Fun things to do in State of Karnataka

If you are a postcard crazy person like me this will be a useful tip. Anyone travelling to Nagarhole Wildlife Santuary in Kodagu or Coorg as it is popularly known will be able to get a unique wildlife stamp on the postcard that is only done at Nagarhole.

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Located at the KR Sagar Dam [Kannambadi], Brindavan Gardens is one of the best gardens in South India. Spread over 150 acres, Brindavan Gardens has since the 1960s provided the backdrop for many Indian films. Special attractions include the 'Dancing Fountains'. In Dec 2004 the entire garden was revamped with new fountains and lights.

It was built in 1924 by Sir M.Vishveswariah, using 'surkhi', a mixture of limestone and brick powder instead of cement. It was among the first in the world to use automatic sluice gates. The dam is named after the then Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who financed this novel project. It is 3 kms long and is located at the confluence of the three rivers- Kaveri, Hemavati and Lakshmanathirtha.

The Brindavan Gardens and its scenic surroundings have provided a picturesque backdrop for several movies and is still a popular locale for film shootings.

About 2 kms from KRS dam is a tiny beautiful island created by the backwaters of the dam, an ideal picnic spot, not to be missed out.

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We visited the Brindavan Gardens and the impressive KR Sagar Dam, as just a small part of a day long coach trip from our hotel in Bangalore but I really wish we had been able to spend longer there. I'm sure it would be a perfect place to take a picnic and have a full day out. Both the dam and the gardens were excellent places for taking photographs.

The dam is over 3 kilometres long and was built using a traditional local material surkhi (a mixture of brick powder and lime) instead of cement, at the junction of three rivers: Kaveri, Hemavati and Lakshmanathirtha, in 1924, as India's first irrigation dam. It is named after the then Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who financed the project. The dam site was then converted into beautiful formal gardens. There is a boating pond to cross the dam from the south bank to the north bank and at the northern edge are the dancing fountains for which the site is famous. At 6.30 pm the garden lights up and the fountains are made to jump and dance in time to music. We thought the show was really quite spectacular and the place was unsurprisingly very busy in that area, at that time of day although it hadn't seemed so earlier when everyone was more spread out around the gardens.

When we visited, the place did look a little shabby in places but I have heard that it has since been revamped, repairing and cleaning up the site and installing new fountains and lights.

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Situated about 65 km from Mysore city in Karnataka, Bandipur National Park is a part of a larger continuos wildlife reserve that engulfs the Mudumalai sanctuary (Tamil Nadu), the Wayanad sanctuary (Kerala), and the Nagarhole National Park (Karanataka). The park was established in 1974 with an area of 87400 hectares. This park is a tiger reserve.

The terrain is undulating and broken by chain of hills, hillocks and watercourses. The annual temperature varies from 21° C to 33° C, the maximum being in June. The habitat comprises of scrubs, tropical dry deciduous forests and moist mixed deciduous forests.

The fauna comprises of langur, bonnet macaque, tiger, leopard, wild dog, jungle cat, sloth bear, striped hyena, jackal, elephant, mouse deer, muntjac, spotted deer, gaur, etc. The reptiles include mugger crocodile and python. The presence of about 180 species of birds is recorded.

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Halebidu (former Dwarasamudra) in Hassan district is in Belur taluk and 27 kms away from Hassan and was the capital of Hoysala after Belur. It has one of the finest Hoysala temples. The twin Shiva Temple with a common platform and two garbhagrihas, one beside the other have a common broad navaranga. One of them houses Vishnuvardhana Hoysaleshwara Linga and the other Shanthaleshwara Linga. Infront of the Hoysaleshwara is the Nandimantapa and behind that is a shrine of Surya with a two-metre-tall image. The temple doorways are highly ornate and impressive. Outer walls have rows of intricate figures narrating episodes from epics like Ramayana, Bharatha and Bhagavata. The place has a Parshwanatha basadi with highly polished pillars in which on- lookers queer images are reflected. There is a Museum of the A.S.I. The Kedareshwara temple is another monument built by Ketaladevi, Ballala II's Queen. Chatchatnahalli (nearby) has a trikuta temple built by Chatta Dandanayaka in 1220.

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We visited the Kabini River sanctuary in Nagarhole and had a pleasant stay.The whole trip was interesting.We went on safaris on open jeeps,went for a boat ride and spotted birds early in the morning,had a coracle ride.There was plenty for kids to do as well besides spotting wild life,like climbing trees,rope ladders and tree houses.

Dubare elephant camp is situated in a picturisque location-- on the banks of the running waters of the river Cauvery.
One needs to cross the river to reach Dubare.The Jungle lodges and resorts have excellent accomodation in the camp.There are individual cottages,well furnished with attached bath.In the elephant camp you get to bathe,feed and ride elephants.
You could also do river rafting,take a coracle ride in the river.
The shop at the jungle lodges and dubare camp sells capris,trousers,hats,caps,t-shirts and other shirts and jackets with wildlife prints at very reasonable prices

Coorg is called the Scotland of India.It is indeed beautiful surrounded by lush green and tall trees.this place has much to offer .Places around coorg are--
Abbey falls
Golden temple(Buddhist monastry)
Bhagandeshwara temple
Tala cauvery
Omkareshwara temple
Madikere fort
RAJA's seat
Iruppu falls
Coorg is also famous for coffee,spices(like cardamom,pepper)Honey
The jewellery here is also famous and unique