A Memorable Accomplishment!

What initially was planned did not go by the way it was executed, Most of my trips are that way, in fact oi love the that way. The twist in the journey is what makes it a more memorable one.

Initial Plan:

1. Dharmastala Sri Manjunatha
2. Kollur Mookambika
3. Kodchadri trek
4. Udupi Sri Krishna
5. Relax at Maple beach
6. Back Home at Bangalore 

DAY 1: 

Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala

Reached Dharmasthala at 7.30 AM on a Monday. Took a holy dip in river Nethravati and  moved towards the Sri Manjunatha  Sannidhi. It took about 4 hrs in the the special darshan queue which costs about Rs200. The normal darshan would have taken me double the time, i.e. 8 hours to get the holy glimpse of my Lord. It is usually crowded on Mondays otherwise there are times when I have had my lord's darshan in less than an hour on other days. Was out of the temple by 1.30 pm had Annadaana Prasada  at Annapurna and went to bus stand. Kollur was next on my list but unfortunately there was no direct busses from Dharmasthala to Kollur. 

A friendly bus conductor who heard my plan suggested that Udupi first and then Kollur would be more convenient from a transportation's perspective as he saw my backpack loaded with Camping stuff. There are plenty a bus to Udupi from Dharmasthala and last one departs at 8pm. I took the 4 pm bus and reached Udupi by 6.15 pm.

Udupi Sri Krishna temple is in the heart of the city. I checked in to Vyavahara lodge in Car Street, Udupi by Sri Krishna Temple. Strolled around the temple.and the city to get a glimpse of place and its people. Had dinner and returned to the lodge to get some rest.

DAY 2:

Udupi Sri Krishna & Malpe

I woke up to the sun rising by my side right above the temple which was just about a 200 mts away from my room. I reached by Sri Krishna temple by 9 am and I was done with my prayers and darshan by 10 am. There are plenty of matthas around Sri Krishna Temple. I checked into on of the matha by name 'Narasimha Theerta Matha'out of curiosity. I met the mathadeesha and he blessed me with some mantrakshathe and a laddu as prasadam.

I from there took a 30 minute rickshaw ride to Malpe beach which costed me Rs 120 one way.

The beach looked pretty clean with turquoise colored water and pleasant tides which was just perfect for a float.

Played to my heart's content by embracing each wave that greeted me with loads of love. There are numerous cafes an hotels on the beach for food and refreshments. 

There is water sports facilities that offer speedboat, water scooter, ferry ride and parasailing. 

Well the main attraction of Maple beach is St. Mary's Island. An island that is about a .30 minute ferry ride away from the beach. I did not make it to St. Mary's Island as it was it was 4 pm already and the ferry guy refused to take due to some lame reason. All he said was he will not take a risk in the evening by including a solo traveller. He was too adament about and requested me to come the next day morning. According to him mornings are fine but not in the evenings. I am stiull trying to make sense of what he said. Nevermind, I returned to lodge and started towards my next destination, Kollur. 

Left Udupi at 6 pm and reached Kollur at about 9 pm. Took room by the Sowparnika river and rested for the night.

DAY 3:

Kollur Mookambika & Kodachadri

Woke up before sunrise, i was all exited for the Kodachadri trek. You can trek all te way from the foothills if you have the time and energy. Im sure that will we an amazing experience. But this time i took a jeep which costed me Rs 375 from Kollur temple to PWD Guest house(Inspection Bunglaw).That is the last point for any vehicles and ahead of that is only by foot. The jeep ride took us about 2 hrs to reach IB. There are  a few temples and near he IB. and also seek accomodation if wished to stay overnight. 

The peak from there is about an hour climb and you have a ganesha guhe (Cave temple of lord Ganesha). The Sarvagnya peetha is at the peak and has an idol of Adi Shankracharya as the deity. Theroof of the mantapam has a Srichakra encrypted and the is surrounded by eight other chakras called the ashta chakras. At the peak I was in the clouds totally mesmesrised by natures serene tranquil. You can also get a glimpse of Arabian sea. you can return if you wish toor get more adventurous by visting the Chitra moola, the birth place of river Sowparnika. Its about a 30 minute down climd the hill into the forest and return to the peak will take about an hour. Its pretty steep and exhasting to climb back to the peak. 

 There is a cave in chitramoola which has a Shiva linga and nandi worshipped by some sadhus ages ago. but it looked like that places has sadhus visting pretty frequently. i didnt see any sadhus but saw some utensils and clothes that belonged to a sadhu.

I wandered away in kodachadri as much as I could and returned to IB by 3pm  and was in kollur by 5 pm. Caame to the lodge freshened up and visted Mata Sri Mookambika Devi temple. Soulfully bowed to the Goddess for a wonderful experience thanked for everything and left to  Bangalore at about 8 pm. Reached Bangalore at 6.30 am.