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Out Of Office - Shettihalli Church

Some places do not have anything special yet so are power full to an extent that the very moment you leave the place, you decide to go back to the same place again. For me, Shettihalli is one such place.

Is there an architectural master piece for display? Is there greenery to fill in your eyes? No, there is nothing of that sort. But there is something special here which struck the chord for me. It may or may not to you as an individual.

We had a marriage to attend in Hassan. Me and my 4 friends from office rented a self driven car from Myles and headed to the function. After a heavy meal, we felt we had enough time before we leave to Bangalore. A quick check on bucket list got me Shettihalli and there was no second thought on the place. We headed towards Shettihalli.

Do not ever rely on 'Here Maps'. It almost asked us to jump into Gorur dam and swim to reach Shettihalli church. (Google maps cheats at times as well but not this much. :P )

We had a celebrity photographer in our group and none of us had camera except him. But that was more than enough.

To speak about the place, it is a calm and cool place. Did not see many people around. May be because it was a Friday. Ample place to walk around. The water level in dam was pretty low during November and I would say perfect time to visit. If the dam is totally dry, then I do not see any reason to visit the place. Ruins of the church is present and that is the only reason you should visit there. The ruins look amazing and makes a fantastic background for photos. The church was submersed in water due to construction of the dam. The ruins still remain. However, it is just a matter of time that the ruins disappear completely. Do give a visit to the place before that happens.

Did not feel it as a good place to swim/take bath in the backwater since the water did not look clean and also mud in the banks were sticky, overall did not give a feel of it.

The vastness of the backwater area and an old church is all that can be seen there. Overall, a must visit place if you are anywhere near Hassan.

How to reach?

From Bangalore, Shettihalli church is around 200 kms in distance. A 4 hours drive from Bangalore. The road condition is excellent. The destination is 25 kms away from Hassan city.

Take Bangalore Mangalore highway, take deviation to Hassan city and move to Hassan-Periyapattana road. A few kms (~10kms) before the Gorur dam, take a right. Proceed for around 5-6kms and there you are!

Photos
None of the photos below are clicked by me. Credits to Kartikeya Bhat.

Panoramic image of Shettihalli Church

How can I miss this photo :P

Add caption

Man behind all the photos - Karthikeya.

Myles car and Shettihalli. A vehicle in front of the church makes a perfect photo here.

Adding to the list of must visit falls' in Karnataka!

I always feel proud that I have covered most of the places in Karnataka. But, to hurt my ego, I get more places in Karnataka feeling that I have not really seen all important places of Karnataka!

I always remain wonder stuck whenever I go to water falls'. The amount of water that gushes from a cliff makes me feel - "we are so weak and small in front of nature". The way the rocks beneath the water fall manage to stay strong, the force of water, the beauty, the reverse waterfall that the winds create, the mist, the tiny drops of water that spread entire area, the rainbow formed due to water droplets, everything makes me stay back in the place for long and admire nature.

After missing all the falls views in Mumbai trip, I got to know that there are a couple of wonderful falls in Uttara kannada district. Could not wait to visit them. But, we had to postpone this for a couple of weeks when we planned it for 1st week of October due to rain. Finally, in the last week of October, we - (Me, Preethish and Mayank) decided to go.

Burde Falls.

The day I visited Didupe and Ermai falls, I was left in deep thoughts like "How did I miss visiting this for 24 years of my life in spite of staying so close to the falls?" But, after visiting Burde falls, I am sure that there are more falls to visit and it will take a lifetime to witness all remote falls in this country. Burde falls is one such falls. It is remote. It takes some effort to reach there. But once you are there, you will definitely not feel that you have wasted your energy.
We reached Siddapur from Bangalore and with a quick check with local people, found that the lodges were not good but the Govt. IB was! Also got to know that they provide stay if rooms are free. So we went there and luckily we got the stay (Just for INR 300 with 24 hours hot water and decent room.) Again we were lucky enough to get a omni van owner who accepted to take us to Burde falls and Unchalli falls for just INR 1200. If not, we would not have been able to complete both in single day.

The falls lies in Kumta road. After around 15kms, take a deviation towards right while travelling from Siddapura and again travel for 5Kms in mud road (Construction of road was going on when we visited. So it may not be mud road the next time you visit :) ) Initially there are steps to go down hill and after steps, the path is very clear till the falls. At times you may need to take help of tree branches or walk on 4 legs to reach. :)

Important: It is very hard to find frequent public transport to Burde falls and even on manage to get one, you will have to walk over 5kms just to reach the forest area from where you start trekking down hill to reach falls. So hire a vehicle/go in own vehicle.
Avoid rainy season as the route looks slippery. However, its up to individuals to decide how challenging a life should be :)

Unchalli Falls
Our next visit was to Unchalli falls. Due to a broken bridge on the way to Unchalli from Siddapur, had to take a long route via Sirsi road. But again, worth travelling a distance. Could not go till the base as it was 4.00 pm and we were told at least 3-4 hours is needed to go to the base and come back. Was not a right option. But, it is still worth visiting the falls even if you cannot go till the base. The water spreads in the rock and then falls creating a wide stretch of waterfall. The greenery around is a treat to eyes.

Gudavi Bird Sanctuary
The luck we had on day 1 betrayed us on day 2 and it was kind of boring day. Mainly because we opted to travel in public transport. Our initial plan was to go to Yana but it did not happen since we could not get buses to Yana. Changed the plan to go to Gudavi, Banavasi and then to Jog falls.
Gudavi bird santuary would be worth visiting provided you have a super zoom lens, patience and also luck. You have to be there during right time. We went during the right time but birds had already flew back to their places due to less rainfall in this season.

Reaching Gudavi is again a challenge if you opt public transport. We got some goods auto towards Gudavi from Gudavi cross in Sirsi-Shimoga Highway. Return was again a challenge but luckily we got a drop. Thanks to the couple who gave us a drop in their car. :)

Right time to visit Gudavi : August, September, early October.

We had been to Banavasi as well but I would not suggest the place to anyone unless you are so interested to see the land of Pampa. The architecture is not really a great one. Did not feel it exciting even if I love visiting heritage places.