A trip to Dharmasthala, Udupi and Murdeshwar

One of the regions in India that is blessed with rich culture and architecture, enormous natural beauty, abundant greenery, historic monuments and buildings is the South Indian state of Karnataka, thus leading to the tagline of the State Government's Tourism Department, "One State, Many Worlds" which is spot on. The state has many ancient religious places in the districts of Dakshina Kannada (formerly known as South Canara), Udupi and Uttara Kannada (formerly North Canara) districts. These districts are about a distance of 290 to 550kms from the state's capital Bengaluru. Some of the  regions of these districts are also part of the Western Ghats of India while the other significant part forms Canara (or Coastal Karnataka or Karavali) which is a long stretch of land alongside the coast of Arabian Sea. 

From Bengaluru, these places are best reached by road  via Hassan and Sakleshpur or by daily train. While on a journey to these places, one can witness the amazingly beautiful nature with the lush greenery of the Shiradi Ghats near Sakleshpur and the coastline of Arabian Sea starting from Mangaluru [Mangaluru is the administrative headquarters of Dakshina Kannada] . The regions have numerous temples (with many different deities to take blessings from) and each temple's visit here is so divine. Few of the popular ones include Kukke Subramanya Temple, Dharmasthala Temple, MangalaDevi, Kadri Manjunatha (in Dakshina Kannada), Kollur, Udupi Krishna Mutt, Anegudde  Temple or also called as Kumbashi Ganesha (in Udupi district), Murdeshwar, Gokarna, Idagunji (in Uttara Kannada).

The coastline has many beautiful beaches like Tannirbhavi and Panambur beach in Mangaluru, Suratkal beach, Padubidri (a blue flag certified beach near Mangaluru), Kapu, Malpe and Maravanthe beach in Udupi, Murudeshwar beach, Gokarna Om beach, Kasarkod beach (another blue flag certified beach) in Uttrara Kannada district, to name a few. The coastline then meets the Konkan region at Karwar (a town in Uttara Kannada) that is about 20kms from Goa. With many religious places and so much natural beauty and greenery, this region of Karnataka is a perfect place to get closer to god as well as to nature.

Of the many temples here, on a short 3 day trip from Bengaluru in November 2019, we covered some of the temples and a few beaches too. Below is the route and the itinerary in brief 

Itinerary in brief

The route we covered is as below

Bengaluru - Subrahmanya Road - Kukke Subramanya - Dharmasthala - Udupi - Kapu - Malpe - Idagunji - Murdeshwar - Bengaluru

Trip Highlights

• Scenic train journey from Sakleshpur to Subrahmanya Road. 
• Darshan and blessings at temples of Kukke Subramanya, Dharmasthala, Udupi, Idagunji and Murdeshwar
• Witness the second tallest Shiva Statue in the temple town of Murdeshwar.
• Quality time spent at beaches near Udupi [Kapu and Malpe]
• Gadbad ice-cream treat at Udupi
• A complete trip using Public transport which involved travel by bus, rail and auto-rickshaw.

Day 1: Day train journey from Yesvantpur (YPR, Bengaluru) to Subrahmanya Road (SBHR) via Hassan and Sakleshpur  and visit Sri Kukke Subramanya Temple and then proceed to Dharmasthala. Darshan of Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatha. Stay at Dharmasthala

Train journey is about 7-8 hrs starting at 7:10AM reaching around 2:30PM. Distance to Temple from Subrahmanya Road Station is about 13kms taking 20minutes by bus.

Subramanya to Dharmasthala is about 54kms taking 1.5hrs by bus.

Day 2: Bus journey from Dharmasthala to Udupi. Visit Shri Krishna Mutt and take the lord's blessings. Visit Kapu and Malpe beach. Stay at Udupi

Dharmasthala to Udupi is about 110kms taking about 2.5hrs by bus

Day 3:  Train journey from Udupi to Murdeshwar. Visit Idagunji Ganesha Temple, Murdeshwar Temple and beach. Night bus journey from Murdeshwar to Bengaluru.

Train journey is about 1.5hrs to Murdeshwar. Railway station to Idagunji temple is  about 25kms taking 30minutes. Murdeshwar Railway station to Murdeshwar Temple is about 3kms

Day 4: Reach Bengaluru by around 7AM

Murudeshwar to Bengaluru about 500kms taking about 11 hrs

Sakleshpur - Subrahmanya Road Railway line

Land of High Passes - Ladakh, Heaven on Earth

One of the regions in India that has gained immense popularity among tourists, travelers and adventure lovers is undoubtedly Ladakh. This recently formed Union Territory was once part of the earlier Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and also shares borders with Pakistan and China. Ladakh is the highest plateau region in India with most of the region being over an altitude of 10000 feet. Being a high altitude cold desert region in the Himalayas, it is known for its many high altitude mountain passes. It is also known for its similarity to Tibetan culture and many ancient and beautiful Buddhist monasteries and Stupas. 

With many parts of the region being still under dispute between India, Pakistan and China, the region maintains a strong military presence and the roads being under the supervision and maintenance of India's Border Road Organization [BRO]

The largest town and the capital is Leh, the most visited place in the region by tourists and is at an altitude of about 11560 feet. It is also a hub for tourists/travelers who wish to reach other places in Ladakh such as Nubra valley, Hemis, Pangong Tso etc. 

The most preferred way of reaching Leh by tourists and travelers looking for adventure is to travel by road. Leh can be reached using one of the two highways, one from Manali [in the neighboring state of Himachal Pradesh] and the other from Srinagar [Capital of Jammu and Kashmir]. With each route, one has to cross several high mountain passes and the travel is considered to be one of the most trilling, adventurous rides and is very much loved by bike ride enthusiasts. 

Leh can also be reached directly by Air with regular daily flights from Delhi, Srinagar and Jammu to Kushok Bakula Rinpoche Airport with flight operations mostly restricted to the mornings due to the mountain winds. The Airport is very close to Leh (about 3 to 4kms) and is off the Srinagar-Leh Highway.

More plains, Manali-Leh highway

 

Water stream near Jispa, Manali-Leh highway

In 2016 August, I traveled from Bengaluru to Ladakh and back with my friends and the trip was for 10 days with 3 days of road trip from Chandigarh to reach Leh. Below is the itinerary in brief of what we covered.

Our Itinerary in brief

Our journey started at Bengaluru and below is the route we covered

Bengaluru - Chandigarh - Manali - Rohtang Pass - Jispa - Darcha - Pang - More Plains - Leh - KhardungLa - Nubra Valley - Leh - Chang La - Pangong Tso - Hemis - Leh - New Delhi - Bengaluru

Day 1: Bengaluru to Chandigarh by flight. Road trip to Leh begins here at Chandigarh with travel to Manali by road [approx 300kms, 9hrs]. Stay at Manali

Day 2: Manali to Jispa road journey on the Manali-Leh highway via Rohtang Pass, Koksar and Keylong. Halt at Jispa [Manali to Jispa approx 140kms, approx 7 hrs]

NOTE: With the new Atal Tunnel near Rohtang, the distance and travel time between Manali and Jispa has reduced.

Day 3: Jispa to Leh road journey on the Manali-Leh highway via Darcha, Baralacha Pass, Sarchu, Pang, More Plains and Taglang La. Distance is approx 340 kms roughly taking 12-13 hrs. Stay at Leh.

Day 4: Getting acclimated to the high altitude region. Visit some of the major attractions in Leh such as Shey Palace, Stok Monastery, Leh Palace, Sankar Gompa and Shanti Stupa

Day 5: Leh to Nubra Valley [Hunder] via Khardung La [Khardung La is considered as the World's highest motorable road at an altitude of about 18000 feet.] Visit Diskit Monastery and Maitreya Buddha and enjoy camel ride in the sand dunes of Hunder [on a double hump bactrian camel, found nowhere else in the country]. Stay in Hunder in Swiss cottage camp. Distance approx 120kms roughly 5hrs.

Day 6: Visit Samstanling Gompa/Monastery and Panamik Sulphur springs in Nubra Valley and return to Leh. Evening visit Leh Market. Stay at Leh

Day 7: Road journey to visit the most famous landmark in Ladakh, Pangong Tso [Pangong Lake] via ChangLa [Mountain pass at about 17000 feet]. Stay in a lake side campsite. Distance approx 150kms roughly 6 hrs

Day 8: Pangong Tso to Leh. On the way, visit Hemis and Thiksay monasteries. Hemis is the largest monastery in Ladakh and Thiksay is the most picturesque monastery. Stay at Leh.

Day 9: Heading on the Srinagar-Leh highway, visit the nearby attractions such as Alchi Gompa,  Zanskar valley and confluence point of Indus and Zanskar rivers, Magnetic Hill, Zanskar river rafting, Hall of Fame [A museum constructed by Indian Army]. Stay at Leh.

Day 10. Morning flight from Leh to Bengaluru with Layover at New Delhi T3. 

[We did want to include the return journey on the Srinagar-Leh highway via Kargil and take a flight back to Bengaluru, but it would add extra two days and since some of us were time crunched, we dropped the idea. Also, sightseeing at Manali was skipped for the same time related concerns.]