after rain

It has been lethargic monsoon so far in June. There are hopes of it reviving soon but not exactly when. The dry air from north and el-nino is showing their strength. The subdued rains of June seems to be precursor to deficient rainfall as predicted by MET department. Meanwhile, Bengaluru city is experiencing moderate rains this June intermittently. Nothing scary since city receives most rains during break monsoon or during pre/post monsoon periods. Overall, the figures are quite impressive. 

One fine day, the city was baking in June which was unsual sight. Unusual due to weak monsoon conditions. Weak monsoon conditions generally trigger intense thunderstorms in city and thus hellping the local water bodies to flourish. This day same visuals were seen. The humid weather turned pitch-dark at 3:45PM and huge mass of cloud engulfed city. The energetic rain coupled with strong winds lasted for nearly 30mins. The rain gauge clocked at 30mm. That was huge respite that drought isn't nearby.

Post the rains, I witnessed shiny drops over the pots planted by bestie. The palak leaves and turmeric leaves were adorned with pearls of rain drops. That tempted me to capture few shots in macro mode which turned out pretty well. Here are few of those.

Could not take rain video due to incoming gusty winds.