Melkote : The temple town

 

At Dhanush Koti : Living on the (l)edge



On the way to Dhanush koti ...



Kalyani




Raya Gopura : The incomplete saga


Guru
Where : Melkote/Melukote
Location : 150 kms from bangalore,35 kms from Mandya,3hrs to reach
Route : Bangalore->Bidadi->Ramanagara->Mandya->Melkote
When : 8th June 2008
Gang : Amit,Dakshina,Guru,Rani and Sudhi
Places of interest : Yoganarasimha temple,Cheluvanarayana temple,Dhanush Koti
Historic Significance : Very sacred place for Vaishnavites.It is said that Sri Ramanujacharya,the proponent of Vishishtadvaita, spent 14 yrs of his life here.

Melukote is an ideal 1 day weekend getaway /picnic spot for bangalore dwellers. It has become famous after the song "Barso Re" from the film "Guru" was shot here. Thank you Rani for suggesting this place.Melukote is still a calm,quiet non crowded,unexplored place relatively.I hope it stays that way.

Guru has mailed me the details and i am adding it here .

Travel:
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There are direct buses from Blore to Melukote but the frequency is very less . The best thing to do is: take a bus to Mandya and then from there take a bus to Melukote (the freq is every half an hr i guess). If you dont find a direct bus from Mandya, you can catch a KSRTC bus that goes to Duddu and from Duddu you can catch a private bus to Melukote. There are couple of buses which go to Jakknaalli (which comes after Duddu and before Melukote), if you are able to catch those buses then get down at Jakknalli and take an auto form there to Melukote. The auto guy charges arnd 5/- per person same as bus charge. Melukote is arnd 35 kms from Mandya. Duddu is around 15kms from Mandya. JakknaaL is arnd 28kms from Mandya and Melukote is around 7kms from Jakknaali.

We took a bus to Mandya from the blore ksrtc bus stand around 7.15am and reached there at 9.30am; ate lots of Idlis/Dosas at the KSRTC canteen and took a bus to duddu arnd 9.55am and reached Duddu around 10.20am and then then got a private bus to Melukote around 10.30 and reached Melukote by 11.30am.

Food:
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You cant miss the Puliyogre at Melukote.If you are lucky you will get Idli and curd rice as well :) but anytime of the day, Puliyogare is assured. We ate in a road-side bandi shop near temple where all these three items were available in the morning and only rice in the afternoon/evening. There are couple of hotels which might serve other dishes but I am not sure about that. One hotel guy said dosas will be served after 5pm when we asked arnd 4.30pm so i guess they might have that option in the morning as well.

There are couple of people who sell Butter milk also near Narasimha Swamy temple (on the hill) and also near Raya Gopura. The butter milk that we had at the temple was awesome and each of us had couple of glasses and filled our bisleri bottle as well with that So, you get good butter milk as well at this place.

Places to visit:
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Cheluvaraya Swamy temple is 5-10 mins walk from bus stop and the same road leads you to Raya gopura (< 5 mins of walk). Akka-Tangi kola is also located near Raya gopura. From Raya gopura, at about 2 kms distance, you find Dhanushkoti where ppl believe Ram's footsteps are there and the place also has some water which also has a story related to Ram's dhanush. This 2 kms stretch is a nice green stretch and has a tar road wide enough to drive a 4 wheeler; we walked this stretch to reach Dhanushkoti and spent some time relaxing and taking some snaps. since it is located at a considerable height, it offers some nice views of the place

Narasimha Swamy temple is about 5 mins walk from Cheluvaraya Swamy temple towards bus stop and has 10 mins of stairs climbing. It also offers some nice views and fresh air.

Also, you will find lot of lakes/ponds near the place. If you have some time then one of the lakes on the way to Melukote (arnd 1km before Melukote) is a nice place to relax.

Not to do:
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Please dont throw the paper/banana plates that you use to eat puliyogare and other stuff and plastic glasses used to drink buttermilk at any place except DUSTBINS.