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Sunday, June 19, 2005

The Manchanabele Getaway

My friend Harsha had come across a scenic place near Ramanagar last month (May 2005). He had told me about this which aroused the photo bug in me. We decided to go to this place called Manchanabele. I left home at 9 AM with the camera and tripod stand as usual and a large bottle of water. Harsha joined me in Vijaynagar. We soon hit the Mysore highway at around 9:50 AM. The Bangalore - Mysore highway which is being converted into a four lane system, is still under construction. The roads until Kengeri are in a pathetic state.

As Manchanabele is a village & no hotels nearby it we decided to pack food from some hotel on the way. Came across this nice looking hotel called Kadu Mane (Forest House) a little away from Kengeri. This hotel is very spacious with lots of greenery around it.



There was a special room which was built using bamboo sticks high above the ground level. The view from here was nice and the feel of the room was natural. It was more like a tree house.


There were some huge Turkeys and somDuckse too in this place. Though the ambience of the hotel was good the same thing cannot be said of the food served here which we realized later. We packed two masala dosas and two plates of vangi bath. The food here is a bit costly.




We resumed the drive at around 10:45. The roads from here are a pleasure to drive. We can reach around 100 kmph easily. Very soon we reached Ramanagar. To go towards Manchanabele one has to take a right turn just a few meters away from Ramanagar Town. The people around are more than willing to help you.

Manchanabele is about 30 Kms from this deviation in Ramanagar. Ramanagar is famous for its many mountains.



The mountains are so prominent in this place. The houses here have the view of the mountains either from the backyard or front yard and sometimes both.



The beauty of the mountains are complimented by the greenery around them.



There are some very interesting patterns which are made by the mountains in this place. This one here takes the form of the Basava (Bull). It is nicknamed as the Basava Betta by the people here.



The drive to Manchanabele is very scenic and I stopped the car a hundred times to capture some really splendid shots of Mother Nature. The calf here looked so innocent though it’s giving a menacing look for the camera.



We came across this very nice old man who explained to us in detail about the mountains here. This was the very mountains where the eternal movie of Bollywood Sholay was shot. The places around here are favorites for the Cinema makers.



An areca nut farm on the way.



This mountain here is called the Aame Betta (Turtle Rock). Amazing are the ways of nature.



I came across a stack of bricks on the road. I tried in vain to get the face of the grazing ox through this gap here. I missed out on the timing :(



Another lovely view of the mountains. The holes there add to the beauty.



A wind mill with a weather cock on the way.



This farm here contained both coconut and areca nut trees. The geometrically straight areca and the curved coconut trees compliment each other.



A barren tree on the way caught between two mountains.





Yet another formation of the rocks. I christened this as the Grandfather Rock.



The villagers spread the Ragi Stalks on the roads. When the vehicles go on them, the ragi grains get separated from the grass. This lessens the burden on them. The conventional way is to beat the grass on the surface so that the grains fall off. Alas in this computer age everyone including the village folks are becoming lazy.


An interesting incident happened here, when I was capturing this shot, a guy from the village was carrying more stalks and going towards the ladies in the picture. I overheard him telling them that I am taking a photograph to lodge a complaint against them for spreading the stalks on the road and causing inconvenience for the road users. But the ladies remained unaffected by his words. Guess they knew he was flirting around.



Finally at 1:30 PM we reached Manchanabele. The drive was very scenic and the Kannada Songs playing on my CD system added to the pleasure.

Located in Magadi taluk of Bangalore district, Manchanabele is a popular picnic spot located amidst hills, forests and the Arkavathi river. The Savandurga mountains are in the backdrop.



The Manchanabele reservoir, built across the Arkavathi, a tributary of the Cauvery. A scenic view of the Arkhavathi River and the mountains.





The view of the roads beneath from the dam.



Harsha strikes a pose.


The stone bed of the Arkhavathy.



Another one here.



After spending some time near the reservoir it was time for lunch. We trekked up the mountains for about 20 minutes. Came across a green bed of grass which was suitable for having lunch. It was so calm here away from the usual din of the city.



Came across a green bed of grass which was suitable for having lunch. It was so calm here away from the usual din of the city.



After a satisfying lunch (satisfying beacuse of the hunger & not the taste) we trekked back to where I had parked the car.



Grazing goats
along the way on the mountains



The view of the bridge beneath. The water body here in Harsha's view is of the shape of the map of Karnataka


We then drove towards the other side of Arkavathy River which is a few Kms away.






We relaxed on the banks of the river hearing the sound of the water. Unfortunately the fishermen were out of sight. Seems they take you for a ride for a small amount.



After some more time we left for Bangalore via the Magadi road which is just around 30 kms from Manchanabele. On the way we came across the famous Dodda Aladha Mara (Big Banyan Tree) in Ketohalli, Tavrekere village. This banyan tree is a 400-year-old tree. This is the second largest banyan tree in India. The main tree has over the years spread out widely with several aerial roots or prop roots. The tree covers an area of over four acres. The big banyan tree has been a popular jaunt for quite some time and is a favorite site for several film shootings.

The monkeys in the Dodda Aladha Mara are very badly behaved. They attack visitors and snatch the eatables from them. We had a first hand experience of this. Harsha was attacked!! The monkey is trying to open the bottle.


It is pathetic to SEE that almost every branch and trunk of the tree has been etched with graffiti by vandals and self proclaimed Romeo's and Majnu's




After a short stroll we left for Bangalore and reached there by 5:30 PM. It was a short memorable outing. One can also camp on the mountains of Manchanabele and the Savandurga nearby.

29 Opinions:

Jennifer Swanepoel said...

Hello, thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting! I like your photos here, too. I always like to see photos of places I have never been. :)

Akruti said...

Karthik,First things first,Brilliant photography and writing style,now i am worried reading all the writeups here,There are so many places which i need to visit and i have no time:))) hahaha,Nice pictures,specially the one with dog,i have two dogs:) and thanks for linking me,But if u dont mind can u change the spelling plz,its AKRUTI{ there is no H}
and by the way,i am neither English nor Hindi Lecturer,i dont wear specs and i dont frown at my students and i dont carry a cane to the class:)hmm,my students must be ur age{guess u r in u r early twenties}hahaha,Havefun:)

ss said...

Hi karthik! Wow, I liked the pic where the nice old man was telling about mountians, then the arecanut farm and the rock formations and specially the wind mill, amazing! I love being close to nature too!
About previous post - really hat off to your dad with regards!

Kousik said...

Karthik, beautifully written -- with great photos in company!

Sindhuja Parthasarathy said...

:)

Raju PP said...

good one :)
especially the dam pics :)

Art said...

nice pics...and good description... dint know of the place Manchanabele... may be will visit the place..now that i know the place :)

Karthik L G said...

Thanks guys for dropping in and commenting

enigma said...

looks like a day well spent huh!
Din't know of a place like this.. though have been to Ramnagar many times.
Good pics again..

Twilight Dolphin said...

i guess this time it was well planned and "already informed"trip....
nice places these are...
the pic with windmill and the one where u cudn't capture the grazing ox ;).. are particularly nice...
and monkeys irritate u so much at times...i remember once me and my mom were visiting a temple and a monkey came and literally clung to her till she surrendered all the eatables in her hands
gosh..it was horrible.. im so scared of monkeys...

Anonymous said...

Wow! wonderful pictures. You are a aweome photographer.

aparna said...

hey! Lovely pics! And a very nice post! :-) I love the one with the barren tree against the sky one. Nice! :-)

Rashmi Patel said...

great pics.
was reminded of my trip to hampi!

pk said...

Yeh great picture and nice write up.

Karthik L G said...

thanx evryone

Potpourri said...

Nice descriptions and great pictures. I especially like the bunch of carrots, the dog, the clouds and skies..
Photos channagidhe.. is that right? :)

GS said...

real nice pics

Lorena said...

once again beautiful photographs. i know i can come to your blog for a nice escape!

Karthik L G said...

potporri - u got it right!

gayathri, lorena - thanx :)

Raju PP said...

time 4 the new post and more n more awesome pics ;-)

btw, u have been tagged by me ;-)

Anonymous said...

Hi, Karthik

Commendable work. AWESOME FROM THE LENS. If you happen to be around please do visit one more KETOHALLI (awesome country side with biofuel plantations) Opposite M S Resort (8kms before ramnagram) on mysore road, u will feel great like in god's own country. Its a beautiful locaction with lake sorrounded by mountains.

Keep the good work goind
Nayeem

Noopster said...

Nice blog, Karthik. A bunch of friends and I are so impressed by your Manchanbele traveleogue that we are planning a trip there next week. Will let you know how that went!

Anonymous said...

hi. kartik

planing to visit your land , i think in future it will be my dream land , let me check the banks of the rivers , irrigation source . thanks for your work kartik

DENNIS DANIEL dennischaruvil@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Hi, I've a farm house with a homestay concept just 7 kms away from savandurga & 10-12 kms away from Manchanabele. It's comfortable/affordable/decent & i can provide you 4-5 bicycles also if you wish to pedal. You can mail me at vijayendrap@rediffmail.com.

Anonymous said...

We had been to Manchina Bele Dam this weekend and We had the most horrid experience there!

Short answer - We got robbed! Best of all, people who claim to be security guards did that.

All we were doing is just taking some pictures of the scenic view and just walked nearer to the Dam.

We felt that scene was nice and took some more snaps. 2 more guys came and taking some random pictures.

Then suddenly 2 localites with sticks (claimed to be security) came to us and started abusing in very bad language. They snatched our expensive cameras and started to push us around. We were four and they started threatening to beat us and said no one should come to that area.

We saw, there was no board that said so and we offered to delete photos if we were not supposed to take. They didn't listen to us and Started abusing badly and they held our hands. We didn't know what to do and later they asked money. They took 500Rs and quickly went away giving us some gyan saying you should take permission etc etc.

All said done is, Manchina Bele is not safe and Dam employees themselves are robbers. When you enter Manchina Bele Dam area, there is a board that warns you of robbers. No wonder, Dam security and may be some localites are robbers and they are on the prowl to extort money. We had to pay 500Rs to get our Cameras back. Worst place!

Adding this comment for others to be careful!

Srikanth Kakolu said...

I had a mixture of both good N BITTER EXPERIENCE at Manchanabele Dam...
We had our college trainings at Deccan herald Press which is n Kumbalagodu (on the way to Big Banyan Tree....and thereafter to Manchinabellae Dam)..One of the days, i and my entire team of 8 people (mixture of both male and female category) decided to have a small picnic..i took my car and my frenz bike and made our way to these lovely places...first, we had to drop in to Big Banyan Tree...it was in a pathetic state...Pairs were in a josh and had occupied most of the bushes..so we then made all the way to Manchanbellae Dam..it is around 18 kms from Big Banyan Tree... Initially we had a swim on the nearby canal... the localites were thrilled and started their goonisms..but we were strong enough to defend and had them to just move on... the river side was just awesome..and we were warned by the authorirites that the whirlers are more..in the river..so we could not take a dip... on the way back, we were surrounded by the localites who were drunk and almost trying to steal the amount and our chains... but lucky, we got the help of a local army truck which was passing by and they came to our rescue..we followed their truck until the city limits....

altogether a fantastic place for hangouts...
Food has to be packed well before the journey.

Happy travelling!

Raj said...

informative and well written too!

swapnil Jain said...

hi dear, based on your comments i have planned the visit, and leaving Bangalore now in next 30 min. hope we will enjoy. will definitely share the experience.

Swapnil.

Anonymous said...

I am glad to hear about your wonderful trip. Ours was not so good. The entire area was trashed with broken beer bottles and plastic. Locals were having a good swim but since we went with kids, we didn't think it was safe. It was a horrible experience. By the way, it maybe only 30kms from Bangalore but it takes good 2 hours to get there. It was a really ba day. I would not recommend it to anyone - with or without children.