Skip to main content

Featured Post

2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

River Tern Lodge, Bhadra

As Diwali approaches, I have been re-living our trip last Diwali to Karnataka. We started on a devotional note, visiting SringeriUdupi and Kollur. But that did not stop us having unexpected surprises which had nothing to do with temples, as well as adventures that we had not planned for. We eventually reached our final destination - River Tern Lodge at the Bhadra Reservoir, and now, continuing with the story...

River  Tern Bhadra.... the resort is named for the two things which make the place so special – the Bhadra Reservoir, where it is located; and the River Terns, birds which come here every winter, to breed and nest. Most visitors come here to observe the sight of hundreds and hundreds of these birds nesting in the islands from Feb to June each year. We visited in October, and saw a completely different sight – the sight of the reservoir filled almost to the brim, due to the heavy rains, the islands completely submerged. No wonder Samhith thought it was the sea!



River Tern


The Bhadra reservoir was one of the first among such huge water projects initiated by independent India. All around the dam can be seen the immense variety offered by the Western Ghats. The forests here are of three types – Rainforest, Evergreen, and Semi evergreen, and between them, have a huge variety of flora and fauna. 



Together, they form the Bhadra Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary, and while the chances of seeing a tiger in the wild might be just as slim as anywhere in the country, this forest shows us so much more of itself to intruders such as us, especially thanks to the well informed and enthusiastic naturalists who take us around and take pains to explain the workings of the forest to us.



Due to paucity of time, we were able to go for only one safari inside the forest, something I will make sure to rectify the next time I am there. My luck with the wild cats hadn’t yet changed, so they stayed well out of sight when we were there. However, I had my encounter with hordes of Malabar Pied Hornbills – grown ones as well as juveniles, flying to and fro and creating a racket... and we were content to simply sit and watch them for quite  a while. Never have I felt more my lack of a good camera as I did then... for these were the best pics I managed to click..



We did spot Gaurs, as well as plenty of deer, but my photos of them aren’t too memorable. I was more fascinated by this old forest guest house built in the British Era....



We spotted more birds when we went on a nature walk... Brahminy kites, Little green bee eaters..Swifts..Spotted Munias...Cormorants... and a Grey Hornbill I couldn’t get a photo of..



Finding my camera no use for the birds, I busied myself clicking dragonflies...



Butterflies and flowers...



Samhith was fascinated by a centipede (or millipede.. don’t remember which this one is) which curled up the minute he touched it..... Ever since, he has been touching the centipedes we see at home, wondering why they don’t curl up! Answers, anyone?


However, the best part of the nature walk wasn’t the birds... or the insects... it was the wonderful sights which surrounded us...
It was only from this height that we could get an idea of the place we were at....


The lodge was located over two hills...our room was on the second hill, which, as we realised, was actually an island!



Which is why, we belatedly realised, we had to cross a bridge to get there!



The views were even better from the water, as we realised when we went for a boat ride....



The never-ending expanse of water..... the mountains in the distance....



The sight was just too beautiful for words, and most of us in the boat were tongue-tied, though our cameras kept clicking away. We were told that the chances of spotting animals were quite high during the boat safari, but none turned up while we were there... but we really didn’t mind. The landscape more than made up for it!



From the water, the island was even more clearly visible. From a distance, all we could see were the trees...



 but as we came nearer, the rooms started appearing...



It was wonderful to think how the lodge had been built, with so many rooms... each with a great view of the reservoir... each almost invisible to the others. Our admiration of JLR just went up another notch!



Stepping back on land seemed almost a pity, but our time there was almost up. However, there was one more thing left to do... for Samhith – water sports!



It took him some time to get used to the water... but once he did, it was tough to get him to come out. The adventurous father and son pair also went for a kayak ride, and came back all excited, because they had seen a monitor lizard!!! Lucky pair! As I rued about missing the sight, and wondered whether to send them off again, this time with a camera, one of the boys asked us if we had seen a jelly fish.

“Jelly fish! Don’t they live in the sea?” was the only response we could think of. He simply smiled, and scooped up a bit of water... and there... there was something wriggling in the water... something transparent... practically invisible.. sort of like an outline of a jellyfish. “It’s a fresh water jelly fish. It doesn’t harm anyone” he said. By now, Samhith was all agog, so that’s him, holding the tiny creature in his tiny hands...



We had already overstayed our welcome at the lodge. The weekend had arrived, and with it, guests were pouring in. But the staff were polite and helpful, and allowed us to take our time leaving...which we eventually did, filled with yet some more wonderful memories of a JLR property!



It has been more than a year since we were there, but for various reasons, I wasn’t able to write about it earlier. This year, as I sat planning my Diwali trip, images of River Tern kept cropping up so often, they were impossible to ignore, or put off any longer... And, in spite of the fact that my comp kept crashing, or workers in the building kept interrupting... I managed to sit down and write this post down. I had originally planned to do a long series on River Tern, to justify all the different experiences we had there, but thanks to the situation, I thought it would be better for me to put everything down in one post... which is why this one is so long. I hope you have enjoyed reading it, but don’t be surprised if images from Bhadra keep turning up now and then... they are impossible to get out of my head!



River Tern Lodge

Distances:
  • Shimoga: About 40 Km
  • Mangalore: 200 Km
  • Bangalore: 300 Km


How to Reach:
  • By Road: The nearest city is Shimoga, and plenty of buses are available to Lakkavalli, which is the town or village nearest to the lodge. You can arrange for someone from the lodge to pick you up there.
Otherwise, you can, of course, like us, hire an auto driver to take you to Lakkavalli, and persuade him to take you a ‘little bit further’!

  • By train: The nearest railway station is at Shimoga, which is well connected to Bangalore.
  • By Air: The nearest Airport is at Mangalore.


River Tern Lodge is part of Jungle Lodges, and bookings can be made online, through their website, or from offices of Karnataka Tourism. 






Comments

  1. It sounds like such a beautiful trip! Glad that you were able to write about it finally.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks Mridula!!! i am lagging behind so much with my travelogues! have a lot to catch up with!

      Delete
  2. The place looks stunning! I must visit this lodge. Awesome post!

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very nice!! Had been to this place some years ago. JLR was offering big discount at that time as it was just opened.

    And at that time rooms were built only on the first hill!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Aravind! I guess its high time you go again then!!!!

      Delete
  4. one of the best recent posts,prompts one to think of visiting the place.one feels happy that the western ghats've not been aggresively exploited for tourism. thanks& best wishes-srinivasan

    ReplyDelete
  5. Absolutely marvelous place. The pictures are really stupendous so is the place. A definite visit at this place next time I visit Karnataka .

    Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  6. Absolutely stunning account, you almost took us to a trip down there

    ReplyDelete
  7. Absolutely stunning account, you almost took us for a trip down there

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw

Rama Temple, Gokarna

To my right , the waves rush to the shore, eager to merge with the sand. To my left, the same waves crash against the rocks, their spray diverting my reverie as I ponder over the beauty of nature, and wonder what first brought people here. Was it this beauty that encouraged them to build a temple here, or was it the fresh, sweet spring water flowing from the hill here that made this place special? No matter what the reason, I am glad my auto driver brought me here. We are at the Rama temple in Gokarna, just a few minutes away from the Mahabaleshwara Temple, yet offering so different a perspective.

Pandharpur Yatra 2023

The first time I visited Pandharpur was back in 2007 . The names Vitthal and Pandharpur, were just names to me. I had heard of them, but that was about it. Seeing the lord standing on the brick, hands on his hips, was memorable, but more memorable was the sight that greeted us as we walked out of the main sanctum of the temple. In the mandap just outside were a group of devotees singing abhangs , and dancing. This was the first time I had heard abhangs , and even almost 15 years later, I can remember the welling of feeling within me, listening to the songs, and how fascinated I was by the sight of the devotees dancing, lost in their love of the Lord. Over the years, as I have read more about Vitthal, and participated in Ashadi Ekadashi programmes at Puttaparthi, that first experience has stayed clear in my mind and heart. Every time I tell my Balvikas students of the saints who sang of Vitthala, it is that experience that I re-live. I visited Pandharpur again, in 2010, but that experie