Najangudu
Early morning very comfortable weather we started our journey from Mysore with my friend Car. Around 9 we reached this temple. It is a big temple complex which located in the town on the right bank of River Kapila & this ancient temple dedicated to Shiva - Nanjundeswara or Srikanteswara that is rich in legend, historical and artistic significance also it’s known as "Dakshina Kashi .
The shrine, cosmic Linga representing Shiva is very ancient one. Earliest records are available from the reign of Gangas who ruled this region for more than seven hundred years (325 - 1000 C.E). The original temple is of early Ganga period. 
Innovations were made during the reign of Hoysala, Vijayanagara (1339-1565 C.E) and Wodeyars of Mysore. Tipu Sultan of Mysore was a patron of this temple. It is said that the sultan believed that his elephant was cured of diseases by the grace of the presiding deity of this temple and hence he made endowments to this temple.
Local legend says, this is the place of churning ocean by gods and demons to obtain nectar. Before obtaining nectar, deadliest poison gushed out, which would have destroyed the entire universe. Shiva the savior came to rescue and himself gulped down the venom, to save cosmos. Most of it got struck in his throat which turned green or blue. Hence he is also called Vishakantha (poison throated) or Neelakantha (blue-throated).
His consort Parvati prevented the poison from entering Shiva's system by hugging him and clinging to his throat which otherwise would have been disastrous.
Hence he is also called Shreekantheswara (Shree = Goddess Parvati) and the town got the name as Nanjangud which means the place of his residence.
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The place is also known as Tirunarayanpura. It is built on rocky hills known as Yadavagiri or Yadugiri overlooking the Kaveri valley. This shrine is known for its long standing association with the spiritual leader Ramanujacharya. Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana who had become a follower of Ramanujacharya granted the fertile land as Ashta-Gramas on the banks of river Cauvery. 
Melkote has two distinct temples. First temple is situated on the top of the hill is an attractive temple dedicated to Lord Yoga Narasimha. After climbing 100 more steps we reached Narasimha Temple. It is believed that the image of Yoga Narasimha temple was installed by Prahlada. Krishnaraja Wodeyar III presented a gold crown to this temple.
After that we visit Kalyani(The temple houses a large pond called as Kalyani Theertha)The temple premises also houses the oldest Sanskrit college named Sri Veda Vedantha Bodhini Sanskrit Mahapathashala.
This ancient Sanskrit college in India dates back to 1854. The institution continues to provide instruction in Sanskrit and Indian Philosophy.
After that we visited one half constructed temples which is also one of the very famous place here. When we finish all this temples it was already late so we moved to the main temple which is a square building of large size but very plain is dedicated to Lord Cheluva Narayana Swamy. The temples of Melkote have made the town a popular tourist attraction. 
My friend Ravi brings Puliyogare & some sweets from priest house everyone tasted it & returned back with nice memories of our ancient spiritual word.
Vairamudi Utsav or Vairamudi festivalthis temple of Melkote is popular for its Vairamudi Utsav, which is held in the month of March/April, the procession idol of Cheluvaraya Narayana Swamy is decorated with a diamond crown and taken out in procession. 
The Vairamudi utsav, which is the chief annual celebration, is witnessed by more than 4 lakh people.It is believed that the diamond crown is not to be viewed at when it is not worn by the utsav murthy (procession idol); hence every year, on the occasion, the officiating priest takes out the crown from its chest with his eyes blindfolded and then places it on the head of the idol of Sri Cheluvaraya Narayana Swamy.This Crown set known as Rajamudi was presented to the temple by Rajawodeyar of Mysore & Krishnaraja Wodeyar3 also presented a crown set with precious jewels known as Krishnaraja Mudi. 
We woke up to a bright fresh crisp morning very early and started our journey again after an hour we reached Lakshmi Estate; we parked our bikes and started walking from the estate office. Initially for some distance it's a jeep track and then it is dense forest, there are two routes to this place and without a proper map we tend to get lost.
Such a nice place it was, this place was fully surrounded by hills. On return we had bath in one beautiful hidden waterfall in Estate. 
Later we visited Pattadakallu temple which contains a group of 10 major temples surrounded by minor shriners & plinths each depicting the architecture of the Chalukyas of Kalyani. Overall a pleasurable trip with a unique waterfall to add to our experience....
My first visit was to the famous Mahakuta temple which is surrounded by hills and cool atmosphere, located 14 kms away from Badami, in Bagalkot District.This place is famous for the Mahakuteshwara Temple, the temple dedicated to Shiva. 
It was built in the Dravidian style, In the courtyard, there are 15 small temples with intricate sculptures. The temples, built by Chalukyan dynasty, are dated to the 6th or 7th century. This place is often called Dakshina Kasi because of its religious importance.
Mahakuta was once a great center of shaiva cult. Now only in one temple poojas are performed.Here,the principle temple is devoted to Shiva of Mahakuta, or Mahakuteshwara, and another to Mallikarjuna - another aspect of Shiva. 
There is also a natural spring pond called Vishnu Pushkarni near the Mahakuta temple. This restored temple complex of about two dozen Shrines dedicated to Shiva, is built around a large spring-fed tank which is within an enclosed wall. On the old gateway to the south-east, one can see figures of Bhairava and Chamunda.
There is a Lingam in the sanctum, surmounted by a storeyed tower with an octagonal domed roof. The best carvings can be seen on the basement frieze, which has fine scrollwork and figures from the epics. In the wall niches one can see large figures of Shiva, including that of Shiva as Ardhanarisvara (half man and half woman).
On the other side of the tank one comes across the Mallikarjuna Temple which has a similar structure. It has fine specimen of carvings at the entrance and on the ceiling of the columned Mandap inside, depicting Hindu Gods and Goddesses and Mithuna Couples (couples in love). 
Inside the enclosure, there are various smaller shrines, with fine wall carvings of Shiva with Parvati, Brahma and flying couples with lotuses. This is a worth visiting place.
It was raining and it was green & mist all over. The places like Kollur-Agumbe were heaven when it rains.. Numerous twisties for the pleasure of riding we reached this village. Belkal teertha is About 50 km from Udupi, located deep in the Western Ghats .
we had this 2 hour hard trekking we were in the heaven...the trek path has a dead end wherever find tall & green mountains all around.. ..And this lengthy white water making a spectacular fall piercing the green mountain, The splash of water particles all over your face, hmmm….didn’t feel like leaving that place.
The Mausoleum Of Tipu Sulthan...
Trek during monsoon is really thrilling. Streams overflowing, rivers touching danger limits are a few common sights. To catch up any waterfall at this season is really challenging and also very risky. This time me & my friend Kamat sir (Ramesh kamath) planned to go to Anadka waterfalls, so we planned to go on Bike.
After a hard long Bike ride on affected road we reached Didupe village. There we parked our bike near one house. Anadka falls is about 2kms by walk from Didupe. Passing through few estates, habitation lessened and thick forest invited us. After 15minutes calm walk we reached the spot. Seeing the enchanting beauty of the waterfall our minds were elated. The water flowing through thick forests & diving into deep ravine was at its purest form. 
Though it was very cold, we were tempted by the water. We found a suitable place to take bath, enjoyed for some time. We had a great time spending time in such a beautiful place. So after that we planned to continue to our adventure, so Kamth sir insisted we go to Samse village through dense Yaeleneeru ghat. He collected some information about that route & also we enquired some local persons about our plan & got good news as to the route was open for public that day.
Finally we started on my Bike. But really next 3hours journey was one of the most memorial adventure trips in my life time, there are no words to express. Nature is always beautiful enough to attract people but also enough to injure careless people. So with care if we do adventure really it would become memorable.
Come Independence Day I look forward for a holiday to run to nature and this time was no exception august 15th turned out to be a Saturday and had two days of holidays. I had planned to visit Waynad to see Meenmutti falls and an alternate plan of going to Chunchunkatte falls unfortunately both did not work as planned but that did not deter my spirits.Finally I contact my friend & she planed a night trek to Skandagiri.
Hoy Sala" (Strike Sala!) said the guru Sudatta Muni to his student, Sala who was in an armed combat with a tiger that had entered a temple. The student struck the animal in one blow, immortalizing himself and his victim. The guru was so pleased that he asked Sala to establish a kingdom and the Hoysala dynasty were established. The folklore became so popular that every temple of the Hoysalas has a carving of this story. Historians dismiss the myth, but stories like these have a certain fascination about them. 
Although it is currently used as a Shiva temple dedicated to God Shiva, historians are unsure by which faith or sect this temple was originally consecrated & to which deity. This ambiguity perhaps stems from the many loose sculptures of deities that exit & the dilapidation of primary wall images. 
Rainy season has it's own charm and trekking in rain has no words to explain, one such trek was organized by youth hostel Mangalore unit it was a one day trek to Kallarbi falls near Charmadi, we started early in the morning with nonstop rain but nature was so green and clean every tree looked so happy getting soaked in rain, 
this time we were quiet a big crowd with many participants who were eagerly waiting to embrace nature,We had our breakfast at a temple on the way ,hot coffee and buns were right combination to get us going in full spirit, after a short trek we reached a roaring river and a bridge which was built in 1963 it was a pleasure to watch the river flowing in full glory, we had to take permission from Banjrumale estate to reach the fall.
We finished our breakfast in middle & reached Pettarkatte bus stop at 9am. After 2 km’s drive we reached Kamblakodu village finally 5 minutes calm walk we reached this beautiful place. Shambhavi River here drops from 10 feet height in beautifully, this is a very wide waterfalls & the fall is in its full glory during monsoon. After spending some time in this place we returned back & moved to our next destiny place.
So finally a tough walk we reached main fall the place where the waterfalls are located is surrounded by lush greenery & the foliage around the spot is attractive. One more step in upstairs of this but because of heavy rain we can’t reach & we canceled to go Pancarbi, we returned back Mala & had lunch in one small village hotel.
I reached the place by 9am the glorious heritage was reflected in the magnificent temple it's architecture took me to many hundred years in time I was lost thinking how beautiful and precise things were though the technology was not as advanced as it is now one has to agree its man's super brain be it any time or advancement nothing compared to human wonder and this temple was a classic example,
We started from Bangalore we had to reach Kotagiri from Ooty though we had booked the tickets we were in for a big surprise as to our boarding place was not from majestic but some other place getting to know about this in the last minute we ran pillar to post trying to catch the bus at the next stop finally we made it after lot of running around finally seated we started our journey( little did we know that more surprises were in store). 
making our trip back we were still in those mountains completely lost didn't want to face the city life again forcing ourselves planning our next trip gave us little comfort , on the way back through Madhumalai forest and Bandipur park we were treated to herd of many wild elephants( looked like they too had planned Sunday outing with family many baby elephants with their mothers were happily posing for photos) enjoying themselves in the rain got to see few wild boars and many spotted deer’s,
Our guide seeing our enthusiasm and joy told us he would take us to another place more beautiful called BeteBare (may be he was still not convinced till then if we could really make it finally he must have decided we could and took the interest to show us another place) 
After another hour's walk the forest became more dense and suddenly there was a clearing and open place with just a rock jutting out and a dead end the jutting rock and a small clearing there we were looking into paradise we could see kodachadri in all its splendour we could'n stand as wind was very strong and the rock was congested but being crazy it did stand and felt was one with nature with endless valley of green thick forest. 
While returning we took another different route and within half an hour we were back on the jeep track,all we could think was valleys water falls and forest none of us could speak for nature had cast us a spell.
Some part of places in first day was little steep, but manageable we reached a wonderful falls (
YHA Udupi volunteers had already reached the place ahead of us gave all of us a warm welcome they had arranged everything and the pitched tents was a sight to behold after settling down with stars to guide us around we had our dinner and slipped into our sleeping bags looking forward for a big adventure. Selection of trek route was excellent & also management of arrangement was simply superb by YHAI.
Next day morning we woke up to the calls of the jungle we were so excited though we had trekked the whole day previously, we were looking forward for the next day's adventure sounds of nature and excitement woke us up early and fresh, breakfast was a delicacy a tastefully prepared dish under the guidance of our expert Mr.Adiga known for his culinary expertise which was cooked at the camp the fresh aroma was mouthwatering. After a sumptuous breakfast we started our trek deep into the jungles our second day journey into the wilderness began with lot of enthusiasm.
Our second day trek was with many memorable experiences we passed through typical grassland-shoals, eco-systems which are prevalent all over the Western Ghats, the moist deciduous, semi-evergreen & evergreen forest paths untouched by any human was very beautiful the raw nature pure clean air is all a human needs to blend with.
A few minutes walk in the forest the thick forest becomes more dense the silent surroundings kept us mesmerised even the view from the top even before we could reach the fall was breathtaking.
It is a great scene to watch any waterfall in its full glory and this was a average one. From this point to the base of the waterfalls was even tougher to go and it was almost like getting down a huge steep rock. Thankfully it did not rain for it would have been near to impossible to trek down in rain.
The climb up was tougher but quicker than expected. As the sunlight faded away the forests became more and more dark. Totally it was a memorable trek a pleasent memory to carry back with a refreshing mind, looking forward to many more very soon......
This was my second visit to this place & this time also this trip was led by one of my trekking partner Ramesh Kamath. 
We reached the base of the hill where we have to pay a minimum amount of Rs 30/- to the forest dept who are maintaining the fort. The trek is more of climbing steps than a serious climb.The total number of steps is around 1800, but you won’t realize all the steps you just think its ruins or its just rock and then we slowly start climbing steeper and steeper domains. 
We see a rock face after some time; we get a nice view of the Kudremukh mountain range from this open rock face. We took some rest there & moved ahead. 
The fort is more than 500 meter height, and its circumference at the bottom is about 4 to 5 kilometers. It is one of the most challenging trek in Rainy & Summer season. 
Inside the citadel, at the top there are two unclean sweet water tanks (not well maintained). One of the bastions has a dismantled iron canon. Ruins of walls and parapets can be seen. A small construction of Tippu's time is the only shelter. The wall of this construction is about one meter in width that to it is of solid rock. The most surprising thing is that the fort has a plateau of about 4 to 5 acres right at the top. 
The nearly 1876 steps to the fort are cut out of this granite hill (probably with the help of French Engineers) and lead all the way to the top through the fort to the summit. 
Yana is situated in the lush evergreen forests of the Sahyadri range of mountains. Yana is popular amongst the adventure lovers with a passion to trek. Yana ’s major attraction is a pair of tall, pointed rock formations. The Bhairaveshwara Shikhara (120Mts) & Mohini Shikhara (90Mts) are two mighty limestone peaks. Mohini Shikhara definitely looks more pretty compared to the more rugged Bhairava Shikhara. 
Yana is religiously known as the place where Lord Shiva killed Bhasmasura the monster who tormented the world during his time. 
We had a walk around Bhairava Shikhara and came back. It was an enjoyable walk. After that we got a grace of Lord Shiva (Bhairaveswar) inside the Bhairava Shikhara.This is a small historic cave temple &Water from the limestone caves constantly fall on the idol of Shiva forming a stream & later it joins the river Aganashini.
More than hundreds of different types of hidden rock mountains are situated in these surrounded stretchy forests. A lot of commercialization has taken place here slowly robbing the natural beauty of this place. But again if you are a real nature lover you can see so many untouched places which can be explored with short treks.
