Hidden Jewels on NH17

                                           Hidden Jewels on NH17

My Murudeshwara tale would be incomplete if I don't discuss "Hidden jewels on NH17" which are so precious, enticing and beautiful for any passionate traveler that one can not afford to skip and move ahead without visiting them.


Let me begin with the first jewel, falls on NH17, 30 km away from Karwar: Honey beach in Ankola.In fact, this is a kind of a private and secluded beach, owned by Honey Beach Resort. Beautifully designed, pricey rooms and cottages(well..we were lucky enough to get a really good deal as we bargained hard and had a great evening watching Rajasthani dance performed by a troupe ). One can have a splendid holiday break in this sun-kissed beach resort.

The second jewel is also not far away from here, between Ankola and Kumta: Gokharna literally means "Ear of a cow", a small temple town on the west coast in Utter Kannada..the place has its mythological story about its origin, also been discussed in Bhagavad Geeta. It is considered to be one of the seven important pilgrimage places of Hindus(Lord Shiva's origin place). There are some 6-7 temples including Mahabaleshwara temple, Uma Maheshwara, Bhadra kaali, Tamra Gauri, and Venkatraman,(the reason why the place is called a temple town). Don't be surprised to see"No entry for foreigners" written on the entry wall of Mahabaleshwara temple. Otherwise, the place is full of pilgrims and tourists, with dozens of pundits performing poojas, yagyas and  hommas for people.

Apart from religious tourism, the place is a perfect holiday destination because of its unique beaches. The most famous beach is OM beach because of its shape of om (surprises of nature). Other beaches are:
Half moon, Gokarna, and Kudale, all are unique in their own way.

Coming to the places to eat outside the temples: Prema's Restaurant, Mahalaxmi hotel and Pai hotel(We tried Pai hotel on temple road for its tasty, cheap and standard south Indian flavor).However, if you are planning to spend some more time here, few expensive resorts are on the beach sides(Namaste Cafe,OM beach resort,Kudle resort to name a few:,For a while you may get confused about the place as there are almost all foreigners except  the resort's staff  :)Besides theses pricey resorts, some affordable accommodations are also available (around the temple).

 Pristine OM beach



Let's go a little ahead from here, some 30 km away and reach another tiny coastal town: Kumta, famous for its wooden craft. The shop best known for the art is situated in the town with the name"Mahalsa".Some amazing art-pieces and well-crafted souvenirs are available, though the place is pretty pricey and can do holes in your pocket, nevertheless highly recommended for shopping. You can also buy good quality (and slightly cheaper than the market) cashews as there is a factory inside the town. You can also spot some local artists, sitting on the roadsides selling fantastic stone-craft.
From this town, a road goes inside towards another tourist place: Yana(nothing to do with the model Yana Gupta:), famous for two monoliths massive rocks and 61 limestone structures including a Shiva linga in the cave. One can also visit Vibhuti falls close to this place.

Move to another paradise from kumata to: Marwanthe(100km,2 hrs). See to believe (photo below).

Serene backwater



 
 Holy Supranik river(waiting for boat to reach palm grove Padukone island)



This is one of its kind of place where one can enjoy the beauty of a river and a sea together. NH17is sandwiched between the Arabian sea and Supranik river. On the other side of the river, an island like village known as "Padukone Village"( Badminton legend's Prakash Padukone's ancestral place). The only mode of transportation to reach this village is a hand-rowed boat which takes tourists and villagers across the river. This is certainly a must- visit place if you are looking to spend some time with yourself and nature peacefully. There are a couple of staying options available such as Turtle Bay beach resort(not pocket-friendly, though good and have sea sports activities) and Sai Vishram hotel (cannot comment). One can also visit a small temple constructed on the bank of the river
 From here one can reach another divine place called Mukhambika temple dedicated to Mukhambika Devi, on Kundapur-Kullur road, around one hour from Marwanthe. Be prepared to stand in long ques as the temple is frequently very crowded with worshipers. Also for men, it is compulsory to remove shirt like in most of the Kerala temples. Around the temple, plenty of hotels, dharamshalas and homestays are available ranging from a high end to very low end.
 Despite finding so much around NH17, I still hope there are many more hidden secrets of nature, yet to explore and to share with you...

Travelling tales 2- Murudeshwara and Karwar

Ever since we have been to Murudeshwara and Karwar,do not remember exactly to how many friends we have suggested to visit these two wonderful places.I remember first time we visited Karwar and Murudeshwar in the year 2006 and afterwords almost every year have been to these two amazing places again and again.We fell in love with the serenity ,crystal- clear green water and flour like soft sand of the beaches at first sight.After that,some dozens of trips happened and dozens of tales wrote on the mind ,of the same route and same place.Here i am going to share one such  traveling tale which belongs to these two "Perfect for vacation "places.


Travelling tales 2- Murudeshwara and Karwar
 For a long time,i was contemplating to explore some more unexplored parts of the Northern Karnataka as every time we have been  taking same route to reach Murudeshwara and Karwar,i.e NH4 from Pune to Hubli and then SH63(via Kalgatti-Yellapur-Ramangulli -Adsur-Ankola)connecting to NH17(Ankola to Karwar  or Ankola-Kumta-Honavar- Murudeshwara).


https://www.google.co.in/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=pune+to+karwar

This time we decided to take a different route from Yellapur( Yellapur-Sirsi-Siddapur-via Jog falls-Honavar-Murudeshwar)  just perpendicular to SH63 ,( Take left from police station towards Yellapur bus stop ,you will hit SH 93). As i was fascinated to explore one unknown destination -Sahasralinga( (means hundreds of shiv lingas) on the way to Sirsi,some 40 km away from Yellapur.The place is on the banks of Shalmala rivers where you will see some one thousand Shiva lingas carved on the rocks.Road was surprisingly in a very good condition,though a bit narrow.This route is certainly more scenic  and greener surrounded by tiny hamlets and jungles.It took us almost one hour to reach Sahasralinga from Yellapur.We were amused to see so many lingas together in the water.(some home stays are available around ,if you like the place and want to stay here overnight.

                                                      Sahasralinga

                                                    Hanging Bridge near Sahasralinga

We planned to move on after spending half an hour there.Our next destination was a temple in Sirsi (Sonda)-Marikamba,15 km away.It took roughly 20 minutes to locate the temple as we got confused in a lane.Well.......all i can say that it is really very simple temple. There are couple of good restaurants like Panchvati,Satkar,Shivani in the Sirsi town(It is advisable to have lunch here or in yellapur as soon after this place dense thick forest starts with no option for food up to Honavar).


 By the way, here are few good places to eat on the way-

McD- on Kolhapur bypass(with washrooms)
Ramdev Restaurant(Belgaum)
 Shanbaug Hotel-Yellapur(Almost in the end of Yellapur)
Sapna restaurant(Ankola.v.tasty and cheap)just near the round about.

 RNS(Murudeshwara, sitting over the sea)



Our next destination was 63 km away, Jog falls.Except few patchy sections, road was in a very good shape .We got bit confused with few stretches ,but with the help of locals, we clarified our doubts and went ahead.On our way,we caught some magnificent glimpses of Gerusoppa  valley and water reservoir from a machan. On reaching jog falls,we got very disappointed as falls did not appear very impressing because water was very less .Though we spotted a bunch of  Art students making sketches of the falls.


 

                                                                 Jog Falls

                                                          Gerusoppa Valley

                                                         Gerusoppa Valley

 We decided not to stop anywhere till we reach Murudeshwara that takes another 2 hrs from here (final Destination)as we were in dire need of a cup of tea now.From Honavar onward NH17 starts but this time stretch (from Honavar to Murudeshwara) was really bad ,bumpy(may be due to rains) and almost non-moterable.Car was literally crawling,a real test of patience.Finally we saw sea waves welcoming us which apparently took away all the tiredness we experienced through the journey.And the decent and comfortable rooms of RNS further added charm to this place.we ordered a tea pot as soon as we reached in the room.The best part of this hotel is you can enjoy beauty of  the sea sitting in your ac room having a cup of tea/coffee without being affected by outside temperature with a reasonable tariff just 2000 rs per night(bathrooms with tub). As all rooms of RNS are sea- facing nevertheless,view from right side rooms is much better .

Let me discuss a bit about the place.Murudeshwar is a very tiny town established by the group RNS (Hotels,Colleges,schools even petrol pump)touching sea shore.Murudeshwar has four major attractions:a temple (with a huge garden,statues,idols,a lift and many more things...),123 feet tall Shiva statue and breath taking beach and of course lovely, authentic cheap food (What more one can ask for?...).

RNSresidency(White Bulding)

Temple


 Grand statue of Lord Shiva



 

 
 
Coming back to my tale,next day we spent enjoying beauty of the place and our stay.As we had one more day to rejoice,we headed to Karwar(roughly 2 hrs) i.e again driving on NH17 in opposite direction towards Goa.Karwar is another charming sleepy town with all basic facilities and very few hotels(actually a navy base,a port town), hardly few km away from Goa.We always prefer to stay in Premier residency inside the Karwar town as it offers comfort,cleanliness safety and tasty food so did this time too.(Premier residency has two hotels facing each other,both are good)if you love sea food ,then Shwetha lunch home and Amrit hotel are the best .
You can also try Udupi cafe near hotel Bhadra on NH17 itself.




Beach ship museum park

 
Karwar Beach

Tagore Beach
Attractions and activities-Beaches(Tagore beach as Rabindernath visited  the place in  1882 and dedicated a full chapter to this place )Devbagh beach,Majali beach,Karwar beach etc,a small fish museum, Beach ship museum park, dedicated to Indian navy,houseboat in backwater and many more. As i always wanted to see all allies of the town, this time we drove on narrow,but beautiful lanes inside the Karwar which added on to few more sweet memories of the place.

Travelling tales1- A trip to Badami and around

  “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” – Saint Augustine


My bizarre obsession to know the hidden secrets behind every mountain,to see every shore of the sea,to peep into a cluster of dense trees,to view how many colors of a sea can be,to feel how much soft a beach sand can be and to measure the end of an endless water through my eyes,perhaps drives me to wander amazing places.My infinite wander lust knows nothing,but to unfold an unknown ,hidden secret of the nature!!!!!



 Travelling tales1- A trip to Badami and around 

One such desire took me to a place, not so popular among tourists, Badami,Karnataka.
Traveling Tale:Badami,Karnataka.
It was November 2011,When we had a long weekend after a long time,three days to enjoy (Friday,Saturday,Sunday)... But with very few options(viz.Mahabaleshwar,Khandala,Matheran or Kashid beach) and we knew these places will be entirely packed on weekends. After hours of searching on internet,finally we found a place which could be covered within 3 days and possibly lesser crowded than others... Badami,some 462 km away from Pune,a tiny place with great archaeological significance(Word Heritage Site), an ancient town situated at Bagalkot district,Karnataka Badami was the capital of the Chalukya dynasty which has some temples,caves and monuments. 

We started around 10 o 'clock in the morning with an idea to hit NH4 in an hour. As the Nh4 road is in a very good shape up to Belgaum,Our planning was to reach Belguam by 4:30 including few breaks. As estimated correctly,before 5pm,we landed at a decent,affordable hotel, Sai International with gated underground parking in Belgaum for the night halt (need not to go inside the city as the hotel is off NH4 first right turn before the over bridge as soon as Belgaum city starts).A famous restaurant Ramdev, quite a favorite among medical students for its delicious ,sumptuous and cheap food, just diagonal to Sai International. On asking few locals about our destination,we decided to book a full day cab with the driver who is familiar with every nook and corner of the place than taking our car (as all temples are scattered in the interior) so booked a taxi from a nearby kiosk of Makemytrip.

Next morning around 8 o' clock after having light ,fluffy idlies and onion utthpam ,we headed towards Badami via Bachi - Raichur Hwy,SH45 and NH218 to Badami Rd . On our way, we saw dozens of parrots flying in a valley(do not remember the place exactly).Within 3 hrs ,we reached our destination,entire town has scattered huge red rocky mountains. Our first place was Badami cave,belong to Chalukya dynasty (one can immediately recollect movies shot here viz.Rawdy Rathore,Guru etc:)The Badami cave temples are a complex of four cave temples surrounded by an artificial lake ,called Agastya ,an example of magnificent rock-cut architecture,with some fifty
steps. (beware of monkeys)

First cave portrays the dancing Shiva, as Natraja. Second cave shows Vishnu as Trivikarma and Cave 3, is the largest one , a Vaishnava cave. Cave 4 features detailed carvings and diverse range of motifs belonging to Jainism . We spent around one hour here ,clicking pics and appreciating marvelous structures. After that ,moved to museum adjacent to caves .Pre-historical sculptures and stone equipments are the main attractions of the museum. From here,we went to Bhuthnath temple(did not have much to see from inside).We decided to have lunch at Krishna resort as hunger pangs strike. Good,tasty,authentic Karnataka thali.Now we headed to Pattadakal(half an hour)to see Virupaksha temple,Sangameshvara temple,Chandrashekhara temple ,Kashivisvanatha temple and Galganatha temple to name a few. Everywhere you need to buy ticket(nominal), (queues had more foreigners than Indian).

It was around 4 o'clock,we decided to go back,though I wanted to visit few monuments of Aihole too,but time was short. We returned to our hotel around 7,had dinner and retired to hotel room. Next morning started 7:30 for Pune and reached home safely by afternoon.