In the Embrace of Sahyadri

It is still afresh in my memory, the moments of few students starting on a ‘dandayaatre’ from (Maanasa) Gangotri towards Sahyadri ranges eighteen years back. There was an air of enthusiasm around, there was curiosity about the Sahyadri environment, there was admiration for - the richness of the green environment, the hugeness of the mountains, the freshness of the streams, the purity in the refreshing air around.

That ‘dandayatre’ covered Sagar, Varadahalli, Ikkeri, Jog, Murdeswar, Kollur, Kodachadri, Maravante, Hunsemakki, Udupi, Malpe, Dharmastala, Subrahmanya. There was quite a bit of trekking. The pinnacle was the ten kilometer trek to the tip of Kodachadri – the largest peek in that area (around 1343m). The feeling of being on top of world sitting on top of ‘Sarvajna peeta’ at the tip of Kodachadri - overlooking vast Arabian see, the backwater of Linganmakki & Chakra dams – is unforgettable.

It has been so many years after those sweet Gangothri days. I have been thinking of re-living those ‘dandayaatre ‘s. But somehow it didn’t materialize....

A week back I just started off with my friend (ex-colleague) and his family. We drove to Sringeri - where Tunga is beaming with good amount of water.

And then to Kollur. It’s just nearing the end of rainy season. Surroundings are shining with lush green. The road is better now in that route.

Kollur is growing.There was some water in Sowparnika river. There was a bit of rain there. Kodachadri was inviting us. There is jeep service for ferrying people to Kodachadri (till Parameshwar bhatra house). We hired one next day & started to Kodachadri. It’s all fully rocky & risky roads till the top. Those drivers are so skilled(have been driving daily since quite sometime), I can’t even dream taking a vehicle to the top! Your back should be strong to travel on that route in the jeep. I felt that it’s less risky & less tiresome to trek to the top. It took 90 minutes to reach the top in the jeep from Kollur. There were some changes I could see.

Parameshwar Bhatt’s house has been modernized. Its RCC building now, contains a TV, Solar panels, a BSNL tower for Mobile communication(It’s not in working condition). The pond in front of the house remains same.

That’s the only thing which was not changed. Parameshwar Bhatru has become lean(unlike the hefty shape he had 17 years back), age is catching up. He says he gets some knee joint pains. His son has grown up. He still hosts trekkers offering food & shelter. Even now you need to wash your plates – difference is that the water is flowing from tap, unlike earlier using the continuous stream from the areca-nut stem! I saw the jeep drivers sitting & watching cricket match there. Bhatru says he can’t follow this game!

The clouds kept kissing & wetting us.

We climbed to the top.

I was very curious to see the state of Sarvajna peeta. By that time more clouds covered us & drenched us thoroughly. Umbrella didn’t help.

When I got the glimpse of Sarvajna peeta, I was thrilled.

I was there after almost two decades! I was little bit disappointed when I reached there. There was no ladder to climb up the mantap! The iron ladder couldn’t last the onslaught of rain & sunshine for so many years & has given up its spokes. There were only two beams still resting on the left side of mantap. There are no means to climb to the top of the mantap. Another thing I noticed is that there is a statue of Shankaracharya inside it now (perhaps an effort to establish Shankaracharya as Sarvajna!).

The clouds didn’t grant us the panoramic view of Arabian see. We could only see little bit of Sharavati backwater. The greenery around & being among the clouds – overwhelmed us.

There were few small leaches trying to hang on to our feet. We did get rid of them with little effort.

The technological progress had also weaved it’s net on Kodachadri too. BSNL mobile signal was quite strong on the peak. I could talk to my friends Manja & Sankra who were in their offices in Bangalore that time and share the beauty of Kodachadri with them instantly too.

I asked Bhatru whether there is any news of approach road getting repaired. He said there is news about Government sanctioning money, but not sure whether the implementation is going to happen in near future. He says it will be better, if the place remain poorly connected. The reason is that it will enable only the people who are adventurists, who love nature or the real devotees, to visit – who adjust with his environment well. Else the troublemakers will visit who will spoil the environment. He says there were already few incidents of some people coming to booze here, create noise & trouble!

I told Bhatru about our previous visits earlier. He extended an invitation to me to bring the folks again!

Next day we visited Murdeshwar. Though the beach remained as attractive as earlier, the temple environment has changed completely.

There is a large tower being built near the temple. There is a huge Shiva idol on top of the mountain next to the island. The whole rocky mountain next to the temple in the island has been revamped to a green grassy garden. (I was remembering the walk there with Barua during Gangothri days trip, where few young folks offered beer – which was tempting Barua!)

There were few guestrooms built there too.

The octagonal restaurant remained same.

I spent some time near the beach ruminating over my earlier visits.

On the way stopped at Maravante to catch the marvelous view of Sowparnika river & Arabean sea sandwiching the highway. It remained as attractive as it used to be earlier. There is a motor boat service now to take you around in the river.

We visited Udupi temple too. The temple street looks same, though the temple has been repainted recently it looks like. An elephant was welcoming people. There was a gathering there in the hall next to the temple where we saw Veerendra Heggade of Dharmastala giving speech.

While returning back we stopped a while at sunset point of Agumbe.

We had good glimpses of the scenery around; Arabian see wasn’t visible due to clouds cover.

The route to Bangalore via Mangalore is quite bad now (people say it is spoiled due to overloaded iron ore trucks commuting on them). Hence we had to take the road via Theerthahalli, Shimoga, Birur, Arsikere, which is in good shape.

The trip enabled me to re-live a bit of earlier adventures & ruminate over those moments ‘in-situ’.

Will it be possible to do this ‘re-living’ to refresh myself ofen?

There is a saying - Where there is will, there is way.

Reminds me of Chandrashekhar Kambar’s poem … “ maretheanendare hyaanga mareyali .. …” ( How can I forget even if I wan to?)