One day trip to Muthathi & Mekedatu

Myself,Wifey & 3 of our school mates were dying for a break from our monotonous lifes & this last weekend we could no longer bear the usual chores of our lifes and we decided to hit the road.Few google searches & suggestions lead us to Muthathi Forest & Mekedatu.

Muthathi is a quite little village in the midst of a reserved forest, 98 Kms from Bangalore. It is also known as the “Elephant Corridor” as it has one of the highest densities of wild elephants in the country. It is famous for river Kaveri, the wild animals, and the breathtaking views .

Muthathi is situated ahead of kanakpura.After kanakpura we have to head towards a small village called sathanur which is around 18 kms from kanakpura from this village there is a road whcih leads to Mutahthi & another one which leads to mekedatu.

The climate was awesome during our travel with no sun at all & some slight drizzle in between made the trip all the more enjoyable.
We started of around 7:00 in the morning picking up people from Domulur & Silik board ,we proceeded towards Muthathi.On our way just after Art oF living ashram we saw a newly built temple which attracted us becasue of its huge statues.This temple was on the udayapura -kanakpura main road.

After spending some time here we proceeded towards Mutahthi.We reached Mutahthi around 10:00 & stopped near cauvery river for our breakfast.We spent enough time by the banks of cauvery.We got some surprise visitors too while we were taking our breakfast.

After breakfast we entered the forest range by paying 50 bucks for god knows what.& then we drove almost 5-6 kms inside the jungle.While coming back we were lucky enough to spot 30-40 spotted deers near a hillside.we managed to click some pics but our quest of getting more pictures forced us to get out of our car & go near them that scared the animal which fled away in no time.

We remained there for couple more minutes thinking that some of them may return but then no one came & we went from there after clickng few pics.

After this we drove back to Sathnur and on our way back stopped at a feild for some pics..

After reachng sathnur we took the road which goes to Mekedatu.It was roughly around 25 kms away & in between we lost one diversion which made the overall journey a little longer but it was very good climate with intermediate rains.

‘Mekedatu’ is the place where the Kaveri (Cauvery) River flows through a narrow ravine. Legend has it that the channel was so narrow that sheep would jump across, and hence the name Mekedatu (Meke = sheep/goat, datu = cross in Kannada).
After around 20 kms we reach sangam & have to park our cars there.The next 4-5 kms we have to either trek or go by govt provided transport to reach mekedtau.We opted for a jeep drive for a price of 400 bucks & enjoyed it a lot .

We spent some time taking snaps there & returned back to sangam after 20-30 minutes

Crossing the river @ sangam was fun & i was very reluctant to step into the water for the fear of ruining my car seats.We did not carry any extra clothes & that was one of the greatest mistakes.As luck would have it two times i fell on my face & got completely wet.I stayed away from clicking any pics here for the fear getting my cam wet & the only thing i shot was

Around 4:30 pm we started our journey back,after drying ourselves for some time .

During our way back my car sped over a chameleon but luckily i was able to get it through the middle of the tyres & later that posed for me & gave some real good pics..

We reached back bangalore around 7:30 thanks to the heavy traffic en route & stopped over at Dhabba near HSR for a heavy Dinner.

The trip had exhausted us & the moment i stepped in my home i was lying on my bed snoring.

The Roads were excellent for the entire strecth.Only problem was at kanakpura were road widening was happening.Apart from that the entire stretch was laid with beautiful roads.

I am sharing some pics taken by my wife during the trip here..

Mutahthi-Mekedatu trip

Incredible India-Mysore Trip

Last week had a chance to visit Mysore with my family.Though i have visited the Mysore palace a zillion times,this one was the first one with my D90.Mysore palace is the one of the most visited palace in the city.

History of Mysore Palace–Courtesy Wikipedia.
The Kingdom of Mysore was ruled by the Wodeyar dynasty from 1399 until the independence of India in 1947.The Wodeyar kings built a palace in Mysore in the 14th century, But the Raja Wodeyar shifted his Capital to the island fort town of Sriranagapattana in 1610 and Mysore lost its importance as a seat of power. But this palace was partially damaged by a lightning strike in 1638. It was repaired and expanded by Ranadhira Kanteerava Narasa Raja Wodeyar. With the usurpation of the Kingdom by the Hyder in 1762 Mysore Palace further lost its importance. But Hyder son , Tipu Sultan demolished the entire fort town including the Palace in 1787 and used the fort material to build a new town near by known as Nazarabad (now part of the mysore City). Fourth Mysore war in 1799 brought an end to the reign of Tipu sultan and then Governor General of India, Lord Mornington ( later Marquis Wellesley and elder brother of Arthur Wellesley – who rose to become Duke of Wellington and is famously known as Iron Duke) decided to restore part of the conquest to the ancient Hindu Royal family and shifted the capital of the newly defined territory of Mysore Kingdom to Mysore.