World of Books and Travel

Family Trip to Coorg - Part 5 Our last stop was at Golden Temple (also known as Tibetan Monastery). It is located 6 kms from Kushal Nagar, at Bylkuppe.  Established in 1961, it is home to more than 7000 monks and students and is still very calm and peaceful.             The main attraction of this place are the 40 ft tall golden Buddha statues. The temple  has three resplendent golden statues of Buddha Shakyamuni, Padmasambhava and the Buddha Amitayus. The walls of the temples and the institution are decorated with colourful paintings depicting gods and demons of Tibetan Buddhist mythology.   Tibetan festivals are celebrated with great gusto at the monastery.   It is a beautiful place with well laid out gardens   There are shops for the purchase of various Tibetan items.  They are a little overpriced, but good items are available.   As you enter this place, it  gives you an ...

Back to Part 4 Cauvery Nisargadhama  is another important spot to visit during your visit to Coorg.  It is a  breathtaking and beautiful island off the state highway, Just 2 km from Kushalnagar town and around 30 kms from Madikeri. It is a 64 acre island with Cauvery water flowing by. Nisargadhama is filled with lush foliage and thick bamboo groves and is a paradise for nature lovers.  To access the island, one has to walk through a suspension bridge. There is boat ride, and elephant ride and also a deer park.  We didn't go here for a boat ride or elephant ride, but visited the deer park and enjoyed feeding the deer.  For enjoyment, there are treetop watchtowers with ladders, bamboo pergolas, and swings. For adventure-seeking people, there is a zip line, through which one can go to the other end and reach down in about a minute. Kids and adults alike would love this adventure sport. There are cottages for the people to...

Back to Part 3 Dubare Dubare Elephant Camp After lunch, we proceeded towards Dubare to see the Elephant Camp, located on the banks of River Cauvery, in Kushalnagar.  To reach there, we had to go on a  boat ride through the clean water, which was really cheap (Rs.30/- per head).  It was a small ride and hardly 5 minutes only.  As soon as we reached there, the boat people approached us and we had to wait for some more people to board it. They have a requirement of 20 people to take the ride.   Sometimes it may take more than an hour to get a boat in crowded time. When we reached it was not so crowded and within minutes, more people joined there, (some of them we had already met in other tourist places there) and it was a fun ride, to reach across the elephant camp in Dubare Forest. We saw a number of elephants there including small ones.  The elephants  were well tamed and friendly. The tourists enjoyed feeding them, watching th...

Back to Part 2 Abby Falls After parking the car on the road, we walked about 800 meters through a narrow path of the private plantation of coffee bushes, wild vines and creepers.  Though the path was a little slippery, both young and old alike, walked through the narrow passage with excitement to see the fall.. It was worth the visit.   After a few minutes walk, we could hear the sounds of the falls which became louder as we approached the spot, after passing through a lush and dense greenery. The waterfall was magnificent and flowing in full force. Any one who loves nature should not miss this marvelous and gushing water flow.   One must walk through the hanging bridge to get a good view of the fall, which is a sight to remember. The water fall comes down from a height of 70 feet The waters join River Cauvery.  The cascading crystal clear water in the midst of emerald flora is a delight to the eyes.   Our driver, who was a freq...

A Family Trip to Coorg, India - Part 1 Talacauvery Talacauvery, the source of River Cauvery, is located  about 4187 feet above sea level, situated on the Brahmagiri hill slopes. Passing through the zigzag roads on either sides, enjoying the natural beauty of coffee plantations, interspersed with pepper vines, and banana and cardamom crops, when we reached the spot mild shower welcomed us, but soon it cleared off, and became foggy. After a while the fog too disappeared.     According to legend, saint Kavera meditated at Sahyadri hills to please God to bless him with a child.  Lord Brahma was pleased and blessed him with an adopted daughter Cauvery. The saint brought up the adopted daughter with much love and care.  Saint Agasthya, who was a frequent visitor to Kavera's ashram, fell in love with her and married her.  After some time, the saint fell in love with Kannike, whom he met secretly. Cauvery came to know about it and she went down a...

Nestled in the Western Ghats, amidst verdant valleys, imposing mountains and dense forests, Coorg is a great place to visit for a rejuvenating holiday.   Recently, we had planned an outstation trip for the family.  We hired a taxi from Bangalore and headed towards Coorg, one of the best hill stations of South India.  Coorg is also called as Kodagu, and nicknamed as ‘ Kashmir of South’ , ‘ Switzerland of India ’ and ‘ Scotland of India’ .   River Cauvery (Kaveri River) is the life line of Karnataka State and Talacauvery is the birth place of this river, which is located in Coorg.  Talacauvery  is  a famous pilgrimage centre for Hindus, located at the feet of Brahmagiri Hills. The main crops of Coorg are Coffee, Pepper and Cardamom.  You can also get the tastiest honey in the world in this picturesque place. We had already booked our accommodation in a Home Stay named Chili Pili in Hoskeri village at Medikere.   After a drive of a...