Travellers' Lens: Guide to Great Weekends - Sivasamundram and Somnathpur

If you are in Bangalore and enjoy an impulse outing without a lot of drama around where to stay, what to eat, etc, you should visit the Sivasamundram falls.

Packed with only a couple of things in our bag (and a bag full of just camera stuff), we set out driving on a Saturday morning. The over 140 kms drive from Bangalore to Sivasamundram falls was facinating - lovely weather and a comfortable drive (road was surprisingly good!).

Sivasamundram Falls

Sivasamundram, also known as Sivanasamundram, is situated near Malvalli, around 80 kms from Mysore. There are two picturesque waterfalls, known as Gaganachukki and Bharachukki, less than a km away from each other both flowing into River Cauvery. Each waterfall is immense with thousands on litres of river water gushing down and slamming the ground 50-70 metres down. It's totally worth a visit especially during monsoon.

Tip: Be sure to carry some food with you if you are not prepared to eat "anything". There are small stalls on the way if you want to make do or if you care less for the fried fish from the old lady sitting right next to the water fall.

The rocky gorge

The second waterfall

You can take a ride in the round rowboat to get closer look at the waterfall, but be prepared to get drenched as the force of the water is just too much.

If you manage time well, you may be able to see the waterfalls and the Somnathpur temple all in one day. But, by the time we finished looking at the waterfalls, it was already close to sun down. So we decided to spend the night at Mysore. At this point, I must stop to express our heart-felt thank you to Aarti Shyamsunder who let us crash in at her place for the night at very short notice. So, if you dont have such generous friends at Mysore, be prepared to get a hotel.

Somnathpur KeshavaTemple

The drive to Somnathpur from Mysore is quite picturesque as well with the road lined up with fields and coconut trees.

The Keshava temple at Somnathpur is a world heritage site. This 13th century temple built by the Hoysala kings boasts of an architecture that is a blend of northern and southern temple architectures. Some parts of the temple are still in ruins after bearing the brunt of weather or invaders. Major portion of the temple has been restored.