Trip to Talcauveri, Coorg Karnataka

Following our trip to Golden Temple, before we returned to Bangalore we made a stop at Talcauveri near Bagamandala. It is about 40 KM from Madikeri, which is the capital of Coorg.

The drive to this place is along the Bhagamandala forest range. Also the roads are carved along side the hills hence you will find number of sharp turns on the route. It was almost like driving along the ghat section since the roads were narrower too. Though we did see sign boards about animals crossing the roads, as always we could seldom see any. Also most parts of the route had small villages within about 5 to 10 kms apart.

Once we reach Bhagamandala, there is T junction, one of which will take us to a town called Panathur bordering the state of Kerela. And the other 9  km uphill stretch taking us to to Talcauveri. The place gets it's name from the fact that this is the starting point of river Cauveri flowing in the states of Karnataka, Kerela and Tamil Nadu. Tala here means origin. Since Cauveri is considered as goddess for the people of this state there is a shrine surrounding the actual starting point.

Once we parked our car and moved towards the temple, we were asked to deposit our footwear as the place we were about to enter was considered holy. My friend Sadiq was wearing shorts, hence he was asked to wear a panche(lungi) to cover his exposed legs. He was not amused by this rule though. 

Apart from the shrine, where the devotees can offer prayers, there is very long and steep steps that will take us to a hilltop with a nice and scenic view of the surroundings. Under the hot sun with barefoot, taking these steps were a real challenge and it tested our stamina to the fullest. It took us approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete the journey with multiple pit stops for catching breath.

Once we reached the top spot, all our weariness were gone after seeing the spectacle unfold in front of our eyes. Since it was almost noon time there were no clouds and we could see as far as the horizon went. It was also the time to take as much clicks as possible.