Around Shimoga - 1: Jog Falls, Keladi & Ikkeri

Overview: Visiting the Jog falls in monsoons was always my wish. Luckily my friend from Shimoga got married in August. But unfortunately it didn't rain as it usually does in 2009. Nonetheless, as we had to visit Shimoga, we chalked out a separate plan to visit a few places around Shimoga.
Took the night train to Shimoga from Bangalore and reached early in the morning at around 6am. First in the list was Jog Falls. Didn't want to miss that. So started after having breakfast at friend's place. Shimoga is surrounded by tourist places. We were aware of this so didn't want to plan beyond Jog Falls as there is a never ending list of places beyond that. We did want to cover everything on the way though.
We reached the Jog at around 12pm and it was very cloudy. We could see decent amount of water but not the best of Jog Falls. There are 4 falls next to each other named 'Raja', 'Rani', 'Roarer' and 'Rocket'. This happens to be the second highest waterfalls in India. We could go to the base of the falls as well using steps but that would take enormous amount of time and energy to climb back to the top. Instead, we decided to go to the other side of the falls where we could actually see the water falling down from below our feet. The driver took us to that spot and we had to walk for some distance to get closer to the falls. This was the place where some scenes of the popular Kannada movie 'Mungaru Male' were shot. It was really terrific to see water falling down to the depths. The rainbow formation below added to the beauty of the scene. We were told that the water is much more when the nearby Linganamakki Dam is open and water gushes out creating a spectacle. We sat there for sometime posing in front of the cameras and then left the place.

It was already lunch time and we decided to have lunch nearby.
Then our next plan was to visit Ikkeri near Sagar. Its an ancient temple built by Keladi Nayaks. Built in the Hoysala and Kadamba styles, the Aghoreshwara temple was built in the early 15th century. Ikkeri was the capital of the Keladi rulers. Old Kannada inscriptions are present in the temple walls which derives the period in which the temple was built. Intricate carvings of elephants, Gods, and scriptures are present on the walls. There is a huge idol of the Nandi bull which had a shine on it even though it is not polished frequently. The park around the temple is also very well maintained.

We then moved towards Keladi, which was a small region in the Vijayanagar and was headed by a local chieftain. This place was then taken over by Hyder Ali in the 18th century. It houses a Rameshwara temple which resembles temples of South Canara region. Its a nice calm and peaceful temple and it a little unknown to the people even though Karnataka tourism board has been installed at the Sagar main road. The ceiling of the temple is made out of wooden planks and flowers and animals are carved out of the pillars.

Keladi was ruled by Chennamma for some time and hence some stones were having carvings of women fighting on a horse.
How to reach: Take the NH206 from Shimoga to Honnavar, After Sagar, continue on the National Highway till a board appears pointing left towards Jog Falls.
By Public transport, many buses are available from Shimoga to Jog Falls.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jog_Falls
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikkeri
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keladi
Map:

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The forgotten story of a migration: Nacharamma of South India

This is a story of Nacharamma (fictionised by me to some extent), which is not documented in any inscriptions or ancient texts, but has been told by the ancestors of the community, and also been researched by some historians like M Keshavaiah, Dr Pranarthiharan and a few others.

Overview: Around the early 17th century, the Pilgrims set to sail across the Atlantic to become the first settlers of America. Much before this, a small but no less interesting migration took place in the Southern India of a community called the 'Sankethis'.
It was the summer of 1420 CE, in a place called Sengottai, in Tamil Nadu, along the foothills of the Western Ghats bordering Kerala. The place was flourishing with knowledge of the Vedas where Agraharams were set up. One of the prominent communities of learned people was the Sankethi Iyer community, also known as Sangeethi, derived from the name of the place- Sengottai or Shankotta. Another theory says that they were The group followed Adi Shankara…

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Overview: In the middle of the 18th century, when home clocks and watches were not so common, there was the practice of having huge clocks on top of iconic buildings or religious places having visibility from all the corners. Clock towers were in fashion all across the globe in the 18th to 20th centuries, and some of them had bells as well, which used to ring at every hour. Bangalore too, has had its share of clock towers, though the city has never been known for its clock towers. The iconic Clock tower once stood at the Russell Market in Shivajinagar, which no longer stands today as it was brought down sometime during the middle of the 20th century.
A few standing clock towers can be seen at the City Market, Baldwin Boys school, Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic, Central College, Police training grounds, St John's Church, Corporation office and the newly constructed towers at South End circle and Omkar Hills. Most of these clocks have been provided by HMT.

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Overview: Now famous for high rises, branded showrooms and startups, the villages of Madivala, Agara, Koramangala and Domlur are the villages which have seen an ancient past.

Madivala village was a flourishing agrahara under the Cholas and Hoysalas. There is an ancient Chola era temple, which was later expanded by the Hoysalas behind the road opposite to the Silk Board. This Someshwara temple is of high historical importance, with Tamil inscriptions all along the outer walls of the temple. The most important being the 1247 CE inscription which talks about the grants of some lands near the big tank of Vengalur (2nd inscription of the city name after the one in Begur). This inscription is by an official Pemmataiyar of Veppur (Begur) for the deity Sembeshwaram (Someshwara) at Tamaraikkirai (Tavarekere).

Agara is situated at the junction of the ORR and Sarjapura Road, and is in existance since the Gangas. A 870 CE Ganga inscription mentions about the fixing of sluices to 2 tanks (Agara Lake…

R Niranjan Das29 December 2012 at 23:32
Jog looks lovely. With more water it would have looked awesome! Yet to visit Ikkeri.

http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in/2012/12/mallalli-falls-largest-waterfalls-in.html
Nijaguna Residency5 April 2013 at 15:57
Hi i am fan of your blog ill read most of the time ur blogs...i went to bandipur national park with my parents really it was amazing in that forest we all enjoyed a lot and we stayed inBandipur Resorts it was very good to stay i wish to vist again and stay ther
Unknown10 April 2013 at 14:50
Great Post, Beautiful pictures ! I am following your blog now
Unknown26 August 2013 at 12:55
hii..nice post.Thanks for sharing with us.I liked the way you put up the information.I am panning to visit br hills resort and also bandipur resorts this weekend with my family. because their facilites,sevices offered at low cost,Wildlife Safari really really awesome..
Unknown6 February 2015 at 20:32
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Unknown6 February 2015 at 20:33
Good Article :)

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