Visit to Chikmagalur - II

July 24-25 2010
Day2:
Visit to Mullayangiri and Sitallayangiri

Our second day plan was to visit Mullayangiri, Sitallayangiri, Bababudangiri and manikyadhara falls. We started at around 9 AM in the morning towards Mullayangiri. It had rained in the early morning, but later the skies cleared giving a wonderful view of the valley. Fields on either sides of the road were covered with Potato saplings.

Once we started ascending the peak of Mullayangiri, it started drizzling. This was an indication of how the weather would be on top of the hill.
Mullayangiri is the highest peak in Karnataka. With a height of 6300 ft it stands as the tallest peak between the Himalayas and Nilgiris. Mullayangiri is one of favorite destination of trekkers. There are two temples situated on the top dedicated to Lord Shiva one at Mullayangiri top and another at Sitallayangiri, 2km before the top.

On the Peak (Entrance of Temple)

Nowadays there is strict vigilance from the police/forest department towards maintaining the cleanliness of the place. It is now a strictly no plastic area. There is very stringent checking done to the vehicles for any alcohol, which is strict no for this place. These steps would help in maintaining serenity of the place.
With the altitude increase, the weather started deteriorating with cloud covering the peak and it started raining rather heavily. To add to it was the strong breeze blowing across the hill. The visibility was very poor and one had to drive very carefully as the roads were very narrow, good enough for one vehicle. The place was not so crowded when we reached the peak. From here one needs to climb some 200+ steps to reach the temple.

Once we started climbing the steps, we were completely in the clouds and with strong breeze blowing across the hill. The winds were literally pushing us along the steps; such was the power of it. Reached the top of the hill and visited the temple after a struggle with the wind.
Just before reaching the top of the hill, one can come across a mantap with Nandi inside it. There is a path just besides it leading to the caves. It is believed that sages used to meditate here. This is on the leeward side of the hill, where there is absolute silence and no winds at all.

We spent some time over here and then headed towards Sitallayangiri (approx 2km from the peak downwards). There is a temple located over here, again dedicated to Lord Shiva. It was around 12:30 pm we reached here and took blessings from the lord.

The priest here can arrange for your lunch if you tell them in advance. The best option would be to reach Mullayangiri first and then Sitallayangiri (there would be enough time for them to prepare). We were lucky enough to get lunch without advance notice.

Our next place was to visit Bababudangiri and Bababudangiri. Unfortunately for us the weather was not good and also due to monsoons the caves over there were inaccessible and also the restoration work was going on for the shrine located on top of it. We decided to drop this plan and head towards Bangalore via Belur, Hassan. We thought of heading to Belur temple which would fall on our return journey path, but decided against it as everybody was tired and it would also delay our return time to Bangalore.

Though we couldn’t cover many places on second day, the whole trip was a fantastic experience in the monsoon season.