It was Thursday evening, 24th of November, 2011, the weather changed from dry sunny to drizzling, cold. Thanks to cyclone for an awesome weather at the odd season of November. The same weather continued to Friday, and it was fore casted to prevail for another 2 days. The stage was set for a drive, which was in my mind for the past few weeks. No chance of letting go off the beautiful weather doing nothing!
Mobile started banging with the alarm set at 6-30 am in the morning of Saturday. Felt super cool when i realised it is raining/drizzling outside. After finishing the morning rituals, loaded the necessary items into my bag like camera, clothes etc, bought some eatables from the shop near to my house and fired the engine at sharp 7-45 am. Had break fast on the way at Koramanagala, hit the Silk Board elevated highway. My first time drive over the new electronic city express way was amazing with the drizzle through out, i was moving with the general traffic at a speed of 60 to 80 kmph. Crossed Hosur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Thopur paying toll at couple of places enjoying the awesome weather outside. The place where i took deviation from the national highway to state highway (i.e., at Thopur) had an amazing mountain peak right in front of the highway, fully covered with mist. An impulse of trekking to this peak triggered my mind :). Continued in the state highway towards Mecheri, Mettur. Reached Mettur dam, but drive on the dam as shown in the Google Maps, only two wheelers are allowed. Had to cross the river/dam in an alternate bridge beside the dam.
There is a Thermal Power plant built just at the foot of the reservoir. There are many industries which are dependent on these dam like JSW Steel, Chemplast etc. After spending some time near the dam, thought of climbing a small peak adjacent to the dam, with steps facilitated for the climb. In 0.5 hour, reached the peak for an hawk eye of the reservoir. There is a small temple at the peak, filled with calmness and high energy ambiance. One side exposing the huge reservoir with small islands at many places, which were descent sized mountains couple of years back. They were trying to remind the olden days, mocking the visitors about human's great constructions. In the other side, the entire Mettur town had exposed herself partially naked, as if to pose for modelling. Spent some time at the top, started descending down with a satisfaction about the plan to visit Mettur. Mettur town is around 5 km from the sub-dam where i had parked my vehicle. Had my lunch at Sharavan Bhavan and took rest for half an hour.
It was 3-00 pm when i woke up from the after noon nap and there were plenty of explorations to be done for the day. Cursing myself, started the engine, came out of the town. Reached the main dam, which is 2 km from the Mettur town towards Mysore road. I decided to skip this place, as it was not my cup of tea. This place has a big park, with zoo kind of thing inside, which is right in front of the dam. The entry to the dam is not allowed. So its just the park which you can visit here. I also had read in many blogs, that the people from the nearby area visit this place with their lunch box, mess out the place and return after a nap. I just confirmed this information by peeping from the gate outside and decided to skip!
Thanks to God Varuna for a continuous rain for 1.5 hours till i reached Hogenakal from Mettur. This was the creamy part of the entire drive with road going along the side of the backwaters some times as close to 250 feet. From Mettur, it is the one single road towards MM Hills with out any deviation. Palar is the border village along the road between Tamilnadu and Karnataka. The road from Bangalore till Palar was superb & neatly maintained. Soon i entered Karntaka, i could see the drastic change in the road maintaince from the other side to here. It was pot holed road, at some places its hard to say its a state highway (infact its hard to say, it is tarred road).
Took deviation to the right at Palar to reach Hogenakal which is 28 km from Palar, along the river side of Kaveri with a scenic beauty through out. Road passes through a village called Gopinatham, a place which has marked its strong foot hold in history. The village is inside the forest, enjoying the natures beauty & nurtured by the river, Kaveri. At least, people of 3 states i.e., Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala can not forget not because of her serene beuty. The village has given birth to a notorious dacoit, sandalwood & ivory poacher, murderer of 184 people (mainly police force), killer of 200 elephants, Veerappan. Unfortunately, such a pristine village is famous for some thing which they can not boast the pride. I wanted to visit the dacoit's house, but some how i was not comfortable. I continued to the water falls, which is 9 km from here.
Hired a coracle and went near the falls. As it was raining, i was fully drenched when i reached the falls, which is a 15~20 minutes of coracle ride from the shore. I could take the coracle near to the falls, upon my request through the strong water current. Though it was a risky affair, that's the advantage of travelling alone :). Coracle dropped me on the other side of the river, which is part of Tamilnadu. Enjoyed the nice view from the watch tower of the Indian Niagara Falls. I could not go till the bridge, as it was raining & had left my umbrella in the car. In 15~20 minutes, i headed back to shore, in the other side.
Started back in the same route, the same road has to be driven till Palar, to reach Madheshwara Hills. At Palar, i joined the state highway & from here on, it is the ghat section of the road, till MM Hills. The road is very very bad, with the single lane road through out. It was 6-15 pm, when i reached Palar, it was totally dark. Could not enjoy the scenic much as it was raining heavily with a visibility of a few meters. Reached the hill top at around 7-30 pm, taking 1 hour to drive the 20 km of ghat road.
Male Mahadeshwara Hills, is located in the Kollegal district of Karnataka, at a distance of 80 km from Kollegal, the district head quarters. The place is famous for the Madheshwara temple, located at the top of the hill surrounding many misty hills. I reached the temple at 7-30 pm, with a warm welcome by heavy rain. Surprised to find out at the temple office, my room reservation had not been done (Room can be booked by sending a fax to them, at least one day in advance). As it is undertaken by the State Government, there is no point in shouting at them. So thought of searching for private room, it was difficult as the entire village/town was in dark, due to the breakage of power lines , havoc created by rain. It was already 12 hours of power cut & the people were expecting for the better day ahead. At 8-30 pm, i could accommodate in a descent private lodge for that area (water was not there due to power loss). Visited the temple and had dinner at the Anna Santarpane. The weather was very cold with mist taking control of the area. Decided to call off the day at 10-00 pm.
Woke up in the morning 6-30 am to experience the misty hills. Tasted the pristine nature for an hour, and checked out of the lodge. Had break fast at the nearby hotel and departed at sharp 8-30 am. Drive, till i reached the base of MM Hills was awesome. It was through dense fog, with a visibility of a few feets. I had done driving through foggy roads many times, but not at this low visibility level. Enjoyed the two lane ghat road which has been tarred very recently with a very less traffic. The drive till Kollegal, i.e., a mere 80 km stretch was blessed with huge peaks with greenery every where. I thought of not stopping any where for today & directly headed back to bangalore on the Kanakapura highway. It was a nice drive, with a contsant speed of 80 kmph. Reached Bangalore at 1-30 pm.
The total distance traveled was 550 km in one & half day. Thanks to my diciplined driving to get a mileage of 18.2 km/liter, with defogger ON, most of the driving time except the last 150 km drive.
Route :
Bangalore -> Hosur -> Krishnagiri -> Dharmapuri -> Thopur -> Mecheri -> Mettur -> Palar -> Hogenakal -> Palar -> MM Hills -> Kollegal -> Kanakapura -> Bangalore
- The road from Bangalore to Palar is very good
- The accommodation in MM Hills can be booked by sending a fax to the temple office. Its better to call them first, en quire about the phone number to be faxed
- There is no proper hotels in MM Hills which provide descent quality food atleast like that of Darshini's here in Bangalore
- From Kollegal to Bangalore road is good
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