A land of idyll

SOURCE -http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/12/08/stories/2008120850790300.htm

A land of idyll

Holiday Forests, waterfalls, a palace and even a tiger safari, Shimoga offers something for everyone

Nature’s bountyAt Jog Falls

Sparsely populated is not a word one associates with any part of the Indian sub-continent. Yet, driving to Agumbe, on the road that leads to Mangalore, those were the words that came to mind.

“Where have all the people gone?”- we asked ourselves. Rural Shimoga was identifiably Indian, yet curiously not. Bamboo groves, paddy fields, arecanut plantations followed one another, with an occasional small village that ended almost as soon as it began. Everywhere, there was an overdose of green.

Agumbe is known for its magnificent sunsets, word of which had lured us from our homestay, 60 km away, near Mandagadde village.

“The sunsets are superb; from the view-point, you can see all the way to the sea at Mangalore,” the husband told me excitedly, remembering what friends had told him.

Whether or not this was true, we could not say, for while the sunset was a spectacular explosion of light, the evening fog was heavy and did not allow us to see beyond a few hills in the distance.

For the devout, Tirthahalli (62 km from Shimoga town), is fairly close to Agumbe and home to the well-known Sri Rameshwara temple.

We got too late while returning from Agumbe to visit the temple, but did manage to verify that Tirthahalli serves up some fairly good road-side chaat!

We returned to our base at Mandagadde, where we were staying at the Inchara Homestay, a family-run place, with a few guest rooms on the home-and-plantation property. Inchara, we learnt, means the sound of birds, an apt name for a place where you can wake up to the raucous cries of peacocks and the sweet voices of other birds, unknown to city-dwellers.

Our hosts, Uncle Ramesh and Aunty Chandra allowed us to roam around their plantation and plied us with home-made food, including delectable kadabus, akki rotis and the distinctive beans-and-coconut curry native to this part of Karnataka.

Wild encounters

Mandagadde

In this pristine corner of the Western Ghats, walking around necessarily involves encounters with leeches and spider-webs larger than human arm-spans.

Mandagadde is known for its bird sanctuary, where migratory birds crossing to Europe are known to land. Sadly, September-end, when we visited, is not on their calendar.

Our local driver informed us that December and January is when they flock here. The sanctuary is small, but home to a lake where boat-rides are available. Seeing only a solitary bird in the distance, we decided to skip the ride and head on to Shimoga town instead, an hour’s drive away.

Driving in from the countryside, Shimoga’s arrival is something of a surprise. One moment you are driving through fabulous views of groves, fields and the backwaters of the Gajanur dam; the next minute, what appears to be a regular town with all its attendant noise is upon you.

While there, we called up a friend who belongs to the region, and mentioned that we were searching for the Shivappa Nayaka Palace, a visit our host had recommended. “Palace!” he exclaimed and burst into laughter.

This told us that the palace did not figure on most visitors’ agenda, something confirmed when we got there and realised that we were the only tourists at the time.

The word ‘palace’ may be too grand a name for what is essentially a two-storeyed wooden structure with inner courtyard and rooms; but, this 400-year old erstwhile princely home has been put to good use by the ASI and deserves more visitors. The palace and its spacious lawns have been converted into a museum housing a splendid collection of Hindu and Jain idols, found at different sites in Shimoga district.

Another attraction in Shimoga is the Tyarekoppa lion and tiger safari although the big cats look bored and inured to human society.

Shimoga district offers more, in a something-for-everyone kind of way; the well-known Jog falls continues to attract many tourists, while Honnemardu is for the new kind of Indian traveller — adventurous and physically active.

As for us, we boarded the train back to Bangalore, certain that we had not seen the last of this verdant land.

APARNA V. SINGH