Kodachadri/1

Trek starting points -
1) Gowrikerre:- This is the place were there is a left deviation to kodchadri , its approximately 3 kms before Nittur also called as kodchadri cross, this is the only motor-able road up to the kodachadri temple it’s 15 odd kms from the main road half of the road has tar & the other half is a mud road. Also one can go to Hidlumanne falls from here, for this one has to walk approx for 1.5 kms from the main road to get a school on left side ,here take a mud road to your right this road leads u to Yemmehonda junction.(here this road meets the approach road from Marakuttaka)
2) Marakuttaka:- Get down at Sigundur cross 3.5 kms after Nittur again trek back towards Nittur for 1 kms, just before the bridge, at your right u get Marakuttaka bus stop follow the mud road to reach Kodchadri via Hidlumanne falls.
3) Karrakette: - This is approx 1.5 kms after Sigundur cross towards Kollur. Take left from karrakette which goes via Valur it’s roughly 9-10 kms to the temple, up to Valur it’s motor-able road from there it's a narrow trail uphill, Valur to temple it’s 1hr ascend. One can even go to Arshinagundi falls from Valur but only with an local guide because there is no trail at all.
4) Kodchadri Stop: - (as the locals call it) This place is after Nagodi check post towards Kollur .One can see two pillars at the start of this trial wch goes tru the forests and meets the trial from Karrakette at Valur. This trial is shorter and shady then Karrakette route
5) Mookambika wildlife sanctuary:-This place is very near to Kollur, after Daali
One need to have permissions to entre here, but can even manage without it, as there is no one at the gate of the sanctuary. This is the trial wch takes u to the Arshinagundi falls, but there is no trial after the falls to the Kodchadri peak hence it’s not possible without a guide.
We a group of 6 after lot of planning, re planning & mail exchanges, met @ KSRTC bus stand which began our expedition to kodchadri. Let me have the privilege to introduce my friends Mahesh Patil (Timken), Satish Kittli (Sat yam), Jaylokanath (Scan dent) & Rahul, Nixon & myself (Think3)
Tickets were reserved much before as there were Christmas holidays.We boarded Rajahamsa bus to Kollur at 8.30pm.After considering all trek routes which were not very clear to us at that time and even there were many misconceptions about the routes. We opted for the Marakuttaka route as it was more adventurous than the other routes. KSRTC bus driver/conductor were of no help to us in deciding were to get down at. We got down at Sigundur cross 3.5 kms after Nittur at 6.00 am. We had to walk back 1 km towards Nittur, just before the bridge at our right was Marakuttaka bus stop which was mentioned as the trek start point in one of the write up which I got on net.
From Marakuttaka follow the mud road there are lots of smaller routes connecting this road ignore them and follow the broadest road, after 1km or so u get a “Y” fork both the roads are almost same in width, here there was a bit of confusion but eventually we took the left route which is bit ascending, after 2kms from here u get a stream cross it, 1.5 kms after the stream there is a village called Yemmehonda ,few minutes of walk from there lead us to Yemmehonda junction take a right turn here and after few yards u get Yemmehonda school this means u r on the right trail. After few yards there is another “y” fork keep left, u also get a kette here written 2 kms to Hidlumanne falls in Kannada continue straight for another few minutes and the road ends at Hidlumanne (house) here contact GURURAJ for further directions. One has to cross Hidlumanne fields and take the forest trial from there. This trail lead us straight to Hidlumanne falls.
Hidlumanne falls can be divided into 7 smaller falls. 1st & 2nd falls are very small, one has to scale them which is easy but slippery task, somewhere here at the left side is the route to Kodchadri but finding it is just close to impossible. 3rd fall is of medium height at the right side very close to the fall there is a small trail to reach the top of the fall its not easily noticeable follow instincts, after reaching the top of the 3rd fall move further and cross 4, 5 and 6 falls and after few yards (slippery zone) one can find the awesome Hidlumanne main falls which stand 50ft high one has to go to the top of the falls and take a left route to Kodchadri. From the base of the main falls follow the trial which is at your right as u ascend few feet trial disappears. (here we got confused and took further right deviations but found no trial anyhow we ascended further only to climb the false peak) Here the trial is blocked by a boulder one has to cross the boulder and resume the trial to reach the top of the falls, after reaching top follow the stream until u get a pakka trial at left side there are many trials here and to pick the correct trial is very difficult. I personally suggest taking Gururaj of hidlumanne till here to avoid misadventures (gururaj is a gentleman of 27+ years and never demands any money for his services) follow the correct trial which goes through the forest, this trial leads u to main jeep track approaching from Gowrikerre. Take right at the jeep track and 2kms latter u finally reach the peak..

Economics:-
PWD Guest house:-
Double Room -350/day without electricity. (electricity is available at an extra cost)
Dormitory -25/day with out electricity
Apart from this temple rooms and hotel (mookambika) rooms provide basic accommodation.
Hotel Mookambika: -
Meals -25/- (boiled rice and papad only)
Breakfast-10/-
Tea/Coffee-5/-
the other hotel is cheaper than this one, quality not known
Jeeps: - Normal Tariff:
150/head from Kollur to Kodachadri and back
100/head from Nittur to Kodachadri and back
Waiting charge:-free for 1.5 hrs
Night halt charges are approx 300/-
Kindly note the charges given above are availed by the local tourists.
For ppl from Bangalore charges are directly proportional to their bargaining skills
Plz do bargain, we end up paying 200/head from hidlumanne village to temple.

From the temple the peak is roughly 1.5 kms, peak can be approached from two different routes , right one been shorter is more steeper compared to the longer left one. On the way to the peak from the right route Ganesh Guha & Agastya Theertam (small water fall) are worth a visit. At the peak u can see Shankara Peetha which is an ideal spot for night halt.One can even camp at a Mantapa which is just above the PWD guest house.

Just behind the summit on the western side, a path precariously leads u down into the forest (1/2 hr) to the holy, Chitramoola Cave.
Mesmerizing landscape and breathtaking sunrise, sunset will be etched in your minds the rest of your life reminding u of KODCHADRI.

Notes:-
Ø I personally feel that this write-up will help guys planning to trek Kodchadri.
Ø Lot of other details regarding Kodchadri have been written by many others which can be found on net , I have stressed more on the details not mentioned in other write ups.
Ø Carrying one’s own food will be more rational option
Ø I suggest taking Marakuttaka route to ascend and coming back tru Karrakette
Ø There are only two main routes up to the temple, one is the motor-able jeep route and the other is Karrakette route via Valur all the other routes intersect these two routes at some or the other point.

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Written by: Mudassar
Organized by:Mudassar

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Mudassar,Rahul