Temples of Karnataka

Places visited: Hornad Annaporneshwari temple, Kalasa Kalaseshwara temple, Kudremuk National park-Kadambi falls, Hanumangundi falls, Lakya Dam, Karkala- Bahubali temple, Kollur Annaporneshwari temple, Murudeshwara - Shiva temple, beach, Udupi- Krishna temple, Malpe beach-St Mary's Island, Kukke Subramanya temple, Dharmastala, Charmadi ghat, Belur Channakeshava temple

Date-  26 Dec - 30 Dec 2009

Participants->My Family members

Mode of Transport- Fiat Palio Stile Multijet

Our Car

Total Kms- 1500 kms

Route we took->Bangalore->Tumkur->Arasikere->Kadur (My native halt)->Chikmagalur->Balehonnur->Hornad->Kalasa->Kudremuk->Karkala->Hebri->Haladi->Kollur->Bhatkal->Murudeshwara->Bhatkal->Kundapura->Udupi->St Marys Island->Kateel->Mudabidri-Kadri temple in Mangalore->Kasargod->Sulia->Kukke Subramanya->Gundya->Dharmastala->Ujire->Charmadi->Mudigere->Belur->Halebid->Kadur (Halt)

Can Plan in this way also

Bangalore->Tumkur->Tiptur->Arasikere->Kadur->Birur->Kallatigiri falls->Kemmanagundi->Baba Budanagiri->Mullianagiri->Balehonnur->Sringeri->Hornad->Kalasa->Kudremuk->Karkala->Hebri->Haladi->Kollur->Bhatkal->Murudeshwara->(If required can travel to Gokarna->Karwar->Sirsi etc) Or->Bhatkal->Kundapura->Udupi-> Kateel->Mudabidri-Dharmastala->Kukke subramanya->Sakleshpur (Shiradi ghat)->Hassan->Bangalore

OR you can visit 

Bangalore->Kunigal->Shravanabelogola->Belur->Halebid->Chikmagalur->Balehonnur->Sringeri->Hornad->Kalasa->Kudremuk->Karkala->Hebri->Haladi->Kollur->Bhatkal->Murudeshwara->(If required can travel to Gokarna->Karwar->Sirsi etc) Or->Bhatkal->Kundapura->Udupi-> Kateel->Mudabidri->Dharmastala->Kukke subramanya->Sakleshpur (Shiradi ghat)->Hassan->Bangalore

If you want to avoid Shiradi ghat due to bad road conditions, you can plan

Bangalore->Kunigal->Shravanabelogola->Belur->Halebid->Chikmagalur->Balehonnur->Sringeri->Hornad->Kalasa->Kudremuk->Karkala->Hebri->Haladi->Kollur->Bhatkal->Murudeshwara->(If required can travel to Gokarna->Karwar->Sirsi etc) Or->Bhatkal->Kundapura->Udupi-> Kateel->Mudabidri->Mangalore->Kasargod (in Kerela)->Visit Bekal fort, beaches, temples->Sulia->Jalsoor->Kukke subramanya->Dharmastala->Ujire->charmadi ghat->Mudigere->Chikmagalur->Mullianagiri->BabaBudanagiri->Kemmanagundi->Birur->Kadur->Arasikere->Tiptur->Tumkur->Bangalore

Important Distances-

Bangalore-Belur->220 kms

Belur->Halebid->15 kms

Belur->Chikmagalur->20 kms

Chikmagalur->Balehonnur->80 kms

Balehonnur ->Sringeri->40 kms (Right from Balehonnur is Sringeri)

Balehonnur->Hornad->40 kms (Left from Balehonnur is Hornad)

Hornad->Kalasa->5 kms

Sringeri->Hornad->80 kms (i.e. Sringeri->Balehonnur->Hornad)

Kalasa->Kudremuk->23 kms

Kudremuk->Karkala->50 kms

Karkala->Kollur->110 kms (Karkala-Hebri- 30 kms, Hebri-Kollur->80 kms)

Kollur->Byndoor->Bhatkala->Murudeshwara->Total (27+30+15=72 kms)

Murudeshwara->Bhatkal->Kundapur->Udupi->total (15+35+25)=75 kms

Udupi->St Marys Island-> 10 kms

Udupi->Kateel->40 kms

Kateel->Mudabidri->30 kms

Mudabidri->Mangalore->35 kms

Mudabidri->Dharmastala->50 kms

Mangalore->Kasargod->40 kms

Kasargod->Bekal fort->15 kms

Kasaregod->Jalsoor->Sulia -> Total (40+8)->48 kms

Sulia->Kukke subramanya->4o kms

Sulia-Madikeri->60 kms

Kukke subramanya->Gundya->Dharmastala->60 kms

Dharmastala->Ujire->Charmadi->Mudigere->Belur->Total (10+25+30+30)->95 kms

Few Maps for Reference:

http://aquarium.lipetsk.ru/discovery/India2004/karnataka-map.jpg

http://globalmotorcycletours.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/karnataka-map.jpg

http://www.nivalink.com/karnataka/pics/map.jpg

Our Trip:

We started on 25th Dec from Bangalore to Kadur and halted in our Native.

Our first day plan was Kadur->Chikmagalur->Balehonnur->Hornad->Kalasa->Kudremuk->Karkala (Halt)

 Next morning, we started our journey by 6:30 am. Kadur to chikmagalur took 1.5 hours and another 1.5 hours from Chikmagalur to Balehonnur. From Balehonnur, Sringeri is 40 kms. As all of us had visited Sringeri few months back, we decided to skip it. We even skipped Balehonnur Rhambapuri Mutt. From Balehonnur we drove through the beautiful roads to Hornad. The Roads here are single lane roads through the ghat section, so drive carefully. after visiting Hornad Annapoorneswari temple, we drove to Kalasa. Enroute we had planned to visit Ambatirta Falls(a Shooting spot where lot of Kannada films are shot). The 3 km stretch leading to Ambatirta was in very bad condition and hence we skipped it. If you have time, then Ambatirta is a place worth visiting. 

Drive to Kalasa

Kalaseswara Temple- Kalasa

Kudremuk- Tea Estate

Hanumangundi Falls

Hanumangundi Falls

Kadambi Falls

After visiting Kalaseswara temple, we drove to Karkala via kudremuk. Inside Kudremuk National park, we visited Lakya dam, Kadambi falls and Hanumangundi falls. To reach the base of Hanumangundi falls, you have to scale down around 300 steps. Hanumangundi falls is well maintained and you need to pay an entrance fee of 20 Rs per head. The roads from Kalasa to Karkala is good. In Karkala we visited Bahabuli temple and Venkateshwara temple. Both the temples are 1 km from Karkala busstop. We halted in Hotel Swagath in Karkala Bus stop by 8 PM.

Day 2:

Started from Karkala around 9 Am and drove to Kollur via Hebri, Haladi. Roads are having potholes in few stretches and is a single lane road. So at times you are required to go off the road, if vehicles come from opposite side. The drive is very scenic. After visiting Mookambika temple in Kollur, we drove to Murudeshwara via Byndoor->Bhatkal. After visiting temple and beach in Murudeshwara, we drove back to Bhatkal by 7 PM and halted there. There are lots of hotels and Lodges in Murudeshwara, but it is difficult to get accomodation in peak seasons.

Murudeshwara Shiva Temple

Murudeshwara

Murudeshwara

Murudeshwara

Day 3:

We started early by 6 am and drove to Udupi via Byndoor->Kundapura. After visiting Krishna temple in Udupi, we drove to Malpe beach and Visited St Marys Island, which is 10 kms from Udupi. You need to take a boat ride of 30 minutes to reach St Marys Island from Malpe Harbour. Per head charge for Boat ride is 80 Rs (To and Fro ride Fare). After reaching St Marys Island, you can play in the water, walk around the Island and return back. There is no food/ accomodation present in St Mary's Island. you get only water, cool drinks and some snacks in Island. There is no time restriction to stay in the Island. there are lots of return boats, so spend more time in the Island and you can return by 5 pm also.

Udupi- Shri Krishna Temple

St Mary's Island

My Brother-Enroute St Marys Island

St Marys Island

After enjoying St Mary's Island, we drove to Kateel and visited DurgaParameshwari temple. From Kateel, we drove to Mudabidri and visited Thousand pillar temple. From Mudabidri, we drove to Mangalore and this dirve took us more than 1 hour, as the road condition was bad . We visited Kadri temple in Mangalore and Drove to Kasargod. Our plan was to halt in Kasargod , visit Bekal fort, beach, temples near by and travel to Kukke subramanya. Unfortunately we were informed that there was a BJP called Kerela Bundh on next day and this ruined our plans.

We drove from Kasargod to Sulia via Jalsoor and halted in Sulia, as it was around 11:30 PM.

Kateel- DurgaParameshwari Temple

Mudabidri- Thousand pillar temple

Day 4:

We started from Sulia and drove to Kukke subramanya by 9 AM. Roads are good , but is very narrow and you are required to go off the road to give way to vehicles coming in opposite direction. The entire drive is through ghat section and it took us arounf 1 hour to reach Kukke subramanya. After visiting Kukke subramanya temple, AAdi Subramnaya temple, Aadi Ganapati temple, Shri Vana DurgaDevi temple, Kumaradhara River we drove to Dharmastala via Gundya. Drive from Subramanya to Dharmastala is scenic and took us around 1.5 hours. In Dharmastala we visited Manjunatha swamy temple, Bahubali temple and drove towards Ujire. You can even visit Manjusha Car museum, Historical museum in Dharmastala. On way to Ujire, we visited Shri Rama Mandir. From Ujire we drove to Belur via Charmadi->Mudigere. Road from Charmadi to Mudigere is through Ghat section and there are lot of potholes in this stretch for around 30 kms. But this road is very good compared to Shiradi ghat. The drive throught the Ghat section is very scenic. From Mudigere to Belur also, the road is in bad. So it took us around 3 hours to reach Belur from Dharmastala. We visited Belur Channakeshave temple. the temple is very good and you can easily spend 2-3 hours by looking at the sculptures. It is recommended to take a guide to get more information and know the place better. After visiting Belur temple, we drove to Halebid. Halebid temple closes by 6 PM. So we had to skip it as we were late. Belur temple closes 8 PM. 

Kukke Shree Subramanya Temple

AAdi Ganapati Temple, Subramanaya

Places of intrest in Dharmastala

Bahubali temple, Dharmastala

Shri Rama Mandir near Dharmastala

View of Charmadi Ghat

Belur-Channakeshava Temple

From Halebid, we drove to kadur via Banawara and halted in our native

Few Points to Remember:

1. Plan your journey considering the road conditions. Drive to kollur from Karkala took us 3 hours. Drive to Belur from Dharmastala took us 3 hours

2. Plan considering time taken to get Darshan in temples. It took us 1 hr in Hornad, 1.5 hrs in Kukke subramanya, 1 hr in Udupi to get Darshan. If you are visiting temples, in peak season, then have a cushion of 1-2 hours for all these important temples

3. Drive carefully, as the roads are narrow at places and you will be required to go off the road at places to give way to vehicles coming from opposite side. To go off the road you need to be careful, as road and off road are not even and off road at places is almost 20 - 30 cms below road level.

4. If you are visiting other state, then better read papers or get info from friends / relatives about any Strikes/ bundh. Else you may waste your time and get into troubles.

5. At most of the places, you get Decent Double rooms in hotel for 300-400 Rs.