Muthathi, Bheemeshwari & Chunchi Falls

Place: Muthathi, Bheemeshwari & Chunchi Falls
Date: 28’th April 2007
Participants: Harish, Jatin & Rohit
Distance: 100 + Kms from Bangalore.
Mode of Transport: Own vehicle. No Public Transport available

Route: Corporation->Lalbagh->South End circle->Banashankari->Sarakki circle-> Metro->Kanakapura Road->Kanakapura->Sathanur Junction
From Sathanur Junction if you go straight for 20 Kms, you reach Muthathi. Bheemeshwari is some 4 Kms from Muthathi.
From Sathanur Junction if you take a left road, you need to travel some 20 Kms to reach Chunchi Falls.After traveling 15 Kms from Sathanur, and you can either go to Sangama -> Mekedhatu or go to Chunchi Falls(Both are almost located at same distance).
There are 2 more routes to reach Mekedhatu, 1 before you reach Kanakapura you need to take a left deviation (you can see Signboards on roadside), Or you can take a deviation from Kanakapura.

On my Pulsar Bike



My friends were planning for a long trip, as May1’st was leave for most of them. By applying leave on April 30’th (Monday), you get a long weekend. I decided not to join them, as May 1’st was working day for us. Unfortunately for my friends, things did not workout and Friday evening I received a call, asking me whether we can go for Muthathi/Mekedhatu. Since the decision was taken late on Friday, we did not inform many of our friends and few others had other plans. Finally only me, Jatin & Rohit decided to go.

We started by7:30AM, met infront of Banashankari temple and started towards Kanakapura. After having some photo sessions on the way, we reached Kanakapura by 9:30 AM. Had Breakfast at Rathna Upahar . This is the hotel, where we always have Morning breakfast and evening snacks when we go via Kanakapura.
The drive was good with cool breeze and lots of greenery. The view after Sathanur junction is very scenic with hills and lots of tress around. Had many photo sessions on the way to Muthathi and Bheemeshwari. Reached Muthathi by 12.

Beautiful roads on way to Muthathi

Jungle road ride near Bheemeshwari

About Muthathi:
The cauvery takes her natural course here which beckons tourists to Muthathi. But behind the veil of beauty lies the shadow of death. Many tourists, mostly from Bangalore, were trapped in the Whirlpools of river stretching along 3 Kms.
Muthathi is not only on the tourist map but is also a holy place. According to legend, in Trethayuga, Lord Anjaneya fished out the pearl that fell of Seeta’s nose ring into river Cauvery. Then onwards Anjaneya was called “Muttatha Raja”and the place came to be known as Muthathi.

Anjaneya Temple at Muthathi

On the way to Muthathi and Bheemeshwari, we were stopped by policemen and were warned no to get into waters. Many people had lost their lives by getting trapped in Whirlpools. Infact we were instructed even by our parent also not to get into waters. Even we had no reasons to risk our life, so we also had decided not to get into waters. Visited Anjaneya temple in Muthathi and then travelled towards Bheemeshwari. In Bheemeshwari, you have a Fishing camp and Jungle lodge, where you can spend a weekend and do boating, fishing and other activities.

On Way to Muthathi

We spent around 1hour enjoying the nature and taking snaps at Bheemeshwari. Then on the way back, we ventured into forest area taking a steep, jungle road. The place was good .We went only for a few distance and returned back to main road.

Cauvery River at Bheemeshwari

On way to Muthathi

Some lovely snaps taken at Bheemeshwari

Then we decided to go to Mekedhatu. On the way we asked some Jungle lodge personnel the way to go to Mekedhatu. He said there is a mud road which goes through the jungle and Mekedhatu is only some 15 kms from Muthathi. Even he said that this route is only for Jungle lodge people and that he will let us go if we bribe him 100 bucks. We decided against it and thought of going in main road itself via Sathanur. The risk involved in going via mud jungle road is: First it is an illegal entry. You should bribe. If you get a flat tyre, then you cannot get any assistance.

Some stretch of the road from Sathanur junction towards Sangam is bad. The problem with going to Mekedhatu is that, from Sangam we should cross the river in coracle, and then take a local bus to Mekedhatu. After 4 PM, we were not sure whether there are buses. So we had decided only to visit Sangam. But on the way towards sangam, just 5 Kms before Sangam, we saw a deviation with Sign board, saying Chunchi falls: 5 KMs. We decided to go to Chunchi falls, thinking that we will visit Sangam, Mekedhatu some time in next few weeks.

We reached Chunchi falls by 4:30 PM. You don’t get anything here. Even there are no proper roads, directions to reach the base of falls. We just went around, took some path and after some 20 mins walk through the rocks, trees, reached base of Chunchi falls. The first impression I got after seeing the place is that it is just a mini Hognekal falls. The only difference being that, Hognekal falls is pretty bigger, where you can take a coracle ride and go around, which is not possible in Chunchi falls. Except that, the rock structure and every thing is similar to Hognekal falls. There was not much water in the falls. So after having some photo session, taking rest and enjoying the place we started our journey back to Bangalore. While returning, we directly went to Kanakapura without going to Sathanur junction.

Chunchi Falls

Finally we had dosa, Ice cream etc at Kanakapura Rathna upahar hotel, as we had not taken lunch and were really feeling hungry. Reached home by 9:30 PM. Hoping to go to Mekedhatu ASAP.

Tips:
Have your own transport.
Ask localities for directions.
Carry water, snacks and even food. You don’t get good restaurants after Kanakapura.
Drive safely, there are many steep curves. You may loose control. Infact I almost lost control once.
Don’t get into water in Muthathi / Bheemeshwari. There is a risk of getting trapped in Whirlpools.
Start early in the morning to avoid sun.Carry a camera. You can capture many wonderful sceneries