Cauvery on the go.. Coorg Part 3

Since we dint have any fixed agenda and were taking each day as it came, today was the day to head to Talacauvery in the Brahmagiri hills and it was decided we werent gonna do anything else, since that trip was bound to take almost all day...

 

When i mentioned Coorg at home, gramma and mom pounced on me - "You have to go Talacauvery, must make a trip... say you will " :).. All i told them was "I shall see"...:)

After having breakfast, and clicking a few pictures of the mushroom waterfall and other sights around the homestay, we piled into the car and began the journey... It was about 80kms or more and so we knew we had a long drive ahead... Thanks to Apar's itouch and our incessant yakking, time flew.. There were the occasional bouts of silence, when A jr would try to get us to behave..hehe.. and then those moments when we saw something interesting, stopped the car to take pictures or just savor the scenery... Filled gas enroute, bought some water and biscuits and off we went...

The air outside was chill, it was drizzling quite heavily and we could see mist taking over the skies, slowly covering the streets as well.. After a point, we could barely see the road... it was a winding path and i guess since Kr had been there before, he knew where he was headed... The scenes that accompanied us during the drive was beautiful.. words fail to do justice... 

After a while, Bhagamandala [it is where the 3 rivers merge-Cauvery with Kanike and Sujoythi ] came in view, but we rode on, deciding to visit Talacauvery 1st..Another 8-9kms took us to Talacauvery [predominantly Ghat roads] ... Heavy drizzle, chill in the air and mist was all that greeted us.. A few kilometers after leaving Hallimane we realised we'd left the big umbrella back in the room.. Luckily Kr had a smaller one in the car. Apar n A jr had raincoats [smart people na!!], Kr bot a plastic cap, and we both managed to share the umbrella, not that it made much of a diff.. we were soaked and freezing... :) But it was good fun!! 

Reached the entrance, took off our shoes, left them safely tucked away under a bench and made our up the steps leading to the tank from where Cauvery is said to rise... There is a bigger tank in front of the shrine, where we saw some visitors taking a quick dip... They then joined the queue in visiting the main shrine... 

A few steps above are the temples for Lord Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu and Ganesha, made a quick visit to all of them before taking a look at the steep steps that led to Brahmagiri hills before making the descent back to the car.  Had it not rained, we would have made the 

climb up the hills.. maybe next time!! 

When we reached Bhagamandala, it was about 1, and the temple was shut.. sat in the car, took in the view, clicked a few pictures and got going to Madikeri for lunch...

but not before stoppping at a small store on the side of the road to buy some Coffee[amazing coffee, shall buy more next time around], and spices.. 

Lunch was at this restaurant, bang opp the Madikeri Fort... [ i have this habit, i see a place and then i get back home/room and try reading about it... to see what all it has, history etc..., this is when i discovered that the Madikeri fort houses a temple, chapel, prison and a small museum] ..

As we were sitting for Lunch, Kr called me and took me to the rear window at the place... What i saw had me stumped...The Omkareshwara temple, in all its glory... What a sight i must say!! That was another place we wanted to visit but was closed ...Built by Lingarajendra in 1820, the temple has both Islamic and Gothic style of architecture. The bars of the windows here are made of Panchaloha and an alphabet lim has been placed in between the bars.. There is also a small temple tank in the premise.. ..

Day was wearing on, and after a bit of driving around Madikeri [ true reason being the search for an ATM] :-)

Nisargadhama, a forest resort by the Cauvery river [about 28kms from Madikeri] comes enroute to Kushal nagar ...  We also saw a board to a spa nearby.infact we'd been seeing quite a few Spa ads along the way.... Apar n i were getting tempted and curious. ;o) ..

As we drove on, we were greeted by 2 giants sauntering on the road, guess they were headed back to their adobe- Dubare... 

Grooving to random music, chit chatting absolute nonsense, we were in high spirits as we reached Hallimane... There was one more day, but we just wanted to laze and soak in the lovely weather and relaxed atmosphere...

 the one on right was our cottage..

 Ok.. shall finish in next post.. its getting too long!! :)