Kodachadri, the beginning..

"Trekking means a travelling experience with a thrilling excitement" – Amit Kalantri

Kodachadri was my first real trek, though I had done some smaller ones before. Nine of us (Giri,  Rajkumar T, Chandrashekhar; Manoranjan; Halesha; Sujan; Naveen; Sandesh and I) trekked Kodachadri on 19^th and 20^th May 2007. Kodachadri is a part of Western Ghats in Shimoga district, 1343 meters above sea level. This is the highest peak in Shimoga District. It is known that Adi Shankaracharya meditated at the peak, and there is a 'Sarvajna Peetha' there. We approached it from Kundapur via the famous temple town of Kollur. 

We reached Kundapur in the morning, after bath and breakfast; we hired a vehicle to reach the trekking point. We were supposed to start trekking from a point about 11 kms from Kollur on the Kollur-Nagara road. From here the distance to the foothill is 9 Kms, via Vallur. We missed this while going and went ahead to Nittur and reached another point where a Jeep track to the right leads to Kodachadri. We started walking through the Jeep track at 11:15 am. Some students whom we met there said that this is not the right way to trek. Also the distance this way was 15 Kms. We had quite a lot of luggage apart from our backpacks, in terms of the tent, groceries and utensils. By the time we covered about 1 km, all of us were tired, by the hot sun as well as the dust that was rising when each Jeep passed us (which was very frequent). Rajkumar volunteered to get into a Jeep taking the entire luggage. Sandesh and Naveen also joined him. 

This really reduced our burden and we just had the water bottles with us. At this time we also discovered that there are jungle trails that run along, or rather intersecting the circuitous Jeep road. Since then, we stuck to the jungle routes. There was a world of difference between the two routes. While the road looked safe, it was sunny and dusty, where as the forest trail, though looked a bit tricky, was very cool and refreshing. It was very beautiful, and the bird songs made it very pleasant journey. We also got to try various fruits including Nerale (Jamun), Atti (Fig) and Eechalu. We could occasionally catch the glimpse of the Jeeps climbing up and down through the road carrying pilgrims who visit Kodachadri to see “Moola Mookambika”. The trek though the evergreen forest of Sahyadri was great. All the guys were very enthusiastic. We could use our cell phones at some places and called up Raju who had reached the foothill by the vehicle. He had arranged for our lunch. Mr. Rajendra, who is the chef at the IB provides simple, nice food at his home within a couple of hours intimation.

View as we started

We reached the place near the IB at 4:15 pm, after 5 hours from start and covering ~15 Kms. We could wash our faces using the very refreshing spring water that comes through a pipeline from “Agastya teertha”, a small waterfall at Kodachadri. The food at Rajendra’s place was very tasty. We were very keen to view the famous sun set, but we had had to finish building the tent before it was dark. Building the tent was a very nice experience. We built one single rectangular tent using five big sheets of plastic. This was enough for nine people sleeping. We chose a place just above the IB for our tent. Clearing the place before building the tent was a big challenge as there were lots of pieces of glass spilled around by liquor bottles thrown (It is high time for our people to learn enjoying without creating trouble to others and without spoiling the beauty of nature!).

After building the tent, some of us could get a glimpse of the last moments of sunset on the Western Ghats. Some of us took bath in Agastya teertha that evening. The night view of the sky overlooking the ghats was amazing.

Chandrashekhar, with help from the teammates, cooked delicious rice and sambar. It was a challenge to keep the fire burning in the strong wind. We lit a campfire after the dinner and sang old Kannada and Hindi songs.

The night in the tent was very interesting. I had offered to sleep at the entrance of the tent so that the others can feel secure. But it so happened that I slept peacefully and few others could not sleep well, as they are not used to such outdoors. I could feel the clouds touching me cooling from one side while I was sleeping.

Sunrise seen from the top

Next morning, the sunrise over the hills was a stunning sight. We trekked to the peak of Kodachadri, where there is a small temple, called “Sarvajna Peetha”. We could feel the clouds passing by while approaching the top. There is a small cave temple called “Ganapati Guhe”. The climb down from the hilltop in the opposite direction leads to “Chitramoola”caves, which we did not visit. On the hilltop, they sell refreshing butter milk and lemon juice. You can see Kollur from the hilltop and the sight all around is breath taking. You can also get a glimpse of the Arabian Sea from there. We spent some time there and then came down for break fast. Sujan had got puliavalakki that we devoured along with some fresh curds with great delight. Giri had got MTR kesari bath that some of us enjoyed. We made tea. While coming down, we were just wondering if we could just take a Jeep down. But Mano insisted that we should complete the full circle.  Six of us trekked and the others offered to come by Jeep to Maravante, a beach near Kundapur. This took the burden of luggage off our backs.

Sarvajna Peetha

At the top

This time we had learnt our lesson and chose the right path for trek. This involved steep descent from the hill for 5 Kms, to reach a tea shop at Vallur, where we had Upma and then walked through a dirt track in the forest for 5 Kms to the Ngara-Kollur Road. The coming down through the thick forest was very refreshing and easier than expected. Only thing is that we could not find any fruits on the way like we had on our way to the top. We reached downhill in about One and a half hours, refreshed for about half an hour at the kaka angadi and walked through the jungle for next two hours. We were anxious if we were on the right track till we saw first glance of people coming from the opposite side in a very thick forest. We waited on the Nagara-Kollur road for about an hour to get some vehicle, but ended up traveling by a lorry (standing back side-painful!) to Kollur. We paid a visit to the famous Mookambika temple and boarded a bus to Marvante, where we stayed in a resort. Marvante is famous for the sight of the sea and Souparnika River separated by the national highway 17. We took a boat ride on the river through picturesque scenes. The boatman stopped the boat in a place where we enjoyed diving, swimming (or playing in water for a non-swimmer like me). Evening we played in the waves of the Arabian Sea and witnessed sunset. We left for Bangalore that night from Kundapur.

Kodachdri trek was indeed very exciting. It provided us with an opportunity to explore one of the tallest peaks in Sahyadri, and be with nature for some time (hills, forest, clouds, river & sea- all in one trek!!!). The experience was overwhelming and all my friends decided to do at least one trek in every three months.