The next day was the Chikmagaluru day. We had drove to this place along with the home stay's Sunil and his kids. We drove past Belur again towards Chikmagaluru for some 70 kms, it took around 1 hr, 45 mins to reach there. Our first stop started at the temple. After worshipping here we headed to the other places in Chikmagaluru. Sunil took over and drove us to sight seeing.
Mullayanagiri was next spot. its a peak about 2000 kms above sea level. After parking the car, from some 4-5 kms below the peak, we had to climb up 540 odd steps to reach the Shiva temple right at the peak. Being the holiday season, it became a nightmare getting a spot for parking. Had to do it on the hill and started climbing. It was one hell of a task to climb up. The wind was making the task even more difficult. Once you reach the peak, one can feel the serene beauty of the hill. Part of western ghat this is a nature blessed abundant beauty. After removing the foot wears we have to go up another few steps to the Shiva temple. Its an unmanned temple, Lord Shiva had already been decorated and offered us a good darshan. The temple corridor is well built in marbles; should have been a challenging work up hill. Around the temple we could see numerous tourists taking pictures especially at the dangerous corners of the hillock. Coming down the 540 steps wasn't easy though, but we made it. Hot hot maggie was sold near the parking lot. We had to walk down the hill for some 500 meters to get in to our car.
Our next spot was Baba Budangiri. This is another peak offering some dangerous beauty - the curves are quiet steep and only experienced drivers can drove past these. It was pure excitement driving up Budangiri. There was fog around but we were still able to witness nature and its raw beauty from above. Trekking is possible, but we are not able to see that path during the drive. The breeze adding to the cool weather offers a beautiful spot in Chikmagalur. Just few kms down the peak is the Inam Dattatreya Peetha, meaning the God's seat. This seems to be a sensitive place of worship as we have to go through narrow fenced corridor to reach the place. Here you can see both Hindus and Muslims offering prayers to their respective God's next to each other. One of Prophet Mohammed's disciple had come to establish their faith while the Dattatreya's seat is offered prayer here as part of a blended culture of Shiva and Vishnu's followers along with the Sufis. The actual place of worship is confined inside the cave and one has to blend for the last 200 metres or so. As we come out the water from the natural spring is offered to all the devotees. This was one different experience on the whole.
From there Sunil drove us for 7-8 kms to the Manikyadhara falls. This literally means pearls falling. The water in this fall, is down from some thick vegetation. Those greens are said to have healing powers. So this again is visited by both Hindus and Muslims as a pilgrimage spot like the Inam Dattatreya Peetha. There is a small Muslim spot of worship here next to the falls. This time around the water fall was not heavy but the crowd below was. Owing to which we returned back few steps away from the waterfall. This spot is surrounded by hordes of monkeys. We had to climb down some 80 steps to reach this waterfall site. An entrance fee of Rs.5 is charged per person for this Manikyadhara falls. Though not exciting, it can be one of the places of visit in Chikmagalur. Once we climbed upstairs and walked to the parking space, it was 3 PM and our hunger pranks started.
There wasn't much of a lunch option here. Restaurants were few and busy, so we decided to close the Chikmagalur trip. Came all the way down the hill to the town and had food. We had sumptuous Biryani, though highly priced for a small town. We then reached our home stay for a much needed rest.
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