A social organization (Sahyadrisindia) of enthusiastic adventurers, who believes in the spirit of adventure, trekking, camping and so on has started to fulfill its long pending wishes of conquering peaky mountains of the western ghats.
Kemmannugundi is a hill station in Tarikere taluk of Chikkamagaluru district. It is located at a height of 1434m above sea level. Blessed with silver cascades, mountain streams, and lush vegetation, Kemmangundi’s beautifully laid-out ornamental gardens and enchanting mountains and valleys views are a treat to the eye. The spectacular sunset view from the Raj Bhavan is a photographer’s delight. For the adventurous at heart, Kemmangundi offers many peaks to scale and intricate jungle paths to explore.
After relaxing for a couple of months it’s Sahyadri team again looking for some trekking space. This time it was four of us – Prakash, Sharath, Wholesale-anna ( Prabhakar) and Kathavaraya (Tony). When the clock striked 11 pm we departed from Bengaluru towards Kemmannugundi via Tumkur – Arasikere – Tarikere – Lingadahalli. We reached Lingadahalli @ 05 am in the morning, had a small nap and packed some chicken for the night. After reaching Kemmannugundi we went a head for about 2 kms enroute to Hebbe Falls. The total trekking distance to Hebbe Falls is 10 kms, since the atmosphere was cloudy we hired a jeep for 750/-. The jeep driver maneuvered the tough downhill road pretty well and finally reached an estate from where one has to cross a few small streams to reach the majestic Hebbe Falls. We reached Hebbe falls @ 11 AM. Hebbe was awesome.
I believe the water is falling at the height of 60 - 70 feet. We took some snaps with leech bites and decided to come back to the base camp. We had a nice drink and Chicken curry for lunch at the camp.
Later on we reached the Z point by a steep uphill trek of about 45 mins from Raj Bhavan which is another favourite place of people who want to view a spectacular sunrise. We wandered around Raj Bhavan guest house for a while and decided to halt for the night in the car. I, Wholesale-anna and Sharath had a good drink and a roaring sleep leaving the over-drunk, frightened Kathavaraya sitting awake cursing us for the life shown. We got up @ 5:30 am in the morning and left to Kalhasti falls orKalhatti Falls. The water here cascades down an height of 120 mts. All around are fascinating scenic delights. This picturesque spot is 10 kms from Kemmannugundi way back to Lingadahalli.
The journey continued towards Baba Budangiri and Mullayanagiri. After covering about 50 kms from kemmannugundi towards chickmagalur just 5 kms before chickmagalur town one has to take a right turn to reach Baba Budan and Mullayanagiri hills. We took a right turn and headed uphill, after covering 4 kms the road deviates in two ways – a straight road heading towards Baba Budan hills and road on the left reaching Mullayanagiri. Firstly, we went straight to reach Baba Budan Hill / Datta peeta which is about 20 kms from the deviation. The entire journey towards Datta peeta Hill rejuvenated our energy through scenic views of mountains engulfed in fog. Finally we reached the peak, the peak takes its name from the Muslim saint, Baba Budan, who took up residence here for more than 150 years ago and brought the coffee seeds for the first time from Yemen. The hill consists of a cave which is sanctified by Guru Dattatreya Bababudanswamy Darga which is an ancient and important religious institution held in high esteem by Hindus and Mohammadans alike. Then we reached Manikya Dhara Waterfall to find a lot of people bathing in it throwing their clothes off.
We headed back to the deviation again and took a right turn to climb upwards to reach Mullayanagiri Hill which is about 10kms from here. Mullayanagiri is the highest peak in Karnataka which is located in the Baba Budan Giri range of theWestern Ghats with a height of 1,930 meters (6,330 ft). It is the highest peak between the Himalayas and the Nilgiris. On the top of the hill there is small temple (Matta) of Mullaiahanaswamy or Shiva. The small hillock in the temple compound is the highest point in Karnataka.
The entire range of mountains consists of enchanting mist covered small roads a delight to drive. After catching all the actions we left Mullayanagiri Hill, on the way we had a chilled-out bath in a chilled-out stream later heading back to Home town via Chickmagalur recalling the past two days.
Written by - Prakash S.J
Photography by - Sharath Kumar
www.sahyadrisindia.org
info@sahydarisindia.org
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