Long weekend drive from Udupi to visit multiple places. Some of the places we covered are – Keradi cave temple (Keshavanatheshwara temple), Aadisthala guhalaya cave in Kamalasheele, Bidanurina kote – fort in Nagara, Kundadri hill near Theerthahalli and Agumbe.
Date – 10/02/2018
Route
Udupi – Kundapura – Keradi (via Tallur) – Kamalashile – Nagara – Thirthahalli – Kundadri – Agumbe – Hebri – Udupi
google maps image of our drive route
Distance – Total around 280 Kms
Keradi Keshavanatheshwara Cave Temple
I picked Chandresh from Udupi bus stand at around 7:45 am and we headed towards Kundapura. We reached Kundapura around 8:15 am and had our breakfast at a hotel. After that we drove to Keradi to see the Keshavanatheshwara temple. We reached the temple around 10 am. It is situated in the middle of a dense forest and behind the temple there is a small cave. The cave is partially submerged in water throughout the year. There are snake fishes in the cave and the usual amount of bats. Also there is a small shiva idol inside. Very few people visit this temple since it is deep in the forest and not easy to reach by vehicle, making it a very nice and peaceful place to visit. The battaru here was very helpful and shared a lot of his stories and experiences of living in the forest. He even invited us to his place and offered us tea.
Adisthala Guhalaya and other places near Kamalashile
We did not have any plan for the rest of the day. Battaru here told us about another cave nearby at Kamalashile. We decided to visit this place next and drove to Kamalashile to find this cave. We found it on the way called Adisthala/Suparshva Guhalaya. There are few idols kept inside the cave. Its quite a big cave and is completely dark in the heart of the cave.
We decided to visit the famous Sri Brahmi Durgaparameshwari temple in Kamalashile next. After that we decided to go to Kunchikal Falls which is near Hulikal. There is also Varahi underground powerhouse situated close by. Both are good places to visit. We reached Hulikal to find that we need permission to go to both of these places from Hosangadi which is near Kamalashile. Since we had already drove quite a distance from Kamalashile, we decided to skip these 2 places. Next we decided to go towards Nagara to see the Chakra dam and Bidanuru kote / Nagara fort.
Bidanur Kote or Nagara Fort or Shivappa Nnaik’s fort
We reached Nagara around 2 pm. The sun was at its peak and we did not have our lunch yet. So we decided to skip Chakra dam and only visit the fort. Nagara fort/Bidanuru kote is a nice place to visit in the evening time. This fort was constructed by Shivappa Nayaka in the 17th century. So it is also called Shivappa Nayak’s fort. We took a short walk around the fort and decided to head back to the cool AC in the car.
Since there was no good place to have lunch in Nagara, we decided to go to Thirthahalli for lunch. Another 30-40 Km drive and we reached Thirthahalli around 3:30 pm. We had our lunch here and headed towards Kundadri hills.
Kundadri and Agumbe
We reached Kundadri around 4:15 PM. The road leads to the top of the hill. I had visited Kundadri during my college time in the monsoon season. It was a beautiful place then. Fully covered in mist and fog and a Jain temple ruins on top. But now the Jain temple on top is renovated and view point constructed on top of the hill. I felt that the place had lot its beauty after the renovations. Lot of people drive to this place now. We clicked few pics here and decided to head back to Udupi.
We stopped to click a few pics in Agumbe. Then we stopped again near Hebri for having tea and finally reached Udupi at around 7 pm. It was a long drive of around 300 Kms and a unique trip since we covered many places.
Photos
