Mysore & Coorg

It was a 3 days trip started from Chennai with a group of 7 people where 5 from Chennai, 1 from Bangalore and 1 from Coimbatore. We have planned to cover Mysore and Coorg nearby areas and didn’t have any proper schedule. Train leaving Chennai central at 9.15PM on Day 0 reached Mysore at 7.00AM on Day 1. This is how we planned.

Day 1, Day 2 - Coorg visit, Day 3: Mysore visit

Day 1:

7.00 AM - As per our plan we have to get refreshed near Mysore and start to Coorg. Unfortunately the hotel booked for morning refreshment was located at Nanjangud which is 23KM far away from Mysore. We have to travel again to Mysore from Nanjangud to reach Coorg. 50km of distance - 1 hour of time was consumed which had to be avoided. We had our refreshment at SLV Royal Inn in Nanjangud, where rooms were neat and clean, the only drawback is located in remote area. After breakfast we started around 9.00AM towards Coorg.

12.00 PM - We reached Bylakuppe golden temple by 12 noon, which is the first place of the trip. One hour is sufficient to cover the place. We can also take some good pics at garden inside the temple. Bylakuppe is the second largest Tibetan settlement in the world outside Tibet after Dharmashala. It is located to the west of Mysore district. In 1960, the Government of Mysore (as Karnataka was called at that time) allotted nearly 3,000 acres of land at Bylakuppe in Mysore district in Karnataka and the first ever Tibetan exile settlement. The Government of India built special schools for Tibetans that provide free education, health care and scholarships for those students who excel in school. There are a few medical and civil engineering seats reserved for Tibetans. Every Tibetan refugee above the age of 16 must register for the stay permit which is processed through a document called Registration Certificate (RC). (Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bylakuppe)

2.00 PM - Lunch was taken after 2.00PM followed by our next visit to Nisargadhama at 3.00PM. It is a little island formed by river Cauvery. Boating, elephant ride and some activities were there but we don’t have interest in those activities, so we spent some time at a deer park and Cauvery river inside nisargadhama and departed.

4.30 PM - Next spot is Abbey falls (reached around 4.30) where we are not allowed to take bath, fence is developed at some distance from the falls. We have to walk down through steps to reach the falls, and started to return around 7.00PM. It’s a little sight seeing place and nothing much to do.

6.00 PM - We planned to visit Raja’s seat before sun set. But it was little late (around 6.00PM) as the sun was already start to get into the clouds. Pics taken at dim light also doesn’t look good. We should have come little earlier. There was a garden near Raja’s seat, where we had some chit-chat and snacks outside the garden.

9.00 PM - Day 1 has come to an end, so we started to move to the Pragathi Homestay arranged at Madikeri town. One of the best parts we experienced at Coorg is hospitality provided at Pragathi Homestay. It was well maintained 3 bed room with 2 bathrooms, which can easily accommodate 7-8 people. The house owner was very kind person. He was helping us to plan for Day 2, after some discussions finally we decided to visit Mandalpatti on next day morning. As it was off road trip to mandalpatti, the owner itself arranged a jeep at some reasonable cost. After some refreshment we went out for dinner and got back to the homestay.

Day 2:

5.45 AM - First spot on Day 2 was Mandalpatti, 20KM far from madikeri, also a must visit place around madikeri. As we were eager to see sun rise in Mandalpatti we had to woke up early morning by 5 and get ready. We started from our room around 5.45 and it took almost an hour to reach. Once reached we were astonished to see the breath taking view of Mandalpatti that any nature lover will never want to miss. It was really wonderful to watch sun rising behind the hills.

8.30 AM - After spending around 1 and half hours we left Mandalpatti around 8.30AM. We reached Homestay after an hour and food is also made ready, prepared by house owners. They provide idly, vada with chutney and sambar.

10.00 AM - Next place is Omkareshwar temple, a small Siva temple at madikeri which can be covered in 10 mins.

12.00 PM - Talacauvery, the religious spot, is a place which is considered to be the source of the river Cauvery, located at Coorg district, in the distance of 43KM from madikeri. We expect some fountain to be there, but actually there was a shrine with decorated shiva linga which denotes the spot where the river originates. There was also a little mount, we reached the peak by walk in hot sun and ended with a view point.

1.30 PM - It was lunch time and at the same time we are near to Bhagamandala temple while returning from talacauvery. The only reason which made us to visit the temple is free lunch is provided there. After waiting for long time in queue, we got into lunch hall.

3.00 PM - As the trip at Coorg has come to an end, we started around 2.00PM from bhagamandala to Mysore. On the way to go to madikeri suddenly we entered into a naarttankay (நார்த்தங்காய்) garden (we thought it would have been an orange garden) with owner’s permission to grab some fruits. Later we stopped in madikeri to buy some chocolates.

7.00 PM - It was about 7.00PM while check in to Hotel Shastri paradise, Mysore. After checked in, we rushed to visit Mysore palace illumination as we thought the palace to be closed at 7.30PM but actually not. It was opened even after 9.00PM. I felt like a long term dream of visiting Mysore palace at night time has been fulfilled, what an eye catching scene of palace. A big garden was created and decorated with plants, fruits and flowers inside palace compound wall. We 6 of 7 people have come up with a plan, to leave one of our friends alone in garden for some time to have fun. We thought she would have been looking for us but result turns absolutely opposite. She walked through the garden for almost an hour ignoring us. At last she had fun of us. Had some good time of 2 and half hours.

10.00 PM - After 10.00PM we were looking for some street food shops but we had to go into an exhibition for dinner. We reached room by 11.00PM. I won’t suggest anyone to prefer this hotel ( for stay in Mysore, because bathrooms were not well maintained.

Day 3:

6.30 AM - Shree Chamundeshwari temple is a nice place to visit at morning time. We enjoyed the travel a bit towards the temple, as it located in a hill, called Chamundi hill. We started around 6.30AM and came back to room by 9.00AM to check out the hotel.

10.00 AM - We visited Mysore palace once again, this time to experience the infrastructure. The palace was so immense, each part of the building has not failed to amaze us. 2 hours of time spent is worth to watch.

Brindavan garden visit in our plan was scheduled at evening time for which we have 4 more hours in hand. Inclusion of Jaganmohan palace visit to fill the time gap also had to be cancelled as the palace got closed due to maintenance work.

1.00 PM - After some discussion we decided to visit Philomena church, at Mysore, constructed at 1843, which is recognised as second tallest church at Asia. The main attraction of the church is twin crest towers with the height of 175 feet. Also a nice place to take photos.

3.00 PM - After lunch, started to move to Brindavan garden, which is located near Krishnarajasagara dam built across the river Kaveri, meanwhile we changed our mindset and travel towards Balmuri falls. Unfortunately the road towards Balmuri falls was blocked by local policemen for safety reasons, so we had to go to Brindavan garden. Watch shows 4.00PM on reaching garden, and this is the last place too. Hide and seek game we played at garden was one of the much enjoyed memorable events we had in our trip which lasted for more than half an hour.

8.30 PM - At last we might have reached Mysore railway station around 7.30PM after dinner, where train was scheduled at 9.00PM to Chennai. And the trip has come to an end!!!

In Shorts:

Day 1 - Bylakuppe - Nisargadhama - Abbey falls - Raja seat

Day 2 - Mandalpatti - Omkareshwar temple - Tala Cauvery - Bhagmandala temple - Mysore palace

Day 3 - Chamundeeswari temple - Mysore palace visit - Philomena church - Brindavan garden