Trip to Shivasamudram

This is an ideal location for a day long outing from Bangalore. Shivasamudram is around 130kms from Bangalore and 5 of us set out to go here last Saturday. The drive to Shivasamudram was pretty smooth except for a 3km stretch of road after Malavalli which is still being laid.

River Cauvery falls majestically here and forms the Shivasamudram falls which is also referred to as Shivanasamudram falls. This is located in the Mandya district in Karnataka. There are two falls called Bharachukki and Gaganachukki. Both offer magnificent views though the experience of Bharachukki was far better than Gaganachukki.

Gaganachukki

Not many people know that Shivasamudram was the first place to have a hydroelectric plant in Asia which was built nearly a century ago. The power plant is called Bluff and this is the place where the first falls is located. It is called Gaganachukki.

We were fortunate to visit this place during monsoon time and the roar of the falls was deafening at some places. It was quite a spectacular site to watch the falls from the watch tower as for safety reasons we were not allowed to go near the falls. You can see the falls from two places. One is from the side of Bluff and the other point of view is near the dargah. It looked quite dangerous to get down.

Some pictures:

Bharachukki

This is around a distance of 10kms from Bluff and around 2kms from the dargah. You will have to cross a bridge before you reach Bharachukki and this is the place where the river branches to create two falls so close to each other. Don’t miss this place. If you have time for just one falls, then go here.

At Bharachukki a staircase has been made to get down near the falls. It is pretty steep but the pains of getting down there are worth the effort. Once you get down there are 2 places where you can go. Either you can just go down right to the end of the stairs and sit near the water for sometime or take a detour to reach the falls on one side. We took the detour and it helped us see some breathtaking views. Sometimes it is these kinds of things that make a trip wonderful. When the spray from the water falling hits us, it was beyond the normal thrill experienced when we see water. It was the first time that we were seeing a waterfall from such a close range and the 5 of us were just amazed. It was just wonderful to be there and we were happy that we had come there just after the rains and weren’t disappointed like we were in Tada.

Some Pictures:

 

                

How to get there:

There are two routes to reach Shivasamudram. You can take the Kanakapura route or the Mysore route. If you take the Kanakapura route, you will find enough signboards to help you. If you are taking the Mysore road, then just after Maddur, you need to take the left turn towards Malavalli. It is a straight road from here. We went on Mysore road and the total drive time was about 2:30 hours. Shivasamudram is about 40kms from Maddur.

There are no places to stay or eat. So, better pack your food or be prepared to stuff yourself with biscuits and ice creams.

For more pictures:

Thanks to Anand

Thanks to Raam

Technorati tags: Shivasamudram, Shivanasamudram, Gaganachukki, Bharachukki, Bluff, Bangalore, Waterfalls, Cauvery

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