Antara Gange (Anthargange), Kolar, Karnataka

Antara Gange or Anthargange is a mountain situated near Kolar city (about 3 kilometers away, 70 kilometers from Central Bangalore) in Kolar district, Karnataka. Antara Gange means "Ganges from deep" in Kanada Language. This location popular for 'Sri Kashi Vishweshwara' temple, its also known as Kashi in South. This temple dedicated for Lord Shiva.

Its a good place for day outing to get relax from Bangalore city life.

Antara Gange Temple

• Summary in short:
• Travel Type: Pilgrimage, Trekking
• Best Time to visit: Anytime except Rainy session (July - September) 
• Time to spend: 1 day (including Trek and Cave escalation. 
• Nearest Major City: Kolar, Bangalore
• Best mode of travel: Private car, Bus then local auto
• Trekking route: Antara Gange rocky hill, 1226 meters (4021ft).
• Trekking
• Cave Exploration
• Rappelling
• Rock Climbing

• How to reach:
• Train: Multiple trains are going from Bangalore to Kolar via Bangarapet Junction. You may take train from Bangalore City railway station to Bagarapet Junction and from there can take local bus to reach Kolar city. Antara Gange is just 3 km away from city so you may take local auto to reach there. On returning again you can reach to Bangarapet Jn and from there Bangalore by train.
• Bus: Bus is a good option to reach Kolar. From Bangalore multiple bus service is there to reach Kolar. For bus service check popular bus ticket booking websites. 
• Private Car: Private car or taxi is another good option to reach Antara Gange from Bangalore. It will take about 2 hours to reach based on road traffic condition and its a nice journey. 

Flower farming on the way to Kolar from Bangalore

On the way to Kolar

• List of all places to visit 

• Antara gange template is an old template of Lord Shiva. There has a water flow which is coming from inside of rock, from where this water is coming this is still unknown to anyone. People used to take holi-bath in this water.

Beautiful walking path toward the temple

Trekking and Cave exploration: The trekking path has started from the temple, it about 3-4 kilometers trek to reach at Antara Gange cave. Its the walking way from inside the jungle and big rock. The journey is beautiful and thrilling. Many people do night trek there.

Trekking way towards Antara Gange Cave

Tourist view point

• Where to stay. There has multiple hotels in Kolar city however its okay for one day outing from Bangalore. 
• Restaurant for food. Just 2-3 temporary shops are there near to the entry of temple, so its better to keep food with you. Good restaurant are available in Kolar city. 

Bhaji shop at the entry point.

Antara Gange is a good place for one day outing from Bangalore. For family with kids trek might not possible however for young people its a good place for trekking. Only negative point I noticed the place is not clean, people used to throw plastic packets every where.

Good view from visitor view point.

Shravanabelagola, KARNATAKA TOURISM

Shravanabelagola situated about 143 kilometers from Bangalore in Hassan district. The 58-feet tall monolithic statue of Gommateshwara is located on Vindyagiri Hill in Shravanabelagola, this the world's largest monolithic statue. This is Jain religious temple. To know more about Shravanabelagola  click here.

Yagachi Dam, KARNATAKA TOURISM

Yagachi Dam is located on the way to Chikmagalur from Belur. This dam was constructed on Yagachi river. This is a quite big dam and its good to visit. This is a advanture water sports center with multiple facilities.

Duration to cover the place: 1-2 hours

Way to travel: Car, Auto.

Timing: 7AM to 6.30PM.

Boating: Rs. 600 for Speed Boat upto 4 person

Banana Ride: Rs. 500 up to 6 person

Jet ski: Rs. 300 per Person 

Kayaking: Rs. 200 for 2 person.

Halebeedu, Karnataka Tourism

Halebeedu was capital of Hoysala Empire during 12-13th century. Halebeedu means 'old city'. This is a tourist place near Belur (about 34 kilometers) in Hassan district and about 230 kilometers from Bangalore. There has some best architecture of Hoysala empire. Hoysaleshwara and Kedareshwara temple are most famous.

To read more about Halebeedu visit this link.

Manjarabad Fort, Sakleshpur, Karnataka Tourism

Manjarabad fort is only star shaped fort in India. It was build in 1792 by Tipu Sultan with help of French engineer.

• Summary in short:
• Travel Type: Historical place
• Best Time to visit: Whole year, however better to avoid rainy session.
• Time to spend: 1-2 hours
• Nearest Major City: Sakleshpur City
• Best mode of travel: Bus, Taxi

• History 

Tipu Sultan built this Fort to fight agains of British East India Company. At the time even Hydrabad's Nizam and Marathas already aligned with British. Sultan wanted to built high way from Mangalore to Coorg. When Tipu sultan visited the fort to see it, then it was covered by Fog. So he kept its name Manjarabad fort. Manjarabad is the corrupted version of 'manju' or fog in Kanara.

• How to reach, 

The fort is located 10 kilometres from the Sakaleshpura town to its south west, which is on the right bank of the Hemavati River, 37 km from Hassan on the National Highway no 48 that runs from Bangalore to Mangalore. Sakaleshpura is the headquarters of Manjiraba taluk and is a municipality.

This fort is located on hill top with elevation of 988 meters, so it gives clear commanding view of surrounding. On a clear day even Arbian see can be seen from the Fort. To visit this fort you need to climb stairs for 15 to 20 minutes.

This fort has build with Octagonal layout with eight walls. The external wall of the fort built with granite stones.

There has a deep well for water storage and one underground room to store gun powder.

Gun powder storage situated just beside of the water well. Even in Summer days this underground room stays cool. According to history a tunnel links the fort with the Srirangapatna fort, which is located around 150 kilometers away.

 

Belur Chenna Keshava Temple, Karnataka Tourism

Chenna Keshava Temple situated in Belur city situated in Hassan district in Karnataka state around 220 kilometers from Bangalore and 153 km from Mangalore. This is about 900 years old temple. 

Summary in short:

• Travel Type: Pilgrimage, Heritage
• Best Time to visit: November to March
• Time to spend: 1-3 hours
• Nearest Major City: Bangalore, Mangalore
• Best mode of travel: Bus, Taxi, Private Car, Auto
• Timing: 7am to 1pm, 2pm to 8pm

• History 

Belur was early capital of Hoysala Dynasty on the bank of Yagachi river. Chenna Keshavatemple was build by Hoysala Dynasty. This temple was started in 1116 A.D. and it took 103 year to complete by three generations. It is said that this temple was built to commemorate the victory of Hoysalas over Cholas in the great battle of Talakkad. Another story about this temple is, King Vishnu-vardhana dreamt about Lord Keshava during his night stay at the Baba Budan forest and decided to construct the Chenna Keshava temple at Belur. Main temple is Keshava temple also there has  other temple like Veera Narayana Temple, Andal Ammanavara temple etc. Chenna Keshava temple is the only functional Hoysala temple which pujas being performed both in the morning and evening. This tradition is being practiced for last 887 years.

• How to reach
• Train nearest train station is Hassan railway station about 40 kilometers away.
• Bus very good bus connectivity from Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore etc. cities to Belur.
• Private Car can travel to Belur with your own car.
• Air you need to reach to Bangalore or Mangalore then take other option.

• What should visit on the way, if you are coming from Bangalore by private car then you can visit multiple places on the way. For more information please visit How to reach Chikmagalur section (click here).

• List of Temples 

Main temple is Keshava temple.

Kappe Chanigaraya temple.

Veeranarayana Temple

Sowmyanayaki Temple

Gurutvakarshaka Kamba




















Andal Ammanvara Temple

• List of all places to visit near  Belur

Halebeedu Temple is situated about 15  kilometers from Belur. To see more about Halebeedu click here.

Yagachi Dam is located on the way to Chikmagalur from Belur. This dam was constructed on Yagachi river. This is a quite big dam and its good to visit. This is a advanture water sports center with multiple facilities. For details click here

Chikmagalur is a small and popular hill station in Karnataka. It’s located in western-ghat. This is the land of coffee, elephant and leopard and of course natural beauty. From Belur to Chikmagalur city distance about 25 kilometers.

Shravanabelagola situated about 143 kilometers from Bangalore in Hassan district. The 58-feet tall monolithic statue of Gommateshwara is located on Vindyagiri Hill in Shravanabelagola, this the world's largest monolithic statue. This is Jain religious temple.

• Where to stay.

There are many hotels near to the Chenna Keshava Temple and in entire Belur city. You can find any from popular websites. However few hotel phone number is here.

Hotel Mayura Velapuri (KSTDC) 089706 50026 / 08177-222209

Karnataka Hotels Belur (KSTDC) Temple Rd, Belur 573115, India

Vishnu Regency Hotel & Vegetarian Restaurant, Belur - Somvarpet Rd, Belur, Karnataka 573115•090609 82495

Hotel Samanvi International, RSK complex, Temple Road, Belur, Karnataka 573115•090081 29032

• Restaurant for food.
• There are multiple restaurant on Temple road and in Belur city. Everywhere you will get good veg and non-veg restaurant. Hotel Ksrtc, Vishnu Sagar Veg Restaurant, Al Kareem Hotel are good.

Pondecherry

Goa

Goa

Kanyakumari

Kanyamumari

Ooty

Ooty

COORG travel guide

Coorg is one of the best tourist destination in South India. This is located in south-west part of Karnataka state in western ghat. This is best place to enjoy hills, jungle, trek and water sport. Madikeri city is the nearest small town at Coorg.

• Summary in short:
• Travel Type : Adventure/ Nature.
• Best Time to visit: During and post monsoon will get full green view also you can do water sports during this time. However winter is great to visit. So overall from July to March is great time to visit, specially from October to March is best time for trekking. But Coorg is a place to visit anytime of the year.
• Time to spend: 2-3 days.
• Nearest Major City: Mysore
• Best mode of travel: Personal car, bus from Bangalore, Mysore or Mangalore.
• Trekking route.

Madikeri city

• How to reach
• Train: Train service is available till Mysore (120km) however you can visit to Bangalore (260km) or Mangalore (140km) from there cab or bus service is available.
• Bus: From Bangalore and Mysore bus is available.
• Private Car: From Bangalore it will take about 4-5 hours to reach there.

Coorg Map

• List of all places to visit for sightseeing in Coorg and distance from Madikeri as follows:
• Raja seat - 0.5km - Raja's Seat is a seasonal garden of flowers and artificial fountains. It is one of the most important tourist spots in Madikeri of Coorg.

Raja's seat view point

Sunset from Raja's seat

Sunset video from Raja's seat

•  Omkareshwar Temple - 0.5km
• Abbey Falls - 5.5 km

• Mandalpatti - 18 km - Situated on an altitude of 4050 feet Mandalpatti is Madikeri’s famous hilltop.
• Kote Abbe Falls - 24km
• Nisargadhama - 28km - Kaveri Nisargadhama is a delta which is called as island by local people, formed by river Kaveri
• Dubare Elephant camp/Forest - 28km - Located on the banks of River Cauvery in Coorg, Dubare Elephant Camp is one of the most popular tourist spots in Coorg. Hotels are available there for night stay.

Dubare Elephant Camp Coorg Timings

Day	Timing
Monday	9:00 am – 11:00 am 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Tuesday	9:00 am – 11:00 am 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Wedesday	9:00 am – 11:00 am 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Thursday	9:00 am – 11:00 am 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Friday	9:00 am – 11:00 am 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Saturday	9:00 am – 11:00 am 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Sunday	9:00 am – 11:00 am 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

• Golden Temple - 32 km - This temple falls between Mysore and Coorg, so its better to visit while going to returning from Coorg. The Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery is the largest teaching center of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in the world. Located in Bylakuppe, part of the Mysuru district of the state of Karnataka, the monastery is home to a sangha community of over five thousand lamas (both monks and nuns), a junior high school named Yeshe Wodsal Sherab Raldri Ling, a religious college (or shedra for both monks and nuns) and hospital.

Golden Temple in Coorg

Buddha statue in Golden Temple

• Chelavara Water Falls - 36km - Chelvara Falls is a natural waterfall formed by small stream, a tributary of Kaveri near Cheyyandane village which is on Virajpet - Talakaveri State Highway around 16 km from Virajpet, in the state of Karnataka, India.
• Tala Kaveri - 43 km- Talakaveri or Talacauvery is the place that is generally considered to be the source of the river Kaveri and a holy place for many Hindus. It is located on Brahmagiri hills near Bhagamandala in Coorg district, Karnataka.

Tala Kaveri

• Iruppu Waterfalls - 75km

• Where to stay: If you want to cover most of the places its better to stay at Madikeri city. In Coorg most of the places are spread and distance is quite more. So its best idea to stay at center point. But if you plan for trekking then you can stay outside of city. 

There are lots of hotels in Madikeri city and at outside city lots of homestay are there. You will find hotels in all online website and homestay as well. Usually hotel cost remains about Rs. 1200-3000 or more. Homestay cost also around Rs. 1500 / person per day including food (2021). 

A homestay in Coorg

• Restaurant for food: Coorg people like wine and pork a lot. However there are lots of vegetarian restaurant available. If you don't have any issue must try their traditional pork items which is excellent. Another traditional food is bamboo cooked meat/chicken also good. 

Local food for breakfast

• Special things at the place:  Coffee garden, traditional food and wine. 

Butterflies in Coorg

Coffee garden in coorg

Coffee beans in coffee plant in coorg

If you like my blog please share and comment. For videos on Coorg please visit 'Bhromon India' YouTube channel.

Junglee flower in coorg