On an unusually warm winter afternoon when the plains of Mysore were as hot as a summer day, a groaning bus carried me slowly up the winding roads from Kushalanagar to Madikeri. Through the huge windows, I watched the packed streets of the town make way to green and open spaces. Kaveri appeared and disappeared quickly under a bridge – now a gentle and happy flow, unlike the roaring river that it is in the monsoon months. The steady climb made the under-powered engine of the bus to struggle, but did good to let me sink into the views of the forest and watch the parakeets fly home after a good day of feeding. Evergreen stretch of forests, coffee estates and occasional clearing in the woods that opened into the view of the valley went past my window one after other. Earlier, in the afternoon sun, it seemed like a long and tiring journey from Bangalore but now I was energized and ready to see more of Coorg’s pretty countryside.
Hills of Coorg – View from the top
I was on a short trip to Coorg on invitation from HummingBird Holidays, visiting some of their properties and enjoying the fresh air of the western ghats after a long time. I was a once regular to Coorg, travelling here several times a year on short visits from Bangalore. But as work took me to faraway places and I got busy exploring corners of the country, I had less and less time for my regular visits to Coorg. The invitation was a good opportunity.
When I arrived in the evening just an hour before sunset, the air was crisp and there was a slight hint of the cold winter night about to arrive after dark. There was a lazy yet cheerful mood in our eighty-year old bungalow, where the evening’s golden sunlight bathed the walls and furnishings and made them glow. I was considering a sortie in town after a cup of coffee, but as one hot cup led to another and another, I found no mood to kick myself from my sit-out facing a valley and miss the continuous supply of world’s favourite brew. After all, Madikeri’s sparse spread of tiled-roof houses and greenery amidst them looked pretty from my chair overlooking the valley, and there was no real justification to set out and discover more.
If the coffee made me lazy, the night’s dinner spread and the next morning’s dosas made me become completely idle. The cook serving with a smile dished out such delicious food that it would take me some time to realize that I had already overeaten. So, a temptation a of beautiful drive through the hills to other side of Coorg did not excite me much.
But get out I did, and was glad to have made that decision. The less taken road from Madikeri to Gonikoppa through Chettalli took me through a route not popular with tourists. It winded through the vistas of beautiful valleys and coffee gardens before descending near Gonikoppa and passing through rice fields and small villages.
The drive took me through the some of the best hillsides of Coorg, allowing me to see the region from up-close. Later in the day, I was about to witness another perspective – the beauty of these hills from high-up like a bird’s eye view. That afternoon, I drove with Muthanna to an open field for an experience that was to blow me away and show me a completely new way to see the hills of Coorg. Muthanna is a trained flier of ultralight aircraft. After a month of flying practice in Thailand, Muthanna returned to Coorg and ordered a brand new ultralight aircraft for himself. He has explored much of Coorg with his flying toy and knows where exactly to find the best scenery in Coorg from a mile high. Muthanna is one of the few people, if not the only person in this part of the country, who takes people on cross country rides and shares the joy of flying with everyone.
That day, when Muthanna opened his small hangar – big enough to fit just about three cars – and revealed his flying baby, I heard my heart speaking out loud to me and urge me to get on it quickly. I was eager. The fifteen minutes that was required to pull out the aircraft, warm the engine and inspect the runway seemed too long and too unbearable. When we finally took off, it was short and quick ascent and we were at the cruising height in less than a minute. Strong headwinds perhaps helped gain altitude quickly, but they made the flying difficult. When I looked down and gazed at the green earth, it appeared like we were crawling slowly against a strong wind, but in fact we were cruising at hundred kph at an altitude of about a kilometer. Down below, I could see paddy fields, coffee plantations, small hills, lone houses amidst coffee plantations and forest lands appearing not very different from a google-map satellite image. But only now, I was seeing the real thing – the undulating landscapes of the western ghats unfolding under me and drifting away at 100kph. After about 15 minutes of flying, we flew across a pristine forest landscape where a river ran south in a deep valley. Further ahead and on our way back, we passed above the green hills of Tata Tea and several coffee plantations before making a quick but smooth landing. We were up in the air for fairly long time, but in the excitement of windswept heights and incredible vistas, it appeared as if barely a minute had passed. I wanted this flight to go on forever.
We ended the day with a visit to beautiful Irpu Falls, where River Lakshmana Teertha comes down through a series of steps to form a waterfall in the thick woods of Brahmagiri Ranges. Back in Madikeri that evening, at HummingBird’s Rio Restotel, I spent the night dreaming of flying over the undulating landscapes in which an end was never to be sighted.
The next morning, we drove from Gonikoppa to Dubare Elephant Camp, where Karnataka Forest Department rears a small herd of elephants on the bank of Kaveri. The elephants were being given a morning bath and the last few of them were herded out of water for their breakfast minutes after we arrived. In a small enclosure at the edge of the forest, where the camp is located, the elephants were lined up for their morning feed. The mahouts brought large, football sized spheres of a ragi and jaggery mix and pushed it though the mouth of the pachyderms. From their reaction, it was clear that the big fellows loved their meal and were eager for more. Some of the little ones were impatient and struggled anxiously as they waited their turn. And they demanded for more as soon as their share went into their gigantic tummies.
As the feeding hour was about to end, it was also time for us to head back to Kushalanagar and catch the next bus to Bangalore. It was a fruitful three days at Coorg. And this time I was returning home with higher probabilities of coming here again soon. Muthanna’s flight-magic, I know, will not let me stay away from here for long.
About HummingBird Holidays.
HummingBird Holidays has two properties in Coorg with a third one about to be commissioned. OldsVille in Madikeri is a small, cheerful and well-decorated 80 year old bungalow. Rio Restotel is a no-frills, well-maintained accommodation in Gonikoppa Town, which can server as a good base for visitors to explore Coorg and then find a convenient place to rest and sleep. The third property is a spacious bungalow in a large compound in Kushalanagar, right next to River Kaveri.
See more about HummingBird Holidays and their facebook page.
I have had several requests all through last year to conduct photography-centric day-trips out of Bangalore. Here is the first of a series of them to come.
You will recognize a fragrance of heritage in every corner of Melukote. The old temples, the large Kalyani that has hosted several movie shoots, the smaller Raya Gopura that also has its beauty tested in the movies, a Sanskrit Academy, two ancient temples, a Vaishnava heritage that is preserved as good as it was a few centuries ago and several houses, temples and structures that have a stamp of past all over them — a quick glimpse of Melukote for you.
See full details of the event – photography in Melukote.
+ Also see: my travel photography workshop in Badami
+ A version of this article was published in the July issue of Harmony Magazine
Nearly 1,500 years ago, the mighty Chalukya Kings discovered a small gap among the rocky cliffs situated in the parched plains of today’s North Karnataka, covered by steep sandstone walls in three directions with a small opening to the north-west. They found it to be a secure place to govern their kingdom from, built a large tank in a depression surrounded by cliffs on three sides, carved a few temples in those rocks and established the center of a dynasty that ruled for nearly 600 years to control a large chunk of land between Narmada and Kaveri.
Cave temples and cliffs of Badami
This recorded history of Badami is interesting, but the mythology is even more fascinating. On his journey across the Vindhyas, Sage Agastya was invited by demons Vatapi and Ilvala for a meal. The brothers had the habit of calling guests home and kill them in the most innovative possible way. Vatapi would turn into a ram while Ilvala would cook its meat and offer to the guest. Once eaten, Vatapi would come out splitting the stomach of the guest, thus killing him. The story does not say why did they have to choose such circuitous route to achieve their mission, but it sure makes it very interesting.
But when it comes to legends, sages are always smarter than demons. Agastya knew the whole plan and digested Vatapi before he could come out, putting an end to the evils of the pair. Today, the cliffs around the Agastya Lake in Badami are believed to be the bodies of mighty demons who were defeated by the sage.
The legend would have brought some aura to the town, but it is the remains of history that attracted me here. Temples carved halfway up a cliff are the hallmark of Badami. Built by Chalukya Kings over a period of two centuries, they are among the best surviving structures of early Indian Architecture.
First of the four rock cut temples of Badami
There are four cave temples in Badami with three dedicated to Vedic Gods, the last one being a Jain Temple. The first three temples have some elaborate sandstone carvings of Hindu Pantheon such as Vamana stepping over Bali, dancing Nataraja, Varaha carrying Bhudevi and Vishnu seated on Vasuki. The Jain temple, smallest of the four has a series of Tirthankaras carved along the walls.
The rock cut temples
Chandru, my ASI certified guide at Badami, was knowledgeable and articulate. He stood in dance positions and held his hands in mudras when he described how the 18-handed statue of Nataraja can form 81 mudras in Bharatanatya by choosing any one of the left hands in combination with any of the right hands. We moved through caves as Chandru described the iconography and architecture, but my questions to him were mostly related to history.
Nataraja relief in the first rock cut temple at Badami
The inscriptions in Badami and surrounding areas are a key to rediscovering most of the Chalukyan history. An inscription carved somewhere high up the rocks on the cliff opposite to the caves describes the times of the first Chalukyan Kings. Another inscription by Pallava King Narasimhavarman I informs of the brief occupation of Badami by Pallavas. A detailed inscription on a pillar at nearby Mahakoota Village, carved in the time of king Mangalesha, provides much needed information about the lineage of Chalukyas and the spread of their kingdom. An inscription in Aihole Village describe the victory of Pulikeshi II over Harshavardhana and another one gives vague clues about the existence and time period of renowned poet Kalidasa.
The grand setup of Bhoothanatha Temple, Badami
From my vantage point at these caves up in the hill, I could see the Bhoothanatha Temple at the edge of Agastya Lake. Unlike the cave temples that are full of visitors, the temple premises were empty, save for occasional drifting visitors. The Bhoothanatha Temple is in a grand setup, surrounded by walls of red sandstone rocks on three sides and the waters of the lake lapping up the steps in the front. Sitting in the temple courtyard that evening, I watched the cool breeze ruffling the lake surface as the evening sun disappear behind the town.
The narrow path through gaps in the sandstone walls of Badami
During my wanderings along the lake shore, I drifted towards the hills opposite to the caves and climbed a short flight of steps that took me up the table-land above. The steps climb through narrow gaps in the rocks that are wide enough at places just to let in a few people at a time. Sunlight peering through the gap and flaring up small sections of the wall make a colourful play of light and shade in these fissures. Up on the hill are a few temples, a few pillars and remains of a fort. Fortification of the hill must have been an easy task, as it mostly involved building walls to restrict entry through the cracks in the rock.
The leafy environs of Mahakuta near Badami
The area around Badami is rich in heritage and strewn with temples that belong to Chalukya era. Excursions from Badami took me first to Mahakoota, a small village dominated by a Chalukyan temple dedicated to Mahakuteshwara. Mahakoota appears like a green island in an ocean of parched land surrounding it. Next to the temple is a sacred grove with thick greenery that creates a cooler local climate that contrasts the scorching weather in the region. The courtyard of the temple is under the shade of large ficus trees. Roots hanging from the trees, temple towers hidden behind the leaves and the silence in the shade bring a calm and soothing feel to the temple surroundings.
A mantapa at Mahakuta, near Badami
Not far from Mahakuta is Pattadakal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temples here are made of beautiful red sandstone and the carvings have been fading over the years on the external walls due to effect of sunlight. But the interiors appear better preserved. The temples here are a mix of northern Nagar architecture and the Dravidian style of the south.
Pattadakal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Badami
Further ahead of Pattadakal is Aihole, a village littered with ancient structures that refuse to confirm to any specific style of temple building. With students of those days arriving here from every corner to learn and master the art of carving in stone, historians have often called Aihole as the ‘cradle of Indian architecture.’
Durgi Gudi, at Aihole near Badami
The first thing that attracts the visitor in Aihole is the well maintained main enclosure of temples in the centre of the village. Taking a tour of the large Lad Khan Temple and well known Durgi Gudi that has parallels with parliament building in its façade, I heard my guide talk about a number of smaller temples spread around the village. Aided by his guidance, I went in search of these ancient structures that seemed to be visited by very few people.
Ravanphadi, a rock cut temple at Aihole near Badami
Among the oldest of these temples is Ravan Phadi, dating back to later half of sixth century. It is a small rock-cut room with a linga in the centre and beautiful carvings on the inner side walls. To the west of Ravanphadi is Huchimalli Temple built in a more formal nagara style of architecture. The temple stands alone in an enclosure far away from other monuments, with its shrine visible from a distance. Seen from anywhere in Aihole is the Meguti Temple located at the top of a hill. Standing next to Meguti Temple, I can see the entire village dotted with ancient temples in all directions and River Malaprabha flowing at the edge of the hamlet.
My visits to Aihole, Badami and its neighbouring heavens of ancient architecture was fuelled by seeing beautiful images of Badami with foaming waters rushing down from its cliffs, as presented in tourist brochures. They were perhaps photographed during the peak monsoon months, but the time when I was there was marked with dry spells. All that I could see was the stains of algae at places where the waterfalls would come alive during the rains. However, the heritage sites in Badami and Pattadakal, the architectural experimentations of Aihole and the calm environs of Mahakoota more than made up for the missing waterfalls. But the appeal of waterfalls now gives me an excuse to plan another tour. As I write this, the monsoons have arrived in most parts of Karnataka and the met department is assuring of good rains for the next few months. It is perhaps time to plan another visit.
