Madikeri (previously known as Mercara) is a picturesque charming town situated at an elevation of over 5,000 ft (1,525 m) above sea level. Madikeri is the district headquarters of Kodagu (formerly Coorg). Because of the picturesque location it is often dubbed as the Scotland of India. For more information on places to visit in Madikeri and around, visit this link or this one.
For historical, cultural as well as travel info on Madikeri, visitwikipedia.
In brief, places to visit in Madikeri are Raja's Seat, Madikeri Fort, Omkareshwara Temple, and Rajas' Tomb. Places to visit around Madikeri are Abbi Falls, Iruppu Falls, Bhagamandala, Talakaveri, Dubbare Elephant camp, Harangi dam and Kaveri Nisargadhama. Places of trekking & wild life include Thadiyandamole, Pushpagiri, KoteBetta, Igguthappa Kundu, Brahmagiri, Nishanimotte and Nagarahole National Park.
My travel log:
Finding accommodation
We reached Madikeri at 9 pm. Since we were unable to make prior reservation at hotels, we had hard time finding one. Several of the hotels that are advertised on the internet were beyond our budget and those within our budget were not mentioned in the net. At that hour in the night we had to run from hotel to hotel looking for accommodation. Even though we visited in January, the occupancy was almost full. Nonetheless, one must make prior accommodation before embarking on to Madikeri, to avoid last minute surprises. We were lucky to find a modest accommodation with restaurant attached. After a tiresome day traveling from Davangere via Shimoga, Bhadravathi, Tarikere, Lingadalli, Chikamagalur, Belur, Halebid, Hassan, Arkalgud, and Kushal Nagar, we hit the bed immediately after dinner.
Bhagamandala
Next morning, we had breakfast at the restaurant downstairs and left for Bhagamandala. We drove 36 kms of winding roads in 1.15 hr with brief stops at coffee plantations for photographs. The road is generally good with few rough patches here and there. Local buses and other tourist vehicles move around as if they are participating in some rally. Bhagamandala is said to be the convergence of three rivers (Kaveri, Kannika and Sujyothi) but we noticed only two. The river is considered sacred and one has to leave the footwear quite some distance away from the river. People take bath in this holy river. Bhagandeshwara temple at Bhagamandala houses four deities (Eshwara, Subramanya, Vishnu and Ganapathi); the temple was under renovation during our visit.
Talakaveri
A little distance from this temple is a hotel where we had our breakfast and left for Talakaveri. It took us 30 minutes to drive through uphill ghats of Bhramagiri hill, a distance of 19 kms. We stopped briefly for good photographs. There is a good parking place at Talakaveri. It is the origin of Kaveri River. A new temple complex (Agastyeshwara & Ganapathi) was being built a few steps above the origin of Kaveri River. From Talakaveri, steps lead up to the nearby Brahmagiri peak but we did not time to scale it as we had to cover Iruppu falls and reach Nagarahole national park. You can buy good quality honey marketed by the co-operative society at Talakaveri. Even though honey is sold everywhere in Madikeri, insist on the one marketed by the society. Locally grown spices and condiments are also sold at Talakaveri. We rushed down, had a tea break at the same restaurant and left for Iruppu falls.
Iruppu Falls
It took us five hours fifteen minutes to cover a distance of 121 kms from Talakaveri to Iruppu falls driving through Virajpet and Gonikoppa. We reached the spot in the hot afternoon at 2.30 pm. The car had to be parked under the sun with no protection. There is a small hotel and toilet facility and is very useful to freshen up. One has to buy ticket to reach the falls. Since we had a lot more distance to cover, we almost ran all the way to the falls, spent just five minutes and dashed back to the car. It was pity that we could not spend more time and enjoy the fall. The fall is easily reachable, although little slippery.
Nagarahole national park
Our final destination of the day was Nagarahole national park. The road from Iruppu fall to the park was in extremely bad condition. I felt sorry for putting my new car on such bad roads; my car had to endure a pothole ridden single road with ragged edges. It took us one hour fifteen minutes to cover a distance of 18 kms on this road. We reached the park at 3.45 pm, 15 minutes before the deadline. One can use the services of the park's sight seeing bus by paying a fee of Rs.75 per adult member. Sitting besides the window gave me jitters, as I had heard of an incident/rumour where a tiger jumped and mauled a passenger in the bus. The bus drove through the forest very slowly and a guide in the bus pointed to the wildlife. Our excitement of seeing animals in their wilderness was met with disappointment at the park. In a tour that lasted mere 15 minutes, we got to see 4 monkeys, 3 deers, a peacock and a dog.
So much for the wildlife trip! With a heavy heart and a gross disappointment we left back to Madikeri at 5.15 pm. Driving through Gonikoppa and Virajpet we covered 87 kms and reached Madikeri at 8.20 pm.
Flash presentation of day 1 photos:
Distance chart:
Halebidu to Hassan: 30 Kms
Hassan to Gorur: 27 Kms
Arkalgod to Kushalnagar: 47 Kms
Kushalnagar to Madikeri: 30 Kms
Madikeri to Bhagamandala: 36 Kms
Bhagamandala to Talakaveri: 19 Kms
Talakaveri to Virajpet: 65 Kms
Virajpet to Gonikoppal: 24 Kms
Gonikoppal to Iruppu falls: 30 Kms
Iruppu falls to Nagarahole: 18 Kms
See Coorg - Madikeri tourism day
For historical, cultural as well as travel info on Madikeri, visitwikipedia.
In brief, places to visit in Madikeri are Raja's Seat, Madikeri Fort, Omkareshwara Temple, and Rajas' Tomb. Places to visit around Madikeri are Abbi Falls, Iruppu Falls, Bhagamandala, Talakaveri, Dubbare Elephant camp, Harangi dam and Kaveri Nisargadhama. Places of trekking & wild life include Thadiyandamole, Pushpagiri, KoteBetta, Igguthappa Kundu, Brahmagiri, Nishanimotte and Nagarahole National Park.
My travel log:
Finding accommodation
We reached Madikeri at 9 pm. Since we were unable to make prior reservation at hotels, we had hard time finding one. Several of the hotels that are advertised on the internet were beyond our budget and those within our budget were not mentioned in the net. At that hour in the night we had to run from hotel to hotel looking for accommodation. Even though we visited in January, the occupancy was almost full. Nonetheless, one must make prior accommodation before embarking on to Madikeri, to avoid last minute surprises. We were lucky to find a modest accommodation with restaurant attached. After a tiresome day traveling from Davangere via Shimoga, Bhadravathi, Tarikere, Lingadalli, Chikamagalur, Belur, Halebid, Hassan, Arkalgud, and Kushal Nagar, we hit the bed immediately after dinner.
Bhagamandala
Next morning, we had breakfast at the restaurant downstairs and left for Bhagamandala. We drove 36 kms of winding roads in 1.15 hr with brief stops at coffee plantations for photographs. The road is generally good with few rough patches here and there. Local buses and other tourist vehicles move around as if they are participating in some rally. Bhagamandala is said to be the convergence of three rivers (Kaveri, Kannika and Sujyothi) but we noticed only two. The river is considered sacred and one has to leave the footwear quite some distance away from the river. People take bath in this holy river. Bhagandeshwara temple at Bhagamandala houses four deities (Eshwara, Subramanya, Vishnu and Ganapathi); the temple was under renovation during our visit.
Talakaveri
A little distance from this temple is a hotel where we had our breakfast and left for Talakaveri. It took us 30 minutes to drive through uphill ghats of Bhramagiri hill, a distance of 19 kms. We stopped briefly for good photographs. There is a good parking place at Talakaveri. It is the origin of Kaveri River. A new temple complex (Agastyeshwara & Ganapathi) was being built a few steps above the origin of Kaveri River. From Talakaveri, steps lead up to the nearby Brahmagiri peak but we did not time to scale it as we had to cover Iruppu falls and reach Nagarahole national park. You can buy good quality honey marketed by the co-operative society at Talakaveri. Even though honey is sold everywhere in Madikeri, insist on the one marketed by the society. Locally grown spices and condiments are also sold at Talakaveri. We rushed down, had a tea break at the same restaurant and left for Iruppu falls.
Iruppu Falls
It took us five hours fifteen minutes to cover a distance of 121 kms from Talakaveri to Iruppu falls driving through Virajpet and Gonikoppa. We reached the spot in the hot afternoon at 2.30 pm. The car had to be parked under the sun with no protection. There is a small hotel and toilet facility and is very useful to freshen up. One has to buy ticket to reach the falls. Since we had a lot more distance to cover, we almost ran all the way to the falls, spent just five minutes and dashed back to the car. It was pity that we could not spend more time and enjoy the fall. The fall is easily reachable, although little slippery.
Nagarahole national park
Our final destination of the day was Nagarahole national park. The road from Iruppu fall to the park was in extremely bad condition. I felt sorry for putting my new car on such bad roads; my car had to endure a pothole ridden single road with ragged edges. It took us one hour fifteen minutes to cover a distance of 18 kms on this road. We reached the park at 3.45 pm, 15 minutes before the deadline. One can use the services of the park's sight seeing bus by paying a fee of Rs.75 per adult member. Sitting besides the window gave me jitters, as I had heard of an incident/rumour where a tiger jumped and mauled a passenger in the bus. The bus drove through the forest very slowly and a guide in the bus pointed to the wildlife. Our excitement of seeing animals in their wilderness was met with disappointment at the park. In a tour that lasted mere 15 minutes, we got to see 4 monkeys, 3 deers, a peacock and a dog.
So much for the wildlife trip! With a heavy heart and a gross disappointment we left back to Madikeri at 5.15 pm. Driving through Gonikoppa and Virajpet we covered 87 kms and reached Madikeri at 8.20 pm.
Flash presentation of day 1 photos:
Distance chart:
Halebidu to Hassan: 30 Kms
Hassan to Gorur: 27 Kms
Arkalgod to Kushalnagar: 47 Kms
Kushalnagar to Madikeri: 30 Kms
Madikeri to Bhagamandala: 36 Kms
Bhagamandala to Talakaveri: 19 Kms
Talakaveri to Virajpet: 65 Kms
Virajpet to Gonikoppal: 24 Kms
Gonikoppal to Iruppu falls: 30 Kms
Iruppu falls to Nagarahole: 18 Kms
See Coorg - Madikeri tourism day
