Alright, so as we bought a new baby - A Mahindra Scorpio MHawk and was very excited to go for a long drive, we decided to go to Melukote after doing some research on the net on nearby places (under 200 kms from Bangalore). So, Melukote is a good place for a day out and main attractions are 2 temples out there. So here is the detailed travelogue
Last night - done all the research on the route through Google maps and downloaded the maps and directions on to our Apple iPod Touch. Checked all the details on the food etc and learnt that there will not be many options to eat and finding good food will be tough. So we decided to carry some home made sandwiches etc and decided to leave around 6am so we can avoid the traffic on Bangalore Mysore highway.
The Day - Woke up around 6:30 AM and got the kids ready by 7:30AM and left around 8AM - so were already late as per our scheduled plan. Anyway so we started from Kanakpura Road and took the NICE road toward Mysore road.
As expected the traffic was pretty heavy on the Mysore road so slowly cruzed towards Mandya from where we had to take the turn towards Melukote. On the way we stopped for taking some pictures as below.
And look at this guy, he had guts to drive on wrong side on a National Highway :) This happens in India . I think he deserves a bravery award !!
My Wife saw Kamat on the way and as she likes south indian food, she decided to have a quick bite there and we also joined the party :) Here are few pictures of Kamat and the food we had.
Then we straight away went towards Meukote and when we reached Mandya, Kids saw the McDonalds and immediately they became hungry :)) So we picked up few burgers for our journey and drove towards our destination. The road till Mandya was good and then we had to turn right from Mandya. From there the road was ok for about 1 kms and then was average as per our indian road standards but was not bad to drive. And since now we were in Scorpio instead of Santro, we felt pretty comfortable on the road terrain. On the way we saw some villagers drying up their Ragi produce on the road which is very common sight in South India. We clicked few pictures and moved on...
Some miscellaneous shots on the way
People relaxing under the tree
We then headed to Melukote temple and reached there in at about 30mins past noon. Here is the shot of the first of temple from a little far
The entrance of the main attraction/temple
There are two ways to go to the temple, one is on foot from the parking lot or you can take your vehicles up to the half mark which is what we did. So first we parked ourselves, stretched a little bit and took few pictures and then moved on to the main temple.
The approach road to temple was very narrow. The parking was available at the half point so we parked, removed our shoes, kept them in the car and started the climb. There are about 200~300 steps uphill to reach the temple. So we slowly moved up .. me taking some shots of the surroundings and people around the temple.
The climb was not bad and was easily doable. In about 15 mins, we were at the temple entrance and joined the queue. It took nearly 15 mins to make it to the main idol of the GOD. Pandit ji did not allow me to take any snaps inside (which is what I dislike in our temples that why are not allowed to take snaps ??)
Price List for various pooja's
Entrance to main door
Queue area
Pilgrims tie threads for their wishes to come true
Temple main priest staring at me as he did not like me taking pictures and asked me not to :( and I obliged
Kids inside temple
Another priest at temple
Anyway so we did the darshan and moved towards exit. Then there was another Pandit who offered us some sacred threads and told us its good to wear these, so we bought them and surprisingly he then allowed us to take pictures inside but - not of the main GOD.
Anyway so we took some pictures and then approached the exit. Then there was another Pandit, who approached us and invited us to a private section which was a kitchen where they make prasad. We saw that, gave some money to Pandit (which is what he was after for personalized service) and exited the temple immediately.
On the way back took some more snaps and then boarded our ride. Then we headed to another temple and as expected the roads leading to the next temple were narrow as its a village. So we slowly maneuvered our beast in those narrow lanes and reached the temple. Unfortunately, the temple was closed as it was around 3pm and temple opens around 4pm. So we decided to move on and head to Kokkare Bellur, our next stop.
On the way we saw a lake and decided to click some pictures and do some off-roading in our new beast and believe me I and all enjoyed every bit of it. Kids got down to the lake and had some fun as I was busy in photo shoot of my new girlfriend (as my wife says for my our new ride). So after spending about an hour over there we decided to carry on and say good bye to Melukote.
So we drove back on Mysore road but as it was a little late and considering the Sunday traffic on Mysore road we decided to skip Kokkare Bellur and head back home. Kids took a promise that we will come back to the Kokkare Bellur Bird Sanctuary, next weekend.
The drive to home from Mysore road was pretty usual but we were enjoying our new ride so drove around 80kmph and reached home around 7:30pm. In summary, It was a good trip and met our objectives of a long drive and had good fun with new ride.
Tips for people heading to Melukote
- Carry food or snacks if you cannot/don't enjoy hard core Karantaka meals
- Drive is good, but be slow as the villagers come from here and there
- Carry your water as there were very few shops on the way after Mysore road
- Be on time if you want to go inside the temples
Happy Motoring !!
